Advertisement
Tour of the Villages What an awesome experience today! Doug took us back in time to a life that appears to be simple and peaceful.
This morning we left Bucharest and headed north about 70 miles to Pitesti. We had not been through that area of Bucharest on our way out of town. What we found again was miles and miles of housing complexes—again in great disrepair—built under Ceausescu’s rule. That continues to amaze us, especially because we saw these same complexes in Pitesti. Doug says they are all over the country. From Pitesti, we headed southwest on more rural roads where there were many villages. That’s where the real journey began for the day.
Observations for the Day: Those People Work Way Too Hard! But then it appears there is plenty of time for community and relaxation. Apparently, after the fall of Communism, the land was given to the people in small tracts—in strips. Doug says they farm their land for what they need to live on then sell or barter the rest. Check out the pictures to see how they farm. We saw very few mechanized tools—most just hand hoes. And the average age of those doing all the
More Complexes
Mile after mile of these Communist Era complexes in Bucharest--They are Everywhere! manual labor must have been at least 70 years old! We saw many older people, and some young, walking their milk cow to a grassy area down the road for the afternoon grazing time. If they don’t stay with their cow, they tie the cow to a stake and allow enough rope for a grazing circle. At the end of the day, they walk the cow home for milking time. What an innocent, peaceful life. Most appear to be very friendly, but are not used to Americans in their villages.
There is Time for Relaxation and Community Time: Of course, we saw many children playing and people sitting on the edge of the street for times of visitation. Houses (usually 1 deep) line the roads that go through the villages. All houses have very decorative fences on the street side. Most houses have benches by the fences where they sit and visit. Maybe we can all learn from them on this—such community spirit.
Homeownership Pride: Most people paint their houses with colored whitewash. They are so colorful, with some having very intricate painting details. Doug said the whitewash normally lasts one year so they are repainted again every
year right before the Easter celebration. It was sad to see many abandoned houses in the small villages as generations die and the young leave for another life out of the villages.
Nomadic Gypsy Tribes…: On our first day of touring Bucharest, our cab driver warned us that gypsies would steal from us whenever possible. Then a street policeman warned Matt that gypsy children would grab his camera and run. We saw many gypsies in Bucharest—pictures have been shared. Doug has told us many gypsy stories. Today, we found their dwelling places when they return to the villages. You will see the gypsy tribe leaders homes in the blog pictures for today—unbelievable. Apparently, stealing and begging is a very profitable lifestyle and the tribal leader benefits greatly! As we passed a river, we stopped to take pictures of a gypsy settlement. There were 5 children playing about 50 feet from the road. When we stopped, they quickly ran to the car. Keep in mind, this is way out in the country so these children have been trained to beg to anyone they see. Imagine American children running to a strange car that stops out in the middle of nowhere!
Oil Refinery
Shut down because of pollution Matt wanted to get their pictures so we rolled the window down—a little—and gave each one a Ron (worth about 40 cents US money). Matt was looking out the backseat window snapping away. Unfortunately, he ended up with only 4 good pictures of the children, but those 4 tell the story. What a way to raise children! (Romanians greatly despise the gypsies.)
One Foot in the Past; One Foot in the Present: Even though most of what we saw was extremely primitive, many of the small concrete/stucco houses had satellite dishes! We wondered what they thought as they watched programming on those satellites and then returned to the reality of the life they lived. Good? Bad? We did see some teen girls on the roads (visiting) dressed in Western attire.
The Foot in the Past: Those girls in Western attire still had to draw water from the community well. There was a well on the side of the road for every house or two houses. Even though they had gas in their houses (as evidenced by the gas meters built into the fences), water wells and outhouses were the norm.
Village Churches and Personal Shrines: Every village
Typical Complex Balcony
Those complexes built for "the equals" had a beautifully decorated small church. As with the houses, most churches had intricate painting on them, of which Doug said usually had to be repainted every year. Also, there were many personal shrines or prayer houses people had built along the roadside. Within the shrines would be pictures of a person who had died. One shrine included a water well where passersby could be refreshed as they traveled. Mom even tried her hand at drawing water from the well. An amazing lifestyle.
The Team concluded we like our plumbing conveniences.
Concluding Thoughts: The Team processed what we saw today wondered if the village people, if given the opportunity and given the tools, would move into the 21st Century. After sharing thoughts back and forth, we concluded they were probably pleased with their lifestyle and they probably didn’t know any differently. So, our basic answer was “No.” After all, Matt’s Grandmother would never use a dishwasher so not accepting change is not just a Romanian thing.
The Team’s Observation: We Americans would do well to embrace some of the lifestyles and values of the Village People.
Tomorrow we are off to the north and will be back Hotel
Once owned by Ceausescu's son. For the past 2 years, being restored. in 2 days. We will spend the day and night in Sinaia Romania and visit
The Church of the Sinaia Monastery and
Peles Castle.
Again, we will have an excellent tour guide who loves Romania—Doug, Mom’s brother.
The Matt & Mom American Bonding Team MORE PICTURES FROM TODAY'S TOUR WILL BE ADDED LATER.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.368s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 8; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0556s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb