Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Nu Stiu Ce (I Don't Know What)
Back from holiday spent in Romania, it is amazing that I have to take holidays to spend time with my wife but that is our life.
It is always a pleasure for me to go to Romania, first because my wife is from there, second because I will see her family and friends and third because the country is a nice place to live. I have to admit that I still don’t speak Romanian even though my wife speaks fluent French, it often happens that I don’t speak for hours because I can’t be part of the conversation. As I can’t express myself in Romanian I can focus my whole attention to try to understand what is being said around me, it is not easy but I use the 5 Romanian lessons I took as a base. I don’t understand anything most of the time because most people speak too fast for me but as soon as the language speed slows I start understanding some words here and there and maybe the occasional sentence. It would of course be simpler for me to learn the language once and for all but I like to learn a few words from the country I am in and it is not possible to learn two languages at the same time; anyway I don’t plan on travelling all my life when I will stop I will seriously start learning.
Travelling to Romania means going to Fagaras, the birthplace of my wife, to spend time with my in laws. Being with them is always interesting as we can only communicate when my wife is translating otherwise they limit the use of difficult vocabulary to a minimum. My in laws only speak Romanian and they make simple sentences for me to understand or they ask questions that only require da (yes) or nu (no) answers; in any cases mime is always useful. From time to time I will try and create a full sentence but I am almost sure it must be tough for the ears.
The Ceausescu buildings
Fagaras is the countryside for me even though it is the second biggest city in the judetiul (department); my wife hates it when say it but it is how I feel. With time and mostly thanks to my travels I have a list of what makes the place countryside:
- if someone stares at me, I am in the countryside
- if someone grunts when passing me by, I am in the countryside (specific for China)
- if some points at me, I am in the countryside (specific for China)
- if there is movie theatre in the city, I am in the countryside
- if I can walk in the street without being disturbed by cars, I am in the countryside
- if the city centre is as big as neighbourhood block, I am in the countryside
- if the city doesn’t have a map, I am in the countryside
- if a 3h train ride from the capital city is required, I am in the countryside
National Council on Solutions against Dissent
During my stay in Fagaras I was surprised by a behaviour that I wasn’t used to encounter before, many young people starting laughing when passing me by. I truly believe that this never happened before and I find this attitude puzzling. What in my appearance could create laughter? I am used to have people stare, scared, smile, point or grunt but I was a little bit surprised by the laughing people. I will never know why they laughed but I will add this behaviour to my countryside list.
Fagaras is a nice quiet small city, my wife says she wouldn’t be able to live there anymore but I wouldn’t be against a nice far from the senseless troubles of the city inhabitants if I have an internet access to get my daily dose of news. The city is located close to the Carpathian mountains for those who like hiking, the Fagaras country has a lot of churches and monastery for visitors to enjoy and if you like castles there is a fortress built in 1310 located in the centre of the city.
We visited Brancoveanu Monastery in the little town of Sambata, it used to be a small church that got turned into a monastery in 1696. The interior decoration is very rich in details, there is no space left unpainted or covered with golden leaves even on the ceiling; I believe this is a common style among orthodox churches. There are plenty of churches in Romania, the city of Fagaras counts 6 of them counting the largest one being actually built in the city centre.
The call for mass
I have a mixed feeling about Bucharest: on one side the city is a big mess but on the other it hides a lot of nice places; it all depends on how you live. As many cities, Bucharest was not built for the car and if you add the trams you have a recipe for disaster because large avenues become completely jammed during rush hour preventing public transportation from working efficiently. The subway can’t even help in the matter, with only 4 lines a lot of neighbourhood are not even covered. If the car is not of importance to you, you will have the opportunity to walk the smaller streets of the city which where the sound of traffic jam is not the norm, in public transportation it can be quite interesting: 2 stops with the subway, 3 with the tram and 1 with the bus; it doesn’t work for people in a hurry but you get the opportunity to see the city a different way.
The city is discovering its historical centre and decided to give it back its former glory after leaving it to the gipsies for years. Now that the neighbourhood has found a new commercial interest some Romanians are complaining to find the gipsies even if no one complained when they moved in before the renewal project. People wouldn’t want the gipsies to ruin the nice picture of this old place made new again, I don’t know how the authorities will take care of this situation but it looks to me like the Romanians found a new reason to hate the gipsies. When wandering through the streets you will see the many many terraces among the very dirty buildings, as the authorities haven’t decided to evict the gypsies from the buildings they inhabit (rent free) no building renovation can be done. Only the streets have been repaired and have become car free: the contrast between the terraces and the old buildings is stunning but funny. Time will tell how this place will evolve.
A little bit of music for the end.
La suite!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
My Sound Of The Day
A treat for your hears made in Japan, it is the soundtrack of the Samurai Champloo anime: Minmi - Who's Theme.
La suite!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Delivery Service Chinese Style
This is the storage area of one of the largest parcels delivery company in China, the employees sure know how to take care of the parcels.
La suite!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
My Sound Of The Day
You may not believe me but this song is great to dance with someone, thank you Mos Def et Talib Kweli: Black Star - K. O. S. Feat Vinia Mojica.
La suite!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
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