Today I discovered a blog by a fellow named Andy H. It appears he and I have dealt with similar topics. Here is a link to the post in his blog that caught my interest: Csíkszereda musings: A story.
Here is a link to an old post from "A Fulbright Year in Romania" that seems to me to be somewhat in parallel to Andy's musings.
I especially admire Andy H. for this line in his blog's heading: "I reserve the right to go off topic and talk about anything I damn well like."
Hang tough, Andy! I hope that we can meet one day, perhaps at Praid, for a salty conversation.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
An Easter Morning Noncoincidence
Hristos a înviat! (Adevărat a înviat!)
The Easter midnight Mass at the Romanian Orthodox Saint John of Suceava Mission in Manchester, the only Romanian church in New Hampshire, was a beautiful three-hour event, attended at midnight by over 100 Romanians, Romanian-Americans, and their offspring.
Father Aurel Petrescu is the priest of the Saint John of Suceava Mission, which was founded in Manchester in 1996. He proved a precise and thorough performer of the mass, and has a beautiful voice, which, with God's help, remained strong through all three hours. In certain sections of the service, Father Petrescu was assisted by our "adoptive nephew" Alexandru Mican, the newly-minted MBA from Plymouth State University, who did his high schooling at the Cathedral Seminary School in Cluj, and thus is familiar with the liturgy.
Following the mass, the forty or so of us who had stayed for the entire service (it is common in Romania for folks to come and go during such long church events, and many had small children with them) enjoyed a pot-luck buffet. Alex had brought some of his wonderful vinete, a uniquely Romanian eggplant puree that is spread on bread, and is most delicious. I contributed sliced ham that I had baked on Saturday.
As it got to be 4:00 AM, a man I had exchanged nods with during the service came to our table. He sat next to me, introduced himself as Mr. Aurelian Diaconu, and asked if I knew Romanian. He said he had noticed I was joining in singing some of the responses during the interactive chants. "Puțin," I said. "A little." "But mostly I was listening and repeating what others were singing." His wife Liana joined us (Alex, Aurelian, and I were at the table together), as Aurelian asked about my time in Romania. "Not many Americans know anything about Romania," he said.
"I know," I told him, "I am very lucky. I have taught at UBB in Cluj for three of the past six semesters."
"What do you teach?" he asked.
"Business."
At that point, Liana spoke up: "I have a cousin who is an economist in Cluj."
I asked, "At UBB-FSEGA?" [Facultatea de Știinţe Economice și Gestiunea Afacerilor, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration]
"I think so."
"Then we have been colleagues. Perhaps we have met."
"Her name is Mihaela Luțaș."
Alexandru Mican laughed out loud. He, too, understood. There are no coincidences.
[Prodeacon Mihaela Luțaș heads the Englishline programs at FSEGA. She has been my immediate "boss" in all my teaching in Romania, since 2008. In addition to being a distinguished and highly respected teacher and economist, Mihaela is one of my best friends in all the world.]
The Easter midnight Mass at the Romanian Orthodox Saint John of Suceava Mission in Manchester, the only Romanian church in New Hampshire, was a beautiful three-hour event, attended at midnight by over 100 Romanians, Romanian-Americans, and their offspring.
Father Aurel Petrescu is the priest of the Saint John of Suceava Mission, which was founded in Manchester in 1996. He proved a precise and thorough performer of the mass, and has a beautiful voice, which, with God's help, remained strong through all three hours. In certain sections of the service, Father Petrescu was assisted by our "adoptive nephew" Alexandru Mican, the newly-minted MBA from Plymouth State University, who did his high schooling at the Cathedral Seminary School in Cluj, and thus is familiar with the liturgy.
Following the mass, the forty or so of us who had stayed for the entire service (it is common in Romania for folks to come and go during such long church events, and many had small children with them) enjoyed a pot-luck buffet. Alex had brought some of his wonderful vinete, a uniquely Romanian eggplant puree that is spread on bread, and is most delicious. I contributed sliced ham that I had baked on Saturday.
As it got to be 4:00 AM, a man I had exchanged nods with during the service came to our table. He sat next to me, introduced himself as Mr. Aurelian Diaconu, and asked if I knew Romanian. He said he had noticed I was joining in singing some of the responses during the interactive chants. "Puțin," I said. "A little." "But mostly I was listening and repeating what others were singing." His wife Liana joined us (Alex, Aurelian, and I were at the table together), as Aurelian asked about my time in Romania. "Not many Americans know anything about Romania," he said.
"I know," I told him, "I am very lucky. I have taught at UBB in Cluj for three of the past six semesters."
"What do you teach?" he asked.
"Business."
At that point, Liana spoke up: "I have a cousin who is an economist in Cluj."
I asked, "At UBB-FSEGA?" [Facultatea de Știinţe Economice și Gestiunea Afacerilor, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration]
"I think so."
"Then we have been colleagues. Perhaps we have met."
"Her name is Mihaela Luțaș."
Alexandru Mican laughed out loud. He, too, understood. There are no coincidences.
 |
| The Family Diaconu of Manchester with Alexandru Mican at Easter Feast |
[Prodeacon Mihaela Luțaș heads the Englishline programs at FSEGA. She has been my immediate "boss" in all my teaching in Romania, since 2008. In addition to being a distinguished and highly respected teacher and economist, Mihaela is one of my best friends in all the world.]
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Paşte Fericit!
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| Taken in Oradea, Romania, 2009 |
In about an hour, I will drive my former PSU MBA student (and now PSU colleague) Prof. Dr. Roxana (Dima) Wright, formerly of Brașov, and my former UBB student and good friend MICAN Alexandru to an Easter service at the Romanian church in Manchester, New Hampshire, about an hour's drive south of here. It will be my third Orthodox Easter in as many years. The service will be in Romanian. Last Easter it was in both Greek and English at the cathedral in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2009 it was in Romanian at Biserica Sfanta Ana in Bistriţa, with Alexandru and his parents.
May God's blessings find us all this Easter, and may we see and appreciate them.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
"Insert-sort with Romanian folk dance "
www.youtube.com
Ray wrote: "Created at Sapientia University, Târgu Mures (Marosvásárhely), Romania. Directed by Kátai Zoltán and Tóth László. In cooperation with 'Maros Művészegyüttes',..."
Enjoy!
Duncan
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Life goes on (in keeping with The Plan?)
Thank you Duncan. I appreciate hearing from you. I have read your blogs and enjoyed them very much. They brought me back to similar experiences and reminded me of the kindness of Romanians.
I'll keep you posted on our progress in Cluj. The movie has really helped us connect with so many more people. We depend on volunteers in Romania to help our small staff run successful programs and special outings for the children. The good news is every time we show the movie more people step up to help.
April 12, 2011 RE: Romania Thanks for the information about the screening. I am helping publicize it, too, so it is gratifying to see the word go 'round the world. I think I met Eileen when I visited the NGO in Bistrita.
Sad news: our landlord Cornell Blajan passed away last week. Quite unexpectedly. Luci, his wife, found him at the house unconscious, rushed him to the hospital and he never regained consciousness. Graveside service was yesterday. We were out of town for a conference in Italy and were greeted with the funeral notice on the gate when we returned Sunday.
I hope all is well with you and yours. I am expecting that Life after Romania will not be as exciting as the Romanian Adventure, but that will be another chapter. And I will work diligently to find ways to come back---I'm hooked!
Dan
Re: Romania ...
I'll keep you posted on our progress in Cluj. The movie has really helped us connect with so many more people. We depend on volunteers in Romania to help our small staff run successful programs and special outings for the children. The good news is every time we show the movie more people step up to help.
****************************************
Sad news: our landlord Cornell Blajan passed away last week. Quite unexpectedly. Luci, his wife, found him at the house unconscious, rushed him to the hospital and he never regained consciousness. Graveside service was yesterday. We were out of town for a conference in Italy and were greeted with the funeral notice on the gate when we returned Sunday.
I hope all is well with you and yours. I am expecting that Life after Romania will not be as exciting as the Romanian Adventure, but that will be another chapter. And I will work diligently to find ways to come back---I'm hooked!
Dan
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| "Ratliff, Dan" | ||
| Shirley McDougall [e-mail address] |
Dear Dan,
I am most sorry to hear about Cornell's death. Thankfully, it sounds as if he had a natural and a merciful passing. He certainly impressed me as a wonderful man, to the extent that I knew him.
I understand the feelings you are having for Romania. I remember that "Fulbrighter's pre-nostalgia" you are expressing.
I would be honored to share another time with you folks in Romania. Perhaps we can arrange a future visit as two couples.
My very best to you, to Nancy, and to Cami,
Duncan
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