Oradea: Transylvania?
Romania is a beautiful place; it is a small and secluded from the outside world. It feels like time is stuck in one place, the 80's mostly. Young people are very into punk, mohawks, and combat boots. I went to many bars were they only played 80's music. It was a very strange experience. I suppose the joke about Eastern Europe always being 20 years behind was beginning to look accurate. Many of the "newer" buildings were from the Soviet era and from what I hear, the town is always under construction.
Romania has been relatively good to us. We were able to eat the famous mamaliga, see some old Soviet buildings, get lost in the Oradea, and find our way back to our back. All roads lead back to the the center, or in their case, Centrul. Slowly, but surely. When in doubt, always look towards the sky for familiar landmarks. The numerous clocktowers in Oradea led us safely back. We have practically explored the entire city, which isn't really much, but we did it on a budget. The exchange here is magnificent. One is able to go a VERY LONG way with just $40. This is also why many people choose to study in Romania.
There are some things that don't change even when miles and miles away from NYC, like men whistling at you and catcalling. Although, I would have to say it is much worse here than it is back home. Today Shan and I left my friend's apartment in gym shorts and flannels. Something completely ordinarily in the US, but apparently outrageous in Romania. We kept getting looks back and forth. Some men even came up to us. It was truly disturbing. It is easy for foreigner to be fetishized, and I'm sure this will happen again.
We spent our last day in Romania getting lost and looking for our way back, it was pretty great. The experience left a thirst for more adventures. There is also a need to talk about the relationship between Romania and Hungary. It is a very wide known fact that neighboring countries usually have a tense relationship, but I have not seen one tenser than this. It is especially tense in Oradea, mainly because it borders Hungary. I met many people who did not have good things to say about Hungarians. It all seems to stem from historical wars and land ownerships between the two countries. In WWII Hungary took over parts of Romania, such as Transylvania (which is Oradea in pop culture terms), and fueled the mistrust between the two countries. Today, Hungarians don't like Romanians, Romanians don't like Hungarians, and Romanian and Hungarians don't like gypsies. It all ends up being very complicated.
