International Women's Day...

Another International Women’s Day in another country! Last year we celebrated in Russia, and this year in Romania. I don’t remember hearing anything about the stripper tradition last year – but here, as you may know from my last blog, it is accepted as something normal and routine for March 8th. Some of Tammy’s teammates went last night, but we both declined – I stayed home and watched The Devil Wears Prada (great clothes!) and then when Steve got home (from a road trip to Bucharest) we started watching What Just Happened which was horrible. (We wondered if the point of the movie was, when finished, for the movie watcher to say, “The last two hours of my life were a complete and total waste – what just happened?” It was brutal.) Anyways, so neither of us did anything too special for IWD. This afternoon a small group of us met for coffee at the mall, which was jam-packed – I’m sure that the way in which Romanian men show their love to the woman (or women) in their life is to take them shopping… It seems as though the gift-giving emphasis is on the value of the gift, not on the thought put into it; it’s not the thought that counts, but the money spent – ugh. Though the holiday once served as more of a reminder of the political and social progress women have made, and still need to make, in Romania (as in Russia) it’s more of an all-encompassing celebration of women. I do like this old Soviet poster though, that reads: "8th of March is the day of the rebellion of the working women against the kitchen slavery" and "Down with the oppression and narrow-mindedness of the household work!" Amen to that sister!