Un român adevarat

Un român adevarat

Stiu ca azi toata lumea a postat numai cuvinte de lauda despre tara noastra si cu totii ne-am mandrit de toate cele romanesti. Totusi, m-am gandit ca perspectiva lui Vlad asupra acestei sarbatori o sa va amuze.

 

EN: I know that today everyone posted nothing but praises for our country and we have all taken pride in everything that is Romanian. Still, I thought about Vlad’s perspective on this celebration and I’m sure it will amuse you too.

Totul a inceput de marti seara, cand am aflat ca a doua zi copilul trebuie sa poarte la gradinita costum popular, ca vor sarbatori acolo ziua nationala si ca vor dansa cu totii hora.

“Nu imi place hora. Nu vreau sa dansez hora maine.” ii explica Vlad cu ochii in lacrimi lui Radu, inainte de culcare, in timp ce eu alergam inca prin mall dupa o ie de baieti.

Aflasem ca făcuseră un fel de pregătire pentru a doua zi si ca urmarisera niste videouri cu copii dansând hora.

“Păi cum, Vlad? E foarte frumos sa faci hora. E un dans usor, o sa fie toti copiii, o sa iti placa.”

“Nu, nu o sa imi placa. Nu imi place hora!” repeta el răspicat.

“Atunci dacă nu vrei sa dansezi, nu dansezi. O sa poti sta pe margine si te vei putea uita la  colegi, vei putea bate din palme…”

“Dar nu imi place nici sa o aud, tata, nu imi place hora cum suna!”

Va dati seama ca ne-am abținut cu greu râsul. Începuse chiar sa ne explice ca poate a mai dansat cand era mai mic si ceva s-a intamplat atunci. Nu intelegeam de unde are aceasta abordare freudiana, dar nu am mai intrat in detalii. Am incercat toata seara si toata dimineata sa ridic hora pe cel mai inalt nivel al dansurilor si simbolurilor romanesti deopotriva: “Vai, Vlad, dar e un dans al bucuriei! Toti romanii cand sunt fericiti danseaza hora. Se danseaza si la nunti! Bunicului tau ii placea mult hora. De fapt, toti bunicii si strabunicii tai dansau hora si le placea la nebunie. Romanii danseaza hora acum pentru ca sarbatoresc unirea tarii….” Degeaba. Mi-a răspuns sec ca el tot nu vrea sa danseze si daca nu ar putea rămâne acasa cu noi.

Partea a doua: Ia.

După ce căutasem ia aia prin nu stiu cate magazine (găseam doar costume pentru fetite), Vlad nici nu voia să o vadă. Iarăși am inceput sa ii explic ca e cusută de mana, nu de mașini ca restul hainelor noastre, ca e cămașa – camașilor, ca nu mai stiam ce sa-i mai zic. Argumentul decisiv, care l-a făcut totusi sa o îmbrace, a fost ca “seamana cu costumele tradiționale thailandeze”. Stiu, am mintit. Nu aruncati cu pietre, va rog. Dar a funcționat! A purtat cu mândrie intr-un final ia lui, plus un cojocel.

Am aflat că a intrat în hora, dar ca a spus tuturor ca nu i-a plăcut. Cand am venit sa il luam, educatoarele confirmau lipsa lui de entuziasm.  Altfel, conciliant, nu a stat pe margine, a încercat. “A fost îngrozitor. Nu mi-a plăcut deloc.”

Buuun… partea a treia, azi: Mancarea Traditionala

“Astăzi mergem la un restaurant unde vom manca mancare romaneasca, traditionala. Ai vreo idee de mâncare românească? Poti sa imi dai un exemplu?”

“Șuncă de Hulk” – se refera la o ceafa crud uscată, singura carne pe care o mananca din cand in cand.

“Mda. Șunca aia e destul de românească. Hulk in schimb nu e roman”

In fine, am continuat discutia despre mâncăruri, i-am vorbit despre toate, el parea ca e interesat, iar la final mi-a raspuns:

“Vreau să mergem sa mâncăm pizza, sushi sau edamame.”

Si uite cum am ajuns sa ii spun copilului meu ca sarmalele, mâncarea noastră traditionala, e tot un fel de sushi!

“Vlad, sarmaua e ca un sushi mai mare, tot cu orez, doar ca e cu carne de obicei.” el mancand in viata lui pana acum doar sushi cu avocado si  castraveti. Nu s-a lăsat păcălit. N-a mâncat nimic altceva in afara de pâine, asa ca acum, pentru drumul spre Cluj, i-am pregatit niste edamame.

Ce mai, un roman adevarat!

Am postat, totusi, niste poze cu noi doi din vara, de la Bran, pe care nu vi le aratasem pana acum. Nu de alta, dar vor crede unii ca numai prin Asia imi plimb copilul…

La Multi Ani, România!

P.S.: “Mama, imi place steagul României. Dar as vrea sa cumpărăm si un steag al Thailandei”.

In poze port: rochie H&M, chocker Forever 21, geanta Marc Jacobs. Vlad poarta haine Tex si sandale luate de la un magazin de pantofi de langa parcul Kiseleff.

EN: It all started Tuesday evening, when found out that on the next day our child had to wear the traditional suit in kindergarten, because they would celebrate the National Day and they would all dance the traditional dance “hora”.

“I don’t like hora. I don’t want to dance it tomorrow.” Vlad was explaining to Radu in tears, before bedtime, while I was running around the mall to find a traditional blouse for boys.

II had found out that they had made some sort of preparation for the next day and that they had watched some videos of children dancing “hora”.

“How come, Vlad? Hora is very nice. It’s an easy dance, all the kids will be there, you’ll like it.”

“No, I won’t. I don’t like hora!” he would repeat.

“Then if you don’t want to dance, you don’t have to dance. You can just sit on the side and watch your colleagues, you can clap…”

“But I don’t even like the sound of it, dad, I don’t like the way it sounds!”

You can tell that we had a hard time trying not to laugh. He even began explaining that maybe he had danced it before when he as small and something happened then. We couldn’t understand where this Freudian approach came from, but we didn’t get into any further details. All evening and all of next morning I have tried to put hora on the top level of Romanian dances and symbols: “Vlad, it’s a dance of joy! All Romanians dance to it when they are happy. They even dance to it at weddings! Your grandfather really liked hora. Actually, all grandparents and great grandparents used to dance hora and they loved it. Now Romanians are dancing it because they are celebrating the unification of our country…” All for nothing. He answered that he still doesn’t want to dance to it and if couldn’t just stay at home with us instead.

The second part: the traditional blouse.

After I had looked for one in I don’t know how many stores (I could only find outfits for girls), Vlad didn’t even want to look at it. Again I started explaining that it is sewn by hand, not by a machine like the rest of our clothes, that it’s THE shirt, I ran out of things to say. The decisive argument, which made him wear it eventually, was that “it looks like the traditional outfits from Thailand”. I know, I lied. Please, don’t throw rocks at me. But it worked! He wore it with pride.

I found out that he joined the “hora”, but that he told everyone he didn’t like it. When we picked him up, the teachers confirmed his lack of enthusiasm. Otherwise, he didn’t stand on the side, he tried it. “It was horrible. I didn’t like it at all.”

Gooood… the third part, today: Traditional Food

“Today we are going to a restaurant where we’ll have traditional Romanian food. Do you have any idea what that means? Can you give me an example?”  

“Hulk ham” – she’s referring to the only type of meat he eats every once in a while.

“Well yes. That ham is pretty traditional. Hulk on the other hand is not Romanian.”

We continued our talk about food, we told him about everything, he seemed interested, and in the end he said:

“I want to go eat pizza, sushi or edamame.”

And this is how I ended up telling my son that “sarmale”, our traditional dish, is also a kind of sushi!

“Vlad, sarma is like a bigger sushi, also with rice, but usually it’s with meat”. He only had sushi with avocado and cucumbers. He couldn’t be fooled. He didn’t have anything except bread, so now, for our trip to Cluj, I have prepared some edamame for him.  

A true Romanian indeed!

I posted some pictures of us, from Bran, this summer, which I haven’t showed you before. Otherwise people will think we only travel through Asia…

Happy Anniversary, România!

P.S.: “Mum, I like the Romanian flag. But I would also like to buy a Thai flag”.

In the pictures I am wearing: H&M dress, choker by Forever 21, Marc Jacobs bag. Vlad is wearing clothes from Tex and sandals which we bought from a shoes store near Kiseleff park.