A new verb on the scene

People of Maribor live for soccer and for Festival Lent. Or so they say. I cannot help but wonder how Vladimir Rukavina manages to execute the festival every year with budget getting smaller and people's pouncing on it getting more frequent. Still, crowds of visitors gather by the river and across the whole city every year with one goal - to LENT.
 A new verb was born. I think it is just fabulous, since it expresses exactly what we do. In English, the word *Lent* stands for 40 weekdays long fast in Christian religion, lasting from Ash Wednesday until Easter. During Lent, people cleanse their bodies and spirits to prepare for the arrival of Jesus, just as during Lent, people of Maribor cleanse themselves of negative energy in order to relax, enjoy and have fun. Joy brings happiness, happiness brings pleasure, pleasure brings elan, elan brings progress, and progress brings success. Therefore, Lent means success. After all these years, it is still hard to understand why successful projects in their home environment (*i.e.* Slovenia) cannot get bigger support. The national radio and TV stations advertise every festival but Festival Lent. Could it be jealousy? Could it be the lack of interest? Could it be bad festival program? Could it be poor marketing and PR? The answer to the last two questions is NO. Lent offers numerous innovations in the area of marketing, such as Iphone apps, Facebook pages, *etc*.
 There is another great thing about the festival. It provides folklore events that bring international spirit and a wave of acceptance to Maribor. During the festival It is not unusual to see Jamaicans waiting for a taxi. People are allowed to spread their wings and for two weeks become the best versions of themselves - open to diversity, proud, creative and innovative. Therefore, I would like to nominate *lent *to become a new verb that besides its obvious meaning (visiting events, walking along the river Drava and relaxing at the city park) stands for the movement of Maribor. Its definitions (according to the *Dictionary of the Standard Slovene Language*) should be: *lenting* - an activity of people of Maribor that has the ability to overcome their own problems and obstacles in order to achieve the impossible.
 Go 4 Lent, people! Natalija Postružnik, Zavarovalnica Maribor