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We returned back to the commune. It was lunchtime and in true Gypsy fashion Zita invited us to her home for something to eat. She was only 22 and her home far more humble than the dominating mansions along the hill, but she and her husband were still young. What special feature her little house did have was a large corner lot with a magnificent view of the old city below, the Saroca castle and the rolling Nistru River. You could see Ukraine from her back porch. She said she wants to build a hotel and restaurant here for all the visitors that come and serve them Gypsy food, but what she served us was a traditional Romanian dish they call Sarmale; chopped meat wrapped inside cabbage leaves. �No, it�s Gypsy style,� she corrected. �It�s with the bones.�
It was the lore behind this fascinating Gypsy culture and traditions that had driven me into the commune and when I mentioned this, Zita�s husband Daniel made the not so surprising association of Gypsy culture to that of the Jews. No doubt there are many similarities, perhaps more closely related to being minorities in old Europe than any cultural bonds. Armenian too, have some of these same similarities. |
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Daniel pointed out the connections between the strong family unit, the continuing traditions, both being skilled businessmen and of course the Holocaust where Jews and Gypsies were both designed for complete annihilation. Yet there are still other curious similarities that I have since learned such as the network of migratory tribes of both groups. For the Jews there are the Sephardim originating from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the Ashkenazim, descendants of medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland, and others. Gypsies have the Sinti in Germany, Cale and Cinganos of Spain and Portugal, Tinkers or Travelers in Great Britain, and the Vlach-Rom originating out of Romania.
There is also that interesting little bit of trivia that before the Indian origin of the Gypsies came out (only about 200 years ago) they were commonly believed to have come out of Egypt and therefore referred to as �Egyptians� (and still are to this day by many in Albanian)
There was an old document I found in one of my readings referring to a Gypsy King named Zindelo in 15th century Germany who justified his peoples nomadic ways with the claim that God had sent them out of Egypt to wander the earth in atonement of the sins of their forefathers who had turned away the Blessed Virgin with the child Jesus.
Daniel also had one that his grandmother used to tell him. �At the time of the crucifixion the Romans ordered five nails from the Gypsy blacksmiths (four for the limbs and one for the head) but one of the Gypsies stole one of the nails and since then God has pardoned us, for Gypsies to steal is no sin.�
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