One Big Hating Family -- Timisoara, Romania

It's going to take me ages to process everything I've learned from the Balkans and Romania over the last three weeks. The politics, the culture, the food, and the love/hate relationships between just about everyone.

Romanians hating Hungarians (because Hungarians claim portions of Romania as their own).

Hungarians hating Serbs (because of a genocide carried out in 1944 wherein 50,000 Hungarians were killed)

Bulgarians hating Macedonians (and vice versa).

Bulgarians hating Serbs (because of a genocide carried out after WW1 against the Macedonian Bulgarians)

Serbians hating Kosovians (sp?)

Croatians thinking that everyone f*cked them over somehow and being pretty upset about it.

Serbs hating Croatians (because Ante Pavelic started his term in office with a mass killing of Serbians)

No one understanding Albania at all. It's the awkward uncle of the Balkans.

Croatians hating Serbs (because they've been trying to take Croatian coastline for a goodly amount of time and have had more than a few casualties in the process)

Bosnians hating Serbs (because of two Bosnian Muslim genocides wherein 200,000 Bosnians were killed).

Albanians hating Serbs (because of Serbia's persecution of Albanians living in Kosovo, resulting in one million being displaced from their homes and thousands killed/missing).

Slovenians hating Serbs (because Serbia attacked them in 1991)

Montenegrins hating Serbs (because Serbia has been trying to assimilate them since forever ago and doesn't recognize their church).

Macedonians hating Serbs (because Serbia doesn't think Macedonia exists. Macedonia? Nope. That's just South Serbia).

Greece hating Macedonians (because Macedonians have claimed Alexander the Great to be their forefather, when he was, in fact, a Greek chap born in the territory of modern day Macedonia)

Turks hating Serbs (because of how intensely they persecuted Muslims over the years)

But everyone (except perhaps the Turks, the Romanians, the Hungarians and the Albanians) loved Tito.

And times were better when they were all united.

Even though they all hated each other and seemed to have spent the majority of their time wanting the neighboring country to a) not exist or b) not exist.

Greece doesn't want Kosovo to exist because that means they would have to acknowledge Crete as a different country.

Spain doesn't want Kosovo to exist because it means they would have to acknowledge Basque and Catalunya as separate countries.

Romania doesn't want Kosovo to exist because that means they would have to acknowledge several Hungarian areas as parts of Hungary.

Tessa and I listen to story after story of corruption in politics, and although political corruption is rampant just about everywhere, it appears to be particularly pronounced in this part of the world.

We spend a lot of the time tremendously confused. When we're not busy napping in parks, searching for turtles and eating ice cream, that is.

Timisoara was our last city in Romania and after our fabulous two days in Sibiu, it had some pretty impossible expectations to meet.

Timisoara's 4th of July celebration. I eat neither hamburger nor hotdog, but it makes me warm and fuzzy inside to think that my national holiday is inciting festivities across the Atlantic ocean. 

Tessa and I indulged in a very Turkish breakfast of olives (Turks don't believe in breakfast without olives. Just like Italians don't believe in breakfast without cappuccino), sausage, cheese and tomatoes.

We found a stellar park in which to picnic.

Then we found some kiwis. 

and emus? 

This disneyland castle is actually an orthodox church. Who'd have thunk. 

Notice the she wolf on the left? Every city in Romania has got one. 

The opera house. Complete with frolicking puppy. 

The only thing that would have made our stay in Timisoara more enjoyable was if three quarters of the city hadn't been in the process of being dug up.

Tessa and I asked our host what manner of nincompoop would have suggested digging up the city all in one go.

"In New Zealand, we'd probably do a block at a time. Finish that block and move on to the next. So that we'd still have a functioning city."

"It's all about the money here," our host replied as we strolled through roadwork rubble to a restaurant with traditional food and haystacks. "The mayor's cousin owns the construction company. Or something like that."

We ate ice cream.

Found scenic old people playing chess in the park.

And then went out with our host to watch a football game at a nearby terrace.

Tessa and I are becoming very accomplished at having good days.