If you think that all we did behind the iron curtain was standing in line to see dead people and trying to find an unused square of rough toilet paper you’d be wrong: we had holidays too. American holidays are all too predictable: Easter- eggs and bunnies; 4th of July- spending hours in traffic on the way to a lake; Christmas- 3 months of buying stuff and horrible music and so on. Soviet holidays were predictable in one sense - there was drinking. No matter what the occasion - New Year, May Day or another anniversary of the revolution, people consumed “mass quantities”. The circumstances under which drinking occurred were unpredictable.
One of the most beloved holidays of my childhood was the International Women’s Day which falls on the 8th of March. Sure it had some political history but it was the day when women were celebrated, received presents, flowers and many of their usual chores were clumsily done by the men in their lives, often with disastrous consequences. Starting at an early age, boys were bringing small souvenirs to their young female classmates, flowers to their teachers and hand-made junk to their moms. March 8th was probably the biggest flower-selling day of the year with men of all ages crowding flower markets and buying the first flowers of the early spring.
Unlike some other Soviet holidays this one survived through the recent times and is still celebrated as a mix between Mother’s day and celebration of spring.
I’d like to wish to all the women who read this blog and those who don’t to always be beautiful, happy and healthy so selfish schmucks like myself could enjoy their company. Cheers!

Related posts:

Behind the Iron Curtain:Victory Day

Behind the Iron Curtain:May Day

Behind the Iron Curtain:Cosmonautics Day