Bucareşti, the biggest city and capital of Romania, has been a blast. I have found the architecture and parks to be altogether satisfying, and the people to be hospitable and (of course) beautiful. With blue skies and mild temperatures, my friend and I have explored the city on foot, with little incident and much success. Having only a day and a half is about perfect, although we have found it to be a bit too short a trip for visiting museums and such. Still, it has been more than sufficient to wander the winding city streets, taste some local food, and tour the second largest building in the world -- which may be smaller than the Pentagon, but certainly blows it out of the water in terms of aesthetics.
Bucareşti (known to the English-speaking world as Bucharest) shares several cultural undertones with my current country of residence, Moldova, but stands on a whole different level of development and culture. Indeed, while the Romanian language may be pretty much the same, people in Bucareşti speak with different accent and pronunciation, in such a way that I feel almost as though I were in France or Italy -- even though I've never been to either of those countries. People here seem to have difficulty understanding me, and I am becoming increasingly more aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle discrepancies between the Romanian of Bucareşti and that of Moldova.
Having a vacation from Moldova and my Peace Corps service has come not a moment too soon, and I can't wait for the next stop on the trip. So, where to next? Wait and see...
Happy. Thank you. More Please.
11 years ago
1 comment:
You needed and deserved a break and I am happy you are enjoying your trip so far.
I suppose one way to look at the difference in spoken Romanian in Bucharest and Moldova is as one more example of how the Soviet occupation destroyed culture and identity in Moldova, and how hopefully your service will contribute to a restoration of national pride and individual opportunities to grow...
Post a Comment