Chloe Levins is a senior at Rutland High School and enrolled in the Global Studies Concentration at the school. Recently, her participation in a sport called biathlon took her across the Atlantic Ocean for international competitions. Biathlon, the most popular winter sport in Europe, consists of shooting a .22 caliber rifle and cross-country skiing. This is her fourth year competing in biathlon and her second winter of international biathlon competitions. Below she describes her experiences in Romania.
This past week, 13 young Americans from across the U.S.A. and myself competed at the Youth/Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. We stayed in a newly developed resort nestled in the heart of the Transylvanian Alps. Being less than 10 kilometers from Castle Bran, also known as Dracula’s Castle, and within walking distance of the racing venue allowed us to have the perfect proximal balance of culture and racing.
Romania, a former member of the Eastern Bloc, was under varying degrees of Soviet influence until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Now, Romania is an democratic Eastern European country. It is a member of the European Union, but is not currently on the Euro. Instead, it’s currency is called the Romanian “lei”. About 1 American dollar is worth 4 lei. Travel tip: find a currency exchange in the airport upon your arrival to your destination country!
This past week, 13 young Americans from across the U.S.A. and myself competed at the Youth/Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. We stayed in a newly developed resort nestled in the heart of the Transylvanian Alps. Being less than 10 kilometers from Castle Bran, also known as Dracula’s Castle, and within walking distance of the racing venue allowed us to have the perfect proximal balance of culture and racing.
Romania, a former member of the Eastern Bloc, was under varying degrees of Soviet influence until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Now, Romania is an democratic Eastern European country. It is a member of the European Union, but is not currently on the Euro. Instead, it’s currency is called the Romanian “lei”. About 1 American dollar is worth 4 lei. Travel tip: find a currency exchange in the airport upon your arrival to your destination country!
Romanian, unlike the languages of other Eastern European countries, is a Romance language. “Romania” itself means “Land of the Romans”. Obviously, the language was still very foreign to us, but some parallels between Spanish and Romanian were tangible. Some overlapping words that I was exposed to consisted mostly of greetings and numbers. Travel tip: try to learn some native words before you leave the U.S.! Being polite is important, and if you can use your manners in a language that local citizens understand, it’s even better!
Based on my experience in Belarus last year and this year in Romania, Eastern European food is similar across the board. Every meal consisted of some form of potatoes: cubed, whole, mashed, baked, roasted, etc.. Other than potatoes, meat cutlets and soup were frequent occurrences at mealtime. At the resort where we stayed, they also offered croissants and traditional dessert cakes from other Eastern European countries such as Lithuania. These cakes were not as sweet as the cakes we eat for birthday celebrations in the U.S.. For example, the Lithuanian cake was made of white batter and a cheese filling with raisins. On occasion the resort staff would make pizza and ice cream which was always a big hit among the Americans!
Based on my experience in Belarus last year and this year in Romania, Eastern European food is similar across the board. Every meal consisted of some form of potatoes: cubed, whole, mashed, baked, roasted, etc.. Other than potatoes, meat cutlets and soup were frequent occurrences at mealtime. At the resort where we stayed, they also offered croissants and traditional dessert cakes from other Eastern European countries such as Lithuania. These cakes were not as sweet as the cakes we eat for birthday celebrations in the U.S.. For example, the Lithuanian cake was made of white batter and a cheese filling with raisins. On occasion the resort staff would make pizza and ice cream which was always a big hit among the Americans!
On the second day in Romania, the youth girls and myself took a cab to one of the most famous tourist attractions in Romania: Dracula’s Castle. Originally built as a structural protection for the mountain pass in the 13th century, the Castle Bran was home to many Romanian monarchs through the 17th century. The most famous one, Vlad Dracul, influenced many books and Hollywood movies with the brutality of his torture tactics. Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad the Impaler, signed his name on documents as “Dracula”. Although he was not a literal vampire, the vampire legend developed from the idea that he was “blood thirsty”. Whether he actually drank people’s blood or not is undetermined.
The castle itself is now a museum. Most of the rooms were preserved and open for us to tour. Nearly every room had a beautifully constructed fireplace lined with blue and white tiles. Crowns, staffs, armor, and clothing was also on display. One of the most interesting rooms, however, was the torture chamber. In this room, there was a large chair with what looked like pointy wooden dowels on every inch of it’s surface. Apparently, Dracula would weigh women on a scale compared to a bundle of rocks. If the woman weighed less than the random assortment of rocks, Dracula deemed that the devil lived inside of her and she should be punished.
In general, the accommodations and people at the resort made this trip very enjoyable for us. Every morning, I woke up to the sun rising over beautiful mountains, similar looking to the Colorado Rockies. Although it was above freezing nearly every day, the race organizers did an excellent job of preserving the race track for us. Not to mention, this was the most successful Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships the United States has ever had! We had one World Championship victory, three podiums, six top tens, and seven top twenties! There are only good memories left from my experience in Romania.
The castle itself is now a museum. Most of the rooms were preserved and open for us to tour. Nearly every room had a beautifully constructed fireplace lined with blue and white tiles. Crowns, staffs, armor, and clothing was also on display. One of the most interesting rooms, however, was the torture chamber. In this room, there was a large chair with what looked like pointy wooden dowels on every inch of it’s surface. Apparently, Dracula would weigh women on a scale compared to a bundle of rocks. If the woman weighed less than the random assortment of rocks, Dracula deemed that the devil lived inside of her and she should be punished.
In general, the accommodations and people at the resort made this trip very enjoyable for us. Every morning, I woke up to the sun rising over beautiful mountains, similar looking to the Colorado Rockies. Although it was above freezing nearly every day, the race organizers did an excellent job of preserving the race track for us. Not to mention, this was the most successful Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships the United States has ever had! We had one World Championship victory, three podiums, six top tens, and seven top twenties! There are only good memories left from my experience in Romania.
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