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Carpatina - Biography of a Romanian Girl
The name Carpatina is inspired from the name of the Carpathian Mountains.
The accurate spelling of the name in the native Romanian language is " Carpati" Mountains.
If you ever heard about Danube River, Carpathian Mountains, Black Sea, Transylvania, Dracula, Nadia Comaneci, George Enesco (composer), Andrei Codrescu (NPR comentator and writer), than you have heard about Romania.
I was born in a small village in the heart of the "Carpati Mountains" and my parents' house was and still is the paradise on Earth. The 12 feet high front gates sculpted with angels motifs, the long courtyard covered with grapevines, the front porch with two massive columns and my mom's (always blooming) flower garden, will be in my memory forever.
I left home at 14 in order to go to the High school in the near by town - Bacau.
I was living in the campus during the week but I was anxious every Saturday afternoon to take the bus and go home. Saturdays we had early release from school (yes, we had school on Saturdays as well, half a day only but still. In 14 years, an extra 4 hours every week, that is a lot of hours. I always wandered if that means that we learned so much more,... I doubght it).
The first thing I remember when I would get out of the bus was the smell of freshly baked goods surrounding me from everywhere, it was heavenly, imagine the smell of the fresh air after a spring rain, this was the smell of fresh baked breads and cheese buns floating in the air when you are really, really hungry and ... you are a child.
The outdoors brick oven will be all lit up and my mom will be rushing around to finish dinner in time.
The whole village looked like an ants nest. Music was also in the air. Saturdays are usually days when weddings and Baptisms and delayed birthday parties are taking place. It is an evening of happiness and great joy.
I was the only child and my parents did not want to spoil me; I always had to work hard, get excellent grades, do work around the house, in order to get the things I wanted.
"Nothing comes free", my dad will say. He was my teacher at home as well as at school (he teached math during my elementary school).
The years went by and I finished High School.
Romania was a communist Country in those times and things were rough.
My parents had me work in my summer vacation for the Collective in the village; it was very hard work, out on the field cutting or picking hay all day long, words can not describe how terible it was. We had to do that in order to be able to keep the land that our house was on it and the little garden around it from being taken by the Collectives.
This was part of my life education and looking back I realize that it helped me in many ways.
That experience really made my very studious and as a result of my hard work I was admitted to University in the summer of 1985. It was one of the happiest days of my life and all I remember is that I was so exited that, I jumped on my bike and rode for about 15 miles (I wish I can still do that easily) to see my best friend which was living in a neighboring village.
My major was Textile and Apparel Engineering.
I was really in love with clothing and I wanted to know everything it was possible to know about fabrics, construction of clothing, fitting, manufacturing and so on.
During the college years, my inclination towards clothing design and history of fashion became more and more obvious.
I was very much attracted to old fashions which I founded much more elegant and feminine than the contemporary one.
I always thought that a woman that wears a corset is a million times better looking than if she wears a sweatshirt. I was also fascinated with the glamour and the extravagancy of old fashions and also with the amount of time that a woman was willing to spend in order to look beautiful. (Obviously we don't have that time today and we can't really do many things if we wear a corset but, the fascination with it should make women be more aware of their feminity and more wishful to look great.)At the end of the 5 year University I found myself knowing (or at least thinking that I know) everything there is to know about textiles from fibers to threads and yarn to woven or knitted materials and also about clothing from making patterns, cutting, sewing, draping, fitting and more important, color assortments, style of clothing coordinated with body shape, just about all you need to know in order to run a factory for Ladies Apparels in Bucharest, Romania.
I must tell you that in order to be a Manager or Director or just some type of a leader in a factory in those times, you had to know exactly what every person below you knew and more than all of them together.
Often in your job you are tested, people will ask you to show them how to sew a pocket on a jacket, or the accountant will ask you how to calculate some extravagant formulas, or you will be asked how to help in creating a layout for the new warehouse to be built and so on.
Tough job, because on top of all of these you must also be able to create long term development plans, find vendors and contractors, sell your product, make profit, keep you people happy and give them a bonus for Christmas.
I had to do all of the above only 6 months after I finished college and I will tell you how it happened.
The year of 1989 it was and it will remain a very important year in the history of Romania. It was the last year in college for me, getting ready for final exams and for life in general.
In all Europe there is a movement against communism and at night time, with closed windows and under the blankets, we are all listening to illegal radio stations like Voice of America or Free Europe.
Our Saturday night parties will turn into political conversations and finally towards the end of the year we - The Students - were taking action.
My parents were waiting at home for me for Christmas and I was with hundreds of my friends demonstrating in front of the Government's Palace.
The list of things we were asking for was long; we really did not have much, so there was a lot to ask for.
The Secret Service was not happy with our actions and they took position against us.
But we had the luck of having the army allied with us. I was a Lieutenant in reserve at that time (grade that I achieved in my third year of college) and I received a gun along with some other people and a position to defend.
This is how our Great Revolution started; just like in the movies.
Looking around, all I could see was young people like me, kids almost, but there was so much enthusiasm on everybody's face that I could not begin to describe.
This was our Revolution, this was our chance to do something for our country and for our generation and the next one, and why not, it was our chance to become heroes.
December / 24 / 1989, we became a democratic country with a democratic form of government and old Ceausescu was dead within a couple of days. (Of course I feel ashamed that he had to be killed but there was no other option. As long as he would have been alive, he was a threat for the new democracy).
FREEDOM, what a big word and what a great feeling.
There was only a problem that no one was aware of it at that time;
Will we know how to use it and what to do with it???
I finished school next spring and I started my first job in Bucharest at the largest Apparel Manufacturer in the country; about 20,000 employees.
What I forgot to mention earlier is that my political attitude against communism was getting me always into trouble during the college years. I was against the long hours we had to spend listening to Ceausescu's speeches, or having to study and prepare ourselves to be a loyal servant to the cause of the Communists Party and the building of a Golden Era in our history.
I hated it and the bad thing about it was that my father was upset with me; " You will never become anything in your life time if you don't join the Party".
I did not and that is exactly the reason why immediately after I started my job, the workers elected me to be a General Manager. People wanted someone young and uncorrupted, someone that was not involved in the communist activities before and apparently there were not too many of us.
I found myself responsible for 1,400 people mostly women and I was almost as scared as I was back on the street when I was holding the gun.
Looking back I think I did good, I know I did good because in an disastrous economical situation for the country which followed the revolution, I was able in 3 years of doing this job to have good manufacturing contracts with Germany and Italy, offer good salaries to the employees and gained everybody's respect and trust; a feeling completely indescribable.
But my personal life was not accomplished at all.
My Engineer's salary was barely enough to cover the rent on my studio apartment with very little furniture in it.
My parents were coming on a monthly basis to bring me some food from the little farm they had. My dad was even helping me pay the rent sometimes.
The worst of all was when I realized that I will never be able to use my talents and my aptitudes, people were struggling to live, there was no place for anything extra. What a sad revelation.
But one day, a bright and sunny and unforgetable day, a big chance was offered to me, so big that I couldn't really resist.
Being sponsored to come to USA, the land of opportunities. I had to try it.
August 23, 1993; I arrived in NY airport and this was the start of a new life on a new land all from "zero".Second chapter:Sunday morning, Nov/24/ 2002, the phone rings. I pick up and one of my friends is calling:
"turn on the TV; Bush is speaking live from Bucharest".
I run to the TV and watch the speech while i call a few other friends (from Romania) to tell them to do the same.
We don't get to hear much about Romania and events like this are rare and happy ones. I am watching and crying in the same time;
finally Romania (as well as other 6 countries) was invited to join NATO. What an amazing thing, Romania waited 13 years for this to happen and finally it did. My heart is full of joy.
The airplane landed and we are all getting out. I pulled out a piece of paper with a few words scribbled on it:
"Arrivals, departures, gates, luggage" and a few more. This was all my knowledge in the English language when I arrived. I always wanted to study English in school but I just wasn't lucky to make the list for that class.
I knew how to speak French and German and some Russian and even Latin but none of them really helped in New York. I just needed to get to my connection flight for Boston.
My friends and sponsors waited for me at the airport in Boston. I got into their van and we started driving towards Manchester, NH.
I was fascinated with the cars mostly and the very wide roads. At the home of my friends there was a party. I didn't know anyone, all Romanian people gathered together to welcome me.
The next couple of weeks life was paradise. My friends took me everywhere; to the ocean, to the mountains, shopping, ...
After that the hard part begins. Between going to school and learn the language, babysitting, studying all night long (almost), sewing, I did n't have time for anything more.
After 3 months I was able to speak English well enough to have my first job interview. Got the job and moved to Nashua, NH. 1 year later I started going to college (evenings) to learn computer science. For about 2 years I was working 3 jobs and all my money went to my attorney for my Green Card process. Get up at 6:00 AM, start work at 7:00 (at Helmet Helpers - equestrian apparel factory), get out of work at 3:00 PM and start second job at 4:00 (Market Basket - Deli Department). Work till closing time and be home by 10:30 PM. Couple of days a week I would have school in the afternoon. Saturdays and Sundays I would work at YMCA mornings as a Basketball trainer and again at Deli (for time and half pay).
It was hard but I never lost hope. I knew what my goal was and I was working toward accomplishing it. Christmas of 1996 was the first time since I had been in US that I was able to send a parcel to my parents with gifts and a check.
I also had my first Christmas tree and I was not alone. Earlier that year I met the nicest man on the planet with whom I have been happily married since.
By 1996 my English skills were good, my computer abilities great, and I was able to get my BS diploma accredited in USA.
Put together a nice Resume and in March, 1996 , I started working for Childhood Companions later known as Just Pretend and Kid Galaxy and iDolls corp.
I started as Softgoods Production Manager, and my salary was higher than the 3 jobs I had before all together.
This was the begining of a new life (once again). The company grew and I with it. Promotions came for me every year and by the year 2000 I achieved the Director of Product Development position for iDolls Corp which was the spin off company from Kid Galaxy.
More later....
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