“Transylvania? Is that a real place?”

Mention Transylvania and most people respond, “Transylvania? Is that a real place?”
Oh yes! Transylvania exists-not a country, but a region of Romania 39,000 square miles in area, or about the size of Ohio. In the north central area, where our partner village, Abásfalva, lies, much of the land is green and rolling. There is much forest left. Cows and sheep and goats graze in upland pastures; and corn and potatoes, melons, and the tastiest tomatoes in the world grow well. Yet the farms are mostly subsistence farms, the people are very poor, and the technology more typical of America a hundred years ago. Village houses are heated with wood, and while there is a water faucet in most homes, indoor toilets are still the exception.

The Carpathian Mountains and the Transylvanian Alps to the east and south set Transylvania apart from the rest of Romania. It shares its western border with Hungary, and for the two centuries before a World War I treaty gave it to Romania, Transylvania was a part of Hungary. There is still a large Hungarian minority, especially in the villages in Harghita County where Abásfalva lies, who identify themselves as Transylvanians, not Romanians. Their first language is Hungarian. (Actually, the name we use for our partner, “Abásfalva,” is the Hungarian name for the village. If you are addressing a letter or looking for the village on a map, you must use its Romanian name, “Aldea.”)

A map showing the location of Abásfalva will be in very large scale! The population of our partner village is less than 300, and the roads leading to it are unpaved. There are many villages scattered nearby, but the nearest town of any size is Odorheiu Secuiesc  (in Hungarian, Székelyudvarhely) -only ten miles away, but forty minutes by car because of the very poor roads. There you will find stores and restaurants, modern apartment buildings, medical care, the train and bus depots, and the high school. Although they feel emotionally connected to their village, there is strong pressure on the younger people to leave and find employment, education and a better life in towns and cities like Udvarhely. In the few years we have been partners, we have seen the Hungarian/Unitarian population of Abásfalva decline, leaving the Roma (“gypsy”) population in the majority.

What lies in the future? The Szekely Hymn so beloved by Transylvanians begins

Ki tudja merre, merre visz a végzet,

Göröngyös úton, sötét éjjelen… 

This translates:

 Who knows where, where fate leads? Rough road, dark night…