Matt and His Lady Friend

Mind Set of a Peace Corps Volunteer

The Mind Set of a Peace Corps Volunteer

There were 67 of us Romania20, as we are officially known, at the beginning of our training. That was twenty months ago and we have just over 6 months to go before completing our term of service. If I count correctly 15 have left early for health, family or adjustment reasons. It was announced recently that almost an identical number - 14 - have put in for an extension of service. That makes us a nice symmetrical group, about as many people want to stay longer as had to go home earlier.

Nancy and I are not one of the 14 putting in for longer duty. We had considered it and a transfer to a different country for another two years held certain attractions. There have also been times in the past year and a half when we considered leaving early, so I suppose we are also symmetrical – part of us wanting to stay longer, part wishing to go home early.

As we got to know our colleagues during our initial training there was speculation as to who would successfully complete two plus years of service and who wouldn’t. Of those that have left, many were a surprise to me. Of those that have stuck around, many are a surprise to me. Contrary to my opinion of myself, obviously I am not a good judge of character.

Even now, if asked as to what makes a person able to complete a job for so long away from home, in a different culture with a different language, I couldn’t say. I am not sure exactly what there is in common between those of us who remain. Some people have been rewarded by their efforts and have seen the difference they can make. Others have a determination to finish their assignments even if on some days they can’t see that difference. All of us came to Romania to offer something of ourselves and there is joy when that something is appreciated and dismay when it seems that it is not.

On Monday evenings Nancy hosts an English Conversation Club which I often attend. People come to practice speaking English. This past week’s discussion was an amazing dialogue about the sacrifices and the compromises that people had to make while living under the Communist system. These were not the petty matters of lack of bananas or the need to stand in long lines, these were the moral choices that had to be made that meant having a job, or having a place to live, or being placed in jailed, or placing others in jail. It was amazing to hear these young adults speak of their youth under the totalitarian dictatorship and the choices that their parents had to make to survive.

This was a discussion that 17 years ago could not have been held. Even now it was painful to discuss. At one point I was asked “Why didn’t you come to help?”, meaning ‘why didn’t America stand up to Russia?” We didn’t come to help then because of fear of World War III, but we have come now. The need is not as great now, but there is still a need. I believe that we volunteers make a difference with our openness, our smiles and laughter, and our willingness to be volunteers. If we also accomplish ‘something’, a tangible measure of success, that is even better.

The picture accompanying this blog update is my favorite photo of a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. I am not sure the cow truly appreciated that fact that Matt gave up a portion of his life to come and spend it with her here, but she doesn’t look like she minds, either.

Iulia Ioana and her Grandmother

Botez

Botez

Botez

Two family traditions that are cause for public ceremony in Romania are the wedding and the Christening. Last fall Nancy and I attended a Nunta, a wedding. This past weekend we were invited to join with many of our neighbors for a Botez. The young lady being Christened was six weeks old and she is the grandchild of our landlord and upstairs neighbors, Teo and Doina. The family is Orthodox and the service was performed in a small chapel off the orthodox theological seminary here in Cluj. A priest presided and he had a student assistant and two student cantors.

Bianca Maria was given her name, dunked in the holy basin three times, sprinkled with oil and had various rites done to her, including placing her on a white cloth on the floor of the alter. She was an excellent subject, remaining quiet for all except the third dunk into the water. The picture included above is just after that third dunk.

The parents of the child do not do much during the ceremony but admire. The work is left to two sets of God parents. The women take turns holding the baby while the men hold the candles. At one point they are led by the priest in walking two circles of the alter with a white ribbon tying them together. I am not sure of the significance of the rituals, but I do know that it is very important for every child to be associated with their name or patron saint. It is almost as if they have two birthdays a year – one on their birth date and the second on the celebration of the day of the saint for whom they were named. There is no Saint Bianca so Maria will serve as her patron.

After the ceremony at the chapel, the party moved to a hotel dining room where we enjoyed a full five course dinner and much celebration. The baby was provided a room to sleep in and she only made her appearance eight hours later when the cake showed up. Meanwhile the rest of us ate and danced and sipped our wine and danced and ate some more. The day lasted from 12:30 to nearly 10 that night.

Bianca’s older sister, Iulia Ioana, just turned four. A charming, irrpressable young lady. We often hear Iulia when she is visiting her grandparents and she brings our apartment block to life. Notice that all the feminine names end in the letter ‘a’. All Romanian women’s names do except for Carmen. Not sure how Carmen slipped in, but every other name ends in ‘a’. We wish these two particular ladies well as they progress through their youth. There is much for them to look forward to for their country is changing rapidly.

A wooden church in Maramures

On the Road in Poienile Izei

This week's blog entry is a continuation of the interesting Christmas we spent in Maramures County. One of the Peace Corps volunteers has intentionally sought out a site to teach English in a little village at the end of the road in the most traditional of Romanian areas. Eleven of us visited her for Christmas. What follows was taken directly from the information provided by the village. Please pay particular attention to the final portion explaining the Viflaim play. I did not correct the translation. Compared to many translations we read, this one is well above average, but it is also apparent that it was not reviewed by a 'native English speaker'.

The wooden church of Poienile Izei, with thatched roof, was built in 1604. Its interior frescoes, dating from 1783, are Australian Aboriginal-style paintings depicting the torments inflicted by the devil on sinners who fail to obey the rules represented in the frescoes.

The red walls depict dozens of sinners being tortured by demons with goat-like heads and clawed feet, while beneath them processions of sinners are driven into the mouth of hell – an enormous bird’s head with fiery nostrils.

The pictures constitute an illustrated “rule book” too terrifying to disobey – the scenes presumably formed the nasty part of a huge Day of Judgment. Its message is still understood by the villagers.

●A huge pair of bellows is used to inflict punishment for farting in church
●A woman guilty of burning the priest’s robes while ironing them is herself pressed with a hot iron
●Adulteresses are courted by loathsome demons
●A woman who aborted children is forced to eat them
●A liar is hung by his tongue
●A witch is gored by cows for casting a spell on them
●A farmer is plowed by two devils for stealing his neighbor’s land
●The person who sleeps while the priest is preaching is forced to lay on a burning bed and endure the devil’s violin

Other paintings in the church include gardens and distant cityscapes; from the balcony you can recognize Adam and Eve, the Fall and episodes from the lives of Christ and John the Baptist.



The “Viflaim” – religious theatre in Maramures

There is still present in Maramures a diversity of folk theatre, among which the “Viflaim” has an important status – a play acted by a group of lads in the first days of Christmas.

The variations nowadays in rural collectivies largely use the Petru Biltiu-Dancus's text (1875); he was a teacher in Ieud. The test was published by his son, prof. Ioan Biltiu-Dancus in 1924. It is said about the text that the author transformed a text with 'traditional origin' which was simple, primitive and turned it into a real, dramatic play. The author also says that the play "was assimilated by the people and transformed upon their taste."

Village actors of the “Viflaim” try to give the characters the features and concerns of the local customs and spectacular visions, very proper to their way of living. What is impressive is the complexity of action, the costumes, the lyrics and the extraordinary masks. All characters are masked but the most peculiar masks are the ones that represent the devils. The costumes, handed down from generation to generation, are taken care of and adorned by every possessor; the noisy objects of the devils – bells of all sizes – are periodically cleaned.

In the Viflaim there is a certain orientation towards the spectacular; the attendants are enthusiastic while following the devils' performance, the extraordinary movements, grimaces, antics, jokes and rhythmic noises. The play gains a lot of grandeur by the fantasy act of the 'Old Man', one of the main characgters. Everything is completed by the masks - they give a certain color to the winter feasts.