Traveling through people October 1, 2008

The dareberry of the day is about discovering yourself while discovering others.

“Traveling through people” is an expression i heard from a friend of mine, a few years ago. What it actually means, is that wherever you are, you can travel! You can travel while sitting on a chair in a coffee place or while hanging-standing in the underground as long as you meet new people and get interested in knowing them.

Since i came to Romania i met quite a few people while traveling and they helped me cristalise my thoughts and the talks with them were useful in deciding on staying or leaving Romania.

- I met an expert accountant in the plane – she was upset about her salary and she seemed very well prepared in her profession. Indirectly she advised me to leave Romania if i have the chance and also gave me some tips on what type of company i should start if i want to make money in Romania. It made me realize that for some people is easier to advise others what to do to improve their lives than to actually improve their owns.

- I met a family guy who worked in the textile industry on the way to Sibiu – we started talking and he was asking me about the life in the Western Europe. I answered all his questions and in the end he told me he was going to Sibiu to have an interview for a job in Spain. It made me remember that is easier to let others decide for you when is hard to take a decision. If the guys would say “yes, you are suitable to work in construction in Spain” he would go, if not, no. I asked him about his family and he was so resignated that they would not see each other, and that it was fine to miss each other as long as he was earning more. I asked him if he ever thought about investing the money he was planning to spend on the bus ticket to Spain, on some courses, to specialize in something else than textiles.

- I met an ex-military man, in the train to Brasov – a retired guy who was missing the communism and praising Iliescu. He was curious to understand if i was the “old style girl” or not – for the sake of the conversation i prefered to let him believe i was the “old style girl” – happy with my education, listening to my parents, looking forward to marry a nice guy. He was happy to assume all these and got more opened. He told me how he an his wife never had children because they wanted to live their lives, how he traveled a lot and saw some weapon factories and so on and so on…typical stories from the communist era. The discovery was that him and his wife had big pensions and he said they never manage to spend all the money so they keep it in the bank…how sad…so very sad…there are so many old people that live extremly modest and…i will definitely have kids!

- There was this guy who stopped when he saw me walking on a country road, going towards Paraul Rece. He was working in the area and he asked me how he could help me. I don’t know what was in his mind at first, but i could have used a drive so i said i could use a drive to my destination. He was very polite and told me his story after i told him what i was doing walking on that road. This was the first convincing, not-complaining person i met in Romania. I think it was not because of his life or his job, necesarly,  but because he loved driving and traveling around the country and his job offered him this. Later on, when i took a cab in Bucharest and i met this really opened driver who told me the story of his life (50 years of living in Bucharest after  moving there from Satu Mare…2 kids, one married, one a seargeon, his wife, his home city that his family left behind when he was 3, the big villa his “cuscrii” had etc.) i realised that people that like to drive and have the chance to do this, are really happy, communicative and chearful!

- Then there was this girl in the train to Iasi – she was about my age, and left Romania to go to work in Italy, imediately after she finished high-school. This was 7 years ago. Since then, she earn quite some money and realised how Italians really are in their relations with Romanians, met a nice guy in one of her holidays in Romania, saw a piece of Europe, and decided to come back. She was a bit scared that she might not reintegrate, who will hire her? But she saw what it means to live in a foreign country and she saw that money can not compensate the sadness and loneliness…and she came back…like me…just that for me 3 years were enough…

- Then i met an art student on the way to Bucharest – he was so convinced he could never work anywhere. he was working as a graphic deisgner in a 4 people company with his friends and he was happy about it. See, not everybody needs to be a CEO for 40000 people to be happy. I am glad this kind of people exist. We really need this diversity! And i am part of it too…

There were more…about 7-8 more…and the result was amazing. I discovered myself while listening to them, i let them discover themselves to me and i found out what i want…so i’m staying:)

hugs,

A