Plimba Ursul! Or Better Yet, Plimba Peter, Day 4

Romanians curse a lot. My favorite of their more playful profanities is when they tell someone to go away. We might use two simple words to form an expression that makes very little sense, something like “coitus away,” but Romanians use the far more compelling “plimba ursul.”

What does it mean? In this country of primeval forests and untamed land, this charming phrase means basically “go walk with a bear.” I love that.

What I didn’t love was scheduling a local guide that I had never met. The one I vetted last year got poached by a Parisian PhD program (the French can be so rude!) and I had only her word as to the new guy’s merits. These are the things that keep a guide up at night.

Within the first minutes of Peter’s tour of beautiful hilltop Sighișoara I could read the century of each house lining the medieval streets. After the first hour, I was taking notes from his stories about what it was really like to live in the countryside under Communism. By the end I wanted him to move in next door to me so we could discuss the present and future of Europe every morning over coffee.

That’s the thing about traveling off the beaten path, folks back home may have no idea what there is to do or learn in unfamiliar countries, but the people who live there have not only the knowledge and experiences of generations to share, but the eager generosity to offer it. Where can you better learn than in the unknown? Everyone knows what to expect in the familiar places from the shows, but the people who make those usually choose destinations that viewers already love, so they’ll watch the show! That feedback loop is a straightjacket that some of us like to escape.

I would have continued that walking tour for two more hours if I could, but as everyone headed into their free afternoons I wished I’d asked Peter one more question. If you tell someone to go away by telling them to walk with a bear, how do you invite them to stay? “Let’s harvest a beehive”? I don’t know, but Romania keeps giving this vagabond the urge to stay a little longer.