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Published: October 27th 2006
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The many faces of the Roma community. These two women out shopping kindly let me take their picture.Hello everyone,
There are an estimated one and half million Gypsies in Romania. It is politically incorrect to call them Gypsies here. They are now called The Roma. Their origin is not clear, but it is thought that they came from India in the 13th century. They have the colouring and features of people from India. Many are still nomadic, but many are trying to fit in. Some are well-off, but most live on the fringes of society. They often set up camp close to landfill sites and mine plastic, metal and copper for resale and recycling. The government gives them money to provide this service. Some humanitarian foundations function to put proper sewer systems in these communities and to provide medical care. Some schools exist, but education is difficult to provide for the nomadic Roma. Gypsy contribution to Romanian society includes music. They have a high proportion of excellent muscians--some play in philharmonic orchestras. The Roma are traditionally the ones who replace roofs and gutters; buy, refurbish and sell old cars; provide door-to-door sales of shoes and household goods (but do not have permanent stores to avoid taxes); and trade in gold, silver and copper. Many of these activities
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Even their horses have colours. had to be built up again after WWII. The gypsies were among the first groups targeted for elimination by Hitler. Many of their citizens were lost.
The crime rate is higher among the Roma and they have their own system of justice. If a Roma citizen commits a crime, the community will hold its own trial. If they determine that he is guilty, his punishment will be to turn himself into the authorities. However, if the Roma trial finds him not guilty, the entire Roma community will hide him and refuse to co-operate with the authorities. There is a suggestion that the police don't get involved when crimes are one Roma against another Roma.
We spent most of time in the region of Transylvania. What immediately comes to mind? Dracula, of course. The natives just roll their eyes and suggest that it is nothing more than a tourist attraction. Count Dracula was a 15th century prince of Wallachia. The name "Dracula" came from "Dracul" meaning dragon or devil in Romanian. It was a designation that his father received when admitted to "The Order of the Dragon." He was named "The Impaler" for his ruthlessness to his enemies. In
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This Roma woman was selling second-hand goods at a festival. The Roma community also put on a demonstration of their music and dancing. Some are trying to be part of the non-Roma community. Romania he is considered a national hero who liberated the country from the Turks. Most of his reputation was a sort of P.R. machine designed to intimidate the Turks.
Lots of weddings going on Saturdays and Sundays at the hotels where our Elderhostel group stayed. The wedding starts with the groom and his best man (traditionally an older man--often a friend of the groom's father) going to the bride's house. They knock on the doors of three or four wrong doors first until they finally get to the bride's home. They both go to the Mayor's office for the official wedding. While all this is going on, the guests join in and accompany them. Then everybody piles into cars (or walks with a band) and arrives at the church for the religious wedding. Everybody then goes to the reception. They have dancing between courses and it goes on for a very long time. Guests are expected to bring an envelope with cash equivalent to twice the cost of the reception meal. Close friends and relatives contribute even more. Some families cheap out and have a low cost reception so they net more funds. Our guide said that this is
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This is a Roma Palace, recently built. It copied Versaille, but the inside reflects the family's Indian roots and reflects the Tah Mahol. Source of the money to build it is not known. frowned on.
Romania will join the European Union in January 2007.
Bye for now,
Donna
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Elena_Alexia
Elena
Wonder land
Hi Donna, if USA is the land of opportunities for sure Romania is a land of wonders..so cool to see how other people see us... u have a gift to describe details ..even if one never came here can get the idea... but thats just a small piece of what this country is ..so enjoy ur travel and looking forward to read ur journeys... so far i enjoy them..have fun