American Travel Blogs (II/V): “9 Reasons You Should Be Afraid To Visit Romania”
Travel Blogger: Silvia, from heartmybackpack.com
To begin with, Silvia, Massachusetts-born, would have made Goldsworthy proud and any Romanian shed a tear of joy and relief, as she clearly keeps Romania out of the Balkans : “after Romania we would only have the Balkan countries left”. As such, one might hope that the Balkan stereotypes of decay and run-down buildings and culture do not apply to Romania. However, even if Romania is not a Balkan country, it still runs the risk of a third-world country reputation, which Silvia shatters:
“In fact, in a mind-boggling contradiction to the popular stereotype, we managed to hold onto our wallets during our entire two weeks in Romania.”
After a 70-coutry tour, Silvia now lives in Norway, and in her list of reasons to be afraid of Romania, her tone is ironic as she playfully debunks some of the myths and stereotypes about the country:
1. It’s like being thrown around a bizarre time warp.
‘I had heard that visiting Romania would be like traveling back in time’. While she proves that she did find small villages in her travels in Romania, with haystacks and carts pulled by live animals, she also acknowledges the good, paved roads, which she concludes are better than Norwegian roads.
„But a few days after blissfully traipsing through pre-Industrial villages, I found myself smack dab in the middle of Romania circa 1993 2015”, in Cluj at a dubstep concert of Suie Paparude, which is a well known and appreciated Romanian band. As such, she seems to uphold the impression that a lot of foreigners have about the country, that it is a mix between old and new, between rural and urban. However, one might ask, which country isn’t?
2. Vampires are real, and they’re in Romania.
„Living in the age of True Blood, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries... taught me how to spot a vampire, so I wasn’t fooled by all the beautiful and incredibly charming people I met in Romania.’ Playfully, she dismisses the reputation of Romania as the house of Dracula, while at the same time drawing attention to the origin of the modern vampire craze. Even if such products of popular culture are not produced specifically to uphold the Romanian vampire stereotype, it nonetheless exists, therefore the origin of the vampire character, no matter the amount of mascara it’s wearing, is forever associated with Transylvania (and the casual hints and mentions of Romania in these TV series also help).
‚Doesn’t his hometown look scary?’ she asks, just before showing a picture of downtown Sighisoara, the medieval small town all in pastel and pretty colored buildings. As such, the creepy, black-and-white streets of Murnau’s German expressionist Nosferatu melt into a lovely fairy-tale-like wonderful town.
6. The country will soon be empty.
„Because, you know, now that EU work restrictions have been lifted for Romanians, Britain is being flooded by migrants looking to live off UK benefits or steal jobs from locals... Oh wait, you guys, I might have muddled my facts.”
Here she talks about the unfounded fear of the UK with regards to the hoards of Romanians invading the country, an image much closer to the age-old stereotype of Romanians as hapless savages invading a civilized country.
She points out that hardly any Romanians fled to the UK, and playfully reveals that ‘British news reporters were only able to greet a couple of Romanians on holiday.”
She ends her list of horrible things about Romania with no 9:
9. In fact, the whole country will seduce you.
“You’ll probably just never leave.
Eek!’
Indeed, it seems from this list, that she romanticizes Romania, or in the very least, that she looks at it superficially. Reading this list, one unfamiliar with Romania might have very high expectation upon arriving here, argument supported by the comments from her readers, most of whom seems quite eager and excited to visit Romania. This might be a little unwise, seeing how idealizing or even romanticizing a place can lead to false expectations from somebody else, who will end up having a worse experience of that place that they would’ve had without the added borrowed enthusiasm.
However, it is sure pleasant to know that Romania can be lovely place to foreigners, even if vampires seem unwilling to reveal themselves.
Original article: http://www.heartmybackpack.com/blog/afraid-to-visit-romania/
