?I can?t believe you?re talking about Europe!? My friend?s exclamation followed descriptions of my experience this summer in Cubulcut, a small village in northwest Romania, where I had spent half of a six-week stint volunteering as an English teacher. Her remark is particularly relevant to this week?s most prominent anniversary. As the West commemorates 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the question of communism?s legacy and the westernisation of former Soviet satellite states, such as Romania, returns to the forefront.
In many regards, Romania would appear to be narrowing the gap that separates it from Western European countries. The country joined the European Union in 2007, and adoption of the euro, however distant, is in discussion. Yet some corners of Romania remain virtually untouched by the country?s efforts to westernise. Only the EU flag in front of the primary school showed that the rest of Europe had not entirely forgotten this isolated village.
Life in Cubulcut differed radically from that of the dozen other European countries in which I have lived or travelled. The standard of living eerily resembled?or even predated?my father?s childhood in rural America 60 years ago. Many toilet facilities were outhouses where recycled newspapers replaced toilet paper. In my host?s home, bathing was a weekly affair consisting of a large bowl of water heated on the stove. Some homes had no running water, and most had pigs or chickens running about in the yard.
Although common in other parts of the world, such sights are shocking in Europe. As the rest of the continent debates fuel-efficient cars and hybrid vehicles, the majority of Cubulcut?s inhabitants move about by foot or horse-drawn cart. While the English language grows in importance across the continent, the local English teacher confessed she cannot speak the language.
As Cubulcut shows, some corners of Eastern Europe may appear at first glance, with their EU flags, to be European, yet a closer look reveals that two decades of post-communism have been insufficient to bring these isolated communities into the European fold.
?feedit@expressindia.com