Log-book: 7th August

We made some interviews today in groups, I was with Andrej, Andrea and Bence. On the way we said hi to the man with the two cows who worked in the mine as a driver 40 something years. We had an interview with him yesterday. After a big hike up the mountains we found somebody in a garden. We asked for directions. Soon a man came there and we had a chat with him. The view was breath-taking from there. The windows of the house looked upon the hill where the remains of an ancient volcanic eruption formed huge rocks with caves. He came to Roşia Montană when he was a child. He has lived there ever since. He is Hungarian, but cannot speak Hungarian. I guess at that time the Hungarian school and library was already closed. He is retired. He worked at the coal mine in Petrila and then he worked at the copper mine nearby as an electrician. We asked where he played with his friends when he was a child. He showed the mountain with the rock and he said that they were making bombs from carbide as children. Nowadays he goes drinking with friends. He said that he doesn’t know any songs and people don’t sing in the pubs anymore as in the days of his parents. He would like to remain there for the rest of his life if he is not obliged to leave by the Gold Corporation.

Then we did some climbing we had to do to get up to the lake. The cow stamps were showing us the way. The lake was surrounded by grassy hills, with some cows here and there in the distance. We discovered two figures on the hill nearby. They were cutting grass. Sitting on the hill, watching the beautiful view of the lake and the hills, I sometimes got lost in the long long legend of Roşia Montană. The story started some 6-700 years B.C. with the Daks. When the Romans learned about the gold of the area they came to occupy the land. The famous Dak character has managed to change the river`s route, and the people hid their treasures under it. But a traitor told the Romans where to find it. It seemed that the man labels people easily as traitors. Those that have left Roşia Montană are not his friends anymore. There are three things you cannot sell – told us: the house of your parents, the church and the cemetery. We walked down together and he invited us for palinka and coffee. His wife came home too. We got to know how they met in the school and how the man asked her wife’s hand in the 10th grade very simply. The woman’s nickname was Mici. She was always complaining to her mother when she was a little girl, because the donkey in the street was called Mici. The donkey belonged to a man, who was a strongman His story was funny. He didn’t speak proper Romanian. Once he took the little train from Turda to Abrud and the driver asked: “Kobor....?” Which means: Are you getting off? Since “Kobor” was also a family name in the region, he said: no, no, my name is not that. And he missed his stop. After he never took that train again. Under the influence of the sweet palinka with fruits it became quite difficult to communicate in Romanian, Hungarian, English and Italian. “Parlamento!” – said the man to the confusion. We all became very excited. Personally I had to stand up and clap every now and then because of the adrenaline. The couple was open to any questions. They are willing to participate in our play. They won a theater competition in the region when they were in the 8th grade. They started to teach us a song and tomorrow we plan to sing it together on the main square. The woman also agreed that Anikó and Máté can shoot how she is singing while milking the cow. She was worried that she will not be able to see us if we have our performance around 19, because that is the time for the evening milking. (Hinsenkamp Fanni)