Tour stop: Suceava

First lecture, Romanian-Canadian relations, Universitatea Stefan cel Mare, Suceava


6 April, 2010. Universitatea de Nord din Baia Mare, camera șase, cāminul trei.

When I first began organizing my Romanian lecture tour, I blindly emailed several "Canadian Studies" scholars at universities across Romania. The very first, and by far the most enthusiastic response I received was from Professor Evelina Graur at Universitatea Stefan cel Mare in Suceava. Professor Graur immediately embraced the idea of my visiting Suceava. She proposed multiple lectures, and insisted that I spend some extra days in in the city so she could organize a tour of Bucovina monasteries for me.  Professor Graur did not disappoint.


After a rare late-night Saturday social call, I departed early by train on Sunday morning.  As the train pulled away from Baia Mare station I remembered that I had not packed my camera (later I discovered I'd also forgotten my umbrella, as it was raining when I arrived in Suceava) (the week before I should mention that I forgot my dress pants, and had to lecture in Oradea in jeans -- I fear I'm becoming the "absent-minded professor" I swore I'd never become!). But upon confessing this oversight at my arrival in Suceava, Professor Graur insisted I shouldn't worry, and that her assistant would take care of it (thank-you Oana for graciously lending me your camera!).  As it turned out, Professor Graur had thought of everything, and was most generous, treating me on Sunday evening not only to a tour of the recently renovated and quickly expanding university, but also an umbrella, Bucovina tourist literature, fresh fruit and water in my dorm room, copies of recent publications from the Universitatea Stefan cel Mare relating to Canadian Studies, and a fantastic dinner at what might be Suceava's best restaurant, Da Vinci, with her husband (the university rector) and lively friends. Evelina's generosity and hospitality continued throughout my visit -- all day on Monday I was treated to a tour of Bucovina monasteries, guided by friendly and equally hospitable Oana, a PhD student. I'd heard and read a lot about Bucovina before this trip, and was not disappointed by what I saw first hand (Bucovina, by the way, was the home of some of the earliest Romanian immigrants to Canada). With Oana and a university administrator (turned driver for a day), I visited four monasteries on Monday (Dragomirna, Putna, Sucevita, and Moldovita), as well as the village of Marginea, home to unique black pottery.  The weather was absolutely perfect for this journey, and the scenery and company was perfect.

On Tuesday morning/early afternoon, I delivered my first lecture to a healthy group of undergraduate students and faculty, on "Romanian-Canadian Relations."  As I told my story about growing-up in rural southwestern Ontario eating Romanian rosca grapes, a student spoke up and said that her grandfather regularly made wine from such grapes -- the next day this same student generously brought a bottle of homemade rosca wine, which we all shared (the fragrance of this wine is the very same as the fragrance of the grapes, and the flavour is similar as well). After my lecture on Tuesday, Evelina and Oana took me to Voronet monastery. Once again, the weather and company was delightful.

On my third full day in Suceava I gave two lectures to students and faculty at the university -- one on Native-Newcomer Relations in Canada, and the second on Aboriginal Performance in English.  As with most of my audiences in Romania, there was considerable interest in the history and contemporary situation of First Nations in Canada.  After toasting three successful lectures with some unique rosca wine, Evelina again treated me to a superb meal at Da Vinci restaurant, along with Oana and colleagues from the Faculty of Literature. All in all, my time in Suceava was terrific. and I commend Professor Graur for her first-rate hospitality.

I departed Suceava on an overnight train, arriving in Baia Mare on Thursday morning just before 7am....  just in time to return to my dorm room, wash my clothes, and begin preparing for an Easter trip to Sibiu (and a brief rendezvous in Satu Mare)...  more on that later....