rnCOSTESTI - Over 3000 ethnic Roma from throughout the country gathered onrnSeptember 8 in the village of Costesti, in Valcea County, to celebraterntheir annual festival on Saint Mary\'s Day, Bucharest Daily News reports. rnWearing nothing but a long pink skirt, little Zana Paraschiva bellyrndances in front of her family\'s full table of bottles of wine, roastedrnsuckling pigs, fried chickens, and exotic fruits. With her hands in thernair, Zana moves her belly to the music\'s rhythm. At the table, therngirl\'s mother, Mariana, claps her hands and whispers a gypsy song forrnher daughter to dance to. rnrnNearby, one of Zana\'s playmates, seven-year-old Mario Stanescu, wears arnlong and heavy gold cross, proudly showing his even heavier gold watch.rnBehind him, his father, wearing gold rings on four of the fingers on hisrnright hand, fills his glass with champagne. rnrnZana and Mario\'s families arrived in the small village of Costesti onrnThursday to take part in the Annual Gypsies\' Festival. They first wentrnto the nearby Saint Gregory\'s monastery to thank God for their gold andrnto pray for their wealth to flourish. According to Gypsy tradition allrnthose who take part in the festival have to pray at the monastery first. rn\"We prayed for health and wealth,\" Mariana says, smiling and showing herrnfront gold tooth. The Paraschiva family was among the first to arrive inrnthe valley of Costesti, in their black Mercedes Benz. They put up theirrntent and set the table, proudly exhibiting their various kinds ofrnsteaks. Early in the morning, the valley\'s silence was disturbed by thernsound of raging engines from the cars which have replaced the gypsies\'rntraditional carriages. rnrnConvertible Porsches, latest models of Mercedes and limousines seemed torntake the valley by surprise. By noon, most of the elite of the gypsyrnminority had arrived in the valley. rnrnSoon, the smell of roasted meet and the loud gypsy music grasped thernsenses of anybody who walked into or near the valley. The festival isrnfor all gypsies, regardless of wealth or social position, but it isrnmostly the richest members of this minority who come. Consequently, thernfestival has become a competition, whose rnwinner is the one whose car is more expensive, whose gold necklace isrnheavier or whose table is richer. rnrnShowing off with their kilos of gold jewelry and rich tables was not thernoriginal purpose of the festival, at its outset about 40 years ago. Thernlate Gypsy King Ion Cioaba wanted the festival to be a meeting ofrngypsies from throughout the country, for different tribes to getrntogether and celebrate. Ion\'s son, current King Florin Cioaba, has swornrnto carry out his father\'s last wish. \"My father said this manifestationrnhas to remain the way it was at the beginning,\" he said. \"The Romarnpeople meet here to be together and to maintain our tradition andrnculture,\" Cioaba said. rnrnThis task seems more and more difficult to carry out, as Cioaba isrndiscontented with other issues which distort the festival\'s truernmeaning. \"Recently, we had serious problems because this meeting turnedrninto a fair. We want it to remain a traditional, cultural meeting,\" thernself-proclaimed king said. rnrnCioaba will ask the local authorities to forbid merchants who sellrnvarious items from participating in the festival. The king said thernmerchants are mainly Romanians, but the long line of poor gypsiesrnselling old items of clothing in the valley contradicts him. rnThese gypsies are not allowed to come to the festival unless they havernan invitation. They come here to make some money by selling a few ragsrnand household items. \"What can I do? I have to raise my kids. The richrnones do not welcome us at their tables, although they are our brothers,rnwe are the same kind, we are rngypsies,\" said Mazarica, an old lady selling old boots. rnNevertheless, richness and opulence have a great importance at thernfestival, as this event is also an opportunity for the different tribalrnleaders to select brides for their sons. rnrnThe Gypsy custom says that the bride\'s family has to have a similarrnsocial position and wealth as the groom\'s family. For many tribes, it isrnthe parents, and not the young people, who arrange the marriage. rnAccording to the tribal custom, children marry very young, at aboutrn10-12 years old. Mariuta Goman, eight years old, blushes when asked ifrnshe will get married soon. \"As soon as she\'s 11 or 12, I\'ll marry her,\"rnsays her father, Mihai Goman. \"I already found her a boy, but I am stillrnnegotiating with his father,\" Goman said. rnrnTradition says it is an essential duty of the parents to find a matchrnsuitable for their offspring. The potential bride and groom might bernconsulted, but their opinions are rarely taken into consideration inrnmaking a final decision. rnrnKing Cioaba now wants to convince the gypsies to stop marrying theirrnoffspring at such early ages, as huge controversies have been caused byrnmarriages between 10 or 11 year old Gypsy children. rnCioaba has to face the gypsies\' stubbornness, since they refuse to obeyrnregulations broken by the King himself. \"Who does he think he is? Didn\'trnhe marry his daughter, Ana Maria, when she was 12?\" said Gabor Geta, arn26 years old gypsy woman from Targu Mures, who intends to find a properrnmatch for her 7-year-old boy in a few years. rnrnIn September 2003, King Florin Cioaba organized a three-day party forrnher young daughter\'s wedding. The event got off to a bad start, as thernreluctant 12-year-old bride stormed out of the church, refusing to getrnmarried. Convinced by her family, Ana-Maria eventually marriedrn15-year-old Mihai Birita. rnrnThe wedding caused controversy and scandal, as EU envoy Emma Nicholsonrndemanded local authorities forbid marriages between minors. rnMost of the gypsies who came to the annual festival did not seem to carernabout such scandals, as they kept peering at each others\' cars andrnjewelry searching for a suitable match for their offspring. (DIVERS) rnrn*** rnrnDIVERS - News bulletin about ethnic minorities living in Romania isrnedited every week by MEDIAFAX, with the financial support of KingrnBaudouin Foundation, Belgium and Ethnocultural Diversity ResourcernCenter. Partial or full reproduction of the information contained inrnDIVERS is allowed only if the source is mentioned. You can send messagesrnand suggestions regarding the content of DIVERS bulletin at MEDIAFAX,rnStr. Tudor Arghezi, Nr. 3B, Sector 2 - Bucharest, tel: 021/ 305.31.91 orrnat the e-mail address: divers@mediafax.rornrn-------------------------------------------------------------rnrnMEDIAFAXrnTel. 0318 256 100rnStr. Tudor Arghezi 3BrnBucurestirnROMANIArnrnhttp://www.mediafax.rorn
ROMA ANNUAL FESTIVAL IN SOUTHERN ROMANIA rnrnCOSTESTI - Over 3000 ethnic Roma from throughout the country gathered onrnSeptember 8 in the village of Costesti, in Valcea County, to celebraterntheir annual festival on Saint Mary\'s Day, Bucharest Daily News reports. rnWearing nothing but a long pink skirt, little Zana Paraschiva bellyrndances in front of her family\'s full table of bottles of wine, roastedrnsuckling pigs, fried chickens, and exotic fruits. With her hands in thernair, Zana moves her belly to the music\'s rhythm. At the table, therngirl\'s mother, Mariana, claps her hands and whispers a gypsy song forrnher daughter to dance to. rnrnNearby, one of Zana\'s playmates, seven-year-old Mario Stanescu, wears arnlong and heavy gold cross, proudly showing his even heavier gold watch.rnBehind him, his father, wearing gold rings on four of the fingers on hisrnright hand, fills his glass with champagne. rnrnZana and Mario\'s families arrived in the small village of Costesti onrnThursday to take part in the Annual Gypsies\' Festival. They first wentrnto the nearby Saint Gregory\'s monastery to thank God for their gold andrnto pray for their wealth to flourish. According to Gypsy tradition allrnthose who take part in the festival have to pray at the monastery first. rn\"We prayed for health and wealth,\" Mariana says, smiling and showing herrnfront gold tooth. The Paraschiva family was among the first to arrive inrnthe valley of Costesti, in their black Mercedes Benz. They put up theirrntent and set the table, proudly exhibiting their various kinds ofrnsteaks. Early in the morning, the valley\'s silence was disturbed by thernsound of raging engines from the cars which have replaced the gypsies\'rntraditional carriages. rnrnConvertible Porsches, latest models of Mercedes and limousines seemed torntake the valley by surprise. By noon, most of the elite of the gypsyrnminority had arrived in the valley. rnrnSoon, the smell of roasted meet and the loud gypsy music grasped thernsenses of anybody who walked into or near the valley. The festival isrnfor all gypsies, regardless of wealth or social position, but it isrnmostly the richest members of this minority who come. Consequently, thernfestival has become a competition, whose rnwinner is the one whose car is more expensive, whose gold necklace isrnheavier or whose table is richer. rnrnShowing off with their kilos of gold jewelry and rich tables was not thernoriginal purpose of the festival, at its outset about 40 years ago. Thernlate Gypsy King Ion Cioaba wanted the festival to be a meeting ofrngypsies from throughout the country, for different tribes to getrntogether and celebrate. Ion\'s son, current King Florin Cioaba, has swornrnto carry out his father\'s last wish. \"My father said this manifestationrnhas to remain the way it was at the beginning,\" he said. \"The Romarnpeople meet here to be together and to maintain our tradition andrnculture,\" Cioaba said. rnrnThis task seems more and more difficult to carry out, as Cioaba isrndiscontented with other issues which distort the festival\'s truernmeaning. \"Recently, we had serious problems because this meeting turnedrninto a fair. We want it to remain a traditional, cultural meeting,\" thernself-proclaimed king said. rnrnCioaba will ask the local authorities to forbid merchants who sellrnvarious items from participating in the festival. The king said thernmerchants are mainly Romanians, but the long line of poor gypsiesrnselling old items of clothing in the valley contradicts him. rnThese gypsies are not allowed to come to the festival unless they havernan invitation. They come here to make some money by selling a few ragsrnand household items. \"What can I do? I have to raise my kids. The richrnones do not welcome us at their tables, although they are our brothers,rnwe are the same kind, we are rngypsies,\" said Mazarica, an old lady selling old boots. rnNevertheless, richness and opulence have a great importance at thernfestival, as this event is also an opportunity for the different tribalrnleaders to select brides for their sons. rnrnThe Gypsy custom says that the bride\'s family has to have a similarrnsocial position and wealth as the groom\'s family. For many tribes, it isrnthe parents, and not the young people, who arrange the marriage. rnAccording to the tribal custom, children marry very young, at aboutrn10-12 years old. Mariuta Goman, eight years old, blushes when asked ifrnshe will get married soon. \"As soon as she\'s 11 or 12, I\'ll marry her,\"rnsays her father, Mihai Goman. \"I already found her a boy, but I am stillrnnegotiating with his father,\" Goman said. rnrnTradition says it is an essential duty of the parents to find a matchrnsuitable for their offspring. The potential bride and groom might bernconsulted, but their opinions are rarely taken into consideration inrnmaking a final decision. rnrnKing Cioaba now wants to convince the gypsies to stop marrying theirrnoffspring at such early ages, as huge controversies have been caused byrnmarriages between 10 or 11 year old Gypsy children. rnCioaba has to face the gypsies\' stubbornness, since they refuse to obeyrnregulations broken by the King himself. \"Who does he think he is? Didn\'trnhe marry his daughter, Ana Maria, when she was 12?\" said Gabor Geta, arn26 years old gypsy woman from Targu Mures, who intends to find a properrnmatch for her 7-year-old boy in a few years. rnrnIn September 2003, King Florin Cioaba organized a three-day party forrnher young daughter\'s wedding. The event got off to a bad start, as thernreluctant 12-year-old bride stormed out of the church, refusing to getrnmarried. Convinced by her family, Ana-Maria eventually marriedrn15-year-old Mihai Birita. rnrnThe wedding caused controversy and scandal, as EU envoy Emma Nicholsonrndemanded local authorities forbid marriages between minors. rnMost of the gypsies who came to the annual festival did not seem to carernabout such scandals, as they kept peering at each others\' cars andrnjewelry searching for a suitable match for their offspring. (DIVERS) rnrn*** rnrnDIVERS - News bulletin about ethnic minorities living in Romania isrnedited every week by MEDIAFAX, with the financial support of KingrnBaudouin Foundation, Belgium and Ethnocultural Diversity ResourcernCenter. Partial or full reproduction of the information contained inrnDIVERS is allowed only if the source is mentioned. You can send messagesrnand suggestions regarding the content of DIVERS bulletin at MEDIAFAX,rnStr. Tudor Arghezi, Nr. 3B, Sector 2 - Bucharest, tel: 021/ 305.31.91 orrnat the e-mail address: divers@mediafax.rornrn-------------------------------------------------------------rnrnMEDIAFAXrnTel. 0318 256 100rnStr. Tudor Arghezi 3BrnBucurestirnROMANIArnrnhttp://www.mediafax.rorn
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