I was raised in countryside, by my grand-parents, a busy family, growing vines, cultivating fields with corn, potatoes and grains. My parents brought me back in the city when I was 5 or 6. They visited me during the week-ends but mostly I was living in a village, in the rhythm of the seasons. I still remember waiting the bus who came from city and hoping my parents are getting off it. I was loved by an extended family - my grandparents, my grand-aunt and other relatives. Although I stayed there for a few years, everybody knew I will live in the city, when the school years were to start, so, somehow they handled me differently.
I caught all the bad and the good from people surrounding me, in Romania's countryside of 80s:
- I was drinking wine at 4 and suffered an alcoholic coma
- I learnt how to curse like an adult, with colorful language. I remember, after coming back to the city, how atrocious I cursed an adult. He was totally struck by the contrast between my age and the sting of my words. My parents had a long discussion with me, explaining the frustration should get another avenue for release.
- I loved all the animals in our household: cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and learnt how to take care of them
- I was eating all the veggies and fruits without washing them
- I was stealing some fruits from my neighbors (with their knowledge, of course)
- I learnt that you have to manage in life with whatever is at hand, there is no store or tools for each job in a country side household
I continued to spend all my vacations until 17 in the same house. Alone or playing with the kids in the neighborhood. My grandparents tried to shield me from the hard work in the fields and only sometimes will ask me to do chores around the house. They knew the only way to get out from there was through education, not by working the fields.
You must understand then my totally reliance on myself, close connection with my grandparents and the emotional distance from my parents. My grand-father died when I was 16 and it was a huge emotional loss for me. At first they did not wanted to let me see him laying in the casket. I used to sleep with him as a kid, and enjoy some of the habits he used to have, like listening to "Free Europe" and other clandestine radio stations. My country, Romania, was under a Communist regime, which was beneficial for the all people in early stages and then a curse. I did not know at the time about the political persecutions, ethnic cleansing so well described in "Pitesti phenomenon" book.
My grandfather fought in the second-world-war and was a veteran. He used to tell war stories and to reminisce with other war veterans who were gathering to our house for drinks. At the end of the war he hoped the Americans will come over. The Yalta agreement between the three states (England, USA, Russia) left Romania under Russia's influence and was even asked to pay war reparations for many years to come.
Years later I learnt the whole history of my mother's family and some of the hidden turmoils that moved it from pauper farmers without land, living from the labor of their hands, to be declared "chiaburi" - farmers with some land or cattle raisers.That will be a subject of another post.
I caught all the bad and the good from people surrounding me, in Romania's countryside of 80s:
- I was drinking wine at 4 and suffered an alcoholic coma
- I learnt how to curse like an adult, with colorful language. I remember, after coming back to the city, how atrocious I cursed an adult. He was totally struck by the contrast between my age and the sting of my words. My parents had a long discussion with me, explaining the frustration should get another avenue for release.
- I loved all the animals in our household: cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and learnt how to take care of them
- I was eating all the veggies and fruits without washing them
- I was stealing some fruits from my neighbors (with their knowledge, of course)
- I learnt that you have to manage in life with whatever is at hand, there is no store or tools for each job in a country side household
I continued to spend all my vacations until 17 in the same house. Alone or playing with the kids in the neighborhood. My grandparents tried to shield me from the hard work in the fields and only sometimes will ask me to do chores around the house. They knew the only way to get out from there was through education, not by working the fields.
You must understand then my totally reliance on myself, close connection with my grandparents and the emotional distance from my parents. My grand-father died when I was 16 and it was a huge emotional loss for me. At first they did not wanted to let me see him laying in the casket. I used to sleep with him as a kid, and enjoy some of the habits he used to have, like listening to "Free Europe" and other clandestine radio stations. My country, Romania, was under a Communist regime, which was beneficial for the all people in early stages and then a curse. I did not know at the time about the political persecutions, ethnic cleansing so well described in "Pitesti phenomenon" book.
My grandfather fought in the second-world-war and was a veteran. He used to tell war stories and to reminisce with other war veterans who were gathering to our house for drinks. At the end of the war he hoped the Americans will come over. The Yalta agreement between the three states (England, USA, Russia) left Romania under Russia's influence and was even asked to pay war reparations for many years to come.
Years later I learnt the whole history of my mother's family and some of the hidden turmoils that moved it from pauper farmers without land, living from the labor of their hands, to be declared "chiaburi" - farmers with some land or cattle raisers.That will be a subject of another post.
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