v for vaslui
This is my subjective experience, but hell, everywhere I go, out of Romania or not and no matter with whom I go, we stumble upon great people. While this is partly luck, I find it hard to believe that you cannot find something beautiful in any place.
The story starts like this. One of my friends, befriended a girl online. During the Pandemic, we had countless game & movie nights on Discord and got close. Close enough for the question to arise during the holidays “Would you guys visit Vaslui to see me?” and we were like, yeah, you bet! Vaslui is one of the most misunderstood regions of Romania, so besides finally meeting our new friend, we also wanted to see what on earth is all this fuss about?
Let me show you a bit of data first and then we’ll move along:
DID YOU KNOW?
There are 55,407 people living in Vaslui, split in three municipalities: Vaslui, Bîrlad, and Huși. Two cities Negrești and Murgeni and 81 communes with 449 villages. Being one of the most-eastern regions of the country, its neighbors are Moldova on the east side, the border being the Prut river. On the west side of Vaslui we have more counties: Neamț, Bacău, and Vrancea. On the south side you find Galați and on the north side, Iași. You will find tons of hills and forests; I will leave below the most famous units known:
The Central Moldavian Plateau, east of the Tutovei Hills; Fălciului Hills; Huși Depression and Elan-Săratu Depression; and
All of them are parts of Bârlad Plateau. Vaslui also meets paths with the Siret river and a large portion of the Bârlad river travels the county.
Vaslui County is full of archeological treasures, as well as historical monuments and traditions. The most important cities in the county, Vaslui and Bârlad, date back to 14th - 15th centuries. Huși County is the third in size and worldwide-known for the quality of wine. In case you’ll ever visit the area I will list a few places from each county:
Vaslui County:
The ruins of the Royal Court and the Church of St. John (1490), The monumental complex from Podul Înalt - 12 km south from Vaslui.
“Ștefan cel Mare” County Museum, “Nicolae Milescu Spătarul” County Library.
Bârlad County:
The Royal church (1634), St. George’s Church (1843). Stroe Belloescu’s Municipal Library has over 150,000 books and some rare and valuable ones, part of the national patrimony, since 1906.
“Vasile Pârvan” Museum (1914). “Victor Ion Popa” Theatre.
Huși County:
The Royal Palace from the 15th century and the Royal Church, dating back to 16th century. Biserica zidită de Ștefan cel Mare (1494 - 1495), became an episcopal church (1598) when Eremia Movilă was appointed bishop.
THE PRESENT
The reason why Vaslui is a misunderstood region is this: I randomly went on a news website and searched for the word Vaslui. The first nine titles are:
“Doctors and nurses from Vaslui and Bacău were convicted after they issued false certificates.”
“An ambulance transporting a COVID patient got stuck in the mud in Vaslui.”
“Two brothers from Vaslui were a step away from death while bathing at home.”
“The suspended house, a new architectural wonder in Vaslui.”
“VIDEO. Cops attacked in Vaslui after they wanted to fine a young man for not wearing a mask.”
“A young man from Vaslui has been burned alive. What happened?”
“Woman from Vaslui saved in the last minute from a fire that wrecked her home.”
“A man from Huși is in pre-trial detention after raping his 13-year-old daughter.”
“A woman from Vaslui who was missing for a week has been found dead. What do investigators suspect?”
Seems like a pretty hopeless place, right? Even the only “positive” title found was actually a joke. The architectural curiosity is a house built 6 metres above ground, in poor condition which has golden ornaments. It’s built in a swamp area and has no way of access yet. While I do not deny that these things do happen, and that yes, Vaslui is not the most ideal place to live in Romania, you have no idea how much it bothers me that media doesn’t care about the good that happens there, too.
Is it the audience that wouldn’t be satisfied or would we rather hear about fathers raping their daughters than the fact that in a village, close to Vaslui, Pădureni, a reform has been done and the village is flourishing? That’s just the first thing which came to my mind, because I had no idea.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Until I got out of the train, all I knew about Vaslui was what I heard from the news. So did my friend and boyfriend. The three of us went together. We did make some jokes about how we’re gonna get there and be abducted or something, but for the record, the humor we have on a daily basis is not for snowflakes and faint-hearted. You don’t have the privilege to hear it out in the open. We went there with curiosity and a clear mind and we knew that life is not black and white. It’s made of infinite colors; some which the human eye can’t even perceive, between darkness and light. That’s why I’m not gonna start bothering about anything else other than the experience I’m living.
Some places have a higher danger rate than others, but it’s unfair to concentrate only on that. It’s unfair for the people who do their best to just live a peaceful decent life and who excel at that.
We came back home with warmth in our hearts and happy to have met such wonderful people.
In the four days spent there, we painted a very different picture of Vaslui:
DAY 1 - 26TH OF DECEMBER 2020:
Our train left at about 6:30 AM from Bucharest. No delays, no funky business as you would expect from CFR. The 5-hour-long journey passed rapidly because we were all tired. By 12:30 PM we were already on the road to Huși, where we would stay for the upcoming days. The genuine Moldavian hospitality and how our friend’s father blasted good old rock ‘n’ roll were a delight.
For a bit of a background story, we were visiting quite an artsy family from Huși. Our friend is a gamer, with a passion for art. She has been helping her father with event photography, music and videography for a few years now, this being one of the main professional family activities. Our friend’s mother is working abroad. When we arrived, a delicious traditional meal filled our stomachs and we met our friend’s grandmother and younger brother. They have a lovely home with a big yard, where three lovely dogs and two cats reside. Our friend’s father had all the old-school and the “new-school” equipment for playing music and doing photography or printing them. I must say that it was a true awesome man cave. This is a compliment! Filled with an enormous amount of culture, a trip through time that’s filled with sweet, sweet sound for your ears. It also reminded me very much of my father and I found it lovely how, 300 km+ away in a culturally different part of Romania, I find this familiarity.
For most of the day, because we were tired from the road, we stayed in and got to know each other. The more we got to know them, the more we felt like home. It’s not just the Moldavian hospitality, it’s simply how it doesn’t matter where you are from, if you get along with people, you’ll have a great time. For dinner we went out in the city at the best pizza place they knew and it was delicious. My fellow readers from Bucharest and around the world, in Vaslui, a big delicious pizza is only 22 RON!!! 4.51 EUR. (take into account this was during the Pandemic!)
After dinner, we got to experience the man cave while having a pot of tea. We watched a “Muse” concert and a “Queen” concert her father had. It was the closest experience we got to an actual concert, in 2020, because of the Pandemic. *sobs*
DAY 2 - 27TH OF DECEMBER 2020
This day was busy and it was time to look around and see what this place is all about. We went to Pădureni, a village within the commune with the same name. The commune has more villages: Căpotești, Davidești, Ivănești, Leoști, Pădureni (residence), Rusca, Todireni, and Văleni. According to the 2011 census, there are 4,028 people living in Pădureni.
The plans to reform Pădureni started after “the *cough, cough, fake* Revolution”, when a new mayor was elected. Some of the investments made were:
The pool.
A festivities hall.
A beautiful park. All those were built while also investing in utilities and infrastructure.
A carpentry workshop, a town hall sawmill and a mechanical workshop for the means of transport, from which the commune benefited before 1990, were set up. Since 2011,
Pădureni has sewerage and a sewage treatment plant. With financial help from Switzerland, a water supply was made in another village. The mayor’s office bought a tractor with a trailer, a garbage truck, and two minibuses with which the commune manages itself.
Through PHARE projects, a day centre for 30 kids coming from families in difficult situations was built. Kids get a warm lunch, do their homework, can rest, and are helped by teachers. In the evening, they are taken home by bus.
From a former bakery, the Armonia Hall was arranged. It functions as a party hall and as a disco. The activities of Armonia Hall, cultural center, and swimming pool produce a seventh of the budget of Pădureni commune in terms of revenues.
The Hora Festival has been organized in the commune for 37 years. An event founded by the mayor at a young age, when he was the director of the cultural center. In 2013, the festival was attended by 2,200 people who paid for a ticket.
The cultural center is the place where:
The Stejarelul ensemble, the Ethnos Cultural Association, the vocal group, and other bands carry out their activities.
The Harmony Hall and the festivities hall of the cultural center are rented either by the locals, first of all, or by people from other localities.
With more financial help from Switzerland:
· A school in Văleni was repaired, and the cultural center in Pădureni was modernized and expanded.
· A gym and a computer room were added to the school in Pădureni as well. Proper access to education in many rural areas is limited or almost nonexistent in Romania.
· A swimming pool and a leisure lake have been built next to the town hall building.
· Around them, a space with grills, gazebos, and mini sports fields that anyone can rent has also been set up.
· In the central area, there is another green space with terraces, gazebos, and playgrounds for children.
· All furniture elements in the public space, as well as in the school, are built in the town hall workshop.
We were given a tour of Pădureni by the mayor, along with a friend. The tour ended after a leap through history in their small gallery. Yes, there were old interesting pictures and books, but my favorites were the letters people wrote. It’s fascinating to see what went on in people’s minds around 100 years ago and how much the language spoken and written has changed. And as if he hadn’t already provided sweet hospitality, they invited us to the events hall for a lunch between friends. Local mouthwatering pies were fresh out of the oven, waiting for us, along with the absolutely best wine I have ever drunk in Romania. While we learned more about Pădureni, Vaslui, and the Moldavian Spirit, we had a great time, chatting, joking and just really leaving aside any kind of formal facade. We also had another guest, the former Chief of Police from Pădureni, who’s simply a natural stand-up comedian, I swear!
When we got back it was time for BBQ! A feast kind of BBQ, where they invited one of their closest friends, who happens to be the son of a known writer. The feast was filled with rock and metal history, because you have to. You just have to start discussing the philosophy of the feels and history behind the greatest bands.
We spent the rest of the night hanging out and testing our friend’s makeup skills. I had professional makeup on my face multiple times and I must say that this makeup and the one she also did for New Year’s Eve topped the other times when I had another face that was still supposed to be my face. Mainly because of the other face thing.
Some people who do professional makeup are fixated on some sort of patterns or kinds of beauty. They don’t actually think of creative ways that will suit the person or advise their clients if they have a preferred choice that is bad for their complexion or simply kitsch. They just mold the standard they do so that it fits the client. I don’t think that all people who do makeup are like that and I do think makeup is an art, but I do feel as if there’s a lot of shallowness in this side of the business.
Moving on, I enjoyed discussing with her grandmother. She is open-minded in a way I don’t usually see in older people. Usually they are either trying too hard to keep up with the times or are narrow-minded in disguise, like: I don’t have anything against gay people, but I don’t want to stand next to one or for my kids to be gay. To me, my friend’s grandmother is a person who understands that she cannot fully adapt to these new and fast times, but still has that young-spirited curiosity and thanks to how wise she became, this mix is a beautiful blend. An insightful one even, for someone as young as me.
DAY 3 - 28TH OF DECEMBER 2020
This was our last day, tomorrow we had to hop back on the train. It was time for independence! The Den has to manifest itself in any habitat, sorry. It was my second day of actually having breakfast, I usually don’t. I was conflicted here. I have an obsession for soups, ciorbă, borș, whatever traditional liquid food and my friend’s grandmother makes the best borș ever.
I gulped a bowl of borș just as yesterday and we went to explore the dystopia. Our friend was the guide. She told us that trains used to come all the way up to Huși, but the railway has stopped working more than 10 years ago. I think writing is worthless at this point, just look at the pictures.
At the end of the railway, we reached a forest and then a dog suddenly became our guide. On our way to the next destination, the dog followed us. We had to go along a road that had no sidewalks and had cars speeding. The dog was excited that he made new friends and right after we said that we should shoo him away because a car might hit him, it did. He didn’t die. I think his injury was not serious. His leg was affected, but I don’t think it was broken. In the end, he could almost run back to the forest. Yes, he definitely had a strong adrenaline hit, but I try to stay positive, he’s a street dog, gotta’ have the fight in him…at least a bit? The driver was not at all worried about the dog’s life, he was concerned about the car, which turned out to be completely fine. Fuck you human piece of a cunt!
This definitely took our trip to a darker note, however it quickly went away after we arrived to the next destination. Pensiunea Dobrina has one of the best views you can see of Huși and apparently, a lovely cat guarding it.
We all got along pretty well, so our friend’s father agreed to let his daughter go with us to Bucharest to celebrate New Year’s Eve. It was the last night in Vaslui and we had to pack slowly… when we were bored of drinking…and not too lazy. Neither our friend nor her brother had seen the Harry Potter movies or read the books, so it was time. We started, of course, with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. To us, it was a nice moment to relive cute times of our childhoods, while to them, it was the excitement we all had when we first saw it.
In case you’re wondering whether the youngest of the family, her brother, shares the same Moldavian spirit, you’ll find out that he has an awesome sense of humor. He is 7 years younger than her, a gamer as well, very smart, sweet, and speaks English almost fluently at the age of 13.
DAY 4 - 29TH OF DECEMBER 2020
We blasted music again on the road from Huși to Vaslui. Now it was our turn to show off some badass sound! The train to Bucharest would depart at 3:23 PM. It was the first time our friend would travel by train. The first time she went alone out of the city. The first time she took the subway and the first time she ate at McDonald’s. Cuz we from the Capital are trashy like that. I don’t care how rich you are, if you are from Bucharest or have lived here for a long time, you have that kind of trash in you, even if it’s just an almost invisible stain. It was a mutual understanding that we had to see each other again. We talked about going to Iași and visiting the actual Moldova, not just the Romanian one, somewhere in the future. Our friend fell in love with Bucharest, as we all do, at first, when still young and restless. I can’t say I resent it, I resent how we let it die, because now, after having seen a moderate number of cities, it pains me how Bucharest is degrading.
THE END.
I wanted to write all this to show you that in some of the darkest places, you might find the brightest people. That experiencing something can sometimes make the biggest difference. How media dictates too much and it’s funny that it still does because now all of us can create media. Yet, we choose to go with misinformation or one-sided stories. It feels nice to be a person’s guide to a new city. Our friend is looking for a job here at the moment and plans to move to Bucharest soon. She’s the second youngest in our group now, about to start her life. While I have no idea how this will evolve, since life is life, the person I met now, her accent and how she spală geamuri când râde, is a wonderful woman with a lot of potential. She’s kind and intelligent, putting her heart into being helpful and learning. Learning to use her full potential as a gamer and creator. She’s also pretty BLUNT and open-minded. Not in language or in a behavioral or temperamental way, but rather, structured as a person. She’s going to be straight to your face. She should also believe in herself more, but no worries ‘bout that, if she manages to settle in here, The Den will take care of her. This whole spontaneous thing left me thinking that these kinds of changes are the ones we should be investing in every day. Changes that have this impact, this flow and this sync. When we are in sync, with ourselves, others and the environment, it does not matter what happens, a pandemic or whatever else is on its way, climate change.
This is an encouragement to my friend and to anyone who will understand this on a deeper level. If you want to get over your condition or achieve anything, just get out. Get the fuck out. Of your life, change it. Periodically let go of things you get used to, those which no longer help you evolve. People too. Make place for others with whom you can grow. Games were smart for adding inventory limits, in a philosophical way of thinking. You actually have inventory limits in your life too, it’s just that no one tells you that when it hurts, it’s a sign that, the inventory is getting full.
Start with your mindset. If you can’t tear down walls yet, at least dare to make a plan, dare to dream. Dare to dream of connections as well, not only goals. We’re so many that everybody’s got a tribe out there somewhere. Just have the courage to get out of yourself. There’s a whole world out there that makes not even a fraction of the whole Universe. A world unraveling relentlessly. It’s impossible to not find a home if you are open to letting experience teach you.
The hardest thing is that most of the time you find out you have to get rid of some core items from your inventory. If you can accept that any core part was built over time, it will be easier to craft new ones.
