about romania: sarut mana

Sarut mana….  means kissed hand literally.  It’s said to women  by children and men as a sign of respect.  I LOVE it. It’s a tad chivalrous, touching (in a non-demonstrative sort of way), and old-fashioned.  Plus it makes me feel quite feminine.  During training, while achieving my goal of getting Romanians to smile, I often said hello to random people (i.e. cute old men or women or folks who just stared at us on the street).  When I started getting “sarut mana” as a response I started saying hello more.  Here in Moldova, I get a healthy dose of “sarut mana” every day — from the kids in my bloc, the beneficiaries at my NGO, the piata guys. The thing is, men never get “sarut mana” or at least, that’s what I thought.

But Saturday, David got his FIRST “sarut mana.”  David was wearing dark pants and a dark jacket and with his beard, a little old lady (with thick glasses) mistook him for a priest and said “Sarut Mana, Parinte.” While it was an odd and fun mistake to make, I’m glad that David got a chance to experience “sarut mana.”