DAY 93 Encounter with Gypsies & Beggars

June 20 - The train from Romania to Hungary

We traveled across the border to Hungary today about 7 p.m. We were supposed to leave at 7:30 a.m., but we missed the train (long story), so we hung out back at our host's house for awhile. It was another very hot day and quite muggy. I went out and found a 50% off sale and bought a cute yellow top. I was trying to find Rich a t-shirt, but no luck. I then tried to mail a package and got a real run around trying to find the P.O. When I did, it was closed. Rich worked on the computer requesting couch surfing hosts the whole day.

We finally got on the train and found out it was air-conditioned and very few people on it. About 4:00, something broke down, so we were on it for over an hour before it started up again. Right before the border, about 40 gypsies got on...women, children, men and were they ever dirty and stinky!

I looked out of the window when I heard the Gypsies quarreling over something.

The children are so cute, but most were very dirty.

She seems very distressed...it was VERY hot outside.

 I had a seat by the door between train cars. The kids kept going back and forth between cars and letting out all the air conditioning. Then they (and the parents) kept begging for food. We only had a ¼ loaf of bread and a little cheese which was to be our dinner. There is no way that would feed all of them and us. I just had to work on my computer and try to ignore all of them. Then a couple of the children sat by me and tried getting into my fanny pack. (We're talking 4-5 year olds). When the border patrols came on board, I just kept hoping that he would tell them their passports were no good or something. No such luck!

After about two hours of being harassed, the conductor came on and realized that they didn't have tickets, so they were told to get off at the next stop, which ended up being another 1/2 hour down the road.  One little girl continued to come up to me, with her father, holding out her hands, mumbling something, and having a look of "Please, I have nothing to eat, and I want money or food."  I started singing the "Little Rabbit Foo -Foo" song with the actions and she changed from a distraught, sad thing into a giggly happy child.  We had fun for a few moments until they all left.  A German man had come earlier and sat by us, telling us in his broken English that he had given them his bottle of water, a pack of cigarettes, and a little bread.  They kept hassling him for more...more...so he left and sat with us.  What a life they must have, but they know nothing else.  It's been that way for generations.

Persecution of these "Roma" people, who trace their lineage back to northern India but have lived in Europe for more than 1,500 years, is well documented. Alongside Jews, gays and the disabled, they were targeted by the Nazis for extermination.

Marzahn, the first internment camp for Roma (Gypsies) in the Third Reich. Germany

 But while European views on Judaism, homosexuality and disability have come on in leaps and bounds in the past six decades, the attitude towards the Roma still drips with prejudice.

Until their liberation on February 20, 1856, most Roms lived in slavery. They could not leave the property of their owners (the boyars and the orthodox monasteries).

We talked to several of our hosts about the problems of the gypsies.  In Austria, school officials tried integrating the children into the school system, but the Romas didn't want to go to those schools.  In Hungary, the government set up communities where they housed the people, gave them furniture, food, money, with the hope that it would help.  The gypsies destroyed the dwellings, burning them to the ground, saying they were a nomadic people and didn't want anyone's help.  You also hear the flip-side, however, and read about the gypsies being discriminated, beaten, and having just terrible living conditions.  We have seen them in most every country we have traveled, so it's a dilemma as to what to do to help the situation.


 

We've also heard of a Moffia structure with very powerful families. And yes, pickpocketing, prostitution, etc. is a business that earns millions. All those begging and pickpocketing gypsies- do you think they do that because it's nice for them?


 

Doesn't this man look perfectly capable of having a job?

Very sad that children have to do this, but they do EVERY day.

We gave some oranges to the children who were begging just outside our bus stop.

 No, they are sold or coerced into such slave work and need to give all their money to their superiors. (Well, some of them anyway - it's a mystery as to the whole story about these people). So the owners of the big "gypsy castles" make their money from preying onto their own people. Even parents sell their children as slaves and send them off into other countries to beg on the streets.  We've seen so many older people with limbs and hands cut off so that the tourists will feel sorry for them and give them money.  There are plenty of blind people, too. The beggars then take their money back to their "owner" who gets rich off of their "slave."  The beggar will receive some food and lodging for their trouble.  After hearing and reading about all this, we have turned our heads when we come across beggars in the streets.  It's the most difficult thing to even comprehend.

A lady on the streets of Bulgaria

At the church steps in Romania

There are many lovely things about Romani culture... the music, the dancing, a strong loyalty to each other and solid family and cultural values.  "I do not dismiss or deny the beauty of my people and I am proud that, despite our struggles (of which there have been many), we have moved with the ages, and only stand stronger each time we are knocked down."  This is a quote by one young lady on her blog about her heritage.  We all should become more aware of this ethnic group - I,  for one, am trying to do just that.

Timisoara was great...beautiful city, clean, and all the people we saw were very well dressed.  We didn't make it to the "other side" of town where our host said the gypsies were everywhere and the streets were filthy.

About the older beggars ...not necessarily Roma.  It seems that after Democracy replaced Communism in these Balkan countries, the older people lost their pensions and health care. They are trying to live on about 80 euro a month, which is impossible, so they rely on their children to help them. They beg in the streets with their grandchildren on their backs or in their laps asking for money.

The future looks bleak for most of the older people

The women congregate together in a Romanian market

The men like to play cards in Brashov.

They also play games in the streets

In a park in Bulgaria

You see many "Bag Ladies" carrying around their wares

Not a day passes when we don't see an older man or woman digging in the trash cans for plastic bottles, cans, or lids.  The bottles will get them about a quarter each.  In Poland, they would collect plastic lids.  It took so many lids and when turned in, they could get a wheelchair.  (The amount was MANY pounds worth).

Back to our adventure!  We finally got to our destination in Budapest, Hungary (back to the European Union countries).  It was LATE and we had several blocks to walk through a busy, bustling, partying city of nearly 2 million.  It was also HOT and VERY NOISY!  Oh boy...more stories to tell for our 200 days of couch surfing through Europe.