Trainee journalist, prolific blogger and Projects Abroad volunteer Chris Gaynor has just returned to the UK after getting his teeth into an unusual stint of work experience - on a political magazine in Dracula country

By Chris Gaynor

I was thrown right into the deep end when I arrived in the Romanian town of Brasov to work on an English speaking political/cultural tourist magazine The Brasov Visitor. Just hours after I was dropped off at one of Brasov’s former Communist neighbourhoods, Fanionului, at 10 pm in the evening after a five-hour journey, I was starting work. It was a culture shock trudging up the stairs of a level four block of flats with a huge suitcase – considering I live in the quaint Surrey suburbs of Oxshott, where, if I’m honest not a great deal happens.

A picture of our intrepid journalist’s new neighborhood

I was awoken early on the Sunday morning, 2nd March, by my Projects Abroad supervisor saying we would be going to watch FC Brasov at their home ground and do a match report. My arrival at the stadium must have been lucky for the second division leading home team as they demolished lower ranked Intergaz 3 – 0 on a freezing minus 10 degrees Sunday morning.

And the fans are very proud of their football team. In fact, they love them to death. Every time they score a goal, they chant the famous Western song ‘We Are The Champions,’ by Queen. After that it was all go. Magazine editor, Catalin Badea-Gheracostea, an experienced journalist of 17 years, who worked as a chief news editor on the newspaper The Translyvania Express, kept me on my toes, but also gave me some useful tips throughout.

Anyone looking for an easy career in journalism should think hard before leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Alongside my work on the monthly magazine, I also wrote a travel blog for the popular growing citizen journalism website The-Latest.com.

Editor Mr Badea-Gheracostea, 40, decided to leave the mainstream media and set up his own tourist publication, where foreign wannabe journalists can write while they experience life in bustling Brasov.
I had been flitting from one place to another, interviewing a Scotsman who owns a Scottish pub in the old part of town, interviewing an indulgent Irishman with a passion for jazz music who formed his own Big Band, attending a Romanian press conference on the role of women in Brasovian society, climbing up the not-so-spooky steps of Bran Castle (Dracula Castle), and sampling some of Romania’s fine cuisine, including Sarmone (fried meat wrapped in cabbage leaves with rice.)

Mount Tampa

Mount Tampa towers over Translyvania, where the Hollywood style Brasov welcoming sign leans at all angles over the city. It can even be seen when watching from the huge FC Brasov stadium, where proud fans cajole their team to victory. The town is steeped in former Communist intrigue, and Communism is very much alive in the architecture in some neighbourhoods. Fanionului’s roads need repairing, but it still doesn’t stop workmen from digging up more of it to make way for car-parking spaces. It looks a mess.

Brasov is, of course, home to the spooky Count Dracula myth, Bran Castle – where the warrior Vlad Tepes was said to have passed through – not lived. The latest on the castle is that an American owns it, but leases it out as a tourist site. He is looking to sell the castle, but rejected a bid of £80 million from the government. He is looking for over £130 million for the site.

The Dracula myth is big business out there. And it has been sucked into the commercialism of the West. As you enter the front gates of the castle, Bran’s peasants set up their stalls selling anything from Dracula mugs to I Love Vampire T-Shirts.

But you don’t have to travel from Brasov to Bran to seek out Dracula memorabilia. In fact, in the old part of town, a Dracula mug can be easily obtained as a gift for folks back home. But there is more to Brasov than just the blood-sucking vampire myth. Poiana is a scenic ski-resort. Tourists flock to ski there.

The town boasts a flurry of new wave restaurants and, of course, older traditional Romanian eateries. Romanians are eager to catch up with the West. Some have fallen in love with the high-powered, expensive gas-guzzlers.

Although Romania has joined the vibrant European Union club, the economy is still volatile – but they hope to join the Euro in around 2011 or later. But that still does not detract from the high aspirations of Romanians wanting to show the rest of the world they are now worthy of EU status.

Teenage Romanian Parasca Alexandru, 19, who works for Projects Abroad, told me the most important thing he thinks about living in Romania is survival. He said: “It is the least poorest city in the country. Brasov is a beautiful city.”

Chris and Catalin

On the final day, the editor treated me to Romania’s national tipple, the sweet but strong Palinca, which was a cross between gin and whisky. It was served in a medicine style cylinder and really did taste like cough medicine!

The retired couple who looked after me, the Irimia’s, Olga and Matei, who are in their 60s, were welcoming hosts. But they are very cynical of their new so-called democracy since the fall of Ceausescu, less than 20 years ago.

Olga and Matei

In what little I understood, Ms Irimia told me that although Ceausescu was not good, the current government were not either. She said they were wasting a lot of money trying to catch up with the West.
Their small but homely flat can cater up to two volunteers at a time. I was given a breakfast and evening meal – typically Romanian. At times, it was frustrating not being able to communicate properly with them. But I was grateful for their simple food and hospitality.

Contact Chris BA CPE

Learn more about the Projects Abroad Journalism program here

George Ciotlausi, the supervisor of our Archaeology program in Romania, has written in an update on what our volunteers have been working on the last couple of years. It is a program that is close to my heart as I first got involved with Projects Abroad as an Archaeology volunteer in the summer of 2003! I not only was a member of the first Projects Abroad dig in Harsova but I fondly remember camping in the Transylvanian woods with the other volunteers and Sorin at Racos. Ah, the memories but enough about me! George take it away …

Ready to explore

By George Ciotlausi

Hello my name is George Ciotlausi and I run the Archaeology program in Romania. I would like to tell you a little of what I do.

Last year was the time when the Projects Abroad Archeology project had its 5 year anniversary. It started quite a small project and it was more like an experiment to begin. However, these days we don’t need to look for a place to dig like the old times. The archeologists know the reputation of us and what we are capable of. Over the years Projects Abroad volunteers have taken part in almost 30 archeological campaigns which has spanned the Neolithic times until the late medieval times.

In 2003 the project began and this saw the original contacts with the first archeologist. It was managed by Sorin Sapojnic who went on three major diggings: Racos, Harsova, Bordusani. It was also the time when the first research was done for Saxon Churches.

Working on a dig

Much more after the jump on George’s tenure
I arrived as the head of the program and we increased the number of sights volunteers were able to excavate. Sibiu was our big digging site for 2005. The old medieval city was preparing itself to become one of the European capitals of culture. The restoration of Huet square required archeological diggings and the research of almost 2000 Saxon graves. This project kept us busy for several months. After that we went to the Danube on two Neolithic Tells and we ended the year with the digging at the amazing Brukenthal Pallace from Avrig.

In 2006, and in collaboration with the Sarmizegetusa Cultural Association, we launched a major project in reconstructing and studying an ancient Dacian weapon: the falx. We continued through the year with medieval diggings in Pancota and at the Saxon Church from Rupea. There were also Roman, post-Roman and medieval digs at Alba Iulia, high in the amazing Transylvanian mountains.

On the road

Last year we concentrated on digging churches - we started with a Hungarian one in Sic, continued with the Romano-Catholic cathedral in Alba Iulia and finishing with a monastery in the south of Romania, Gaiseni. Last year was also the time of one of the most interesting digging that I ever saw and it happened in Simleu Silvaniei. The ruins of the old Bathory castle revealed a lot of remarkable information and artifacts. This digging will continue this year and we will be there to help and to learn.

What is archeology? Well most of the people describe some kind of Indiana Jones style person who goes all over the world and gets his hands on precious gold artifacts. From all of this maybe only the outfit has something to do with the real world. A hat, a bottle of water and loose-fitting clothes, so the air can circulate inside them, are some of the tools for the sunny days when you are on a digging site. The machete, shotgun and the whip can definitely be left at home though.

Gold is not the main thing you will find on an archeological site and it is not the main thing wanted. First of all there is a lot of dust, pieces of pottery spread all over the place, ancient structures and bones. Sometimes human bones, teeth and metallic objects.

Why is all of this fascinating? Well why not? You learn about the past and the people that lived in other times and you realize that there is not much of a difference between you and them. You become like a detective having as witness only the artifacts, the structures and the bones to make sense of it all. There is the opportunity to learn new things on every dig, to improve yourself, to see new places and to meet new people. It all about working hard and having fun at the bottom of a dusty trench or sitting around a campfire somewhere isolated in the Transylvanian mountains…

A beautiful view of the Bran Castle, Romania from the air

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Romania. I spent three months there as a volunteer and absolutely feel in love with the country. Rob, the Director of our Canadian office and a fellow Romania-phile, sent along this article about the famous “Dracula’s Castle” in Bran was up for sale.

While it actually has no real link to Dracula, this castle is one of Romania’s most well known and visited sites. It is often the first place volunteers go in their free time and I went there on my first weekend trip as a volunteer myself, oh the memories! You take a bus from Brasov that goes through the small town of Rasnov and some real beautiful countryside.

When I went the castle was a museum operated by the government but apparently the Romanian government passed it back to it’s legal heir who is now trying to sell it.

Has any one been recently? Has it gotten even more touristy? What is the kitsch factor at? I would love to hear your stories!

By Scott McQuarrie, Programme Advisor

Scott with a huge hat, Brasov, Romania

Keys…check! Tickets…check! Passport….passport? After going back to my flat to retrieve my passport I was finally on my way. Destinations Romania and Moldova. I had always wanted to visit Eastern Europe, although I do have to admit I need to reacquaint myself with where Moldova was on the map. First stop was Bucharest in Romania. I was picked up by Mircea (Country Director) and Leo (volunteer co-ordinator). The drive north to Brasov takes around 3 hours. It is an enjoyable and scenic journey passing through rural, urban and mountainous regions. Apart from Mircea and Leo’s singing, the highlight of the journey was winding through the serpentine roads as you enter Transylvania.

The main focus of my visit was to experience our Archaeology project which is based in Alba Iulia at this time of year. George (our archaeology co-ordinator) advised we would be assisting on an excavation in the grounds of a Roman Catholic Church. Over the next few days we uncovered bones, teeth, a human skull, washed pottery, cleaned profiles and visited the university restoration room (where items are reconstructed to resemble their original form). The whole experience gave a great insight into the archaeological process. The fact I really didn’t want to leave at the end of my time speaks volumes for this project. A truly fascinating subject!

Archaeology Dig, Romania

My bag was a little heavier when I re-packed to travel to Moldova due to the Polinca (a traditional Romanian drink distilled from prunes or pears) George had bestowed upon me. No Romanian experience is complete without sampling a drop – it’s strength just edging out its distinct taste. It has to be tried to be believed! With the taste of Polinca just about leaving my mouth, a day later I arrived in Moldova.

MORE…

Igor (Moldova’s Country Director) collected Mircea and I from the station and took us to our lodgings. There is more to Moldova than meets the eye in many regards. A good example of this was our accommodation – an old style Soviet block which looked fairly battered from the outside, the lift had it’s own particular smell but the apartment itself was lovely. Looking at Chisinau on the map reminded me of New York’s grid system (although that is where the comparison ends!). It makes navigation around town very intuitive. There are many methods of transport – trolley buses, auto buses and maxi-taxis. Each has their own charm but my preferred vehicle was the maxi-taxi. They are extremely cheap and sue to their petite size can slip in and out of traffic to great effect. When actually walking around the centre of town, with its array of commercial outlets and well dressed residents, it seemed in contrast to some of the statistics that I’d read before coming (80% of Moldova’s population was living under the official poverty line). However it is widely recognised as Europe’s poorest country.

Igor and teaching volunteers, Moldova

The projects I visited at an independent living centre for people with disabilities, a secondary school in need of English teachers and our Russian language teacher highlighted the great placements volunteers can get involved in. It was pleasing to know that volunteers can contribute in an extremely worthwhile way. With their help hopefully people will start to remember Europe’s forgotten country!