BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY

Dr. Donald Davis

Almanac

2006: January | February | March | April
2005: December | November | October | September | August

March 2006
 

My March begin in Cluj with the observation of the March 1^st holiday known as Martisor, a  coming of spring celebration that has ancient roots dating back more than two-thousand years. Apparently, it was Dacian custom for young girls to give young boys a present on leap-day, usually a small gift adorned with a white and red woolen thread. This gift was called a martisor, and it was generally worn for thirty days on the wrist or ankle. After thirty days,  the red and white cords were untied and the martisor was hung on a budding tree or shrub. It was said that whoever found a martisor would be married the same year.

Nowadays in Romania, the custom entails men buying martisor gifts for women , usually small flowers or pins to be worn on shirts, blouses, or coats. Sometimes even earrings or large bouquets of flowers are presented to women on this day. In Cluj, the main streets were filled with dozens of vendors selling both hand-made and commercially produced martisors. Women from local villages could also be seen selling bowlfuls of delicate white "snowdrops" gathered from mountain fields and forest clearings. In the afternoon, I purchased a pair of hand-made earrings for my teaching assistant and took photos of the various martisor vendor displays for the website.

A week later, many of the same vendors reappeared on the streets of Cluj, as March 8--International Womens Day--is also celebrated  in Romania. Interestingly, the first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Apparently, women in the U.S. celebrated the holiday the last Sunday of  February until1913. In 1910, the Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen established an International Women's Day to honor the movement for universal women's suffrage. In Denmark the proposal for an International Women's Day was greeted with unanimous approval by more than 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. Of course, the holiday continues to be important in nearly all post-communist countries, including Romania, where women receive everything from a day off from work to large bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolate.

The first weekend of March  I began my move to Brasov, after meeting my new landlord and signing a five month lease. My apartment is located on the main square, Piata Sfatului, and is inside the great citadel walls of the old Saxon township. My address is Strada Republicii 16, an area considered ground-zero for foreign tourists. Two doors down from the apartment is a nice local grocery store and there are dozens of exceptional restaurants and pubs within a hundred meters of my backdoor, including the most beautiful and historic Black Church. Immediately outside my apartment is a narrow courtyard, were my neighbors hang their clothes to dry, even in winter months. Snow could still be seen high on the surrounding mountains and there even large piles of snow are visible along the streets.

Returing to Cluj on the intercity train, I  had a most unfortunate encounter with a young Hungarian who took my Kodak camera from my bag after leading me to "his" train car in a "friendly"gesture. This happened after he learned that  I could not find a seat  in the second class compartment, which meant I would have to spend more than five hours sitting in the restaurant wagon. Upon learning this, he lead me to a first class seat that  I literally thought was his, and then told me to leave my things there. To thank him (he said his name was Atilla was from the town of Mercurea Cuic) I  bought him a drink back at the restaurant  wagon and he even borrowed my mobile phone for a few minutes to call his girlfriend in Oradea. Later, he disappeared, and that is when he returned to my carry-on bag and take my camera, which others in the car actually saw him do (but did nothing). I later learned that he jumped off the train at the next stop, and he had not even bought a ticket!!! Arriving in Cluj, I filed a police report, but nearly everyone I talked to thinks that my camera (and my early March photos) will not be recovered, despite the fact that his girldfriend's phone number was left on the mobile phone call log! Because of the theft, there will be few photos for the month of March, although I plan to buy a new digital camera sometime in April.

I returned to Brasov again later in March for a long weekend, and even entertained some of my Fulbright friends there, including Jason Roberts. I started to explore the larger city of Brasov as well, which is spread out  over several kilometers. Brasov is about the same size as Cluj population wise (300,000 plus)  but has more shopping facilities, including a "Carrefour," the international French department store chain that is similar to American Wal-Marts.

Back in Cluj for the final weeks of March, I began finishing up my teaching duties, packing my things, and preparing for the trip to Copenhagen that I will be taking in April. I will miss my "English line" students at Babes-Bolyai University as many have taken as many as three courses from me. The first week of April I will give my final exams, then it is off to Copenhagen and then back to Brasov, where I will start a new chapter in my Romanian experience.

From the train on my way to Brasov......

On this early spring day,
I travel across the heart of Romania,
ewes are have dropped their lambs,
and I count them,
not by the dozens,
but by the hundreds.
Orange fires burn everywhere across the landscape, releasing potash and other nutrients into the damp earth.

Behind tiny houses,
I see neat rows of dark soil,
ready for hoe, seed, and tuber.
In the distance,
horses pull carts of men and fodder
toward hungry animals.

As the train rumbles southward,
snow-capped mountains
rise majestically above the warming earth.
My heart too warms,
for the fecundity that is life,
and for the spring that lies ahead.