Somehow I missed the news that Romania had become a member of the European union in 2007. Dharlene was here almost 20 years ago, but only very briefly because she said it was pretty terrifying. Apparently it has changed an awful lot since then. It's a lot like Hungary, but there are differences. Of course, I'm still in Transylvania, which used to be Hungarian. I was hearing Hungarian here quite often, and speaking it even got me through sometimes. Wow, the bus driver just locked up halfway across a bridge and everybody's stuff went flying toward the front of the bus! That's one difference from Hungary: driving chaos and general disorder is more commonplace here.
I'm approaching Sibiu, an old, cultural hub which comes highly recommended. So highly that I altered my plans to see. Plus I found a cheap Panzio there, but couldn't find one in Sinaia. As we approach the east end of Transylvania, the Hungarian language is disappearing and I think I am starting to see subtle differences in the building ornamentation. Most house tops have small orthodox crosses or minaret shaped lightning rods or pipe covers. But all the homes have gated front yards still, all of them are of a type of stucco exterior, and all are still various pastel colours, with rust or brown serious clay tile roofs.
On my way into Oradea by train I saw a Roma family in a random dumping ground beside the tracks, digging a huge excavation, looking for what? Recycling perhaps. I felt some pity for a family in that kind of poverty, driven to such extreme, dirty labour. It freaked me out a bit.
In Oradea, I really enjoyed my stay with Beniamin and Adi, two fun young fellows. On my only night spent there, I went with them to a rented room behind a beautiful cosmopolitan café, where a group of about a dozen youth gathered to practice singing Christmas carols which they will sing to their friends during the holidays. I found it so wholesome and charming! Adi, Ben and I went to this cool café after where they were very curious to hear about differences between Canada and the U.S.
After my tricky hitch to Cluj the next day, my next couch-surfer host met me at a giant statue in Cluj's main square. As I waited for her, a huge youth choir belted out carols in Romanian on a stage at the edge of the square to my right. (uga uga uga uga uga uga uga... The bus is crossing a very old cobblestone street... Big plowed fields surround me, sometimes flat, often rolling, with big hills in the distance on both sides.)
Laura, a Romanian, and Erik, a Hungarian, where wonderful hosts: very gracious, attentive, hospitable, and eager to please. They gave me a private room with a single bed in their small apartment. Ah, the sun is now shining and although we're climbing, there's almost no snow here on the ground. My two nights in Cluj were pretty laid back. We chatted a lot about religion and Hungarian Romanian differences, and they spent a lot of time helping me check bus and train schedules online. Last night we met with a big group of their friends in a pub where they planned an upcoming new year's party, in Romanian of course. I did some minimal chatting in Hungarian with some of that background, but spent most of my time on my iPod using the free wifi to take screen shots of maps for cities I'll soon be lost in, as well as downloading various free apps about Istanbul.
Now, we're passing through a village where the house colours are gradually getting a bit brighter and bolder. My bus is climbing a lot and dipping a little as we near Sibiu, a town which won a prestigious European cultural city award in 2007.
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