When I found out that Romania and Ukraine were on the I-squad race route, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I conjured up images of something like cold, snowy, grey, depressing Russia. I sensed a heaviness was coming…something I would have to grit my teeth and bear through. I didn’t take the time to research the places and so I let my expectations ride on what I saw in the movies. Well Hollywood and I have some misconceptions to clear up.
In Ireland our team was told that we would be working with Gypsies. My thoughts immediately fell to one of my fave movies, Ever After. There is a part in the movie when the prince is running away from home. On his ride out, he runs into Leonardo DiVinci’s caravan which has just been robbed by a band of gypsies. The men are raiding the carriage and taking the nice plates, silver and trinkets. When they see the guard following the prince, they all scatter and run away. By now I’ve come to realize that movies exaggerate, dramatize and in some cases just get it wrong.
(home church service)But there’s something more precious than the landscape in this village: the gypsy people. There are essentially two categories of gypsy: traditional/nomadic and the more modern/stationary. The traditional are what people tend to exaggerate in the movies. They travel in caravans going from place to place to try and pick berries, make a livelihood and provide for their families somehow. The gypsy culture is very family-oriented, they very much remind me of the Crow families I came to admire on the rez. The more modern gypsies, like we meet here in Viile Tecii, have homes with gardens, etc. Gypsies (traditional and modern) are considered the lowest on the todem pole, highly discriminated against. They are not even considered to be Romanian. I tell ya what though…the cute old men, the widows, the kids and their families that I’ve been establishing relationships with…they have big hearts, welcoming arms, and beauty in their eyes. I could care less which is traditional and which is not…my hands and heart are eager to reach out and serve them in whatever way I can.
I am very excited about building relationships with the families here in Viile Tecii. I’m eager to find out which of my assumptions about gypsies are incorrect. I do recommend Ever After (it us a romantic cinderella story, don’t hate), but chew on this for a moment:
(as the prince and Danielle are feasting among the gypsy people)
Prince Henry: I have no desire to be king…to be so defined by your position. To never be seen as who you are, but what you are. You have no idea how insufferable that is.
Danielle: you might be surprised
Henry: Really?
