Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Last weekend we had a ‘Nadlac Days’ Festival

   This was Nadlac's second annual festival to basically
just celebrate life. It was quite an event, there
had to have been around 4,000 people or more.

   They had some really great cultural dancers
and musicians playing from as far away as
Slovakia. Nadlac is approximately 49%
people of Slovakian descent and they have
kept many of their customs. They were Slovakian
dance troupes from Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia
and of course, Romania.

   There were also Bulgarian dancers from a
town in Romania that is majority Bulgarian.

   They were excellent and their music was
quite something and somewhat unique. It
was told to me that the root of that music
is based from Turkey.

   As you can see in the first picture that
there was a lot to see. That is a
Slovakian dance troupe from
Hungary. It is a crazy thing to
think that the traditional
Slovakian dance troupe
champions for 2006 are
right here from Nadlac. They
even beat out the dancers
from Slovakia. But unfortunately I
ran out of batteries for my camera and didn’t
get a chance to take a picture of them. After
seeing their performance I have to admit that
they are truly phenomenal.

   The second picture is of a Rroma (politically
correct term for ’Gypsy’) young kids dance
group. They are also from Hungary and that
is a pretty easy place to come from
seeing as Nadlac center is about
¾ of a mile from the Hungarian
border.

   We also had a group of Rroma kid
dancers from Nadlac but like the
Slovakian dancers they came on
after the batteries ran out. But
they were even more colorful
than the kids in this picture.
They also drove my friend nuts as
she is the neighbor to the house where
the kids practiced to about 4:30 a.m.
with the music blasting.

   I do have to say that this was a great time as
there were a lot of people who returned to
Nadlac to celebrate. There was a lot of beer and
a lot of people were happy but there wasn’t any
trouble. It was nice being able to go to a festival
and not worry about some form of violence. Also,
the events went on from 3 each afternoon till 5
in the morning.

  It all ended in a fireworks show that was
actually pretty nice.

   I did notice one thing, that this Monday morning
there were a lot less people running around town
than what one usually sees. I am sure a few of
them are suffering from what we call here
‘capul mare’… which translates in English
as ‘a big head’.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Before moonshine there must be wine.

   I guess I was a little ahead of myself
heralding that we will be making moonshine
soon. What I didn’t realize at the time was
that we had to make wine first.

As you can see in the first
picture that it was time
to pick the grapes.
In the second picture
we were using what they
told me was a ‘smecker’ way
to separate the grapes from
the stem.

   The word 'smecker' is really an interesting
and humorous thing here in Romania.
I am sure in other parts of the world there
are other names for it but I have only seen
in such an obvious form here.

   You might want to know what ‘smecker’
means about now. Well ‘smecker’ means
‘tricky’. I guess that the way
we were taking the grapes off
the stems was a clever way
to do it. They explained to
me that there are two types
of people in Romania. The
smeckers and the people who
cry because they got smecked.
So far I haven’t been smecked
yet, or at least I haven’t
realized it. Also the word they use
when someone is doing a act of trickiness
… he/she is doing ’smeckeria’. I and they
think it is a pretty funny concept. Sure
makes for a lot of laughs so far.

   Back to the wine making, the third picture
is pretty self explanatory. The grapes are
pressed and as you can see the results
(at that point) some pretty darn good
grape juice.

I don’t drink but the grape
juice was really good. After
that they put the juice in
some big jugs and as of right
now it is fermenting. I am not
sure but I think that in about two
weeks it should be close to
being ready.

   The leftovers of the pressed grapes aren’t
thrown away. They are being saved for
the upcoming moonshine/tsoika making
event.

   I have been told that next week is the
moonshine making time.

Should be a hoot.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Preview of upcoming events


This is a picture of what is
appoximately 2,500 liters
of plums which will be
turned into the drink
called 'Tsoika'. It actually
could be called moonshine
in the States. I have never
seen it done so it should be
a pretty decent experience.

I was told that it should take about 2 weeks or so at a part time clip
to finish all those liters of plums. They said that we should be 'stilling'
most of the nights through till completion.

So stand by and I'll try and explain the process of how
to make Romanian moonshine.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

I was invited to a wedding


Or should I say that I was indirectly invited to a wedding
of a young Romanian boy of about 24 to a young Slovakian
girl of about the same age. What happened is my neighbor/landlord
was going to this wedding and they in turn invited me to go along. I
asked them if I needed an invitation and they said "no problem,
you’re with us’.

It didn’t start off too well as when we arrived at the restaurant
where the wedding was being held I immediately met the bride
an groom. And just as immediately the bride had this hurt look
on her face and asked basically " who ta hell was I ?". Of course
my better sense told me that it would have been easier with a
direct invitation and her reaction didn’t surprise me. My neighbors
told them that I was from the United States and that seemed to
make everything alright. She said "no problem he is American",
whatever that meant.

One thing about this Peace Corps gig is that when you start it is
always a test of one’s self confidence. For example, going to a
wedding where you really don’t know anyone. To boot, after
studying the Romanian language, and in fact still studying the
Romanian language (to the point where I can actually speak more
like a 5 year old instead of a 3 year old) I get to sit in the Slovakian
section. They’re speaking Slovakian and so of course I don’t
understand a word. Good thing I have a little bit of self confidence
and experience. I know that this lack of communication instances
will pass with time.

While I was sitting there not understanding much of the conversation
it gave me an opportunity to reflect on the differences between
the 3 cultures I have been living in through my Peace Corps tours.

Of course it is too early to speak expertly of the Romanian culture
but there are some obvious differences. I am going to speak about
the general social interactions and what I think are some differences.
First the Salvadoran culture is not quite what one would consider an
open culture. They are really the nicest people when you start talking
but you have to usually start with them first. I am not sure if the 12
year war they had is one of the main reasons for that, I am sure
it did. In Africa those people were really open. Of course being
white in a black society would make one stand out and get
a lot of attention (good and bad). But here, it is not quite as
open as the above two cultures. I have been told that it is a residue
of the Communist and Ceaucescu eras.

I have also another theory that I am going to investigate during
my time here. I think that to add to the Communist angle is the
fact that here it is more developed in a material way. It seems that
some of the problems could be a side effect of what I have to describe
for a lack of a better term as a direct result of too much material
development. It is similar to the States, the kids are in front of
the tube and playing computer games all the time.
We know that this could be a detriment to developing social skills.
I sense this suspicion when people see me or meet me for the first
time. It is interesting to think that this could be the result of a
collaboration of a Communist philosophy with a materialistic
mentality. It will be equally interesting to find out if my suspicions
about this behavior are true or false.

I also must be honest and mention the other side. If the Romanians
get to know you they are as generous and hospitable as they come.
It is really interesting to see actual physical transformation when
they accept you. It is so apparent and obvious.

Getting to describe the wedding, again it is as different from
El Salvador and Senegal as the distance between them. In El Salvador
I don’t remember anyone actually getting married. They moved
in together but never married. In Senegal it was really more of
an event where the women participated more than the men,
except the husband of course. I can’t describe a Salvadoran
wedding but I can an African one and there the women dance
the most. There is a big difference here in Romania. Here the
men and women dance, all night, I didn’t see them dance one
second without touching each other. The band played traditional
songs in the Romanian and Slovakian languages. I actually danced
some and again it comes back to self confidence. It is the first time
that I had to dance in their fashion so it took a few steps to get
with it. So you have to appear a little foolish at first before you
get it. Of course making my Romanian dancing debut in front of a
bunch of people I don’t know is always a day to remember.

I also have to say that there was plenty of food at the wedding
and also the local moonshine called ’ Toica ’. It is actually
pronounced ’tsoi-ka’, I need to have a keyboard that
puts a little ’s’ under the T for you to get the right sense
of the pronunciation. It is also an interesting note that
despite the fact that the Slovakians have been here
for 200 years there is still this ’he is married a Slovakian
girl’ thing going on. That Slovakian family has been in
Romania for over a 125 years but they still firstly consider
themselves Slovakians. As of this writing I have been a
citizen of Nadlac for a whole 2 weeks. So, of course be aware
that these are my first impressions and I am going to say
that as I learn more I will probably change or modify these
impressions as time goes on.

I also talked to my neighbor’s son and though he wasn’t at the
wedding he said that as far as Romanian/Slovakian weddings
go this was a rather small one (100 people only). He said that
times have changed some and that in a more traditional wedding
there are usually about 300 people. Now get this, 300 people per
spouse. Also, he mentioned that they also usually have 2
ceremonies going on at the same time. The groom has a reception
separate from the wife’s and each one would have about 300
people. Also, he also mentioned that there usually is this person
(always seems to be the drunkest one) that dresses up in a
bear suit with someone leading him on a chain. He actually is
kind of like the jester and entertains. I haven’t seen those type
of traditional weddings so I am only passing on what was told to
me. Hopefully during my time here I will get the chance to
witness those traditions.

But to conclude all this I have to say that it was one rocking
wedding and it is truly a huge social event with a lot of
participation. I have to give the Romanian/Slovakian wedding
ceremony a big thumbs up.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Training is over and off to the site:

I arrived in Nadlac on Saturday the 29th of July. It took a
8 and a half hour train ride and then another hour ride by
car to get here, but it all went smoothly.
It was a different trip from the site visit as this time I knew
that this is where I will be for the next two years. Well so far
it has been really easy. The counterpart I have is really super
and has been with me throughout the settling in process. I have
met the mayor, police chief, librarian, the priests, the head of the
local bank and many other people. My Romanian language skills
are lacking some at this point so the discussions are pretty basic.
Also, here, almost everyone speaks Slovakian and that is quite
something seeing as the Slovaks first came here 200 years ago.
There are 6th generation kids that speak Slovakian. It is
impressive that the people have kept their heritage this long. Of
course they all speak Romanian. So this gives me a chance to
learn the Slovakian language and I have picked up a few words.
But I will actually wait a few months till the Romanian
gets better then I will start on Slovak.
After 4 days here I did attend a Slovakian funeral, it was that
of a lady that died in Israel on the 17th of July. She didn’t die
directly as a result of an attack but rather indirectly. The story
goes that she went to Israel to earn some money. Supposedly her
husband drank a lot and had a hard time with money. So she
went to Israel to work as a live in maid with two older gentlemen.
I guess she had some heart problems and there were rockets
landing in the town or area she was in. At the seventh rocket
she started getting chest pains from the stress and between the
seventh and eight rocket landing she died of a heart attack. She
was 52 years old.
I received an invitation to attend the funeral and went. The most
distinct parts of the funeral was that it was all in the cemetery. There
they have what would be equivalent to a funeral home. They passed
out moonshine and sweetbread. The next day was the actual burial
and again all the ceremonies where at the cemetery. The priest
came and gave his eulogy. They pinned a white handkerchief to our
shoulders and we all (about 200 people) marched in procession to
the plot. The casket was lowered by rope and it was at that time when
everyone burst out in tears. It was sad.
Many of the Romanian people have asked me what do the people
from the United States know about Romania. It is the same old
answers they always hear, Dracula, Nadia Comaneci (the gymnast)
(I am not sure of the spelling of her last name) and Ceaucescu and
not much else.
I do hope through this blog that I can give you some insights to
Romania and it’s people.