Letter from Romania

Ice’s castle

When I first met Ice in 2020, we got off on the wrong paw. It was late February and I had just arrived in Timișoara. Rebecca would follow two weeks later. On that first day, my landlord Horia gave me three keys. One to the building’s outside door, one to a courtyard, and one to our apartment. You can see the courtyard door beyond the outside door and just off Rebecca’s right shoulder.

Ice guarded the courtyard door, the portcullis to the castle, a property that included a house, restaurant, garden, patio, and our apartment. Ice works for our landlord Horia who owns the property. In 2020, he also protected Titza, Horia’s mom, and Titza’s house. Sadly, Titza would die of a heart attack in 2021.

For about a week, I had a hard time getting the courtyard door lock to work. It would take me a minute or two to get the lock to turn. During that minute, Ice barked and hurtled his body against this door. Fortunately, Titza interceded on my behalf and Horia replaced the lock. By the time Rebecca arrived, Ice and I had settled into a routine. Once he heard my key in the lock he would start barking and would not stop until I exited his yard to go up to our apartment. And then COVID hit and we had to go home.

Upon hearing last February the good news about another Fulbright, my second thought – pretty sad, right? – was that I hoped Ice had moved on. That’s the PG version. But he hadn’t, thankfully. And so we got a second chance to know him.

Ice

When Rebecca and I came back to Romania in September, Ice was still patrolling the property at No. 40 Gheorghe Doja. You can see to the left the yard behind the building we live in. He greeted us on that first day with the bark we remembered so fondly.

But now Rebecca had time to work her magic. Rebecca loved petting, and hugging the little terror. She cradled Ice the first time after rescuing him from a shed roof that borders the property. And Ice, well, I suppose even tough little guys liked to be freed and cuddled. I know I did.

What about Ice and me? Today, well, let’s just say we are buddies. Of course, we are guys, older guys, Ice and me, and so we care from a distance. Sort of like my dad and me did. In the picture on the left, Ice is posing for me, with a look that says “you are OK, Paul, and have the right to be inside this compound.” That’s been a long time coming.

Reflecting upon Ice has reminded me of something I worried about years ago when I first thought about applying for a Fulbright in Romania. Romania’s dogs have had a bad press for years. What about Romania’s dog problem?

Romania’s old “dog problem”

Packs of dogs running wild and attacking humans is an old story about Romania but one that dies hard. Over the four months we have been in Romania, we have traveled to all parts of the country and every day walked 3 – 5 miles around Timișoara, a city of 300,000. In rural areas, we occasionally saw groups of dogs foraging. They looked scrawny but never bothered us. Last October in Bucharest we walked for several hours through the city and into several parks and did not encounter a dog without an owner. The same is true when we visited Cluj, Sibiu, Sighisora, and Suceava. Our home for four months, Timișoara, is known as the green city, with 29 parks and green spaces, including Carmen Sylva Park across from our flat. This park includes two playgrounds, one for kids and one for dogs. We walked through this park everyday and many other parks and have never met a wandering dog.

My Romanian friend Alex Bojneagu says there are around 500,000 stray dogs in Romania, mostly in rural areas and on the edges of cities. That’s why Rebecca and I didn’t see any around Timișoara or Bucharest. The number of stray or what are now called community dogs has declined but too many people, Alex says, still refuse to neuter their dogs and then abandon their puppies on the road. Over the past decade, city governments have set up dog shelters and dog-neutering campaigns and this has helped but Alex offers that it is not enough. When we visited Alex and his family in Resita, we met several abandoned dogs that Alex and his family have adopted. In the picture is Maya found by Alex’s sister Cosmina. Maya is now thriving and also reminded me of my friend Ice.

I write this blog from Washington DC where Rebecca and I are spending a week with her daughter Libby, spouse Jason, and their children Lauren, Will, and Harper. Rebecca’s 90 day Romanian visa is up and so I will be returning solo to Romania for two weeks to complete my Fulbright tasks. But I really won’t be alone. Many Romanian friends await as well as my valuable guard dog. Upon returning, when I walk through the Ice-door, I will reach down and pet the little guy.

And maybe, just maybe, these two older guys will hug.