Moving to another country brings the joy of diversity, and sometimes, the hilarity of cultural collisions or associations. Case in point: WhatsApp groups with names like EuRoPol (because, you know, Romanian-Polish unity under the EU banner 😂) or Magyar-RO-UK (pretty self-explanatory, right?).
But the real fun starts at home, where my household is also a small melting pot of different backgrounds.
Last night, someone went rummaging through the drinks cabinet, craving a Captain Morgan and ginger. Lo and behold, a bottle of rum appeared!!! But surprise, its contents leaned more towards Romanian schnapps than Caribbean delight. How that happened, we'll never know...
Suspicious, the thirsty soul pinged the Magyar-RO-UK group for "answers". Within seconds, a photo popped up: a classic Borsec bottle filled with none other than "țuică" or palinka. Then, as if by magic, my "better/worse half" unearthed our own little stash of Borsec bottles filled with "vișinată" (sour cherry schnapps).
Now, the burning question: how did this tradition of disguising spirits in water bottles come to be? I mean, who among us, Eastern Europeans, hasn't mistakenly sipped on what was thought to be innocent H2O, only to end up in a tipsy haze? 🤣 This bottle, a timeless enigma, transcending generations and borders...
Do I dare carry on the tradition ?
