Martenitsi & Womens Day just excuses to PARTY!

1st of March celebrations, 8th of March celebrations...the month just started and we go from celebration to celebration. Every week my colleagues start their conversation again with: coming thursday we have a celebration because...
The 1st one which is called Martenitza took place on the 1st of March. This is a typical Bulgarian holiday and it means the following: It is based on the founding of Bulgaria, 681 AD. The month of March according to Bulgarian folk belief marks the beginning of the springtime. Therefore the 1st day of March is a traditional holiday associated with sending off the winter and welcoming the spring. The tradition is that on the 1st of March and the days after all people give to each other very interesting strips or small wool dalls called Pigo and Penda, or as we call them Martenitzi. They bring the name of March, in Bulgarian Mart. But according to our tradition, behind the name Mart stands an angry old lady who changes her mood very rapidly. Her name is Grandma Marta, in Bulgarian Baba Marta. We give the red and white colours only to please Baba Marta, not to make us cold. In doing so, we hope the spring will come as soon as possible. Once we have those tokens, which we put on our cloths or wrist, we wear them until we see a stork. After seeing this bird, we have to take away the tokens, cause the stork is showing us that the spring is already here. Then we tie it on a fruit tree, thus giving the tree the health and luck that we had while having the token. The "martenitza" is also an odd artistic image of nature. At that period of the year, nature is full of hopes and expectations. It also symbolized the purity of the white snow going away and the red settings of the sun becoming more and more intensive with the coming spring. These two natural resources are necessary for the life as well as the male and female spirits.A decoration with "martenitzi" is the most typical and unique Bulgarian tradition. Now the "martenitza" symbolized new life, conception, fertility, and spring. This holiday is for joy, health and long life. This Bulgarian tradition is pure and bright like the colours of the "martenitza". It shows us the neceessity of harmony in nature and in people's lives. This is the sincere message from the "martenitza".
So there I am walking around with my red/white tassels around my wrist, not allowed to take them off. I forgot one day after taking a shower and oh yes I heard immediately 'where are your martenitza tassels'?! I can't use the exuse of 'I'm a foreigner and I didn't know', since everybody explained the meaning of martenitza a dozen times. I guess they are very proud of this holiday and they highly appreciate it. Therefore I do my best to not forget it again.
Next celebration...womens day! First a party with all the colleagues at work and in the evening the real partying started. My students took me to the Bacardi Bar, a nice place, especially because it was 90ties night. We sang along with Snap, Ace of Base, East 17, Dr. Alban, 2Unlimited etc. Back to my younger years...