Catchup and my first day at the office
Okay, so back to the Museum of the Romanian Peasant. Overall, the museum was warm and humid...not what you typically find, eh? The artifacts were spread out over 9 different rooms, each with a museum staffer (volunteer?) to point you to the available information. This available information consisted of laminated tagboard that matched a multi-lingual brief description of the item with its number on the wall. They also seemed to have a themed tagboard, which matched up with specially-designated items in the exhibit. Overall, it was sparse, uncomfortable, and I don't think that anyone of the staff present could lecture or give details on the artifacts presented. Also, it was more focused on the artifacts, not the Romanian peasant's way of life.
This being said, some of the artifacts themselves were kinda neat, even if the experience viewing them wasn't up to par. There were wooden crosses, hung from trees when a person dies; handpainted glass icons; peasant blouses; decorated easter eggs; little three-legged chairs; and two original churches. The museum has apparently bought six peasant churches, two of which were rebuilt and on display; the rest remained in situ. (The museum built new churches in place of the two they relocated.) They also had a "troitsa", I believe it was called, a lean-to sheltering a large wooden or stone cross at intersections in the road. They sometimes also have an iconoclast of some sort (big wooden religious pane painted with scenes from the Bible) inside as well, for people to leave offerings or light candles before.
So, since the museum was disappointing (despite what I just told you I learned, there could have been A LOT more interpretation!), I headed on to the gift shop, and boy, was I surprised. Here was an air-conditioned, packed to the gills, all crafts included gift shop. Color was everywhere, and while I'm not sure if the goods were produced by professional artisans in town, or by the peasants themselves, I was taken in. Needless to say, I think I found where some of your souvenirs will be purchased... :-)
I will say that perhaps the difficulties in the museum part had to do with the building's history. I housed the country's Museum of the Communist Party until 1990, and in the basement, they still have some of the artifacts on display. (For those of you short on your Romanian history, Romania was under a communist dictatorship until the 1989 revolution when the ruling power couple, the Ceaucescus, were assassinated by the army.) So, a lot of this stuff on display was somewhat recent and in very good condition...one can only see so many busts and portraits of Stalin and Lenin, though, let me tell you.
After the museum, I met Alan, my "boss," I guess you would say, for dinner. We went to a "real Romanian" restaurant, right across from the US Embassy (which, incidentally, does have both non-smiling Marines and Romanian guards on duty; most other embassies seem to just have the local guard outside; I do, however, suspect that the guard dog was Romanian -- he wasn't at attention, the sleepyhead.) Food was good; I had small stuffed cabbages with veggies. Slightly different spices from the way Mom makes them...I suspect thyme or sage..
So, that brings us up to today. I'm at my desk (yeah!), typing on my laptop (yeah!), with a desk phone (woo-hoo!), in addition to my cell phone (woo-hoo-hoo!). If any of you choose to call me on my cell, and you can for about 23 cents a minute with a phonecard, the number from the states is 004-724-558-329. Just remember the time difference is +7 hours; the best times to call me are between 10pm and midnight, my time, preferably closer to 10pm.
The bulk of today has been going through materials on the glass artisan industry in central Romania. There was this consultant who came through last month, and it sounds like some projects are pushing forward. I need to figure out what exactly is in the works, what has already been started, and who is doing all this, and report it back to Alan. At least, that's my game plan for now.
Hope all is well with everyone at home!
Cheers,
Lauren
This being said, some of the artifacts themselves were kinda neat, even if the experience viewing them wasn't up to par. There were wooden crosses, hung from trees when a person dies; handpainted glass icons; peasant blouses; decorated easter eggs; little three-legged chairs; and two original churches. The museum has apparently bought six peasant churches, two of which were rebuilt and on display; the rest remained in situ. (The museum built new churches in place of the two they relocated.) They also had a "troitsa", I believe it was called, a lean-to sheltering a large wooden or stone cross at intersections in the road. They sometimes also have an iconoclast of some sort (big wooden religious pane painted with scenes from the Bible) inside as well, for people to leave offerings or light candles before.
So, since the museum was disappointing (despite what I just told you I learned, there could have been A LOT more interpretation!), I headed on to the gift shop, and boy, was I surprised. Here was an air-conditioned, packed to the gills, all crafts included gift shop. Color was everywhere, and while I'm not sure if the goods were produced by professional artisans in town, or by the peasants themselves, I was taken in. Needless to say, I think I found where some of your souvenirs will be purchased... :-)
I will say that perhaps the difficulties in the museum part had to do with the building's history. I housed the country's Museum of the Communist Party until 1990, and in the basement, they still have some of the artifacts on display. (For those of you short on your Romanian history, Romania was under a communist dictatorship until the 1989 revolution when the ruling power couple, the Ceaucescus, were assassinated by the army.) So, a lot of this stuff on display was somewhat recent and in very good condition...one can only see so many busts and portraits of Stalin and Lenin, though, let me tell you.
After the museum, I met Alan, my "boss," I guess you would say, for dinner. We went to a "real Romanian" restaurant, right across from the US Embassy (which, incidentally, does have both non-smiling Marines and Romanian guards on duty; most other embassies seem to just have the local guard outside; I do, however, suspect that the guard dog was Romanian -- he wasn't at attention, the sleepyhead.) Food was good; I had small stuffed cabbages with veggies. Slightly different spices from the way Mom makes them...I suspect thyme or sage..
So, that brings us up to today. I'm at my desk (yeah!), typing on my laptop (yeah!), with a desk phone (woo-hoo!), in addition to my cell phone (woo-hoo-hoo!). If any of you choose to call me on my cell, and you can for about 23 cents a minute with a phonecard, the number from the states is 004-724-558-329. Just remember the time difference is +7 hours; the best times to call me are between 10pm and midnight, my time, preferably closer to 10pm.
The bulk of today has been going through materials on the glass artisan industry in central Romania. There was this consultant who came through last month, and it sounds like some projects are pushing forward. I need to figure out what exactly is in the works, what has already been started, and who is doing all this, and report it back to Alan. At least, that's my game plan for now.
Hope all is well with everyone at home!
Cheers,
Lauren
posted by Lauren | 1:03 PM
1 Comments:
Super color scheme, I like it! Good job. Go on.
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