Botezul Raducului (Raducu's Baptism)

I traveled back to Piatra Neamt during the weekend of the 19th-21st. Radu and Oana had a baby boy about a month ago and, well, it was time to bathe him in the holy water, renounce Satan and say some prayers. I was honored to be invited and participate in such an important event.

Little Radu Ioan Gavriliu (a.k.a. Raducu) is no longer a pagan, he's now a full-fledged member of the Romanian Orthodox faith. He cried a lot, but hung tough and survived in the end. Two other little boys joined him in the ceremony, so it was a full house inside the little church.

Brindusa had the honor of preparing the little guy for his holy bath. As you can see, Raducu was quite warm in his pseudo-space suit. Trust me, he needed all that insulation. It was cold and drafty in the church. Raducu kind of looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in that outfit. Remember "Ghostbusters"? Or what about the little kid from "A Christmas Story" that cried and cried when he couldn't put his arms down because of his enormous snowsuit?

Eventually Raducu had to get undressed. And then, well, he got dunked.


Brrr!

The next video is of the babies, godparents and the two priests singing and walking around the altar, a ceremony that took place shortly after the baptisms. They are singing about how Jesus was baptized and then clothed, etc. The Orthodox church is very ritualistic, solemn and mystical. Importance is placed upon obedience before God, who is looked upon as an all- powerful and supernatural figure. God is not as accessible as he is in Protestantism or, to a lesser degree, Catholicism. Simply put, in Orthodoxy there is no "personal relationship" with God. He stays at a distance and is mysterious figure. In Protestantism, God "opens his arms to you" and says "come to me". He loves you and you love him. Okay, I've kind of gotten off track. There's a lot more to this and my analysis is a bit crude. Enough already with my lecture. Here's the video:


The priest is now anointing Raducu with some sort of oil. The woman holding him is his godmother and happens to be the wife of the mayor of Suceava. Mr. Mayor is, of course, the godfather. They are also Radu and Oana's "Nas". In Romania, the Nas are godparents and advisors to a married couple. The married couple rely on their Nas for advice and support throughout their marriage. Radu and Oana are lucky to have such people as their Nas. The Mayor and his wife are old family friends and educated and experienced people. Suceava is the biggest city in the Bukovina region and an important city overall in Romania.


Here's Raducu with proud Papa Radu and the Godfather, Mr. Mayor. I must mention that the Mayor is one hell of a dancer. I was a part of a "Hora" that he was leading (more on that in a moment) and I just couldn't keep up with him, nor figure out his timing. He was a nice guy and at one point said to me, "Traiasca America!", which basically translates as "Long live America!". To that I replied, "Traiasca Suceava!" He liked that.


After the Botez, Brindusa, Ovidiu and I attended the "after party" at the "Troian" restaurant. It's an "agrotourism" pensiune/restaurant located just outside of the city. A nice place with excellent food, Troian has a rustic, yet classy feel to it. Here's Brindusa and Ovi at our table. A handsome couple, no?







The party felt like a wedding reception. Live music, dancing, a three-course meal, drinks, etc. Below is the view of the dance floor and lower level from the balcony/loft area of the restaurant. Romanians love to dance (and drink) and they will literally party all night long. Speaking of dancing, check out the video clip!


Yeah, that big, out-of-place and goofy looking guy is indeed me. I was in the middle of an intense "Hora", the traditional Romanian circle dance. It was pointed out to me that this one was a "Moldovan" Hora. How could it not be? We were in Moldova after all. How about my man in the middle? He was partying hard. And the funky keys? Man, the party was jumpin'!

Brindusa, Ovi and I left at about 12:30am, as I had to catch a train early the next morning. Plus, Ovi and I were up talking until 2am the previous night and he got up early that day to do German tutoring. I could have stayed a lot longer, as the party was just starting to warm up, but that would have wound up being a mistake, if you know what I mean. I got to bed around 2am again, got up around 7am, and took off on the train to Bucharest at 8:30am, minus hangover.

It was an excellent time. I wish I had another day to spend there. Ovi, Brindusa, Radu and Oana are such good friends and great people. I'll be going back two more times before I leave. I'm sure of it.