Gabori

While at the clinic this morning, I saw a group of Roma in the lobby. I had no idea what they were doing standing in the stairwell. They wore head kerchiefs and full skirts. There was a man on the other side of the door in a flat-brimmed hat. They exchanged some words, a woman handed him something (money? A scrap of paper?) through the window, and then he opened the door and let them in.

The waiting room was half-full of Roma. There were a few men dressed in dark clothes with the strange hats. The women wore colourful full skirts, shirts with collars, a cardigan on top and several fringed scarves around their waists. They also had their hair completely covered by floral kerchiefs. After a while, the men left and the women kept pacing the length of the room. I was quite facinated.

I asked my coworker later on what was going on. She said that they were Gabori, or Hungarian Roma. They're known as the most traditional Roma and will not marry Romanians. Historically, they were seen as the most trustworthy Roma and when Roma were used as slaves, the Gabori were allowed to have real jobs. Nowadays, they mainly work in the carpet and eavesdrough trades.