Mos Andrei

(Rachel has fun in the snow with my entourage in Lunca Ilvei)

Had another glorious weekend in the village, this time bringing a few of my daring, curious city friends to see the viata la tara. We went to the local hangout which got very full at 8:30 on Saturday night since the disco is closed for the fasting season before Christmas (tragic!). At one point, I noticed people dashing around, running to look out the windows and then running back to look down the stairs. I was curious too and went to the staircase to take a peek and saw that one of the local men had dressed up with a long, patterned skirt, a babushka shawl on his head,  and his face mostly covered. He was one of three men or older boys who dressed half-disguised in ridiculous clothing. He came upstairs, and amid much hilarity and giggling, walked around and then sat to get a sip of beer. 

Apparently it was Saint Andrew's day, November 39-30. This figure was called "Mos Andrei" or 'Old Man Andrew.' I've read that it's a sort of pre-Christian Geto-Dacian holiday that was absorbed by the Apostle Andrew's holiday, and in its pre-Christian form, he was represented by a wolf.  Saint Andrew the Apostle traveled through Thrace and Scythia and other Eastern European areas spreading Christianity. I think there might be a tradition that he brought Christianity to the areas. According to Wikipedia (ah! that font of all knowledge!), Saint Andrew's day has a strong Central/Eastern European tradition of being associated with young women and their future husbands. Various superstitions and methods of divining the identity of a girl's future husband are associated with this day. I sensed more of the former tradition in Lunca, though. The man dressed as the old man was clearly supposed to be scary, and everyone got a kick out of running out his reach. Cristi, my little 5-year-old buddy, hid under the bed when someone knocked on the door, and when he misbehaved, he was warned Saint Andrew would come get him. However, apparently, good little kids get treats from him, since Cristi eagerly devoured a bar of chocolate MOS ANDREI had brought him. I'm curious about the tradition and holiday. The dressing up and running away from him reminded me of Austria's tradition of St.Nicholas's bad counterpart, Krampus, and I wonder if there was any crossover in the traditions? The superstitious Austrians had quite the influence on the Transylvanians, introducing, among other ideas, vampires.