Update

So now that I've been here almost a month, I can respond to Jo's letter. It scared me because it compounded the beliefs that I had that Romania was a desolate, lawless place full of pimps, prostitutes and poverty (the three P's). I am glad to say that I have not had the pleasure of experiencing most of the things she described and I don't even have the luxury of a bodyguard! Granted, Timisoara is considered more "Western" than the rest of the country, although it is not without its own problems.

Hi there, I'm on Canadian soil again, a little groggy from so much flying but happy to be back... despite the fact that I miss Romania quite a bit. I'm so glad I experienced that place. It was the first time I have ever felt justifiably unsafe. As you know, Romania has a very poor population, as a result everyone is trying to get an edge in any way they can. Robbery and assult are common, and nobody trusts anyone else. Everywhere I went I was clutching my purse, watching my pockets, wondering who was behind me and what their intentions were.

I felt this way my first week in Romania but it's quickly passed. I was prepared for an army of little street hellions with knives ready to cut open my purse without me even knowing. Now that I've arrived, I can and do wear a backpack. Delphine walked around with a tote bag. I'm no more vigilant here than I was in Paris. I walk alone at night. I don't feel as safe as I do back home but I also avoid empty streets and dark alleys. It comes down to common sense: don't wear fancy clothes, don't carry fancy accessories and nobody gets hurt.

When Koren and I first arrived we were behaving like Canadians, we would be walking through the streets smiling or saying hello (buna) to people who passed by. Our friend Toni (Romanian working as a securityguard on the CANDU townsite) quickly advised us not to, smiling at strangers indicates that you want something from them or they can get something from you, remain stonefaced unless you know someone. It was probaby to the credit of Toni that we weren't assulted on the trip.

This is common sense. I learned that lesson early on in France. Making eye contact can be seen as an invitation for sexual favours. I will greet old people sitting in parks or people in my nieghbourhood but otherwise I do my business and let everyone so theirs.

We met Toni our first night in town, he said he would take us out to the discos so we got Canadian references for him ('cause ya can't trust anyone) who said he was legit. For the rest of the trip Toni acted as our bodyguard. Koren and I looked different so we got alot of attention. Toni would come out to the disco with us, drink no more than 2 beer and just watch to make sure no one looked at us the wrong way. If we went to the washroom he would come and stand outside, all business. There are alot of pimps in Cernavoda, there is good money in that business which is hard to find in Romania, one night we were at an outdoor bar, Toni was very nervous the whole time, wouldn't let us go to the washroom even though it was within eyeshot, eventually he moved us inside because apparently some pimps were talking about Koren and me. Had we gone to the washroom alone we could have been druged and taken to a Turkish street corner before we knew it. Its happened before, many times. A trustworthy male friend is invaluable to women in Romania, otherwise many won't go out at night.

I can and do go to the bathroom alone. I haven't been to any discos but I have seen some sketchy bars. No problems there though. I've waited for taxis between street kids huffing glue and old tattoed men and felt no worse off than standing outside a club back home. I've witnessed girls, in groups of twos or threes on their way to discos, no males in site.

One night I was thinking about how vulnerable I was feeling, I wasn't sure if it was because I was a foreign female or just because I was female, so I asked some of my Romanian girlfriends. I asked them if it was very dangerous to be a woman in Romania, before I could even get the words out they were nodding their heads. Romania is still very chauvanistic, women have a defined place and laws about sexual harassment have not been impliented in most of Romania, you mix that with the poverty I've already mentioned that drives people to crime and what you get is a very volitile region for women. After we finished discussing this my friend Leylla, a Romanian woman raised in Cernavoda asked me to accompany her to the washroom because she was scared to go alone.

I can't comment on this because I haven't met too many Romanian girls. My coworker asked me to come with her to make a phone call one night because the area was empty save for a few burly men. I accompanied here but it wouldn't have bothered me to go alone. She said she was probably overreacting but we both belt safer being together.

The living wage is very low there. Toni lives with his sick mother and makes 100$ a month, here is an example of the purchasing power of his wage. Koren and I went shopping with Linda (family friend) on this average grocery shop (just the basics) to feed her and her husband Linda spent 2000,000 Lei (about 80$) Toni would have to work for a month merely raise that much money. However, he cannot spend that money just on a 2000000Lei grocery shop to feed him and his mother, he has rent and bills to pay as well.

Salaries are higher in Timisoara than the rest of the country and people make about 150 euros a month. My rent is 150 euros a month + utilities. It is possible to eat a lot cheaper than 2,000,000 lei, however, this diet would be almost vegetarian. I was going to say that I can eat for $10.00 a week, but multiply that by four and then by two and you've got $80.00.


Watch me get mugged at knifepoint on the way home now.