The Rug Beaters

A New Romanian Olympic Sport

The Romanian Olympics

The winter Olympics will soon be taking place in Torino, Italy. We wish all the athletes well, and we look forward to a good competition. I’m not sure if there will be many Romanians taking part. There are several ski slopes in the country, but while the mountains may be world class, I’m not sure the facilities are. I do not know the availability of training times and support, so I’m not sure how the country will fare in the competition.

Romania’s strongest sports are football (soccer) and, of course, gymnastics. There is another sport that’s truly the national sport but, unfortunately, it is not recognized at any international venue. It is Rug Beating.

Any hour of the day and nearly any hour of the night the boom, boom, boom of wicket against carpet echoes throughout every neighborhood in the cities of Romania. Every apartment block has at least one metal rug bar anchored in concrete. The rugs are slung over the metal bar and men then take whatever frustration they have accumulated in the past few days out on the poor rugs.

When first we moved to our apartment I wasn’t sure what the bars were for, I thought perhaps they might be chin up bars, but the metal rods where too think for good hand holds. It wasn’t long before I looked out our window expecting to see someone dribbling a basketball from the sound of a steady thump, thump, thump. It wasn’t a basketball; it was an old fellow with his beater and his rugs. It had to have been an old fellow for the younger fellows beat with a furiousness that sounds like gunfire. It is men that perform this sport. Sometimes women might assist, as in the picture taken looking out our back window, but mostly it is an individual male that beats rugs.

There are several categories of competition in the rug beating world. First is the amount of dust one can coax from his carpet. Secondly is the speed of beats. These are not as popular as the noise factor. The gentleman who can raise the loudest decibel level with his beater is the champion of the sport. A final category which I haven’t seen much of, is a mixed team, husband and wife, alternating beating the rug one side and the other, sort of like synchronized swimming, but with rug beaters and dust.

These guys are really dedicated. One snowy evening before Christmas I was carrying my pungas full of groceries trudging up the walkway that I take on my way home and even in the snow the rug beaters were out. I marveled at the man’s dedication to be out past dark on such a blustery night, but perhaps it was that things hadn’t been going to well at home for him and he needed to get out and beat something.

I am going to suggest that the Romanian Sports Authority look into asking if the Olympics can’t make rug beating a demonstration sport for the next go round. I know that the Romania will hold it’s own on the world stage in this sport. I propose that they designate Rug Beating to be a winter sport and try and also include carutas racing in the summer games.

The Old Ruins and Ice

The Base of the Amphitheatre

The Gates to Civilization

The Roman Ruins at Porolissum

The Roman Ruins of Porolissum

This past weekend Nancy and I returned from a trip to Salaj county, which is just north of Cluj county. We were invited to visit new friends from Canada and were treated with great hospitality and good food. Doug works for Michelin at a tire cord plant the company has established in Zalau. We had met him and his wife Emily during the after Thanksgiving feast that was hosted by three Peace Corps volunteers in that city.

The highlight of the trip, other than the great food and company, was a drive up to the Roman ruins that lie about 12 kilometers outside of town. Established as the boundary of the Roman Empire in the era of 100 AD the remains of the fortress and city now stand alone on a hillside surrounded by the quiet goings on of the Romanian countryside. The stones are visited by more sheep than people and the day we were there the frost clung to the trees and the grass.

Part of the structures have been rebuilt, but it seems as if the rebuilding has been halted for some time now. There are signs in both English and Romanian and one can get a feel for what must have been back when this land was known as Dacia and the city held some 25,000 inhabitants. The city was constructed as a fortress on the border between civilization and barbarism. The amphitheatre was large enough to hold over 5,000 and was the second most impressive sight. It was the remains of the Roman road that linked me to that long past time, nearly two thousand years ago. The original stones were in their original positions, worn from the carts wheels which passed over them. One could see the remains of the track wind up over the hills headed toward Rome.

Modern day Romanians are proud of the heritage and connection with the Roman Empire. The language is Latin based and not Slavic. Romanians will point out to you the similarity between their language and Italian.

There are many other sites and traces of the Roman Empire around the country; these at Porolissum neither rare nor unique, but still a reminder of the ancientness of this land.

What the Romans saw 1,900 years ago.

Box of Books

A picture of Luna de Sus taken last summer. The school is to the left of the church.

A Box of Books

Box of Books

I’ve told this story a few times so if you’ve heard it before, pretend that you haven’t, but it is a good illustration of the level of language skills of many Romanians.

I was standing in the dairy section of the little corner grocery right down from our apartment the other day. It is not often that one can stand and examine things at this, or any, store, for a clerk quickly wants to assist you in your selection. Like many American shoppers I like to study whatever it is I’m going to purchase before buying. I was studying Smantana. It’s like a sour cream but more creamy. I had two brands in my hand examing the labels. Although I have trouble speaking or listen to Romanian I can read it fairly well.

As I was trying to compare the two brands, a young lady clerk came and took the Smantana out of my hands and explained all about them. I commented that her English was excellent. She smiled and said thank you. I replied that I was trying to learn Romanian but everyone keeps speaking English to me. We both laughed and I bought the brand she recommended.

The number of people, especially the young people, who speak English here is amazing. I bought a five liter bottle of wine the other day and the lady behind the counter apologized for her English. She said she spoke Italian much better than English. I said her English was much better than my Romanian.

Children are expected to study English in school here, starting as early as the third grade. And the English language is all around. It’s on the radio and in the music. It is on the television. American TV shows and movies air all the time with Romanian sub titles. I wish it were Romanian with English subtitles, for that would be an easy way for me to hear the language and read the words. As it is I often turn the sound down on the television and try and figure out the story just from reading the sub titles. I do alright until they start to talk fast.

The schools in Romania are a mixed lot. As anywhere, if a student really wants to learn, they can, but the teachers are grossly underpaid and the facilities often lack the very basic materials. Many of the schools in the smaller communities lack running water for their bathrooms. Books and study materials are old and out of date. It’s amazing to me that the level of English proficiency is so high considering the difficult learning environment.

There is a program that helps this situation. It’s called “A Thousand Books” and was started by a postal worker in St. Louis who collects books and sends them to us Peace Corps volunteers here in Romania. I just received my collection yesterday. Going to the vama to collect it or any package is an experience, but that’s another story.

Unlike many of our fellow Peace Corps volunteers Nancy and I are not teachers. We work in community economic development, but these books are headed straight for the little school in the community where I work. The Luna de Sus school is a primary school going up to about the 8th grade. So my request was for books for younger readers and that’s exactly what I received. I’m sure that the children will take advantage of the opportunity to read stories in English and pass the books around. It’s a way for them to be exposed to the English language without having to absorb it all through cop shows and meaningless drivel.

(If there are readers that might be interested in learning more of the 1000 books program, I’ve included their web site here. Apparently they’ve collected lots of books but do not have the funds to mail them over. Should you be looking for a way to contribute to a cause that promotes America to the world, I suggest you check these guys out. As soon as Nancy finishes reading Charlotte’s Web, my box will get distributed, and I know it will be appreciated. http://www.athousandbooks.us/ )