romania revealed

The last week in Romania.

In the world of ideas, the moon is on the map.

• Mihnea Gamulescu sees the "only hope for Romania's future" in Generation Y. 
• Points for creativity... A few Romanians are trying to get to the moon by balloon. The Romanian moon balloon, pictured to the right, also wins a few points for its likelihood to end up in MOMA if not in a space museum. The Great Beyond has lots of interesting details, links, and videos about this scientific venture, which can be accessed here.
• Members of the open source movement criticize the Romanian government's decision to spend loads of euros on the purchase of proprietary software. 

On the diplomatic scene, there have been some interesting ambassadorial developments over the past week.

• The Romanian government recalls its ambassador to Portugal after a court rules that he "collaborated with the Communist-era secret police".
• Also on the diplomatic front, Romania's ambassador to Thailand passed away last week due to heart failure. 

In the international realm, foreign relations continue off kilter.

• Prime Minister Emil Boc hails new economic cooperation with China.
• President Basescu cancelled his June 5th trip to Moldova, offering yet another sign of the continuing sour relations between these neighboring states.  
• On the other hand, Basescu did go out of his way to back Moldova's EU accession hopes.

In the domestic realm, nuclear energy, EU elections, the rule of law, and corruption claim the spotlight.

• Nuclearelectrica shuts down over crack in a water pipe. 
• 5% of Romanian railroad workers will be laid off this year. Most will be close to retirement. 
• Bulgaria and Romania are cooperating in the construction of a new nuclear power plant at Cernavoda. This plant will provide electricity supplanting the existing NPP, which produces 18% of Romania's electricity. 
• President Basescu reminds the Romanian legal community that the country is run by a rule of law, not a rule of men. Consequently, judges are called upon to uphold the law, not to make the law.  
• Microsoft carves out a comfy niche for itself in Transylvania. 
• Romania might have its first liquified natural gas terminal up and running in two years.
• The Romanian Minister of Justice plans to reorganize the Ministry of Justice in the name of improved efficiency. 
• A report published by an Austrian bank reveals that Romania has the lowest average salaries in the region, followed by Macedonia. 
• In Romania, the number of real estate transactions dropped about 36% during the first quarter of 2009. 
• A survey by Manpower Inc. reveals that "Romanian talent" is "hard to find". Many interesting speculations could be used to explain this finding.

In miscellany & markets, of course, lies the true fun.

• Romania wins third place in a list compiled of top 7 emerging wine regions. Great news for early investors.
• Sleet and snow on Mount Parang continues to baffle locals and put a dint in the climbing season. 
• Laras Welt savors a little sky-watching in Romania. 
• The first Romanian bookstore in Italy opened its doors in Rome recently. 
• Faith No More will be playing in Bucharest on August 15th. 
• Some bloggers think Romania needs more skateparks. Pronto. 

Carturesti in NYC?

Lucky New York City gets its own, mini-version of Carturesti. Manhattanites can enjoy this Carturesti-proxy at the Romanian Cultural Institute. Jennifer Schuessler describes the scene:

At the exhibit’s opening, the novelist Filip Florian, whose book “Little Fingers” will be published by Harcourt Brace in July, stood out front smoking (but not complaining — apparently you can’t smoke in Romanian bookstores either). Inside, guests mingled over coffee and croissants while Marius Parghel of Carturesti’s Timisoara branch, who curated the exhibit, gave a tour of some literary highlights. 

There were books of surrealist poetry, books of avant-garde plays, books about the Romanian royal family (quite strong sellers, apparently), books by the dissident journalist and politician Octavian Paler and the writer and Orthodox monk Nicolae Steinhardt. There was also a healthy selection of novels by Mircea Cartarescu, described by Parghel as “the only Romanian author with chances for a Nobel.” His trilogy, “Orbitor” (“Glaring”), Parghel said, is an attempt to create “a mythology of Bucharest and its communist space,” using metaphors from medicine and alchemy, along with some techniques reminiscent of Latin American magical realists, to evoke an “underground of the mind.”  

For those of us not within walking distance of Manhattan or Romania, the lovely online Carturesti will just have to do.

Today's top ten list.

1. The complete list of castles from Romania, sorted by regions and towns.
2. Douglas Whitehead's bicycle trip through Romania leads him to Roma, Decebal, and "irascible" station masters. 
3. Foreign Minister Christian Diaconescu announced on Saturday that Romanian troops stationed in Iraq are "stretched to their limits". 
4. Piotr Kurek live at the Underground Festival. 
5. The Social Democrats in the Opposition asked that the Romanian government resign due to poor economic performance. Boy, this election promises to be a soap opera. 
6. Is wind energy the "way to Romanian energy independence"? Interested investors certainly think so.
7. Danny Sipos shares his interesting opinion and forecast on the Romanian presidential election horizon.
8. A recent video of a UFO sighting in Romania raises questions about the end of the Cold War, weeping icons, miracles, and secret military installations-- all signs of healthy democratic debate. 
9. A Ugandan newspaper reports that Moldovans "want their country off the map".  
10. The Masons are preparing for their 2009 reunion in Romania. Should be an interesting cast of characters.  

A photo taken by my aunt somewhere between Bucuresti and Bran.

"Dust of Ideologies" by Nicolae Iorga.

People were enchanted for so long by the sparkle of new ideologies, whichever pressed against them, out of respect for a long tradition and from conviction before certain principles, an older conception. A whole generation of youth directed themselves towards the left or the right, not from reading doctrinal books or heeding the calls of the political apostles, but from the vision of a revolution they believe they can create, some even for the purported good of mankind, however this good might be understood.

But more powerful than any abstract construction is race, and all the mystery contained therein; and what interests are deemed authoritative change frequently from one day to the next!

And look! Those bound to a creed-- the credulous-- not only sincere, but fanatic to the point of cruelty, found themselves all on the road to Damascus where, stricken by the arrow of reality, fell only to rise again somehow different from before.

[...] Irreconcilable little souls travel alongside, struggling with fallen hearts as the spectators of former champions pose themselves difficult questions.

There is only one answer to these questions: the big lights go far until they suddenly go out at the precipice.

[This first appeared as "Praf de ideologii" written by Nicolae Iorga, published in Neamul romanesc, anul XXXIV, nr. 279 din 19 Decembrie 1939, p.1. I welcome suggestions and corrections to my translation.]

Today's top ten list.

In spite of the ordered numbers, I insist that the numbers offer no ordered solution to the question of value or preference on the part of the judge.

1. A Romania-USA extradition treaty enters into force. Both parties look pleased.
2. Romanian rail freightway operators will spend a few days in Munich this month in the hopes of expanding their continental railway operations. 
3. The National Liberal Party (PNL) officially declared Crin Antonescu will be their candidate for the 2009 presidential election. 
4. Meanwhile, Corneliu Vadim Tudor continues his mockery of democratic politics by announcing his official candidacy for the presidential election for the Greater Romania Party (PRM). If Vadim wins, he hopes Gigi Becali will join him in forming the most corrupt government this side of post-communist history.  
5. US Sec. of State Hillary Clinton calls Romania "one of the US' most dependable allies". Does this mean the Obama administration has changed its mind about foregoing the special terrorist camps?
6. A snapshot of southern Romania from the Carpathians to the Danube. 
7. Prime Minister Boc is on the right side of the education debate at a time when left and right are increasingly shady in Romania. Clearly a decentralized education system would allow the government to better serve local needs of various Romanian demographic and ethnic groups.  
8. Neither is Boc too concerned about German suggestions to cut aid to Romania over problems with the justice system. "Unfazed" indeed.
9. A great post on Romanian folklore, including the origins of the Earth tales. And a picture of a dragon. 
10. The official NATO report on the Sec. General's recent visit to Romania.

Anna Louise Strong's description of Moldova and Romania: Part 1.

Anna Louise Strong was an American Soviet sympathizer who published numerous propaganda books and pamphlets during the post-war period. In Peoples of the USSR (1944), Strong offers an interesting description of Romania and Moldova, tinged with bright Redpropaganda. This is a wonderful read for anyone who needs reminding that history is always written from a certain arm chair by a certain person with a particular perspective.

Soviet Moldavia lies between the Ukraine and Romania. The Carpathian mountains bound it on the north, while its southern shores are washed by the Black Sea. It is 13,600 square miles in area, half again as large as Holland, and has some 2,200,000 people. It is a garden of rich black, soil. But for centuries it has been a neglected garden. Only a small part of Moldavia has been in the USSR for any length of time. Most of it was annexed in 1940 when the territory called Bessarabia was returned by Romania to Russia. Bessarabia forms about five-sixths of Soviet Moldavia.

In Soviet Moldavia, now that the Nazis have gone, the village elders in the shabby clay villages bring out the ceremonial tray of bread, salt, and wine, the traditional peasant welcome, and offer it to the Red Army. Dark Moldavian women present earthen pitchers of cold well water to the thirsty troops. Barefoot boys in brown homespun and tall sheepskin caps crowd around the Red Army planes on sodden fields, their brown eyes staring as if a miracle had come.

Moldavia lies at the gap between the Black Sea and the Carpathians, through which in ancient days the tribes from Asia migrated into Europe. This territory was conquered by all the tribes that passed; if they failed to conquer it, they did not get through. The gap was narrow and the tribes were many. So the population became very mixed. Some say that Moldavians are largely Slav, others that they are largely a Romanian people from Thrace.

The early Greeks knew this territory as the stronghold of the dreaded Cimmerians. Later there were Scythians here. When Trajan conquered the territory, making it part of the Roman province of Dacia in AD 106, the tribes of the area were Slavs. The Slavs built cities in the sixth century, some of which still exist. They joined Kiev-Russ in the great campaign against Constantinople in the tenth century. When Kiev-Russ split into principalities, one of the largest and richest was located in the area. It was Chervonaya-Russ-- Red, or Golden, Russ. 

A Romanized tribe from Thrace known as Vlachs came north in the thirteenth century and drove the Slavs from part of the land. Almost at once the great Mongol invasion overwhelmed both Slavs and Vlachs in a common slavery. In the sixteenth century, the Turks seized the area and the hapless land became the battleground for many successive wars between the Turks and the Poles. During this period it became known as the principality of Moldavia......

Later the Western part of Moldavia, then under Turkish rule, joined with another subject state to form Rumania, a vassal state of the Turkish Empire. In 1877 Rumania helped Russia against the Turks and thereby won independence. The new Rumanian state wanted Bessarabia too. But the same conference of European powers that recognized Rumania as an independent state recognized Russia's right to Bessarabia.

Something from a sketchbook at Florinescu S.R.L.

Source: Florinescu SRL

The Romania daily list.

Edi Boldor, a Romanian exchange student in the US, turns out to be quite a catch for his school's water polo team.

John's Sketchblog hones in on the best shaorma in Bucharest.

Romanians who felt wronged by Borat are the subject of a new documentary. Funtasticus, on the other hand, sees the humor in Borat's use of Romania to portray Kazakhstan. Interestingly enough, this makes me wonder why the Roma are over-represented in these photos. Is there a link between Kazakhstan and the history of the Roma?

The spring crop of graffiti has bloomed in Bucharest.

Artys wants to change perceptions about Romania.

The unique ecosystem of Movile cave continues to intrigue scientists.

Rompetrol's Moldovan unit is fined for "illegal profit". Or for being Romanian.

The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture banned nighttime fishing on the Danube. Is skinny-dipping next? 

What is this.ro? 

And why are Romanian children unhappy?

Romanian and Spanish politicians exchange words in the Senate. How unremarkable.

Queen Helen leaves Romania.

According to Google Trends, Romania does not exist.

Lacisoft tried to find some Google Trends in Romania, only to find that Romania doesn't quite exist in the world of Google. Despite the fact that I know a number of Romanians who work for Google...

Searching for Emil Cioran.

Searching for Cioran  by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston bills itself as "a critical portrait of French philosopher and mystic Emil Cioran", which somehow misses the point of his unmistakably Romanian influences and influence. Since I haven't had the pleasure of reading this latest book on the exorcist of despair, I've scoured the book reviews to learn more.

Michael Dirda's review for the Washington Post classifies this book as a "biography and memoir". At issue, of course, is Cioran's youthful associations with right-wing nationalism and anti-Semitism. Dirda explains that Zarifopol-Johnston originally intended to write a full biography, but she died before she was able to get past the rough drafts of Cioran's Romanian years. Her husband edited the sections and filled in the spaces., though the book contains "a long account of Zarifopol-Johnston's own thoughts and feelings when she returned to her native Romania to speak with Cioran's brother and surviving friends".

As Dirda observes, Zarifopol-Johnston uses Erik Erikson's "pattern of repudiation and devotion" to trace Cioran's intellectual and literary evolution. First, Cioran repudiates his career as a Romanian intellectual. Then he temporarily devotes himself to the extreme ideology of "apocalyptic nationalism", which he abandons when his "spiritual mission" changes focus from nation to self. The resulting "born-again writer" is treated carefully by his biographer, who wishes to "understand Cioran rather than accuse him", thereby avoiding the "trial mentality" at work in books like Marta Petreu's An Infamous Past.

Perhaps IU Press bills Cioran as a "French philosopher" because Cioran made small secret of his torment at being a Romanian. Dirda writes:

The young Cioran saw being Romanian as a misfortune. He was reared, he felt, in a backwater country, home to a primitive culture and an obscure language. "Forgive me God because I was born Romanian" became his personal motto. He grew up feeling simultaneously bored and disgusted with Romanian life, increasingly prey to vicious insomnia and even to epileptic fits. Like so many romantic young men and women before him, he also "believed in the prestige of unhappy passions."

Given the extent of Cioran's influence on Romanian intellectual history, perhaps nowhere more evident than in his fatalism and resignation, Cioran might have chosen to follow his head rather than his heart. Granted, his heart's impurities, including a Nietzschean reverence for power and a tendency to disparage history's victims (which possibly played a part in his anti-Semitism), were as impure as one can get. But rather than change his heart, Cioran changes his mind. And we are left without an interpreter. 

Because I always hate to close the book on Cioran, there is more.... Book review at Planet Cioran + "Romanian Intellectual Flirtations with Fascism: The generation of 1927" + Sam Munson, "The Trouble With Cioran", The National, 30 April 2009 + "12 interesting bits of information about Emil Cioran"

Proof of the first Romanian man.

The Independent publishes in its Monday edition the image of the first human to live in Europe. The expression "We've been here for thousands of years" got a new significance because now we can say " We've been living here for 35 thousand years" and have a picture to prove it, Badut Ulmanu, the first to signal the article, wrote in his blog.

According to the British publication, the face pertains to a man/woman who lived in the woods in the Carpathian mountains on Romanian territory about 35,000 years ago. A British specialist in judicial medicine Richard Neave used parts of a cranium found in a cave to restore the face of the first "Romanian". Richard Neave has also worked on interesting reconstructions of Jesus' possible appearance. The Independent reveals that specialists could not determine the skin color of the first Europeans but speculations claim that it was a lot darker than today. 

The model will appear in a BBC 2 series, The Incredible Human Journey about human evolution and origins. Bristol University anthropologist, Alice Roberts declared that the model seems to be a combination of European, Asian or African origins. The bones were discovered in the Bones Cave in Romania in 2002.

The Telegraph also carries a bit of info on this subject. Elephant Bar has a dearth of details. BBC carried the story of the initial bones discovery in 2003. Agata Olariu penned a paper for the EU on the discovery of the bones and their significance which is worth the read.