A few weeks ago there was a football match, between a Romanian team and one from the Czech Republic. In the first match, in Prague, the score was equal, but in Bucharest, the team from Prague won. It's a better, richer, and more ambitious team.
At such matches in European competitions, the supporters travel with the team and have the opportunity to visit many cities. Supporters go to the most popular areas and have fun in restaurants and terraces, obviously with lots of alcohol and beer.
In Bucharest, everyone gathers in the old center where many restaurants, terraces, cafes, and bars are concentrated in a relatively small area.
Before an important match between teams with many fans and supporters, the Old Center is filled with young people eager to have fun.
News TV often broadcasts reports from this place and takes short interviews with those present there, especially foreign tourists.
It was the same this time. Tourists are usually asked about the upcoming match and their impression of Romania and its capital, Bucharest.
Most interviewees give complimentary and flattering answers, which often makes us, proud and happy to live in such a special place. This was the case again this time, many remarked on the beauty of the city, the good food, and the hospitality.
Answers that, even if they don't seem sincere, are to our liking. But we also had a surprise. A young supporter of the Prague team, a slender and pretty girl, answered this way:
"You have a cheap and sad country!"
Wow! I felt like I got punched in the stomach. Accustomed to always positive remarks, I was shocked by the girl's opinion. I got upset and thought she was being rude, maybe because she considered us adversaries because of the soccer match.
I don't have a good opinion about the country and the city I live in and I often think negatively about it, but I didn't like to hear that from a foreign tourist. I still tried to ignore and forget, but...
Surprise! This saying seems to haunt me and keeps coming back in my head.
A cheap and sad country!
I found myself thinking so: What if it's true? A foreigner's opinion can be more objective than ours, the people of this country. My sorrow passed and gave way to pain...
I don't mind that she said that the country is cheap because it is, Romania is a country where prices are still low compared to other countries in the European Union.
I am glad that it is cheap and all the tourists who visit us and who visit us first of all for that, enjoy it. It is a great joy to see that you can buy four beers for the price of just one in the country you come from!
The word that hurts is "sad". A sad country...
I have thought of many epithets, some much worse, to characterize Romania, but "sad" I didn't think of.
Now I think a lot about this, this image of sadness. I like sadness and nostalgia, which are related. I've been sad many times... and I've felt good sometimes. I've seen a lot of sad people, life is full of sadness, but a sad country sounds bad.
I think that Romania is a country that is still underdeveloped, I think it is an uneducated and gullible country that seems to be getting a bit violent. These are negative characteristics that can be corrected. Others are not, such as being gullible. Below, in the photo, is the election campaign of a candidate for the presidency of Romania who promises houses at a quarter of the real price. There are a lot of people who think this is possible. This is sad...
But sadness reveals a dull pain that I think is harder to heal!
Returning to the better past could be a solution, although it is only nostalgia, which is the sister of sadness. Pictured here is the statue of the "She-wolf and her cubs" and the cubs are Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, who legend says were raised by a she-wolf.
The statue was a gift from the Municipality of Rome in 1910, emphasizing the Latin origin of the Romanian people.
This is the Latin Square, where there is a Latin passage decorated with bas-reliefs copies of Trajan's Column in Rome, with images of the Dacian war, and then the occupation of Dacia by the Romans, resulting in the Roman people.
A piece of history that can reduce the sadness of the Romanians.
