Angelica
January 10, 2002
Romania

whoosh.
time sure has passed since i wrote last...
well... I've seen Vienna inside out, magical castles in southern Czech,
an interesting 3 hour train layover in Budapest, and 1.5 crazy days of Bucharest, Romania.

what to say. i'm exhausted. i can offer nothing constructive other than I really like romania. my parents and family most feared this leg of my journey for my safety, and i'd heard mixed reactions from all the eastern-europeans i spoke to.
"culture on the edge" sums it up pretty well. I'll write what I wrote in my journal last night, or some of it at least ;-)
...
reading Romanian Journal of European Affairs about EU accession. what a career i could get out of this trip. the barren wasteland of Romania. wild forests, vast large-scale farms abandoned for winter, villages of shacks with the occasional chateau sprinkled in the middle of it all. [ my host told me today that he knows of a few places where gypsies have built huge brick buildings with no windows, and they live outside in tents. he said they build them just to show that they can. ]

Romania is that lost sibling of the Latin World... the radio plays latin-american, spanish, italian and romanian music. such plans for splendor and yet such a negative image (the huge majestic buildings and thoroughfares). "The Paris of the East" in the 1920's I was told, because they have a river through the city like the seine, and the bridges over it are quite picturesque, though small. What an incredibly interesting place. I am VERY interested in seeing what becomes of this country in the next 10 years. Poland also. 2 very different places, Poland being frostier, but both eyeing EU accession. hm. the noise of the engine is very obvious in each place. hungary purrs, poland clunks lightly and romania has a loud diesel engine that won't turn over, but they're sure that conviction and persistence will convince it. ah, to see how the world economic slump plays a role in their timelines... cool. i like it a lot.
...
everyone i've met here is incredibly intense, either obviously or silently. this is the kind of country where they wave at the trains that go by in the country. it is very rough and they're falling over themselves to advance. no offense to other friends on the trip, but they are certainly the hardest workers I've seen, working everyday, all day and night.

a strong reason for this trip was to explore my bloodlines; to read a little more into my family based on the cultures we originated in: Polish and German from my mother and French, Austrian and Romanian from my father. I see a lot of my father and sister in the people in romania, and i saw a lot of my grandfather in Poland.

One more experience: last night, after work, I met with someone who had been trying to befriend me electronically for a while from the organization (Pro Democracy Association). He came in to my office, I grabbed my coat and bag and we were off. Hardly exchanging a word, we hit the street and started walking like we'd been doing it every day for our whole life. He had a set stern expression and asked if I was hungry. We passed a pizza hut, and he asked if I wanted something familiar or new. Although I did have a small desire for pizza, I said something new. We passed many large looming buildings built to impress but resulting in a stew of grey pillars and columns. In a modern (1950s) building, we entered a main door to a wide room with a medium height ceiling. It was an empty restaurant appearing to be very high quality. Silk tablecloths, silver cutlery, wine glasses the room itself was very ornate with marble and mirrors and gold trim everywhere. More people and this restaurant could have sparkled. Then the bizarre aspects became more apparent. There were 2 waiters, tall slim dark haired and very attentive. In the background drifted music that was just a little bit too loud: Parisian accordion café music that was just tolerable in moderate doses. So, the meal began. He was not hungry and after I expressed an interest in lasagna he had a long drawn out slightly argumentative conversation with one of the waiters. This resulted in the waiter leaving in a hurry. I asked what had happened, and he said the waiter was going to ask the chef if the dish was appropriate for me. Hahaha. I had to laugh. He came back, another long discussion and the waiter left with the menus. I asked again, and it seems the lasagna was ordered for me. At this point I was starving. He began asking specific questions about my goals for my stay in Romania. I answered and redirected the question towards himself to learn more about where I was working.

Eventually the food came. White gloves, silver dome covers, linen towels, etc. two plates were over-ceremoniously places in front of us, and the domes lifted. A small piece of lasagna was revealed with a large ornamental edible "decoration" accompanying. He had ordered meat and polenta. I asked more and more about the workings of the Romanian government since Ceausescu, trying to get a grasp on the direction of the country. I could talk at length with any of you interested in the details that ensued, but essentially he was very critical of everything and foresees another complete collapse before anything constructive can be done with the country. I finished my food quickly and delved into his comments while occasionally being bothered by the music. Occasionally I would see the reflection of one of the waiters in the mirror fixing his hair or bow-tie. They stood by the door to the kitchen, straight tall with their arms behind their back chattering lightly and observing us. It was not as if we were some strange new thing, but they wanted to impress us and act casual at the same thing. All in all, it was an extremely bizarre meal. I got their attention at one point to ask for the menu to order something else as the portion had been quite small. My friend's meal was half eaten as he had been mainly talking and was not hungry. Instead of the menu, they took his plate and he asked for the bill. I was disappointed, but did not feel in a position to apologize. He kept asking what I thought should be done, but often could not comprehend my suggestions. At times it looked like my friend was so moved by his words that he wanted to cry, but never did.

Hm. That was an incredible experience. And so funny! I'm glad I've had 2 months to work up to this country. To roll with what they're handing and demanding of me here takes a lot of strength and flexibility.

Okay, enough. Sorry for the delay in writings, but Christmas and New Years in Vienna did not include internet access. All hail to my abroad friends: Adam in Slovakia, Annie in China, Olivia in Dominican Republic, Jeanette in New Zealand, Renee in Belgium, Ryan in Brazil, Clayton in Japan, Nagisa in Brazil
The earth is an incredibly beautiful thing. I hope you can fine examples of this all around you.

Much love,
Angelica

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