ROMANIA: 4/11/2005

Well it’s nearly midnight and I’m going to call it a day.  It’s been another hectic day in Romania, but filled with interesting experiences and people.  Started off at the market fairly early to get stuff for breakfast, which we then ate at our friend’s apartment —  a fairly typical tiny unit, Romanian style — about one power source in each room, max –two rooms only…very teeny kitchen — just enough room to stand and cook with everything in arm’s reach; no closets at all.  But efficient, and most important for her, she was able to negotiate an Internet line.  The building, like most, is in a state of semi disrepair, but she brought duct tape with her from the states and she’s managed to make everything work!

We set off for the Jewish Museum — once again (remember it was closed yesterday)  which is an old synagogue that has been converted to a small museum.  It was interesting as it did tell the story of Jews migrating to Romania from the 15th century until the 19th century and then told the story of the loss of Jews in the 20th century.  Didn’t find any relatives names in the mix of photos…no lost cousins…

We then walked for several hours in many different neighborhoods and on one of the main thoroughfares… just looking and trying to understand the city.. Guess I should have said in the previous travel note that my grandfather grew up in Bucharest (the capitol) and my grandmother (whom I never met as she died before I was born… and I am named for her; her name was Fanny) grew up in Iași (pronounced, I believe as “Yashi” or at least that’s how my mother pronounced it). My grandfather was very proud to have come from the big city and said that Iași was the country! But my grandmother apparently always said that Iași was very cultured and not the countryside. Adrienne and I plan to take the train to Iași in a few days. By the way, my grandfather spoke Romanian and Yiddish. His English was pretty elementary.

Eventually we met up with a woman from the Swedish Embassy who completed her PhD dissertation on Romania –focusing on property rights related to the takeover of land and housing during Ceaușescu’s long regime, and the impact of the 1991 revolution on ownership issues. She was quite knowledgeable about Romania in general, so it was an interesting dinner.. then walked back to the hotel, stopping for dessert and coffee along the way…Somehow it was nearly midnight by the time we got back to the hotel. Another long day.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we’re meeting another faculty member from the university for breakfast and then we’re going to try to visit the Peasant Museum (ethnographic center) and possibly some of the city parks… We’re also going to have lunch with a biophysicist who is a friend of a Romanian scientist friend who lives in the Bay Area ..then the goal is to check out a few neighborhoods, do some work and then late dinner with some other people.

On Wednesday we’ll take a train to Iasi..so I’ll hopefully have some quiet time to get more of the work that I promised would be done… while on the six-hours train ride. Hopefully I will be productive…Thus far, the phone is working fine and so is email, although the Internet at the hotel is a bit intermittent…but eventually works.

People are friendly, somewhat curious..surprised to see us here as they don’t get many tourists (and definitely not Americans). And of course this is not the time of year that is conducive to tourism here (overcast, grey, cold).  The effects and repercussions of Ceaușescu’s regime remain strong….But people are very excited about the European Union and Romania’s entry into the alliance.

Food has been pretty good (nothing to really write home about and lots of smetna! (heavy sour cream with very high fat content) Things are cheap; salaries are incredibly low.  Book stores are everywhere and there are a lot of cultural activities (which are also very inexpensive.)  Oh we’re also meeting a woman tomorrow who just completed a documentary film called “Hidden Sorrows” about Romania’s role in WWII (I think)…Haven’t seen the film yet.

That’s it for the moment.. I’m going to try to get some sleep, but if you need me,  –email or call.. I’ll probably be connected for at least another hour or so.

Fern