December in Deva and Beyond

December 1st was the National Day here in Romania. We watched the parade from Bucharest on TV, it was fun to watch and Cristian was very proud of this country and the fact that it does have, contrary to the option of many people, quite modern and sophisticated military equipement! Unfortunately, the Air Force component couldn't fly due to fog, which often happens on the first of December.

Check out this link of the parade!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EH3YU3PK6Y&feature=related

I also spent time on the National Day tweaking a collaborative Youtube video featuring Romanian Army Heraldry. It was a project that Cristian and I started some time ago and finally decided to finish it on the National Day. Unfortunately Cristian's annotations don't appear on the embedded video, but if you'd like to see them you can go to the Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EH3YU3PK6Y&feature=related

The next day we traveled to a small town near Brasov Sfantul Gheorge located in the Szekler region of the country. This was another episode of what I call "sports tourism"; this time the objective was to see SepsiBC Sfantu-Gheorghe women's basketball team play. Cristian enticed this somewhat homesick Michigander me into this trip with by dangling a carrot in front of my face. The "carrot" in this case was Kristin Rassmussen, a fellow Michigander who plays in the WNBA and for SepsiBC Sfantu-Gheorghe. We missed being able to talk to her at the game but were lucky enough to run into her at a local restaurant. It was wonderful to talk to someone who not only has the same accent as me, but also thinks that Romania is a pretty fine place to be! The game was great, even though our team didn't win. The spectators were a wonderful example of how Romania is NOT a melting pot. I don't mean that in a negative way at all, on the contrary I think this is simply wonderful. People of different ethnic groups keep their own identity, their language and culture. In this case it is the Hungarian speaking Szeklers, an ethnic group distinct from both the Romanians and the Hungarians. The crowd was great, singing the Szekler anthem and waving green flags for the team and flags reflecting their ethnic identity. What was even more impressive was the interaction between the Sfantu Gheorghe fans and the visting Bulgarian fans. Both teams heckled each other in a good natured manner without any hostility or otherwise nastiness that can be seen at other sporting events in Europe and abroad. It is interesting from the point of view of someone from the Midwest of the United States to be in an area where you can easily meet people from so many different nationalities without traveling far.

December 6th brought the second round of elections resulting in a total that was so close that many votes needed to be recounted. All this time I was thinking "OMG, it's the hanging chads of the 2000 elections all over again". This time it was examining the voided votes to see if some valid votes were "improperly" placed in the voided ballot box. This whole process started out by causing first tension then another case of the "blue state blues"!

Recently I have been battling with a bout of homesickness brought on by missing American Thanksgiving and the Christmas hype here in Deva. Cristian was kind enough to remind me that Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and not the other stuff. Admittedly we have different perspectives on things since I was raised in an upper middle class area in Michigan and he was raised in Ceausescu's Romania and had to hide the fact that he celebrated Christmas at all. I think that I can learn a lot from him.

Residency and medical issues.

Last week I went to the foreigners police and picked up my new residency card, valid for five years. I am amazed at how easy this was. I was also pleasantly surprised that the same prescription which would cost me at least $15.00 copay in the States was completely covered by my insurance. I am faring far better here than I would back in the States, yet some people still wonder why I want to stay here. It is pretty obvious actually, the people are wonderful, the country is beautiful and I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for my much needed diabetic supplies.

Oradea

Last week, inspired by an article he saw in Adevarul-Sporturi , Cristi had the "crazy idea" to go to Oradea for some sightseeing combined with watching two matches of the Len water polo tournament. Getting there required taking two trains with a change in Arad. We were frustrated at first because we just missed the first train we needed by seconds. Had the train actually stopped the customary three minutes at the stop we would have been fine but these "Personal" trains will practically blow through the station if they see that no one is getting on or off. It reminds me of what we used to call a "Coca Cola stop" when I was a kid (pausing briefly at a stop without coming to a complete stop). So we ended up taking a "poshier" train about an hour later (at a higher price).

When we arrived in Arad, we went to the Hotel Parc. Which was a two-star hotel downtown. It was a fascinating place actually. The building was a 17th century palace which was converted to a hotel at the turn of the 20th century. It's magnificence has been dulled by time but you can see that it was once quite wonderful, lots of fascinating mo

lding on the walls and ceilings. It was somewhat of a labyrinth which hearkens back to its origins as a princely palace.

Across the street from the hotel was St. Anne's Catholic Church (which I liked because I was

baptized at St. Anne's in Augusta, MI) It was a very small church, very nice inside. We couldn't go all the way in because the grill was closed which only allowed us into the back of the church.

We spent Friday roaming around the the Center of the town where there were many Art-Nouveau styled buildings. Fascinating architecture compared to what I am used to seeing in Michigan where nothing is much older than 100 years old.

The Neologue Synagogue in Oradea, seen from across the Crişul Repede (Swift Criş)river. The

neologues are a movement within Judaism that originated in Transylvania in the 19-th century, in opposition to Hassidism. They strived for a modernistic Judaism, with looser observance, more adapt to the times and the dominant culture. In Transylvania and Hungary they built separate synagogues in some places;the one in Oradea was dedicated in 1878 and is one of the biggest synagogues in Romania.

The Rimanóczy Palace in Oradea(1905), built in the Art Nouveau style, so named after the famous architect Kálmán
Rimanóczy Sr (1840-1908)

The parliamentary office of the MP for the Slovaks&Czechs in Romania, located inside Oradea's mediaeval citadel. Cristi tells me that in the Romanian democratic system, those ethnic minorities that cannot secure a seat in Parliament by popular vote(in fact, the only minority who can are the Hungarians) are guaranteed a seat in the Lower Chamber.There are 18 ethnic groups in this situation. So this is the place where this MP meets with his constituancy, in this case all the Slovaks and Czechs in Romania.

This photo&the next:the "Mihai Eminescu"National College in Oradea. A high school in Romania can use the name "National College" if given this right by the Prime Minister of Romania, generally after its 75-th anniversary. This one is the most elitist high school in Oradea, where students are given intensive training in Humanities.

The other side of the tracks

I have to say that overall Deva is a very pleasant place to live except for one thing, the tracks! We are staying with Cristian's mom who has a house in a neighborhood which is on the other side of the railroad tracks. To get anywhere by foot (and we don't have a car) we must cross the tracks. This would be ok except for the fact that the crossing is broken and is now a hazard. We must step on broken slabs of cement which teeter when we step on them. This has caused many an able-bodied person to break a leg, but it is particularly treacherous for us as Cristian has some motor problems. Every day we go to town we have to go through over these tracks which are like going through a mine field. Will we step on the wrong slab and fall and break something? Will someone come and help us cross (as it is easier with two people helping him)? Why is this the case? The railway dismantled the crossing which had existed for a least forty years, with the argument that it wasn't the proper place for a crossing. The city council approved a pedestrian bridge over the tracks but some idiot who claims he owns the property where the foot of the bridge should be is disputing it. A whole neighborhood of people, including an an architect for the city, live on this side of the tracks. There is a church whose worshipers, old an young, must cross these tracks, many of whom have gotten injured. To add insult to all of this injury, we must also wait for the cargo trains which randomly decided to stop right at our crossing, making us wait 15 minutes to cross in either direction. Stupid CFR!!!!

Deva Fall 2009

In the garden

Pears from the pear trees in the garden

Anniversary of the "Point-Coeur" in Deva

Saturday we went to the 15th Anniversary of the "Point-Coeur" or Heart's home in Romania. They are a Catholic lay movement based on prayer and compassionate presence working with children in difficulty. Most recently the team included an Argentinian who is consecrated, two French girls and an American.

Here they work with many of the gypsy children who in many cases live in poverty. Cristian played an active role in brining the organisation to Deva. I have been blessed to have stayed with them on different occasions! For the celebration they had quite a spread of food including Sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls). They also had live entertainment feature students from the art school. This video is of one of the performances. Please excuse the poor quality, it was best I could do with the camera I had on hand.

Here is a link to their US website http://usa.heartshome.org/.

Residency

Today I turned in all of my paper work and will get my residence card in about a month. I am now legal. We also went to turn in some paperwork with the new family doctor. She seems rather nice and seems pleased to have an American patient. She also seemed to think that Cristian was quite fine as well. I have health insurance here which was much cheaper and easier to obtain in the States. I have yet to see how it will cover my diabetes meds, but I am feeling optimistic.

The Battle for the Grapes

The last few days here have been filled with much drama. The grapes which grow in the courtyard and the garden have been attacked by the starlings which hang around in masses waiting for the moment when my mother-in-law is out of sight. At every opportunity they descend upon the very sweet grapes in Hitchcock like fashion and devour the tasty morsels. It is a never ending battle, as soon as she chases them from the garden they attack the grapes in the courtyard. In some cases leaving nothing but a clump of stems still attached to the vine.

I can't believe I'm blogging!

I really don't know where to begin with this blog having never blogged before but here goes. I have been in Deva, Romania for three months and now have reached a watershed. I must get off the fence and move forward. I have stayed my 90 days and now must do something about my status in this country. Tomorrow, after jumped through all of the obstacles in the Romanian Residency Agility Course, I will turn in all of my paperwork and obtain my "permit of long stay" by virtue of family reunification, thus making me a legal temporary resident of Romania. I now have a CNP! (cod numeric personal).