This past weekend the research in Romania group set off on a road trip to Maramures, the northernmost region of Romania. The lively beats of the techno music pumping through the maxi-van’s speakers seemed a fitting match for our bumpy excursion across the scenic region of Maramures, but also contrasted with the solemn nature of some of our stops.
As our van wound back down toward the tiny village of Rohia, we passed small farms housing chickens, pigs, cows, turkeys, ducks, and horses. Approaching our weekend living quarters, the quaint bed and breakfast (or pensiunea) greeted us with colorful flowers in pots, a lemon tree, a “pot tree” (signifying there is a daughter here ready to marry) and the most gracious hosts who seemed thrilled we had finally joined them. We all enjoyed a traditional Romanian dinner in the small dining room, as the hostess had prepared lettuce soup, fresh bread, and pasta with beef and mushrooms. To compliment the meal we tried some throat-singeing tuica and Romanian white wine.
After a good night’s rest at the pensiunea we set off for Sighet, which placed us about 2.5 miles south of the Ukraine border. Maramures flaunts a much more rural landscape than Transylvania, and the mountains and valleys were respectively higher and deeper than in its southern region neighbors. Perhaps the group’s most sobering experience to date was our visit to the Sighet Memorial and Museum of the Victims of Communism and Resistance. On a personal note, and as a doctoral student in social studies education at The University of Texas, I was profoundly moved by the exhibits in the museum, and especially by the memorial. The exhibits are housed within the cells of the former political prison in Sighet. To stand in the cells where these women and men were treated so inhumanely created a sense of empathy and historical significance that I oftentimes try and recreate in the university classroom through the examination of primary sources. The museum’s exhibits worked to powerfully recreate the atrocities that occurred in Romania only 60 years ago.
We left Sighet and continued west until we reached the often-visited Merry Cemetery. In this cemetery all headstones are carved out of wood by the original creator (Patras) or his apprentice (Patras died in 1977), who still uses his former master’s traditional methods. The crosses are painted blue for hope, and there are painted portraits of the deceased along with a silly epitaph about their passing. After spending a brief time shopping for authentic Romanian souvenirs for our loved ones, it was time to head back. We noticed countless wooden churches and their steeples sprinkling the countryside, and stood in awe as we witnessed an orthodox mass in progress when we stopped at Rohia’s hillside monastery on our way back to Cluj.
Elizabeth Bellows is a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Education’s Curriculum and Instruction department. She is participating in the Research in Romania program this summer with the main goals of furthering her understanding of schooling and teaching practices in Romania. Four University of Nevada, Reno College of Education students are also participating in the Research in Romania program and will give updates on their activities over the next month.
