Stand

Autumn Survey

My dear friends, I have arrived safe and sound at Portiţa. That's what the people from around here call it: Portiţa, not Gura Portiţei (at the barracks in Tulcea I saw some maps upon which other variations were written: Protiţcaja and Portisza Mündung; rather odd,

Little Fingers

excerpts The wind is chilly and it is as though it has a taste, a taste of mulberries. The boat passes by a white poplar. Over the water hang scattered streaks of haze, whelps of mist. The boat leaves behind it a row of dwarf willows. What a bluish-black night, like ink!

The Mermaids In The Delta

I heard this story in Sulina one night, while waiting for a plate of golden herrings about to come out of the oven, as a boy about 10 years old was running towards us from the direction of the sea and shouting at the top of his lungs: “Rusalfa! Rusalfa! I’ve seen a rusalfa!”

The Boars Were Mild

Condrat stands, props the oar against the thick trunks of the oaks and pushes the boat through the wood. Bits of ice slam against the ribs of the boat-bits of ice mixed with broken boughs, clots of floating vegetation, old leaves, cormorant and heron feathers. The storm

A Fishery

From the hotel on the lake we proceeded to the fisheries. Leaden clouds began to lour in the sky, a sharp wind began to blow; and the willows on the banks writhed in every direction. Far off, in the lakes, as far as our eyes could see from the upper deck of the ship, the

Extreme Architecture

excerpt Building materials, their textures and colors could also be the keys of an instrument on which the architect can play some cool music. Natural materials – earth, first of all, from clay to ceramic, but also stone, or wood – are here, waiting for us to come to

The Dobruja Patrimony Of The National Village Museum

Director of Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum in Bucharest Ethnological research of Dobruja represented an important objective for the experts at the Village Museum starting from the 1950-1960s. Dobruja proved to be one of the most fascinating regions due to the history

The Last Mohicans

Director of the Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest The right of the Danube Delta Biosphere locals to preserve their specific customs and traditional economic activities is guaranteed. That was in 1993. It was a sort of constitution of the Delta, which guaranteed

The Bilingualism Of The Lipovan Russians

At the beginning of their existence on the Romanian territory, the ancestors of the present Lipovan Russians were speaking only their maternal language, since they didn't know any other language. They were mono-lingual. In time, since they were in the midst of the Romanian

Ethnicity And Imagination In The Danube Delta

The Danube Delta is a land inhabited by Romanians coming from Transylvania, Moldavia and Oltenia (Little Walachia), as well as by people who came here from Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. There seem to be two causes that led to this ethnic mosaic: a political one –

Nightfall On The Lake

He'd come with his head down, as if searching for something among the rocks on the road. What could he have possibly found new here, in a land surrounded by waters, on the shore laden with miasma? The narrowness of the bank? He knew all about it; the shiny grit? –

The Mirage Of Bird Migration

Head of Romanian Ornithological Center Over hundreds of thousands of years, Nature has searched for and found the most efficient adaptation mechanisms for each species, as well as for ways in which groups of animals and plants could support the big natural systems. In their