Nea Fane – Un Biet Român Pripășit în America / A Hapless Romanian Stuck in The US

Being the considerate, polite, and well-educated guy that I am, I thought about translating the short piece on Barley and Speed Drinking Wine (which some people actually found funny), for my American friends and for my Romanian friends who just want to sharpen their English (or to sharply correct me).

But as I flexed my brain cells and writing muscles, I had an unsettling feeling of déjà vu. Or maybe was more like déjà written. A quick search through my precious archives confirmed it—exactly one year ago to the day, I had written a fairly extensive post about church, the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, and other related topics. It even included a glossary of terms, surprisingly useful for everyone, myself included.

This realization shook me for more than one reason—not just because I had completely forgotten about it, but also because it made me wonder: if going to church is the highlight of my week, isn’t there something a little wrong under the sun?

My life is pretty dull anyway. Walking the dogs and listening to them bark at our neighbor’s cat is the main daily event. Finding leftovers or bones in the bushes adds a new level of excitement. Bargain hunting and cooking (my findings) are the other things that keep me busy. Sad. And while I (we) have good reasons for living like this, maybe something can be done.

Someone asked me a while ago why I keep writing after Cosmin’s passing. Before, the reason was obvious – I was writing for him: my thoughts, snapshots of family history, funny things…. Nowadays, I write so I don’t forget. As you can see, I do forget, even with my so called journal/blog.

Sometimes, I read old posts and find myself laughing or crying, alone, reliving poignant memories. Other times, I look at an old photo, and the memories engulf me completely. So no, I won’t translate that post into English – I’ll just sit here, browsing through albums.