Tangerine's PoV

After Borat made a Romanian village look like Kazakhstan and Romanian sound like Kazakh, it’s Coelho’s turn to have a Romanian main character in this latest novel, The Witch of Portobello.

The fact that Borat was filmed in Romania was not a reason for happiness for the villagers in Glod, the village where Borat was filmed (means “mud” in English). The villagers accepted to do what Sacha Baron Cohen asked them to do thinking Borat would be a documentary to present some reality related to the poverty. As USA Today tells us: “Staicu accused the producers of paying locals just $3.30-$5.50, misleading the village into thinking the movie would be a documentary, refusing to sign proper filming contracts and enticing easily exploited peasants into performing crass acts.”

This is what the villagers say about the experiences they had to live during the filming of Borat:

“They made us put a cow in our living room, and they made it defecate and urinate in the house. Everyone’s angry because they didn’t pay them the way they should have”

“We thought they came here to help us — not mock us”

“We haven’t got anything here. We haven’t got running water. We can’t even bathe. We are poor people, but we are still people.”

Full article here.

After all this Coelho chooses as main character for his latest novel a Romanian girl, born in Transilvania in a gypsy family and then taken to Beirut by her adoptive family.

“When war breaks out, her adoptive family move with her to London, where a dramatic turn of events occurs! Athena, who has been dubbed ‘the Witch of Portobello’ for her seeming powers of prophecy, disappears dramatically, leaving those who knew her to solve the mystery of her life and abrupt departure. This gripping new novel is filled with the themes Paulo fans know and love: spirituality, relationships, destiny, freedom.” (Fantastic Fiction)

Is this the image of Romania around the world: a country full of gypsies with supernatural powers (as in Mama Omida)? I really hope not, as there are other movies that were filmed in Romania that have nothing (or little) to do with gypsies:

Youth without youth, the latest film produced by Coppola

Cold Mountain

7 Seconds

A few days ago the Telegraph published an article about Bucharest, about all the changes it suffered in the past years and about it’s actual image. Actually, yesterday when I was in Bucharest I got the feeling described in the article walking through the wide boulevards, admiring the old&new building, the newly appeared flowers, and all the green that surrounded us.

“The wide boulevards, elegant historic buildings and vast squares are distinctly Parisian. The language, café culture and – follow any man’s gaze – ubiquitous striking women make you think of Italy. And the new generation of highly-educated, English-speaking young professionals in this cosmopolitan city are dripping with designer brands from their clothes to their cars. This may not be the picture of Romania as we know it, but its capital, Bucharest, has seen a rapid transformation over the past four years.”

Full article here.

Si eres pijo pijo pijo pijo y cansado de vivir en tu casita de 400 m2 de Valldoreix esta es tu oportunidad…

Sorry…

On sale: Bran Castle!!!

The Romanian Government decided to sell Dracula’s Castle, the most important tourist attraction from Romania. Anyway, the Government never cared too much about tourism, or at least that is my opinion.

The castle, with 57 rooms and no heating costs around $80 million, but then again: who needs heating when there is still tuica in the world?

According to Telegraph Vlad Tepes is the unique selling point for the castle. A different point of view, interesing article:

Vlad the unique selling point 

How was living in Romania 15-20 years ago? What were the movies we saw? The most precious thing was the key from our apartment that allowed us to get in when our parents were still working: it was a gift for us, a sign of liberty but it was also a big responsability (I remember that it appeared often in my dreams that I have lost the key and that my parents got very very upset).

Looking for some Romanian recipes I have found this article: Despre generatia celor cu cheia de gat . It made me remember lots of things from my childhood: how we learned to count in English with funny songs based on the soap opera Dallas that we had to see entirely, as there wasn’t anything else on TV. I remembered that we did not have TV or DVD, we have some cheap projectors that we used to see on the wall slides of the most popular romanian stories (Mama lui Stefan cel Mare, Harap Alb, etc.). I remembered the biscuits I used to eat, actually two days ago I’ve payed for a Eugenia, in a romanian shop here in Barcelona one euro (with this in Romania I can buy 30). I remembered the biscuits Poieni, full of chocolate. And I remember the Brifcor, the romanian grandfather of Fanta.

I also remembered (smiling) that we did not call each other. In that period there were two phone numbers on the same line so if you picked up the phone at the same time with the person that was on the same line with you, you could talk for free. You could also hear conversations if you picked up the phone when the other was talking, but that’s another story. The idea is that the best friends were always on the same line. I remember that my best friend and I used to pick up the phone at 9 o’clock in the morning to talk for two hours or so (we were living in the same building, she was on the first floor and I was living on the third floor, but it was free, so it was fun).

I remember that we only had one slide in town, and it was always so busy that we had to find other solutions: the staircase was the first one that we thought of: the bad part of it is that we used to tear up our trousers very easily and then our parents got upset, of course. Then we had the edge of a bridge but we found the same problem. The only workaround for this was going to the edge of the bridge after school, when all the kids were out and make them wish to go there and tear up their trousers. Two or three days later the edge was so smooth that we did not tear up our trousers again. The staircase is also smooth due to that.

A very nice article for those who lived their childhood during the dictatorship and in the years that followed Ceausescu’s death. I guess we all can identify ourselves with at least one sentence from the article. I don’t know exactly who wrote it, but congratulations, a really nice thing you did.

Today is a special day for the Romanians around the world. Here you have the story about the Martisor (thank you Alina for making my life easier).

I remember being a few years old (8-9-10 or something like that) and going to school and exchanging martisoare with my colleagues. It was a very expected event. Two or three days before we went to buy martisoare, choosing the most funny and the most colourful, flowerish martisoare. Then the 1st of March we went to school and give/receive martisoare from all our friends/colleagues. After that we went to the room where we took the pics for the mother’s present (the typical postal with our photo, a poem and the red&white martisor). I remember my mother always cried when I gave that to her. Now I understand why…

I remember the last 1st of March that I spent in Bucharest. It was sooooo snowing and the marketplace was full of martisoare all over the place, it was all so colourful. Something like this:

It was the first time Bruno knew all this martisor stuff, when one day, all of a sudden he saw the marketplace full of these things. It’s quite nice to see that we don’t forget our traditions, we change them, a lot, but you will always find the red&white martisor, full of meaning for the romanians.

Does anyone know where I can buy a puñetero martisor here in Barcelona? The 1st of March does not feel like spring without a martisor. When we’ll go to Romania we’ll bring some of them from the little man inside me, or woman… We’ll see. Tonight we’ll see the little bug. UPDATE: It’s a feature, not a bug.
A happy 1st of March for all of you and a martisor from us:

Martisoare from:

Lorena

Alina

My parents made it their way. Thank you.

Today I wanted to know what happens in Romania as I have disconnected quite a lot lately. As I have seen a post in Alina’s blog about Libertatea I wanted to read it to see what they say, if they are still on the line writing absurd news that have nothing to do with what’s actually new and important.

So I found out that Mutu has a child! What a news! I guess this is most striking for the Romanian people as ultimately we only received news about the new drugs that he used. Well done, man!

We can also find out from this newspaper that one girl, Simona (not me) kissed Borat and has a paper in the movie with the same name. Quite ok until now, if only the romanians would stop talking about the charisma of the Romanian women. They say that after the kiss that they had to record for the movie there were more kisses. Ok, this is due to the charisma of the girl, not to the fact that she is Romanian. I defend Romania wherever I go, but let’s get serious.

Nadia Comaneci also has a child, Dylan. In Libertatea one of the first news talk about this littel boy’s grandfather. They say that his grandfather payed his university already (the kid is only 6 months old). It seems a quite nice present to me. Anyone wants to pay my studies, please? Quite a pity I don’t have a rich grandfather, or a poor one…

They also talk about the death of the oldest person in the world, about some “condom testers” that Durex is searching for, about the 25-fingers baby, about the speech of the British vicepresident, John Prescott, whose teeth fell down from his mouth while he was speaking.

Quite interesting news but are they really important? I never used to read Libertatea, and I will definitely not recommend it to anyone. I dislike they flowerish manner of presenting the news, and their selection method: they only put news that can impress, lots of emotional articles that have the same objective: make people buy the newspaper, so that they have a great audience, this would lead to more advertising, therefore they would have more money. All fine, but, wasn’t the objective of the newspapers to inform the population? Correct me if I’m wrong.

I will try to read more of the online newspapers to find my favourite and will comment them all here. For the moment, Libertatea is rejected.

Today I was missing my country so I went to Youtube to see some videos with images from Romania. I have found one that really impressed me (although I am romanian).

Enjoy it here:
Romania

And if you want to know how the world would be without Romania you should take a look at this.

Yesterday at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, after taking a long walk with Alina looking for Hard Times, we arrived at the train station. I though it wouldn’t be crowded, so I chose to leave at 4 o’clock. I forgot why I swore I’d never go to Vaslui again with the train that leaves at 4. Later on, I remebered it but it was too late to go back.

It was a hot afternoon and this was an old train, with 8 seats compartments, very uncomfortable. I finished my cigarette and I entered the compartment. There I saw a middle-aged man, with thin lips and very small eyes, a boy with a FCB t-shirt and a 70 years old lady. I left my luggage and sat down waiting for the train to leave. The other persons arrived, a young girl, another middle-aged man and one man that didn’t get a seat and asked us if he could sit there. As soon as the train left the middle-aged man with those thin lips started to talk to me:

- So, do you live in Bucharest?

I was afraid of that, I don’t like people asking me questions when I don’t feel like answering.

- I used to. I said trying to make him stop asking me dumb questions. I don’t like telling my life to strangers.

- And where are you going?

- Vaslui.

- Ah, nice. I’m going to Iasi.

I was starting to lose patience. I never asked him where he was going, what he was doing there, etc.

- So do you live in Vaslui?

- No.

- So where do you live? And why do you go to Vaslui? Are you from Vaslui?

My answer was quite conclusive:

- Yes.

And then I started to ignore him, trying to get some sleep, as the night before, after a BitDefender night in Twice I only slept three hours. I feel asleep quite easily and he stopped the gibberish. It was really hot and the man next to me didn’t want to open the window so we were all sweating when the man decides to take out of his bag a sausage sandwich and eat it in the compartment. At that point my bile said “kill him!!!” and a migraine started to ruin my journey. I forced myself to fall asleep again and I woke up when I heared the man next to me shouting:

- I don’t have to travel uncomfortable just because you have put this luggage here. Take it out of the compartment.

- I don’t want to put it there, this is my seat and there was a luggage which is not mine and I want to sit. said the young boy that I guess that got on in Ploiesti.

- Who’s luggage is that? asked the man next to me.

A girl said that someone came saying that he didn’t get a sit and that he will leave the luggage there if there’s no problem.

- How stupid can you be to let someone leave the luggage without asking him who he is, where he comes from and where does he go? says the man next to me with a very upset voice.

- I don’t know. The small black luggage was here when I entered. I asked and you told me exactly what I told you know so I don’t know who’s the idiot here? said the girl, and we were all looking at each other trying hard not to laugh.

- How? .. HOW?.. Hmm.. How can you say that to me? Who’s luggage is that?

The man next to me was really nervous and he took the luggage and threw it on the corridor when lots of people were passing by and he hit a young man. He looked into the compartment and when he saw this man incredibly red and nervous he decided not to say a word. After a few minutes the small black luggage was again inside our compartment, in front of the old lady.

- Young man, can you please put this luggage up there? I’d put it but I’m old and I can’t do it.

The man put the luggage up there and sat down again. I could hear the man next to me saying quietly:

- Don’t put the luggage there.

But I guess nobody heard it. As the man realized that he was ignored he started to shout again.

- I cannot imagine how you all can be so stupid and allow someone to leave a luggage and just dissapear. You cannot understand that there is a bomb inside there. Yes, yes, one of those that can be activated remotely. And you just sit here and wait for your death.

- You’re exagerating! says the old lady next to him.

- Yeah, right. I’m exagerating. Let me exagerate and still be alive. You think that the world is what it was when you were virgin, it’s not like that anymore.

It was getting harder and harder not to laugh, especially when you looked at that in front of you that were also trying hard not to laugh. I went out to the corridor as I couldn’t stand anymore.

The man kept quiet but he was nervous and didn’t stop moving and his hands were shaking and sweating. He finally stood up, took the luggage, opened it and searched for the bomb. He got off the luggage all the clothes and all the stuff that was there in search for the bomb. When he realized that there was no bomb there he closed the bag and put it back.

He felt the need to explain things and started to say that nowadays nothing is safe, etc, etc, but he kept his aggressive voice so we were all pissed off with this guy.

Half an hour later, a boy with a pink shirt came and looked for the bag. It was not where he left it so he asked if his bag was still there:

- It’s here, young man, this man thought you left a bomb here and opened your luggage to search for it.

Of course the boy didn’t believe that and he just ignored it.

- Could I leave my luggage here please? I’m not going anywhere, I’ll sit here next to the door.

- Of course you can, young man, said the old lady.

- Why are you talking for all of us, did you ask if we all agreed with that? I recommend you not to leave your bag here. Just leave, we don’t want your bag here. said, of course, the man next to me.

- This is the man that thinks you have a bomb in your bag. said the old lady.

I saw an ironic smile on the pink-shirted man’s face.

- And you look like an Arab, so you’d better take you bag out of here.

That was the moment when we decided that we could’t stand anymore and we all started to laugh. The young man left his bag here and asked the rest of us nicely to not throw or open it as he had no bomb.

The man next to me didn’t say a word until we got to our destinations. Well, some words that were successfully ignored.

I wonder, what is going on in this world? I came home and I told my parents this story and we all laughed.

When the train got back from Iasi to Bucharest an 80 years old man was killed in the toilet. Apparently for no obvious reason as he had all the money in his pocket. Are these the reasons that make people lose their mind and exagerate everytime something unexpected happens?

You know you’re one of us if:

- everything you eat tastes like onion and garlic;

- you try to recycle flowers and gifts wrapping and aluminium foil;

- in an airport, you sit next to the two biggest suitcases;

- you get to a party one or two hours late and you think that it is normal;

- your kids have nicknames very different from their real names;

- when you visit someone, before you leave you stay one hour in front of the door talking… when you get to your house you call back to say you have arrived well and spend one more hour on the phone;

- your parents never throw anything, and if you succeed in throwing something it misteriously appears where it was before in less than 24 hours;

- you have lacy curtains;

- you have at least one macramé tablecloth and a doily on top of your TV;

- you have carpets that cover every centimetre of your house;

- you have or had carpets on your walls;

- your mother tells you you’re thin even if you have 110 kilos;

- you have blinds for at least one door;

- your mother recycles plastic glasses, cardboard plates and sandwich bags by washing them;

- you’ve got vinyl tablecloth in your kitchen;

- you use the shopping bags as rubbish bags;

- your parents use animal diminutives to call you when they are angry;

- you cannot leave on a trip unless at least 5 persons accompany you to the train, bus, airport, etc.

- your parents call you to ask you if you’ve eaten even if it’s midnight;

- you parents aren’t up-to-date with the latest technology advances so when they call abroad they shout;

- your son wears a cap and three sweaters in September even if the temperature is of 25 degrees;

- you wear a coat from September to May;

- if you see someone wearing short trousers in December you say he’s crazy even if the temperature is of 25 degrees;

- when your relatives from the coutryside visit you, you keep and eye on the TV (or cylinder);

- you think that if you drink milk and eat fruits (especially plums) you get to the toilet faster;

- you think that “urda”, “mamaliga” and “parizer” are international dishes;

- when you have guests from other countries you enjoy giving them “tuica” and when they finish the glass you give them more;

- when you have guests and you ask them if they want to drink something and they say NO you understand YES.

Funny but not completely true.

Source: Povestiri Haioase

My visit to Romania started quite disappointing. I got to the airport with Bruno and I had to pass the passport control early to buy some FCB t-shirts. Then I got to the boarding gate, half and hour early, a little bit sad because I knew that I would miss so much being home. I tried to look for a place to smoke but it was impossible to find one. I hate el Prat! Finally they announced the gate and I went to sit in front because I really wanted to get into the plane as soon as I could and sit down, turn on the music and sleep all the way to Romania. Impossible. When I went to sit there 20 Romanians came and sit in front of me just like that, maybe I was invisible or something. After 5 minutes of hearing them talking and trying to get closer to the gate, ignoring the queue and all the people there, I was already tired of Romania, I didn’t miss it at all, when suddenly I smelled smoke. It seems some Russian guys started to smoke because their flight was delayed and everybody smoked taking advantage of that. I preferred to go to smoke and then have to wait at the end of the queue than to be there between all those people that had no respect to them or the others.

So I went to smoke. A girl came and asked if we were allowed to smoke there. We told her that we were not, but well, as we were lots of persons that were smoking they would not punish us or something. And she started to say “True, because the Russians would eat them, because they were mean, we had to leave at 5 o’clock in a big plane, but they didn’t get the big plane but two little planes and now we are separated and have to wait… etc.. and the Russians are so angry so I hope the Spanish will not mess with them because they are capable of killing everybody… etc “. The answer was quite obvious but I still felt the need to ask “Where are you from?” “From Russia”… “Oh, I see, I will try not to mess with you”. Right, come on, we were all pissed off. I guess that time I discovered that I dislike nationalist people.

Anyway, I finished my cigarette and I got back to the queue and we finally got into the second bus that would take us to the plane. We waited, and waited… and waited… In the end they made us get out of the bus and enter the airport again to wait. Luckily for me the Russians were still angry so I could smoke again. And yes, I tried not to mess with them.

After one hour we got into the plane, but we had to wait one more hour there. It seems that one minor did not have his father’s approval to leave the country and we had to wait until his father came to the airport to sign some papers. Then we all got pissed off because we had to wait for him so the people from Blue Air found it wise to tell us that this was not the only thing that delayed the flight, there were also some problems with the plane. Bad idea as panic broke out and people were quite scared. They tried to solve it saying that the problem was with some papers, not with the plane itself but nobody believed it, there was still fear in everyone’s eyes. I decided that that was the perfect moment to watch United 93, so all the way to Romania, in the plane I watched to movie together with the girl next to me (it was her first flight ). It was kind of strange because it was already dark and it was a stormy night and there was some lightning, but we enjoyed it in the end.

At midnight I arrived to Romania (of course, Blue Air brought our luggage all wet because it was raining and they did not cover them with anything) where Alina, Sabina, Laura and Cristina were waiting for me. In the beginning I found it strange and difficult to speak Romanian (actually, it took me two days to start speaking Romanian with no Spanish word included). I met Alina’s new little precious: her car. . I liked it a lot, and I thought I would be afraid to be in the car while she is driving but I was wrong, actually it’s nice to be in the car with a beginner friend because you pay attention to everything and that is “team driving”: “left, right, car behind, free, go go go, no no, stoooooop”. It was a nice experience. .

In my three days in Bucharest I enjoyed seeing my friends and sleeping with Ali . We were out every day, having fun and inventing new “human” races. I couldn’t see all the persons I wanted to see, but luckily I have seen people I didn’t expect to see. I hope on the 13^th, when I get back to Bucharest I will see them.

I went to the Embassy on Monday but there were more than 100 persons there waiting. I cannot understand, why so many persons go to Spain? And still, there are much more who went illegally. I don’t understand it, but well. Finally, I could get in and it seems I have lots of chances to get my visa before the 15th of Sept.

Now I’m at my parents’, relaxing but still working from home, and missing you.