Advertisement
Published: October 22nd 2009
Balkans continued... As I am wanting to keep everyone upto date on my travels (finally!), these next two entries will be relatively short,text wise.
It's been two months since I left Romania,and my affection for it, has not wavered.
I'm a bit like someone in love perhaps-wearing rose-coloured glasses;as I fell for her flaws as well as her numerous qualities. It's the imperfect state of the country that drew me in- stray dogs roaming the streets,crazy drivers,public transport never arriving or leaving on time- all those superficial things dont matter, when you can look beyond and appreciate the place for what it is, and not think less of it, because of what it isn't.
Present reflections ... -Rules, sometimes, are made to be broken-if your instinct tells you so.
I noticed a little old lady lingering in the fruit and veg section of a Sibiu supermarket. Thinking she needed help, I passed her a plastic bag.Continuing on my way, I looked around to see that she was trailing me,holding open her bag.Once she became aware that my help wasn't one of charity,she gave me this sad and knowing smile,let her bag fall to the
Bosanta Village
This lady couldn't wait to have her photo taken,she ran into her house and wrote her address down so I can send this photo to her. Can someone read Romanian, so İ can make this lady's year?ground and then left the store.I stood there in shock,thinking how stupid I had been, not to have noticed that the help she needed was of a much bigger kind then I had offered her.We are always told not to "feed the cycle" of poverty by giving to every needy person that comes our way.But the feeling that that experience left me with-it taught me otherwise.The rules of society shouldn't come before your own conscience,or what your intuition is telling you to do in that moment.The memory of her sad smile will always remind me so.
- On a mini bus from Sibiu to Sighisoara- I had one of those experiences in which it is much easier to laugh about when you look back on it later. But I also knew at the time that it was a hilarious situation to be in and that it was a classic 'travel moment'. I dont think I have mentioned this before,but whenever I drank Romania's tap water,my toilet trips afterwards weren't so pleasant.My mini bus ride suffered as a consequence. It was hot,stuffy and all I wanted to do was jump out and run to the toilet.When I did finally make
Sighisoara
Friends playing chess it to a toilet, I realised much too late, that there was no toilet paper left.
I made do,that's all you need to know.
Good preparation for India I think.
-Doing as the locals do,hitch-hiking.
In Sighetu Marmatiei,that's just what the locals do, if they want to venture out to the little villages that border the town.So, that's just what I did and I survived,and all the better for it. I was able to witness conversations on these rides that were so passionate and heated that I just assumed the people I was sharing space with were families (naturally)..but when all of those passengers hopped out of the car at the same time I did, and paid the same going hitch-hiking rate to the driver-I came to the conclusion, that Romanians obviously don't give much creedence to the term "stranger"-and are all the better for it.
My experience in the villages? Look at the photos.
A camera doesn't have to make someone feel like a zoo animal on parade-if done respectfully .
Most of the time it helped in building a bridge around the obvious barriers of language and culture.
My last train
ride was spent with three Romanians. The female of my age helped translate the questions the two men wanted to ask me. Number one question, on the train and in the villages.."Am I married?".Instead of yelling "hell no" from the rooftops, I just politely answered,wıth a friendly smile, "No,not at this stage".The men fed me copious amounts of food and local drink (nothing untowards-as the girl told me, that is just the way of the people from the Sighetu Marmatiei region,to give and give-the way of most Romanian people I think.She also had to tell them to stop feeding me alcohol as I would pass out if they kept giving it to me..at 60%..a wise decision on her behalf.
İt was such a fitting end to my time in Romania.
Spending time with locals, on a train...building bridges...the best thing about this travelling life.
-
Advertisement
Tot: 0.131s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.053s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
