The reason I haven’t posted in weeks is because we moved. Not far– we’re still in Tallinn, just a few blocks from our last apartment. The new place didn’t have internet until today, and since I don’t post at work my blogging opportunities were nonexistent. But now I’m back.

Since we have a new home now, we soon need to have a housewarming party, or as it’s called in Estonian, a soolaleivapidu, which translates to “salt and bread party”. I couldn’t find once concise explanation for why it’s called a salt and bread party. Traditionally people actually do bring salt and bread in some form to the new home. Bread is a staple food in Estonia (as elsewhere) and also a symbol for food in general, so bringing bread could represent the wish that the home will always have plenty of food. I read somewhere that it is meant to bring luck as well. Salt can also represent food since it is an essential component of cooking, and I found some information about using salt to banish evil spirits, so perhaps bringing salt is also meant to keep bad spirits away from the happy home.

Our housewarming party should be in a few weeks, so bring on the salt and bread!