Spelling Bee

Thirteen students from 4^th to 7^th grade participated in Chiprovtsi’s local spelling bee. It went pretty well. I made brownies from a box mix using a cupcake tray (less cleanup, easier transport). Notice the bee and flag designs, creative, right? Good luck to Ivan, the local bee winner! He will compete against other contestants in the regional bee on April 28^th. Winners of regional bees will go on to the national competition in Sofia. 

Close of Service Conference

Though I knew it marked the beginning of the end of my Peace Corps service and would be the last time I would see many of the other volunteers in Bulgaria, I did not expect it to be as much of an emotional upheaval as it was. I was fine for most of it, even the ceremonial stepping out of the circle and hand holding, but when I told the PC administration that I would be leaving Bulgaria early to begin Duke Law School in May, it became real and I completely lost it. I couldn’t stop crying. The group of 80 something PCVs I arrived in Bulgaria with was too big for me to get to know everyone, but the small group of volunteers in my training group and a few others feel like family. In addition to a great host community, the Peace Corps staff and volunteers have been an incredible support network. Saying goodbye to Bulgaria would also mean saying goodbye to them. Though they too will come back to the US over the next few months, we’ll be scattered across the U.S. and I don’t know how the bonds created during the intensity of Peace Corps service and training will translate into our future lives. I know that my service has to eventually come to an end and leaving early makes the most sense for my future plans, but the transition is going to be difficult. I will be losing the title that has been the key feature of my identity for the past two years: Peace Corps Volunteer. 

Back up jobs

Among the expectations I had coming into Peace Corps service was the one that I would develop various skills that I otherwise wouldn’t have time to practice.  This has been partially true: I can speak Bulgarian, juggle three tennis balls for about 20 seconds without dropping one, and have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. One thing I have not done that I was certain I would is knit. When I departed from the U.S., I expected my bags to return after two years with handmade socks and hats for all my family and friends. As of two weeks ago, I had not knitted anything, but I brought yarn and needles with me on my road trip in Romania, and successfully knitted a scarf/neckwarmer AND a hat. 

Romania

I first visited Romania twelve years ago and spent several months in the country in the early 2000s, mostly in Bucharest. Wow has it changed. The apartment block on Piata Unirii where my father lived for three and a half years, though structurally the same, housed a fancy European bank on the first floor and looked across to a giant mall full of western stores. The sidewalks leading to the Palace of Parliament were free of the haphazardly parked cars I remember and even had a bike lane!

Palace of Parliament, built by Ceacescu in 1984, is the world’s second largest building, after the Pentagon. 1/6 of Bucharest was bulldozed to build the giant structure. Out front was a tethered hot air balloon with a woman wearing a wedding dress. It was part of a promotion-the train of her dress now hold’s the Guiness record for the longest in the world. (Ceacuscu was Romania’s long serving communist dictator 1965-89)

Romania’s Transylvanian mountains were home to many German settlers, aka Saxons. Seven of their walled citadels are still standing. One of these towns, Sighisoara, built in the 12^th century over a Roman settlement was home to Vlad Tepes (also known as Vlad the Impaler, inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel). Vlad was born in 1431 in a building that now houses a restaurant near the citadel square. Today Sighisoara is a UNESCO heritage site. The 14^th century clock tower in the Sighisoara has been continuously working since the Middle Ages.

 

Regularly inhabited for more than 2,000 years, Sibui, another Saxon town, has a beautiful old town with large squares, cafes, and pastel painted buildings.

 

Peles Castle (1875), near the town of Sinaia, Translylvania, was built as a summer resident for King Carol I, Romania’s longest serving monarch. During Ceaucescu era, the 160 rooms were used to host visiting leaders, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Muamar Gaddafi, and Yasser Arafat were among the guests.

 

Bran Castle (Dracula’s Castle for tourists), located near the Saxon city of Brasov, was first mentioned in documents in 1377. Vlad Tepes, who ruled 1456-62, lived at Bran briefly, but is the source of much tourism. The castle was in use until 1957 (current heirs live in Ohio) and has been restored to display historic art and furniture collections for tourists.

 

In 1623 prisoners housed in Rasnov Fortress were tasked with digging a well for the fort. Upon completion, they would be freed. Digging the 470 foot deep well through solid rock took 17 years. The well enabled the fortress to be entirely self sufficient during attacks and was used for over 220 years. 

 

Copşa Mică earned its reputation as Romania’s “ugliest town” by ranking among the most polluted places in Europe for much of the 1990s despite closure of the offending factories. A carbon dye factory in operation for 60 years, covered the town and its surroundings with black soot while the smelting factory led to CM recording the highest infant mortality rate in Europe, 1000 times acceptable levels of lead in the air, and two thirds of children exhibiting signs of mental illness, and life expectancy that is still 9 years below the national average.

 

The Transfagarasan Highway was constructed in four and a half years in the 1970s as a means to transport Romanian soldiers and equipment in case of a Soviet invasion. We followed the road through small mountain villages to reach the “real” castle of Dracula, Poenari.

 

We were the only visitors to the 13^th century Poenari Castle, the out of the way route and 1,462 steps up to the ruins likely dissuading other potential tourists. In front of the castle, two bloodied mannequins, impaled from anus to mouth, demonstrate the favorite torture method of Vlad Tepes, who used the castle during his reign.

 

Romania has an excellent website with tourism resources:

http://www.romaniatourism.com/

Paris for the weekend

Paris, the most visited city in the world, covers 40 square miles of land and is home to 11.5 million people. So, of course, on a recent weekend trip there with my friends, we tried to see it all. Though we missed a few sites (most notably, going into the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa), we made up for it with the miles we covered on foot and bicycle.

Parisian eco-friendly transport is impressive. Electric car charging stations were scattered around the city and the bicycle rental system was fantastic! For 1.30 Euro you are extended credit for 24 hours. The first half hour is free after which the rental cost is 1 Euro per hour. The extensive network of bike lanes and bike stations make it a super cheap, easy way to see, or get lost in, Paris. [velib.paris.fr] Figure it out and ride to Eiffel Tower. The roundabouts on the bicycles during rush hour were somewhat harrowing for the inexperienced. We circled the big roundabout near the Bastille at least six times before exiting onto the correct road.

 

The Pigalle neighborhood, though described as a seedy sex district in one guidebook, was a convenient and affordable place to stay. Our hotel was about a block from Moulin Rouge in the Pigalle neighborhood. It was more campy than the seedy sex district as described in a guide book and at night Parisian hipsters packed the nearby bars.

French people have an unfair reputation as being unfriendly and disdainful. Though our exposure was limited, we asked A LOT of directions, with “Bonjour” being the most of our French, yet everyone we met was super nice and helpful.

 

The Free Walking Tour was perfect. Especially after spending the first day and a half trying to navigate Parisian maps and apply the directions of well-meaning strangers (French words sound very different to an untrained ear than they appear on maps). Our guide, Phillipe, was full of jokes at the expense of everyone (mostly the British), shared local anecdotes like those of Dirty Bertie’s excesses in the city, and offered tips on skipping lines at the busiest museums.  

Parisian sites are everywhere and as beautiful as imagined. I do wish we'd known that listed closing times exclude the fact that last entry is an hour earlier. As a result, we missed seeing the Catacombs and the Cemetery of Pere Lachaise. The Catacombs were in use from 1786 to 1814 when Parisian cemeteries were closed due to hygiene and are home to the remains of 6 million Parisians.

Sainte Chapelle, accessed through the Palais de Justice , was built 1245-8. It is known for its stained glass windows fifty feet high depicting 1,134 biblical scenes were something else all together.

Jardin du Luxembourg is the second largest public garden in Paris and covers more than 55 acres. It was began by Marie de Medicis, regent for King Louis XIII, in 1611 who wanted a garden like those in her native city of Florence.  

 

Jardin des Tuileries (1666), where it meets the Place de la Concorde (1754) and looks down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. In the middle stands an Egyptian pillar from Luxor. Referred to by our Parisian guide as a gift the Egyptians have periodically asked to be returned, the same pillar was described by our Egyptian guide in Luxor as having been gifted in exchange for a large clock installation. The clock in Luxor broke after less than a year, whereas the Egyptian pillar still stands.

Palais-Royal was once home to Cardinal Richelieu and the dukes of Orlean. It now houses the Council of State, the Council of the Constitution, and the Ministry of Culture.

Construction began on Notre Dame, the super famous Gothic cathedral,  1163 and lasted until the 1240s. It was restored after being badly damaged during the French Revolution and upkeep is ongoing to keep it in working order. When we visited there was a crowd watching a discussion near the altar and plenty of priests. 

Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe

 The McDonald’s (I know, terrible, but I didn’t buy any food!) in Paris even had a Coke Lite fountain sodas!  I’ve been craving one for the past 18 months!

 

The July Column topped by the Genie de la Liberte, at center, honors the victims of the revolution of July 27-29th, 1830. The square became a symbol of the French Revolution after the 1789 storming of the Bastille.

Stairs in Montmartre and Sacre Couer was built in the 1870s to atone for the general hedonism of the era. Some believe it to be the source of the country’s geopolitical misfortunes; nevertheless, it has a fantastic view of the city.

 

Versailles, the center of French royal power from 1682 until the French Revolution of the 1790s, has more than 700 rooms and 1,250 fireplaces. When construction was complete on the initial building phase (which took 50 years), the palace could accommodate 5,000 people. 

 

The flea market of Le Marche aux Puces de St-Ouen de Clignancourt has more than 250 vendors with everything from modern cookware to old perfume decanters. It is part of the flea market complex on the city's northern side with over 2,500 open stalls. 

More from Mogila

Here’s a link to Brian’s blog. He’s a fellow PCV in Bulgaria and has some great photos from last week’s events in Mogila and posts about life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria.

http://windowtobulgaria.blogspot.com/

Family Reunion or Bridal Auctions? Kalaidzhii in Mogila

When I first read about the Kalaidzhii bride auctions, I couldn’t believe it. How is it possible that young girls are being auctioned like cattle in 2012? And, in the European Union??

I wanted to see the event for myself, and planned to meet up with other volunteers for the festival. What I observed on Sunday was less the hyper sexualized bridal auction portrayed in articles from the New York Times [LINK], Global Post [LINK], and Huffington Post [LINK] than a family reunion for a traditional group whose members now live scattered throughout Europe. The foreign journalist present didn’t have a translator and she departed while vendors were still preparing food, long before most people arrived. If her presence was any indication of the journalistic research upon which articles were based in previous years, those responsible for printing them ought to be ashamed. Thanks to them, a quick Google search for Kalaidzhii, turns up dozens of articles about the tribe selling their girls to the highest bidder.

I don’t excuse the activities, bride prices were still discussed during the event, and parents and grandparents, not the young people, seemed to be the driving forces behind pairings. But as one mother said: most important is that they care about each other, though the man should also have a good job and be able to take care of her. Large sums, like those reported in the articles, the woman claimed, have not been at play for quite some time. The event had more in common with the old tradition of young women presenting at court in the UK or the original idea behind debutante balls in the US, than a market selling young girls as brides.

The festival is traditionally held on Todorov Den (St. Todor’s Day) in the village of Mogila, Stara Zagora region, Bulgaria. This year it was held the following day. Adults and children socialized, showed off new babies, and gossiped. Keeping shared traditions and histories together is a key motivating factor behind the event and discussing children of marrying age, was, of course, a prominent subject. If families find match suitable, the boy and girl will get to know each other, and a marriage, perhaps, will follow. The boys and girls in question appeared in their late teens and early 20s, awkward, and shy.

The girls of courting age wore white pancake makeup to lighten their skin and stark red rouge. Their outfits glittered and shined, often at the same time. Their makeup and clothes set them apart and seemed to serve as a signal that they hoped to find a husband in the crowd. Older women wore flowered scarves and bright clothes, younger girls looked like little kids anywhere.

We spoke with one girl, age 18, in her fourth year getting dressed for the event. She lives with her grandparents and cousins in a small Bulgarian village. Her family was together for the event, even her mother, who has worked in Greece for six years, travelled back to Mogila. Last year, the girl said, she was paired with a boy. They talked on the phone for a while, but it didn’t work out. She hoped for better luck this year.

Another family we spoke to is the only Kalaidzhii family in their village. They brought their little girl to play and meet other Kalaidzhii. Maybe she will find her a husband at the event, but it won’t be for a few years, now she is too young, the father said.

Before the festival became busy, we shared a picnic table and chatted with a grandmother of two girls of courting age. When the crowds arrived, I saw her deep in conversation with a trio of older women, their heads bent together in conversation. By the time we left a few hours later, her two granddaughters were sharing a picnic table with two young boys.

A bride price system is the opposite of dowry practices in some traditional societies—instead of paying the groom for taking the daughter, the groom must demonstrates his suitability with financial offerings to the family of the bride. I believe both practices are wrong. They commoditize women and take choice away from the individuals involved. 

My personal opinion is that bride prices and arranged marriages are outdated relics and should not be excused under a cultural relativist banner for being anything other than a demeaning practice that hurts both the young men and women involved. BUT the Kalaidzhii event in Mogila was unfairly sexed-up and sensationalized in the media.

The Kalaidzhii are one of 18 Roma tribes in Bulgaria. Traditionally tinners or metalworkers in towns and villages across Bulgaria, members of the Christian Orthodox tribe now work in a variety of industries. In my opinion, Bulgaria’s Roma are unfairly blamed for a panacea of social issues—scapegoats for budget woes, petty crime, and gangsterism. Without going into the veracity of these claims and the European wide struggle of Roma-integration, I can say that experiences, conversations, and observations of the weekend festivals (horse fair on Saturday and Kalaidzhii gathering on Sunday) in Mogila were pleasant and welcoming events. (the horse fair was not Kalaidzhii-centric, ethnic Bulgarians and Roma were present). 

Very, very few females attended the horse fair, but I and the other female volunteers were not made to feel unwelcome. No one threatened or spoke to us inappropriately. Even when we found ourselves at the center of a large crowd, we were given space. If any off-color comments were made, they were done so at low volume and out of earshot.  On Sunday, women and girls chatted with us and answered questions. I’m sure the questions we asked, considering we expected to see a bride auction, were, alarmingly probing and personal. There were a few creepy men scanning the girls in the crowd, but this is not unusual for large gatherings anywhere. The men that spoke to me were friendly and polite-wanting to pose for pictures with us and asking if we were sure we weren’t Kalaidzhii. For the most part, everyone humored us, posed for pictures, and one woman and her mother even apologized for not having something to “cherpi” or treat us to. The spirit was joyful, one of family and friends getting together for the first time in a year.