Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Romanian People
An Island of Latins
Today's Romanian often describes his country as being 'an island of Latins surrounded by
a sea of Slavs', and though this statement relies on a short period in Romanian history two
millenia past, when the country was occupied for 175 years by the Romans, it's certainly
fair to call them Latin. For Romanians are a warm, passionate people who often raise their
voices in conversation, are family-oriented, opinionated, display machismo and are highly
impatient behind the wheel!
One thing you can rely on with a Romanian is getting the
truth from them. Newcomers to the country are often amazed
by the candour of their host's inquiries as to their salary, views
on homosexuality, the Roma, and anything else usually deemed
off-limits conversation in other countries.
Ethnicity
»Romanian: 89.5%
»Hungarian: 6.6%
»Roma: 2.5%
»Other: 1.4%
The Birth of Bling!
As Westernisation accelerates, Romanians are lapping up the
shiny brands foreign advertisers are hawking to them: mobile
phones, prestige -brand cars, cosmetics and clothes. Indeed a whole new class has evolved,
the
fitosi
(nouveau riche), obsessed with gadgetry and personal appearance. To an outsider
this might seem a bit shallow, but in truth many of those flashy cars return not to expensive
houses but modest flats - image these days is everything. After so many years of their par-
ents suffering limited choice, paranoia and oppression, it's no wonder young Romanians
live by a
carpe diem
creed; for they seem to delight in parking where they like, smoking in
places they shouldn't, nattering to one another in cinemas and enjoying late nights out mid-
week as if the world might end tomorrow.
It's not just aesthetic changes taking place;
slowly, the national psyche is also shifting from
one of '
Asta e
' ('that's the way it is') mute ac-
ceptance, toward a voice of disgruntlement at
the corrupt status quo. Funding for SMURD, the
emergency medical-rescue service, was due to
be severely reduced in 2012 until murmurs of disagreement surfaced, with demos against
In 2001 Romania finally repealed the criminalisa-
tion of homosexuality.
