Letters to the Editor
For the most part, the response to Nick Balamaci’s poignant article, “Resurrecting Aromanian Culture,” was positive and encouraging. One would think, however, that such a reflective article would induce more letters of support, especially given the size and diversity of this community, not to mention the capabilities. He voiced what many have known and felt ...
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Cultural Forum: The Poet George Perdichi
George Perdichi was born in 1912 in the village of Perivoli and studied literature in Rumania. The fortunes of Hitler’s war brought him to America, but he was never happy here; it seems that the impersonal, materialistic aspects of our lifestyle offended his poet’s sensibility. I was fortunate enough to have known Giugica, as we called ...
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The ICOANA: Holy of Holies in the Vlach Home
This is a photograph of the icon that we had in our home in Baieasa, and it is the only spiritual link that we have with the village of our origin. Needless to say, in our old home in Greece it was considered holy and treated with respect and reverence. We don’t know exactly how ...
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Community News
The Society notes with sadness the passing of longtime members Nisa Nastu in Rumania and Constance Balamaci and Pandely Teja in the USA. Christolu s’la liearta We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Stella Babiana Woonsocket, RI Arthur Topoulos Lancaster, PA Andrei Bindela The Bronx, NY Stephen A. Tamposi Nashua, NH Vasil Batsu Bridgeport, ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
“Several Roman legions were constantly quartered in these [Thracian] provinces, and numerous Roman colonies were founded in them. Roman veterans settled in the country, and young Thracians departed annually as recruits to distant legions. The Latin language appears to have amalgamated more readily with the Thracian than with the Greek. We are informed by a ...
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From the Editor
We have been publishing for two years now; it is a good time for a glance at our achievements and at the position of our people at the start of the year 1989. The Newsletter has turned out to be an extremely popular and effective means of keeping in touch with our far-flung community and ...
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Memory, Meaning, and the Creative Renewal of Culture
In this article I would like to explore two subjects that are recurring themes to me personally and to our community in general. The first is how I, as both a designer and a person, can develop and present ideas that are personal and inherently authentic. The second is how history and traditional ideas and ...
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Letters to the Editor
I read with interest the latest newsletter and was very much impressed with its content and substance. If the newsletters are an indication of the direction in which the society is headed, then the committee of the society and all the contributors to the newsletters should be highly commended. Hopefully, this will stimulate some of ...
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Book Review: The Call of the Earth, by Evangelos Averoff-Tossizza
The Call of the Earth, a novel by Evangelos Averoff-Tossizza. Translated by Andre Michalopoulos. Published in 1981 by Caratzas Brothers, New Rochelle, NY. Hardcover, 305 pages, $11.95. Although this book is explicitly called a novel, it is said by its author to be based in part on real events, and to factually describe these events. ...
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Cultural Forum: Pompey’s Salad
or Roma locuta est, causa finita est (“Rome has spoken, case closed”) After attending two American “Congresses of Macedonian-Romanian Culture” at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, I would like to take this opportunity as a second-generation Aromanian to summarize my impressions and criticisms and also to propose some beneficial changes. First, my reasons for attending ...
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The Young Woman and Her Ghiume
This is a picture of my wife, Catherine, fetching water from the Aous River in December. In the background is the ancient arched bridge, The pride of Baieasa. In her right hand she is carrying the graceful metal pitcher known as ghiume, a beloved and indispensible utensil in the Vlach household. Associated with water fetching is ...
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Religion, Birth, and Death in Baieasa
Greek Orthodox was the religion of Baieasa. The sign of the cross is made with the right hand and with three fingers, first touching the forehead, then the stomach, then the right breast, and then the left. I believe that the people of our town were very religious—especially the women. The reason for this was ...
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Community News
The Society notes with sadness the passing of member George D. Kiosse. May his soul rest in peace. We note also some recent deaths of non-members which nevertheless touched many of us rather deeply, as these people were well-known and dear. In Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Maria Babiana and Nicola Shola. In Constantsa, Rumania: Vasilikia Balamaci ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
Like any other ethnic community, we tend to hear only one side of our story from within our own group. Yet, over the centuries, many people have become acquainted with the Aromanians and have had things to say about them, and even many of our own people have a view of who we are quite ...
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Resurrecting Aromanian Culture
Whom are we kidding when we speak of preserving Aromanian culture for posterity? There are two ways to preserve a culture for the future: alive, in schools, factories, mass media, government, trade, science, literature, and art; and dead, in a history book or a hermetically-sealed museum display of old colorful costumes. When was the last time you ...
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Brief Reviews
The Houses of Belgrade, a novel by Borislav Pekic. Translated by Bernard Johnson. Published in 1978 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York & London. Hardcover, 212 pages, $9.95. The bumbling protagonist of this witty novel is a once-wealthy old Aromanian gentleman and landlord in Belgrade, Arsenie Negovan. It is June 1968; Arsenie is 77 years ...
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Cultural Forum: History and Folk-songs
Though folk-songs are sometimes used as sources of historical information, they are not always reliable and should be balanced by some other historical information about the period they deal with. This poses a problem for us, in that we Aromanians do not have much of a written historical record in comparison with other peoples. We ...
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Community News
The Society notes with sadness the passing of long-time members Grigore Becea and Santa Gecca. May their souls rest in peace. We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Mary Costulas Somerville, MA Manuela Culetsu The Bronx, NY Michael Babu Fairfield, CT Paul Daukas, Sr Rocky Hill, CT Elaine Osowski Bridgeport, CT Linda Balamaci ...
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The Panagire, as It Was Celebrated in Baiesa
The grand social event in Baieasa, as in all Vlach villages, was the panagire, on the day of the Assumption, celebrated beginning on August 15th of each year. This was a celebration involving much pomp and color that lasted several days and preparations for it began months ahead. The house was scrubbed clean, food and goodies ...
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A Note on the Contributors
(Due to a proofreading error our notes of acknowledgement to Beverlee Fatse Dacey and to Gus Moran were left out of the last issue. They appear below; our apologies for the delay.) h Beverlee Fatse Dacey (“Ethnic Values and Ethnic Identity”) is an anthropologist and perhaps the pioneer in our community in researching the facts of ...
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