Newsletter: Recollections of Romania

[The following is a newsletter I wrote while travelling in 2001. It was originally sent to an e mail list on 21 March 2001. Please note: conditions in Romania may have changed significantly since then. My opinions and positions may also have changed significantly since then.]

Welcome to the fifth edition of my newsletter about the countries I’ve visited. In this newsletter I share my experiences in Romania.

You’ve probably noticed that my newsletters have slowed down and that I’m way behind. It’s true! One reason is that I put a lot of energy into a newsletter about Communism in Eastern Europe which was subsequently lost. Another reason is that since I’ve been in Turkey and living in an apartment, I’ve spent a lot of time studying economics. And I still have to find a solution to the length of the newsletters, which makes them hard for most people to read.

DISCLAIMER In the following paragraphs I try to make commentary about Romania. A great deal of it is based on my impressions and not on hard factual information. Thus it cannot be said to be a perfect interpretation nor wholly accurate. It is hard to get exact information about my host countries in English. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies or offensive misinterpretations. The statements of any other authors in the newsletter are not necessarily my own. If you disagree with what I´ve written please tell me! Send me an e mail or a letter!

1. Romania- Intro

I crossed the border into Romania on the full moon, driving the car of a French woman I had met in Budapest. The hills and mountains of northern Romania were mysterious, draped in that powerful moonlight. Spotting a sign for a remote monastery we forayed down a dark, muddy road. At the gate an old watchman surrounded by several barking, growling dogs led us to the monastery, which we discovered was under construction. Though he spoke no English, he tried to persuade us to stay in his small hut for a meal. But, alas, we were hurrying and had to continue onward in the moonlight.

The next day, my French traveling companion struck a small dog while driving her car. Infinitely compassionate, she kissed the dog, cooed in his ears, and shouted at me to call a vet, while the car sat in the middle of the road. The Romanian country folk who gathered to watch us did not understand our concern for the dog (since there are so many strays in Romania), and encouraged us to keep driving. Like Florence Nightingale, my companion commandeered the back room of a nearby pub, and doctored the dog, directing me to act as a nurse. Our Romanian hosts, still not understanding, reluctantly provided us with hot water and a variety of tools. After this operation we continued onward with the dog in our car, driving through the mountains with the dog asleep in my lap. That night we snuck the dog into the motel via a back entrance, where he slept in the bath.

One day later, I was mugged, robbed, captured one of the thieves, and was interviewed by the media in one of my most dramatic experiences yet. Starting off with these unusual experiences, I became more immersed in Romania than many of the other countries I’ve visited. Not only did I stay there for a while, but I met and spent time with a lot of Romanian people. As a country with deeply troubling problems, I came to really feel sympathy for the people who live with day to day realities there.

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1.a. Romanian Places

Suceava is in the northeastern part of the country in a region called Moldovia. Moldovia is unique because of the wide variety of Orthodox Monasteries with biblical scenes painted on the walls. The monasteries were built mostly by Stefan the Great, one of Moldovia’s great kings.

Sighisoara is a very charming small town in the region called Transylvania. Sighisoara had a beautiful old citadel, enclosed by walls on a hilltop, old houses that are still inhabited are nestled together among a huge catholic Church and monastery, a long tunnel staircase, and a huge clock tower with little dolls that once performed every hour. This colorful, quiet little town was quite a sweet place.

Brasov, a much larger city, also has an old town with a famous Lutheran “Black Church“, a beautiful town square, and a long pedestrian mall with numerous shops. Nestled in the flats surrounded by steep hilly inclines, it also boasts many beautiful Orthodox Churches. It was here that I slowed down to recover from the robbery I experienced and tried to find out about gypsies.

Bucharest is a large grey city with many fancy buildings, large boulevards and huge plazas. Although it was not my favorite city it really made me understand the whole of Romania better, as it is the pinnacle of Romania’s economic power as well as its problems. One of its most severe problems is the hordes of stray dogs meandering about and huddling at every nook and cranny. Bucharest has seen better days but it has the potential to be a nice city again in the future.

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1.b Poverty

Poverty is perhaps the big story in Romania. Everyone tells me about how low the average monthly wages are, and many are forced to think about money more than they would care to. Some dream of escape to countries like Italy, the UK, or the US, where wages are higher. They are so desperate that they would give up their family friends and culture to escape.

Sometimes the poverty is reflected in the appearance of the people, who are perhaps a little rough looking or acting. Or perhaps their faces are gaunt, as if they hadn’t enough to eat that day. And sometimes it is the constant warnings to be careful, the firecrackers that alarm you and make you feel as if things are not quite under control. Or perhaps the slow movement of the people who come home from work after another tired day. Slowly these days add up into a lifetime of just enough food, clothing and shelter to get by, nothing more.

An image struck me when I was in Bucharest, that I’ll find hard to forget. At a roaring four lane intersection, a young boy, maybe 5 or 6 stood on a small curb divider, in cold grey weather. As the cars rolled by within inches on either side, the child held a 1000 lei note flapping in the wind, the equivalent of 4 US cents. No parent was in sight.

The poorest place I visited in Romania was Garcin, a remote suburb of Brasov. I went there to try to meet gypsies. This settlement was akin to a shantytown, composed of rusted metal plates, old boards and poles fastened together in makeshift shelters. The roads in this community were nothing but muddy ruts, and garbage was strewn thickly in the ravine where the creek ran. My host, one of two who spoke any English, told me that he was extremely hungry but refused to accept anything from me out of honor.

The average monthly earnings of a Romanian are between $70 and $100 (estimates vary.) But Romanians may be lucky compared to the poor of other countries since they have the potential to become part of the European Union. If this happens Romanians will be able to work in other EU countries. Currently Romania is last on a list of 12 countries seeking entrance to the EU.

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1.c. Politics

While I was in Romania they had national elections for both the legislature and for the presidency. It was interesting to witness these events although I never had the chance to understand everything that was happening.

The Romanian elections were very unusual to me because they had such a plethora of politcal parties- about 14. However, only about 5 to 7 of them were real contenders. The huge number of parties was a nice break from the boring 2 party system in the US.

The Romanian situation is a textbook case of the questions which surround democracy. In the United States we are strongly conditioned never to question that democracy is the best system. But in Romania the situation is so bad that many people have lost faith in the the ability of the democratic system to solve their problems. They perceive the politicians to be an elite group which doesn’t really care about them, and people repeat the mantra “corruption” regularly. One night while I was staying at the home of a family the electoral debates came on TV. the people in this family were not even slightly interested in the debates, and professed their view that the candidates were just mouthing words.

My solution to this problem would be to design a more directly democratic system where the people have more of a direct vote in legislation, but this would require more from citizens. They would be required to learn more about complex economic issues and think critically about social policies.

Part of the apathy many people feel may result from the Communist years, when they had little chance for input or to express their view. It may take years for a politically engaged electorate to emerge. On the other hand, the electorate in the US could not really be said to be engaged either, and the US has been “democratic” since 1789.

In the election, Ion Iliescu and his party the PDSR, or Democratic Socialist Party of Romania, got the highest percentage of votes, without getting over 50% of the votes. The biggest surprise was the rise of Vadim Tudor, an ultra nationalist candidate who has been compared to Jorg Haider of Austria. Interestingly, the party that had been in control of the government before the election got such a low percentage of votes that they will not even be represented in the parliament.

The fact that Iliescu did not get over 50% of the votes mandated that there be a runoff between Iliescu and Tudor, which occurred on Dec. 10th. In the runoff Iliescu won by a margin of about 2 to 1.

The runoff is instructive to politics in the US because under the Romanian constitution, Gore and Bush would have been required to compete in a runoff election. Seeing how other electoral systems work has really led me to question the structure of the US system, especially in light of the recent electoral crisis between Gore and Bush.

Iliescu is a controversial candidate because he is a former Communist party member. Before and after the election, many negative words were flowing about him because he is a supposed Communist. I don’t think this is accurate because his government’s policies in the past have shown that he accepts private property, foreign investment, and is generally oriented toward integration into the EU. The label “Democratic Socialist” is probably the most accurate. However, I cannot say whether I support him or not because I don’t know enough details about what policies he favors, and I don’t know if he is corrupt or not.

There are more interesting political issues that will be considered in the history section.

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1.d. Economy

By almost all indicators, the Romanian economy is not good. One of the most common experiences a visitor will have in Romania is to hear a long series of laments about the low salaries and the challenge of making ends meet. This is a very real experience for Romanians. With average monthly wages between 70 and 100 dollars, just surviving is the order of the day. According to many reports, factories have closed since the revolution and agriculture has failed. There is not much foreign investment in Romania, meaning that the anemic domestic economy must provide for the needs of the people.

Tourism is almost non existent in Romania compared to other countries like Morocco, Turkey or the Czech Republic. And because Romanians have great difficulty getting visas to travel, there are few expatriates sending tax remittances home.

Romania was the first country I ever visited in which inflation is a serious problem. Even while I was in Romania, the currency, called the lei, declined 3 to 4 percent against the US dollar. The result of this is that everyone saves their money in dollars or deutschmarks, if they can save at all. I had several normal people offer to change Romanian lei for cash dollars, which I uncomfortably declined, since this is illegal.

According to most reports I received, however, there is difficulty getting dollars. In order to try to control inflation the government tries to limit the amount of dollars a person can get. By controlling the demand for foreign currencies they are preventing the rapid selloff of Romanian lei, which would accelerate inflation. Apparently, however, how many dollars one can purchase is dependent on one’s station in society. For example, a businessperson may purchase more than the average laborer, which is a source of resentment for some Romanians.

The condition of the Romanian economy is reflected in a few other things. The shops and stores in Romania are strange to me because they are not highly specialized like the shops in the US. Every shop might carry a small part of each product line , in addition to 2 or 3 other product lines. So, for example, one shop might have computer supplies, beauty products, and a few snacks. And the limited product lines are replicated almost exactly from one shop to another. As a result of this, I could not find any hairbands to tie back my long hair, despite checking at about 10 or 15 stores.

More evidence of the Romanian economy is represented by such things as the often repeated horse and carriages. This unique sight was quite common in the countryside. People who were hired to clean the streets used old fashioned brooms that could be described as a group of long twigs bound to a large stick.

While I was driving in the mountains of Romania in the North, I saw a sign advertising a roadside store. Hungry, the Frenchwoman and I pulled off the road, but we discovered that the store had about 10 products for sale- a few anchovies, a few biscuits, in a tiny little room about twice the size of a closet.

As I rode through this mountainous region of northern Romania, I noticed another disturbing aspect of Romania’s economic situation. Hillsides were covered with fallen trees, clear lines showed the stark contrast of the clear cut hillsides and the parts that were still forested. I always imagined Eastern Europe as a relatively intact hinterland of the Eurasian landmass, but unfortunately the forests there are being exploited heavily. This is happening when forests around the world are being assaulted. People I talked to said that this is happening because Romania’s economy is desperately weak. Other countries which still have forest remaining buy timber from Romania because they can afford to preserve their forests. Germany and Italy were cited as two such countries. Arab countries, who were mostly deforested long ago, are also major customers.

Finally, its interesting to consider two theories about Romanian economic development. One theory holds that, “things may be very difficult for Romania now, but after they complete a difficult transition period they will be much better off.” The second theory says, “Romania will never attain the economic wealth of the other countries but will remain economic vassals of the major European countries.

I would be most inclined to believe the second theory, except for the possibility of entering the European Union. It seems that entering the European Union would eventually lead to a leveling through which Romania would eventually approach the wealth of the Euro zone countries. In this equation the major question then becomes “how much inequality will remain between European countries in the long term?”

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1.e. History

The Romanians trace their roots to the Dacians, a group of people predating the Roman invasion. While a few words remain from the language of these people, the Romanians permanently adopted one of the Romanian languages when the Romans invaded in 105-106 AD. After the Romans withdrew from Romania, it was swept by waves of migration from Central Asia.

The Hungarians began to control central Transylvania from the 10th century, and encouraged German Saxons to settle there to protect it from the Tatar raids. In the 14th and 15th centuries the Romanians struggled to resist the Turks, and some of Romania’s historical heroes date from this period. The most famous is Vlad Tepes, a very strict and sometimes gruesome defender of Romania. He was the inspiration for Count Dracula, but don’t cancel the flight to Bucharest yet. Those odious beings called vampires were made up by a 19th century Irish novelist.

The Romanian provinces eventually became autonomous vassals of the Ottoman Turks, and had only to pay tribute to them. But when the Turks were defeated at Vienna in 1683, Transylvania came to be controlled by the Hapsburgs. The Romanian provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia were united in 1859, when both regions elected the same person as ruler. This period in Romanian history is strange because they were being controlled by European powers and by the Ottoman empire at the same time. The result of the European infuence was the eventual declaration of Independence from the Ottomans.

In World War I, the Romanians sided with the victors, France England, and Russia. This resulted in the creation of the Romanian state as it now exists. In World War II, Romania was isolated, and was ordered to give Transylvania to Hungary by The Fascists. Ion Antonescu overthrew the king and became a dictator who allied Romania with Germany and Italy. According to Lonely Planet, “400,000 Romanian Jews and 36,000 gypsies were murdered at concentration camps.” In August, 1944, Romania suddenly betrayed Germany, and the Soviets and Romanians drove the Hungarians and Germans out of Transylvania. By changing sides Romania saved itself, as it would have been divided up had it been on the losing side.

In an interesting twist on the Romanian perception of history, many of the people I met revered Ion Antonescu as a kind of hero, despite his cooperation with Germany in WWII. Although I cannot demonstrate factually that Jews were deported to concentration camps from Romania, I find it hard to believe that Lonely Planet could afford to be inaccurate. The only thing I can figure is that history was so clouded during the Communist years, and cooperation with Russia so emphasized, that a clear recognition of history is not yet possible for some Romanians.

The Communists took power with the support of the Soviet Union. In 1960 Romania began an independent foreign policy , refusing to participate in the Soviet crackdown in Prague in 1968. At home, Ceaucescu built the humongous People’s Palace on the backs of the people, as well as many other vast projects that probably only a dictator could muster. He continued with his projects until the Romanian revolution, while the Romanian people suffered in poverty.

The “revolution” started on 15 December 1989 when a Hungarian minister publicly criticized Ceaucescu at his church in Timisoara. Protests started when the Reformed Church (Most Churches are coopted by the government under Communism) fired this minister for his statements. On the 19th of December, the military in Timisoara defected to the side of the protesters.

While full scale attempts were being made to crush the uprising in Timisoara, Ceaucescu decided to make a public address in Bucharest. However, he was booed by young people who attempted to break police lines. Police were forced to clear the chaos in the square while Ceaucescu finished his speech. After that huge confrontations between the police and demonstrators broke out in two of Bucharest’s main squares. The next day rumors circulated that a top defense minister was forced to commit suicide because he refused to order the troops to fire on demonstrators. This news led the demonstrators to think that the troops were on their side, so they mingled with them and became friendly.

Ceaucescu declared a state of emergency and thousands converged on the Central Committee building. Ceaucescu tried to address the crowd but was forced to retreat, by booing and objects that were thrown at him. Ceaucescu and his wife boarded a helicopter from the roof of the building to escape the country, but the pilot landed the helicopter before arriving at its destination. The Ceaucescus were then arrested, and eventually tried and executed on December 25th, 1989.

Some people believe that this whole affair was orchestrated by the Russians, a theory which, they say, is supported by the fact that Ceaucescu’s successor, Ion Iliescu, was a former Communist trained in Russia. Numerous Romanians tried to persuade me of this theory. One friend even espoused a theory that the Hungarians orchestrated it.

For the first six years after the revolution, the government was dominated by Ion Iliescu and his party of former Communists. In 1991 a Prime Minister who advocated rapid reforms of the economy was forced from office, leading to a slower rate of economic change. In 1996 a centrist coalition took over control of the government, but they failed to deliver on promises to heal the economy. This resulted in Ion Iliescu’s reelection to the presidency in November 2000, while I was in Romania.

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1.f. Architecture

The architecture in Romania is widely variant depending on the region and context. The farmhouses in northern Romania, made from local wood, often stood out for their simplicity and ornate woodwork fringes. Multicolored tiling in this region recalled similar tiling I’d seen in Budapest.

In Transylvania there were many old fashioned buildings and houses in the eastern European style I’d seen in the Czech Republic and Hungary- red clay tiled roofing, smooth pastel colored exteriors with discreet square windows. Sighisoara was unique in its remarkable castle district, perched with a clock tower, many churches and the remains of a fort overlooking the town.

The modern buildings in Romania were often quite sad in appearance and sometimes worse in the interior. I was shocked by the conditions of the dormitory at a university in Suceava. And of course the Block housing leaves a lot to be desired in appearance, although they weren’t too bad inside, and they kept the people housed.

Among the greatest achievements of Romanian architecture was a centuries old trade tariff center, with volumes of beautiful wood and plaster rooms, stairways, terraces and inner courtyards. Also of incredible quality were the painted monasteries of Moldavia, in which the simple but elegant structures were covered with colorful Biblical scenes on the outside and inside of the Church. One could easily spend an hour or two just looking at all of these old frescoes.

And, of course, Ceaucescu’s monumental People’s Palace in Bucharest is quite spectacular in its grandeur. The second largest building in the world, it contains a mixture of traditional European styles, constructed in fine wood and marble. It now houses the parliament.

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1.g. Gypsies

There are many Gypsies in Romania, and I was hatching plans before I arrived to learn more about them. I had read a fascinating book by a Belgian man who had lived with a group of gypsies as a boy, before World War II. And I had seen a remarkable movie about Gypsies which showed beautiful landscapes and remarkable music.

While pining away in Cincinnati, Ohio, I fantasized about joining a group of Gypsies in their travels, perhaps even marrying a Gypsy woman, who would share my wanderlust and join me in my endless world travels. Of course this all came to be quite a daydream when it came down to the practicalities of meeting them.

My first information about Gypsies came from normal Romanians. Across the board I was sharply warned about them- that they are bad people, thieves, that all crime is committed by them. Of course I have no way of knowing if this is true. In Bucharest I was warned that Gypsy neighborhoods are quite dangerous, akin to the ghettos in the US. In fact, the comparison between Gypsies and African Americans was made several times, although I think there are limits to the value of this comparison.

Some Romanians also expressed resentment that they are associated with gypsies, and feel that Gypsies are responsible for the bad reputation that Romania has in other countries.

Most Gypsies are in some stage of assimilation. A pure Gypsy would still live a nomadic lifestyle and speak the Gypsy language, Rom, which is thought to be related to Sanskrit. However, many who are now sedentary, and speak Romanian may still be considered Gypsies. Perhaps only fully assimilated gypsies who no longer live in Gypsy communities and have good jobs may be able to “pass” as a Romanian.

Some of the least assimilated Gypsy women are quite obvious and easy to spot because of their dark complexion, long dark hair, and very colorful, sometimes neon clothes. They usually wear floral dresses and plastic coins as decoration (the plastic coins are reminiscent of when they wore real coins as symbols of wealth.) And their clothes are often quite dirty, apparently from sleeping on the ground.

In addition, they often stand out because they are begging. They have a unique begging style which is quite different from what one hears in the US. Rather than asking a question or telling a story, they tell a continuous stream of words, apparently a tale of woe, which consists of gradually falling pitches. At the bottom of the pitch range this tale begins again at the top and descends slowly again, all the while with the hand outstretched and a sorrowful look upon the face.

After I was robbed I wasn’t in a hurry to meet any Gypsies as I was psychologically quite timid and had been warned of how dangerous they can be. But when I was in Brasov I decided to give it a shot. First I went to Brasov’s ghetto where Gypsies are said to live. While I saw a large group of them get onto the train, I couldn’t think of any way to approach them or interact with them.

The next day I took a bus to the remotest “suburb” of Brasov, a place called Garcin, (pronounced GOOR-chin) which was reputed to be a Gypsy community. Quite frightened and also self conscious I walked into this community. On my first walk through town a group of young men stopped me, trying to figure out what I wanted. They said something about “tsiganes” (the Romanian word for gypsies) but I said I was going for a walk. I didn’t want to say I had come to meet Gypsies, as this might make them feel like animals in a zoo, and there is a stigma to being a Gypsy.

At the edge of town I recollected my nerves and proceeded back into it. The town is one of the saddest little places I have ever seen. The dwellings there were made of nothing more than wooden posts and scrap plywood and sheet metal. The streets were nothing but muddy ruts, and the place was strewn with garbage, especially the little creek which flowed into the river on the plain beneath the village. Overlooking the lower plain of the village I could see people getting a horse drawn wagon ready to go.

I started to walk down one of the main streets, and attracted the attention of some young girls, who tried to speak to me in Romanian. They followed me for a while after that, telling others who passed about the foreigner they’d discovered. One woman ducked inside her house when she saw me, as if it was a sin to be seen by me. A man and his wife approached me, and friendly enough, he asked me a few questions, then continued on home.

At the main corner I stopped as a small group of people were gathering to talk to me. Over the next few minutes a huge crowd of people gathered, all staring at me with their mouths open, asking a few questions interpreted by someone with minimal English. It took all my Buddhist training in rootedness to stand there at the center of attention, and I smoked a cigarette to smooth tensions a bit. Eventually an old lady came along who vehemently insisted that I leave the village, as it was getting dark. She felt it would be too dangerous for me after dark.

By this time a young girl who was a student of English was doing a decent job translating, and she ran off to find the town’s best English speaker. He was a young man who was friends with a foreign minister, I believe from the Church of Latterday Saints, and had spent a lot of time reading the bible and trying to convert Garcin’s residents. He invited me to come back the next day to talk with him.

He told me of the woes of the people in the village who had few economic options but to commit crime or pick through the garbage dumps in search of scrap metal. He explained that he had tried to find factory jobs but was turned away because the employers don’t hire Gypsies. He told how a few evangelists had had come to town seeking converts, and that people had thought I might be one also. More ominously, he told how foreigners in nice cars would come and offer high salaries to people who would drive away with them, and those who left were never heard from again. This sounded like slavery or prostitution, or maybe worse.

Surprisingly, when I breached the subject of Gypsies my host denied that the people in the town were Gypsies on the grounds that they speak Romanian. But later, when he and I were taking a bus to Brasov, a man made a concerted effort to warn me to be careful, as I was traveling with two gypsies. I later concluded that my friend wanted to dissociate himself from Gypsies and didn’t like the stigma associated with it.

We returned to Brasov where he showed me two marketplaces where Hungarian Gypsies sell goods. These Gypsies, apparently, are relatively wealthy from this trade, as could be seen from their clothes and cars. While we were there my friend confessed that he hadn’t eaten that day and was really quite hungry. Yet when I stopped to eat he refused to accept any food, because he didn’t want people passing by to think he was begging from me.

When I parted from him I was very impressed by his character, and also thankful for what he had shared about his village. I realize that I only got the tip of the iceberg about what this huge minority group experiences, and of course there is vast diversity between Gypsies within Romania and in other countries.

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1.h. Romanian Friends

I would like to thank all of the kind people I met in Romania. Valentin is an English student who found me a place to stay for two nights in Suceava, and accompanied me to the hospital after I was robbed. Oana was the first to call the police when I was robbed. She stayed at the police station afterwards to translate, and returned for several days after that to translate some more. She also prepared a lunch for me and had to testify in court in the trial of the two men who attacked me.

Valentin’s friend Stefan and his roommate put me up at their place for a night and took me to Gura Humorului to see a dentist and some of Moldavia’s monasteries. Thanks to Jessica, a Peace Corps volunteer, for putting me up for one night in Gura Humorului.

Vasile, his brother Cosmin, and their family put me up for three nights in Sighisoara. Vasile was a favorable guide around Sighisoara for three days. And finally thanks to the sisters Elena and Mihaela for putting me up while I was in Bucharest. Thanks to these folks I really had a great time in Romania and hope to visit there again.