One of the strange and serendipitous things about my life is how it’s been linked to the Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, known in English as “Trajan”, Spanish as “Trajano”, Italian as “Traiano” and Romanian as “Traian”. Years ago I went to see Trajan’s Column, created specifically to commemorate “his” victory over the Dacians, one of the most famous landmarks in Rome today. Later … Continue reading The Statue
Well right now it’s just his proposed cabinet but likely future PM Victor “Skeletor” Ponta unveiled his line-up and gave a little speech which I will translate: Today we’re talking about a special government formed under special circumstances, to govern until the elections. Our intention in these next 6 months [until the election] is to do a great job so that the people will vote … Continue reading Skeletor’s New Cabinet
I think the Unsleeping Eye is about to burn out, watching all that’s going on in this country. I tell you that for the first time I truly am beginning to understand exactly why so many “regular” Romanians are obsessed with pranks, jokes, the superficial and the stupid. It’s clearly some kind of psychological coping mechanism. I got to tell you it’s going to take … Continue reading Exit Music (For A Country)
On a good day I find it humorous and on a bad day I find it frustrating but every time that I talk about how kind total strangers have been to me in Romania, people here always find a way to explain it away. Me: Everyone treats me so well here, even total strangers. Romanian: Oh it’s just because they knew you were a foreigner. … Continue reading The Case of the Anonymous Santa
I was really glad to see the comments on my post yesterday because it really opens up some lines of dialogue that I think are exactly what this country needs. Just about every afternoon I see the usual handful of people shouting “Jos Basescu” in the main square and I think to myself that a far more useful and ultimately productive approach is talking about … Continue reading I’m On The Pavement, Thinking About The Government
All Things Romania 