I’ve been in Romania for a month now, but I still don’t feel like complitely settled in. I’ve just made the first tiny steps towards discovering this country. One of my objectives over here is to make as many as trips as possible in order to see more of the country. I’ve started with that slowly. Visiting local communities of Suplacu, Abrud and Covasint and cities like Oradea and Timisoara has given me some material for comparison. I’ve seen three different villages and three different cities (including Arad).
Suplacu, Abrud and Covasint have all their different backgrounds. I would call Suplacu „The High-Contrast Village”. First it’s the environment. When walking on the streets of Suplacu I senced peacefulness; the fields and the hills and the overall atmosphere of the countryside really create the feeling of being close to the nature. Until one notices the oil-pumps and these are definitely noticable everywhere in that village. Suplacu is full of these human-created artificial monstrums and the smell follows you almost everywhere. Then it’s the ethnical diversion. The metaphorical gap between the gipsies and romanians becomes so real in Suplacu as one bridge literally divides the village into two- part for gipsies and the rest for the others. This very clear separation points directly ones attention to the perhaps quiet-kept problem- the social exclusion. I leave Suplacu with many controversial emotions in me. Abrud and Covasint didn’t create so strong feelings, nevertheless they have their own unique and place-specific characteristics.
These three different villages gave me the first impressions of the life in Romanian countryside, which definitely differs greatly from the life in the city. Walking on the streets of all three cities one can notice more the presence of money. Appearance and outer qualities matter. One can see people with expensive cars and clothes with the signs of all the worldwide famous brands. Especially women tend to be taking every detail in their appearance in strong consideration. Having stopped staring at the people, one can notice beautiful architecture. The shapes, colours and especially the fact that most of the buildings have not been repaired and repainted, create an attractive cityscape. Timisoara, Oradea and Arad are all relatively sympathetic cities and there are a lot to discover in all of them.
But only travelling around Romania could never bring this country I know so little about closer to me. The little details of my everyday life here matter. For example, some weeks ago we had a chance to see traditional gipsy folk-dance. I’m not sure what was the occasion, but many people gathered to the city center to vitness a great show. All the pearls, colours, jewellery made the brave little girls so elegant. As they tried their best to perform the steps, they looked so charismatic and I think many from the audience had a little silent feeling of envy in them. I did. I would like to dance these folk-dances and to wear these costumes. And I would like to be as free and passionate as these young girls and boys. I want to learn romanian folk-dance, I decided. Now I’ve had already two lessons of traditional dance and I must admit that I enjoy it entirely. Learning the first dancesteps is like making the first steps towards understanding Romanian culture. Hopefully I will continue with the same curiosity and spirit and won’t end up waking up after six months, noticing that I’ve missed everything.
