For instance, in our family, we’ve always got together for religious festivals. And not just the big state festivals – for instance, when someone gives birth or someone dies, the whole family meets either in order to celebrate or to sit with the dead person and help those who have survived them. This watching over the dead we call a vigil.

Mum always said that we had to pay attention to the mule, which are kind of like the souls of the dead. At Christmas we always leave something sweet by the window so that they don’t get angry, and also have something to celebrate … when I was small my grandma always told me stories of these evil spirits, how they terrified a person, haunting them for so long they completely destroyed him. Sometimes I terrify my sisters but I don’t say it in front of Grandma …

Otherwise religious festivals have always been big celebrations, we always make it a big occasion. Even when we didn’t have much money, we never skimped on the food for a festival.