Day 150 - March in Iași

Sample mărțișor

By March, I had been in Romania for six months and had been living in the apartment on the plaza in the middle of town for two months. But I wasn't yet ready to say I was happy there. Life in Romania was much easier than life had been in Iran. It was as though everyone in Romania could sense when I had reached the point of wanting to walk away from a situation that had become too frustrating and then they would turn to me to ask what I needed. In Iran, I learned that when I reached that point, I had to patiently wait as long again unless I really did think walking away was necessary.

George, Sandra, and Ana in the park

But March first was the beginning of a change. According to the old calendar in Romania, March 1 was the beginning of the new year. Symbolically, observing March 1 centered around women and fertility. For this reason, my students all gave me mărțișor, small tokens or charms hung on twisted threads of red and white that are  pinned to clothing. It was a small gesture, but the first where I felt I was an individual, not the American lecturer.

The following week, March 8, was another holiday I hadn't known about, International Women's Day. On that occasion, one of my classes gave me a doll dressed in a folk costume of the region, Moldova.

Paul running to join us
in the park

Those two events were the beginning of my feeling welcomed in Romania. And that made it possible for me to take actions to enjoy myself from that point on.

Sandra in front of
a statue in the park

George in front
of a statue in the
park

One example was an expedition that Paul, the American Fulbright researcher, two of my students, Ana and George, and I made to a park in Iași on an afternoon. The park featured a number of statues of historically important Romanians. We wandered through the park, taking turns posing in front of the statues in the same poses as the statues and taking photographs. It was an enjoyable afternoon with no purpose other than to enjoy the time.

 My impression was that students in Romania spent so much of their time and effort just getting through the day that there wasn't much time left just to enjoy life. I am happy that I had those small opportunities to enjoy Romania with my students.