* In the picture below you can notice a small metal box
attached to a fence.
    
  (I don’t know if you can see in the glass the
outline of two trees. That’s a reflection from the
central park.)
  This metal box is on the fence in front of the
Evangelical Church. It’s where they place the names of
the parishners whom have died. It is a custom that began
when the church was founded over 200 years ago.
There are other churches in town but this is the only
one that has this custom.
  When someone dies the bells of the church sound for
approximately 5 minutes. It is interesting to see people
come by and stop to read the names of the people who
have passed away. When I see them stop it just bring to
mind how the times of the ‘town crier’ might have been.
It is remarkable to see the old habits continue and
survive despite the ‘new age’.
  There is an interesting statistic (from that church)
that last year there were 69 deaths and only 9 births.
Of course it is one church only and without data I can't
state with authority, but it appears to be the trend.
  In the days of Ceausescu it was mandated that each
woman have 5 children. I have been told that women
had to go to the gynecologist monthly for examinations
regarding this.
  At present, Romania is the most densely populated
country in SE Europe and the second most densely
populated country in Central Europe. Probably as
a result of the mandate. But if that parish is any
indication, then that should be changing.
  To continue with the topic of change. It is pretty
incredible to think that Romania has had three major
governmental transformations in one generation’s
time.
  From Ceausescu’s style of communism, to a totally
abrupt change into democracy and now to the European
Union.
  Hopefully this will be the last stop for Romania on the
‘governmental merry-go-round’. This way the country
can have the stability of a fixed system.
  Also, with the ‘new way’, people have been left to decide
how many children they want. So eventually that death
to birth rate should find it‘s own equilibrium.
  As a change today reveals itself in the future, I feel safe
to say that 200 years from now there will still be papers
posted in that little metal box on the fence. But …
probably, there will balance between life and death.