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| High school graduates parading down the main street |
On Thursday, May 28th I experienced the most joyous chaos at a parade for the high school graduates. I believe the official term is "defilare promotia", but I could be wrong. The graduates parade through town with flower crowns and balloons, making their way from the citadel to each of the four high schools scattered throughout town. Originally, I thought this was something that happened all over Romania, but my understanding is that it's specific to Sighisoara. It's quite the spectacle. It felt like EVERYONE in the entire town came to the center for this event. I think it felt that way because everyone in the entire town was present.
As you can kind of see, here is EVERYONE...and their mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend, best friend's mom, best friend's dad, etc. You get the idea. Chaos, joyous chaos.
This picture isn't the best, but it makes me laugh. These people had the best seats in town. I would have loved to get an overview of the parade, but I can't complain since I was in the midst of the chaos. Allow me to explain...As a graduate, you pass out a type of graduation announcement card to your family and friends. There's a Romanian word for this card, as graduation announcement isn't very accurate, but that's an easy comparison for the purpose of explaining. Anyways, if you are a recipient of one of these cards, you must bring a flower to that graduate and give it to them during the parade. Here's where it starts to get complicated...in a good way.
I went to the parade with my coworker and friend, Adela. She works for Veritas as the coordinator of educational programs, as well being very involved in her church. Basically, she knows a lot of people. Whenever I walk through town with her, she's always saying hello to someone. It's fun. Anyways, she received 12 of the graduation announcements, which meant that she needed to bring 12 flowers and pass them out during the parade. The graduates stop in front of each of the 4 schools and then the chaos ensues. People run INTO the parade to find the graduate(s) they need to present a flower to. It was madness, but amazing madness. Adela and I were maneuvering through the crowds of people trying to find all 12 of the graduates. I wish I had recorded this because it would be entertaining. Once you find the graduate, you congratulate him/her and present the flower...and on to find the next one! A photo I wish I could have taken, the graduates walking around with their arms FULL of flowers at the end. I am not exaggerating when I say that some of them probably had 30+ flowers. Such a fun event to attend.
I went to the parade with my coworker and friend, Adela. She works for Veritas as the coordinator of educational programs, as well being very involved in her church. Basically, she knows a lot of people. Whenever I walk through town with her, she's always saying hello to someone. It's fun. Anyways, she received 12 of the graduation announcements, which meant that she needed to bring 12 flowers and pass them out during the parade. The graduates stop in front of each of the 4 schools and then the chaos ensues. People run INTO the parade to find the graduate(s) they need to present a flower to. It was madness, but amazing madness. Adela and I were maneuvering through the crowds of people trying to find all 12 of the graduates. I wish I had recorded this because it would be entertaining. Once you find the graduate, you congratulate him/her and present the flower...and on to find the next one! A photo I wish I could have taken, the graduates walking around with their arms FULL of flowers at the end. I am not exaggerating when I say that some of them probably had 30+ flowers. Such a fun event to attend.
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| A FRACTION of the parade/graduates |
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