Word Count: 453 One of the cool things about having a wife who is learning Latin (and Greek) is that I’m finally getting some resolution to some etymological mysteries that I’ve had for years with some Romanian words. A case in point is the Romanian word for garlic, which is totally unlike other Romance languages: French: ail Spanish: ajo Italian: aglio Catalan: all All from … Continue reading Afterburner
Word Count: 729 Every time a Moldovan tells me how great it would be if the unirea (political union with Romania) would happen, I always ask them the same question. “Why in the world would you want those fucking crooks in charge of your life?” In Romania, just a week after siccing the dirtbag police on a group of unarmed shepherds, the parliament just voted … Continue reading Every Man for Himself, and May the Devil Take the Hindmost
Word Count: 1346 A couple of days ago, Romania made a huge splash across the world as news reports filtered in about the good hitting police of Bucharest taking a break from their usual activities of robbing foreigners to discharge tear gas and deploy riot gear against some unarmed shepherds: More than 1,000 shepherds have broken through police lines into the grounds of Romania’s parliament … Continue reading Let Slip the Dogs of Protest
Word Count: 803 Over the past month or so, the Unsleeping Eye has reported an uptick in foreigners being caught in a new Romanian scam. As far as I can tell, this is only happening in Bucharest, the chaotic near-lawless capital of Romania, where taxi drivers have single-handedly done their best to ruin foreigners’ first impressions of the country for years. Just today, I picked … Continue reading The Bucharest Jaywalking Scam
Word Count: 657 Brief background in case you’re just joining us: The Republic of Moldova (where I live) is a divided country, where some people speak Romanian at home and some people speak Russian. Likewise, politics are divided, with some groups wanting to join the European Union, and some groups wanting closer ties with Russia (and its Customs Union, similar to the EU). And so, … Continue reading Loan Shark
All Things Romania 