Things Romania/Moldova Missionaries Buy to Take Home

When we shared the news of our mission call to Romania with people we served with in the Denver Temple, we spoke with a couple that had a daughter who served here.  When I asked what she  brought home as gifts I was relieved to hear that her mother could only remember getting scarves. Why relieved?  Because I have a psychological condition that compels me to buy every "touristy" item that I can get my hands on when I travel.  To prove how serious this condition is, let me just say that I have some small plaster statues of "The David" packed away somewhere from a trip to Italy.  I knew scarves would not be tempting - we have lots of scarves at home. 

We have had the opportunity to travel through much of Romania and Moldova and have found that each region is unique and has much to offer.  Here are just a few examples of the temptations that have been placed before me.

Who could pass up the Russian nesting dolls from Moldova?

I know just where I will put my beautiful decorated eggs.

Most of the Elders have these sliding belt buckles.

There is a leather book binder in Cluj that loves the Mormon missionaries!

The senior couples visited the workshop where an artisan makes charming traditional Romanian ceramic figures.

You can get dolls dressed in traditional Romanian clothes.

I bought a hat that the boys wear, but I couldn't get Elder Wahlquist to put it on.

And then there are the

wood carvings

fur hats

secret boxes

T-shirts from Bran castle

embroidered tableclothes

carved walking sticks

wooden bread bowls

big wooden spoons

T-shirts from Hard Rock Cafe Bucuresti

Peles Castle puzzles

pottery

crystal

sheepskin slippers

I think you can see my problem.

But, in mission speak "I won't lie to you."  This whole blog post is just a way to tell you about my latest purchase.  Arad has a large Roma (gypsy) population and the most popular "take home" item from here is a gypsy skirt. Because not every missionary serves here, the ones who do are often asked to buy skirts for other missionaries.  There are two ways to acquire a gypsy skirt.  The first is to knock on a window of a certain house where a gypsy woman opens the window and shows you the skirts she has available.  I got mine the second way.  Soras Henry and Schuld made an appointment for us to meet two gypsy women on a street corner at 9:00 pm.  We were there on the busy corner at the appointed time with our ron (the price is usually 150 to 175 ron) and they brought a bag with a couple of skirts.  I didn't like the ones in the bag but I loved the one that she was wearing.  Oh, did I forget to say that you can never buy them new, they are always used?  So she took the skirt off and stood there in her slip while we haggled over the price. I went away happy and she just put another skirt on from the bag.

A gypsy skirt is really two skirts.  You put on one half from the back and the other half from the front. I'm now searching for just the right scarf to go with the outfit.

And just because I can, here is a picture of Elder Betteridge trying on his skirt.

Lookin' good Elder!

"The David" may have some company soon.

And I only have about 12 scarves........