October 1, 2008: Romanian Village Museum

Dear Friend,

Remember that outdoor museum I told you about? I got to see it today. I really enjoyed my time there. Alina and I arrived around three o’clock in the afternoon and spent a good two hours browsing. The museum is kind of an enclosed village itself. However, the sidewalks are made of concrete and none of the buildings are situated necessarily the way they would be when they were lived in. For example, there was a fluffy blanket in one of the houses I entered that had florescent pink and green stripes. Unless that particular family was very rich I highly doubt florescent pink and green were optional colors for textiles.

Alina and I had this running joke throughout our visit to the museum: where there’s a lady, the house is open. A number of the buildings were locked (with locks made in the U.S.A. ironically,) but if a lady (one of the museum staff) was sitting outside the building then it was sure to be unlocked and we would be allowed to enter. Most of the buildings were rather short, though. I had to bend a little in order to enter. The ceilings of some houses would be right above my head, so no jumping-jacks were allowed. I don’t think I would be able to fit in a lot of the beds, either.

I continue to be amazed at the resourcefulness of these people. We’d call it resourcefulness in retrospect, of course, but I still maintain a lot of respect for those who lived in these conditions. Some of the beds were located near the stove, which would provide heat during the night. This was probably a huge fire hazard of some kind, but the idea makes sense. Some of the houses we entered were built into the ground. When we entered, there was a cooler feeling in the air. I assumed such houses would be great during the summer, as you would receive the cool temperature from the ground. There were a number of churches within the museum, too. I was intrigued by how they appeared to be put together like giant puzzles, especially to give it a circular look.

The mills, though, were probably my favorite. I got a really nice picture of myself next to a large, Romanian windmill. The intricacy of the mechanics in one of these things is just amazing, not to mention the construction. A lot of the pieces used in one of these mills were taller and wider than me. A lot of the pieces could also crush a person. The beams and planks are solid.

We then visit a park, the middle of which was surrounded by this circle of giant busts of people I didn’t know. These heads were huge. I want someone to make a bust of my head someday that is that ridiculously big. They were probably politicians of some kind. We rested for awhile then planned the rest of our afternoon. Alina mentioned that a Japanese garden was nearby, so we headed in that direction.

I could’ve just returned to the museum, because the Japanese garden was hardly a garden and hardly Japanese. The river was dry and the flowers were few. By this time, we were both quite ready to be done with the day anyway. We decided to return to the office.

On the way home from the office, I explained to Iris the Christian liberal arts program Northwestern has. I didn’t quite get the opportunity to discuss the Christian aspect. All of Iris’ questions were about the structure of liberal arts. She seemed mildly impressed with the concept. She then tried to explain to me the system of the universities here in Romania. Apparently the system is quite convoluted, and in ways I don’t quite understand. Iris seemed to do well in it, though, as she graduated with great scores and is continuing on. She’s planning to become a therapist.

Not much else happened after this point. We returned to the flat and went to bed. I did some reading beforehand, but I was pretty beat from the all the walking. I love walking, so it was a wonderful way to become exhausted.

Blessings.
Kailen