Some Observations on Romania

Agricultural fields are quite a bit larger here than in Serbia, but not as big as in Saskatchewan – maybe like they were ten or twenty years ago. The land here has been consolidated into larger parcels. The combines are larger and more modern, although not as big as the biggest ones at home, and we saw them loading semi-trailer trucks with grain, just like at home.

We saw some samples of gypsy life on Monday. Twice we saw them camped in open areas near the road with their little covered wagons and their tents with their horses tethered nearby. Once we drove through the gypsy section of a village where it appeared that the gypsies had occupied several abandoned houses on the edge of town. The houses were in “abandoned” condition, except that there were a bunch of people around. In the rest of the village, the people were all inside their neatly kept houses, but in the gypsy section they were all out in the yard and the street. Everything looked dirty, run-down, and uncared for, just as we have been conditioned to expect. They met the stereotype in every way.

Another time we saw one of their horse-drawn wagons on the highway, although their highways are different than at home. A four-lane divided highway is rare here. Normally they are two lanes with no paved shoulder and whatever shoulder there is, is only two or three feet wide. The speed limit is often 80 km and can be 60 km on narrow, winding sections.

You don’t see many herds of cattle here, and when you do, they are pretty small. They are generally unfenced and occasionally accompanied by a cowherd. Sheep and goats are usually accompanied by a herder and one or two dogs. Usually four-legged livestock is tethered to a stake in a grassy location.