Aurel the Artist

I met Aurel last fall at a rest stop on a 7 hour bus trip from Iasi to Targu-Mures. We were both standing outside, stretching our legs and waiting for the driver to finish his cigarette when he approached me with a big smile on his face. Most of the time I can anticipate what someone is going to say to me but with Aurel I had no idea why he was grinning so.

He said, "You speak English right?"
How did he know? I hadn't said a word to anyone over the past 3 hours on the bus.
"Yeah, how did you..."
"I saw you two weeks ago on the Maxi Taxi to Bucharesti. You were talking with that Gypsy guy." He said, still smiling.
"Well actually, he was talking to me." I replied.

Indeed I had been on a Maxi Taxi to Bucharest two weeks prior. About an hour into the journey a Gypsy man in a pin striped suit with a black ten gallon hat and the signiture black handlebar mustache turned to me and said something. "Uh...pardon?" I said. He repeated himself. "You want me to open the window?" I said. Again he repeated the incoherant phrase. "No," he said, "maldjslakhldjlfs." I tried to get away by nodding my head but he was onto me. My cover was blown. Within a few minutes the whole bus knew I was American. After I exchanged a few pleasantries with this guy I tried to slip out of the conversation but he kept persisting. He was speaking to me in English, and very loudly on a small bus. I was suprised, not only was he a gypsy speaking English, but it was more fluent than many Romanians I know.

During our break at the rest stop he downed 3 or 4 shots of congnac and proceeded to become more and more intoxicated as the trip went on. This meant that he continued to speak to me quite loudly on the bus. Though he was perfectly harmless the man sitting next to me said, "Be careful. This man is a Gypsy." This was painfully obvious.

Eventually I just put on my headphones and stopped responding to him. Though it took him some time before he got the messege (or maybe he passed out).

And now two weeks later Aurel and I were on a bus together once again. During several converstions he told me he was an artist and that he had started his own advertising company in Targu-Mures. He was looking for work, I was looking for business cards. We couldn't have met at a better time.

Months later he invited me out to Reghin (about 35km North of Tg-M) for the weekend. We took a walk up to the city heights which overlook the river and the town's center along with locals laughing and sledding, enjoying the snow while its lasted. Reghin was founded by German settlers who moved to the rich Transylvanian heartland in the middle ages. This cozy town of craftsmen was industrialized like many others during the communist period. Dozens of rows of bloc apartment buildings were built to house workers for the chemical and cement factories.

Suprisingly the two most famous aspects of Reghin were preserved throughout this period of "modernization": its violin, and beer factory. Silva I'm told was one of the best beers in Romania. The brewery was lways large and employed thousands of workers. But all of that was closed down when the brand was bought by a Western European corporation which changed the brewing standards and moved operations to Bucharest. Now Reghin is a shell of its former self. The factories are closed. The people have left and now there is not much reason for aspiring young people to stay.

Aurel is an artist by schooling and by trade. He thought he could make it by applying his skills in the visual arts to advertising. But, after only a few months he became so discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm in the Romanian market place that he retreated to his home in Reghin and started selling his canvas paintings on Ebay for dirt cheap prices instead. He's sold a few already for around $100 a piece, which is a steal considering their quality and detail. Though selling just one painting can earn him the minimum monthly salary on the economy, Aurel is going to have to pick up the pace if he plans on saving enough money to follow his dream and move to the United States. Like many young people in Romania Aurel is already tired of his life of setbacks and seldom opportunities for financial gain. Moving to the United States will lead to the financial freedom which inevitably will open other doors for Aurel, or so he hopes. I too want to see Aurel succeed. But unlike most Romanians, I think he's already doing it, right here in Reghin.

US Bases near Constanta and CIA Planes

The Diplomat has an informative piece on further reaction to the US bases in Romania from Romanians as well as other members of the European community. You can find the article here.

Video about Romania in Washington Post

The Americans Are Coming!, a 4 minute video clip featured on the Washington Post describes Romanian feelings surrounding the arrival of American military troops to MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania. The construction of a US military base on Romanian territory is part of a military strategic plan to place small numbers of troops in key positions with easier access to the Middle East and Central Asia. America's relationship with Romania has been significantly increasing since the War on Terror began. The use of Romanian territory for the construction of U.S. military facilities is seen by Romania as a trade-off in exchange for closer ties with the United States and more prestige as an important European player. The US-Romanian alliance could also be seen as a counter balance to the dominance of the European Union. By playing one side against the other Romania may not seem as heavily dependent upon its European Union entrance scheduled for 2007.

The featurette does a very good job of depicting the typical rural Romanian lifestyle as well as broad attitudes and stereotypes of Romanians. Though the scenes shot in the video depict an extremely drab and dreary landscape, it remains a decent depiction of the typical Romanian village. However, I promise that this peasant lifestyle looks much more pleasant and fairytale-like in summer.

Ridin' that Train (Feb 9th)

I was able to jot this down in my moleskin last week...

Its nice to be on another mini adventure again. Its not that I havn't been where I'm going before, but I havn't been there on the same road. Instead of taking a maxi taxi from Tg-M all the way to Bucharesti, I took one to Sighisoara and then boarded a train (Accelerat classa doua) down to the capital. Its about the same amount of time, almost the same ammount of money and the train is slightly roomier not to mention less jerky. For those who like to stretch their legs, walk around, and need access to a toilet, the train is a must.

When travelling in Romania you really need to tap into your sense of intuition. If you feel you should get off the bus at a certain location in the city, do it. When asking for directions make sure you survey 2-3 differnt people to see if they have corresponding answers. I've had people tell me to go all the way accross town only to find out we were standing on the street I was looking for. Just keek your guard up, go with your gut, and realize that you may indeed look like a bumbling idiot in the beginning. But don't worry, head out on the road a few times on your own and after a few painless life lessons, you'll be able to feel your way out of anything.....................almost.

English Discussion Group

Yesterday was the 3rd edition of my English Discussion Group. Unfortunately, I think I gave too much homework during the previous lesson and scared a bunch of people from comming back. I only had 1/2 the number of people attend this week as I had the week before. The good news is that each time someone new has come. This means that word is slowly getting out.

I had intended the group to be a place for advanced English speakers to come and discuss various short newspaper/journal articles which they could read at home on their own time. Originally I was thinking about a book group, but then I realized that this is too time consuming for most people and it means that new members can't join the group at any time.

Although the participation is not nearly as forthcomming as I expected I have gotten nothing but good feedback from the participants. Most of them are my collegues from work, but usually a few high school kids show up to see what this group is all about. So far, I have incorporated multimedia into all of my lessons by having the group listen to audio clips and yesterday by showing a 10 minute clip from Seinfield. Not only does it make the class interesting for them, but it gives them practice listening to another native English speaker. I'm suprised always suprised at how tired my throat is after each class.

The discussion group was such a sucess that more people in the foundation have asked me to lead a beginners course. I said I would do it but my disclaimer is that I can't be held responsible for spelling anything correctly. (Perhaps you have read my blog before)

Looks like its back to school for me.

A Day in the Life

Left: Climbing wall build in Resita, Romania with USAID program called Small Project Assistance (SPA). A Peace Corps Volunteer from group 16 along with some friends in her community put this together for around $5,000.
see their website for more pics: www.bikeattack.ro

9:00am - meet Adam at Outward Bound to go over our ideas on climbing wall

9:30am - drive to the Sala Polivalenta to meet with the Director about possible collaboration
(Every town has a Sala Polivalenta and its kinda a convention center. Usually it hosts large indoor concerts, sporting events, basketball games, etc. "Sala Polivalenta" means something like "Multipurpose Hall".)

9:40-10:00am- snoop around the big empty building looking for possible spots to build a small climbing wall/training area until we are caught by the maintenance people. (Public institutions always have suspicious civil servants guarding them. Usually remnants of the old guard, these pensioners take great pride in exercising what little power they have left.)

10:00am- meet with Mrs. Director and present to her our idea of a collaboration with other NGOs in the community to find a location for, and build a rock climbing gym in Targu-Mures.

(Background:

There are many groups from Targu-Mures which I think would be interested in opening up a small indoor public climbing gym which could be used for training purposes all year long. There are public institutions which encourage sports and fitness in youth. There are NGOs that work in the field of outdoor recreation, outdoor education, and environmental protection. There are many students and young people in the city who need an alternative outlet for sporting activities. And there are adults who need recreational opportunities to stay healthy, happy, and involved in their communities.

A small climbing gym could serve many functions at the same time. A climbing gym in the community could:

· Serve as a source of recreation for young and old

· Serve as a meeting place for people who share the same interests

· Serve as a training facility for people who want to learn more about outdoor recreation and outdoor education

· Be used by local NGOs to offer trainings and meetings

· Be used by schools as a part of school curriculum

· Open new markets for local gear shops

· Be unlimited in its uses

10:45am- Take one last look at the building with the Director. I was suprised, not at her enthusiasm for the project, but that she didn't crush the idea imediately upon presentation.

10:45-11:30am- drive to 3 other possible venues but almost all of them are a bust. We are holding out for the Medical University (UMF) which has a gymnasium under construction.

12:00-12:30pm- Lunch back at Alpha. Things sure taste a whole lot better now that we've got a new cook. (see Lunch Lady Land)

8:00-9:30pm - Basketball with collegues and a few friends.

That Damn Ground Hog!

Groundhog Day seems to be a pretty normal event in February...until you try and explain it to your Romanian coworkers. Man, you think they have strange traditions? Just saying the word and watching the confused expression on their faces was enough to make me realize that the whole damn thing is rediculous. Not only do most Romanians not know what a groundhog is, but neither do I! What does a groundhog do? So this thing comes out of the ground and if it sees its own shadow that means we will have 6 weeks more of winter? Thats like setting meteorology back 200 years.

Anyway, it was a funny situation to be in today and it made me appreciate that many of our own traditions and superstitions are just as silly and peculiar as say a romanian who goes out of his way to try and touch the random chimney sweep man for good luck.

Jullie Mullen's Freshman Year Boyfriend

Attention All:

I was watching Discovery Channel a few nights ago and I'm nearly positive that I saw Jullie Mullen's freshman year (University) boyfriend on TV. Brad was it? I didn't even know him very well so I don't think he just wandered into my brain after 5 years of never mentioning the man. It was on some kind of rip off American Chopper Series type show. On the program the dude lifted up his shirt to reveal a large tatoo accross his stomach that said HOPE. Anything? Anyone? Could brad be out there somewhere building $100,000 Hogs?

Just keep your eyes peeled is all I'm sayin'. And if anybody runs accross Jullie in the depths of the Amazon, where she's doing her Peace Corps service, (freakin' Hippie) ask her if Brad had any identifying tatoos on his stomach.

Thanks