We are in Romania
More precisely, we are in a remote village near
Timisoara.
A few ecovillagers have settled here to share the rural life of the long-time inhabitants. Water comes from the well, eggs from the neighbour, peppers from the garden, and you poo in a bucket.
But if everybody is living green here, who are these new ecovillagers, and can they be greener than green?
A few ecovillagers have settled here to share the rural life of the long-time inhabitants. Water comes from the well, eggs from the neighbour, peppers from the garden, and you poo in a bucket.
But if everybody is living green here, who are these new ecovillagers, and can they be greener than green?
To find out, we’ve come to Stanciova.
Gab and Irina are a young couple who moved
in six months ago.
Gab would be a top earning computer
scientist - if he lived in the city. Instead he is part-time gardener and
part-time programmer for alternative currencies websites.
Irina would be a sought-after graphic designer
– if she lived in the city. Instead she is part-time gardener and part-time
soap-maker. And she does the dishes, because “she can do them faster than he can”.
| What do you like most in each other? | Gab I feel more complete with her. Irina He is a sensitive revolutionary. |
| What’s a memorable moment you had since moving here? | Gab Stanciova was cold when we arrived in March and the fire we made practically smoked us unconscious the first night. Our neighbour helped us fix the stove the next day and the cozy nights could begin. Irina Nature is silent in winter but filled with insect noises in the summer. These sounds make me feel connected with the web of life. |
| Your are new and young here. What do you have in common with the old-time villagers? | Irina We all need food, water and affection. Gab And we drink a beer now and then. |
 |
| Irina, preparing home-made soap |
| Are you not wasting your talents living this remote simple life? | Gab No I’m using my talents in the best possible way. Irina Me too. Back in Timisoara I was doing graphic design for advertising, here things have a deeper purpose. And we meet more extraordinary people. Gab Eisenstein said something like “The heart knows that a more beautiful world is possible, but the mind does not believe it.” We are working for what our heart knows is possible |
| How do you see this place in twenty years? | Gab We’re still living here [he glances at his girlfriend.] Irina Yes we are. Gab There will be more forest gardens. Irina I’d like to see a forest garden all the way from our house to the hill, where anyone could pick the fruits they want. Gab More ecovillagers will have joined us. Irina I wish for a more hippie village where we sing by the fire, where we thank the universe before we eat, where we raise children not for success but for a happy natural lives. |
|
[We had discussed 3D printing and alien life at breakfast, in particular The disclosure project.] Is 3D printing the next revolution for ecovillages? | Irina Yes, but only if clean energy can be found to power the 3D printing machines. Gab I’m sceptical that clean energy will be found without a mind shift. The mind shift will be the realization that there is no separation between us all. Irina When contact is made with alien visitors, that might bring about such a mind shift. |
| Some people would be surprised to hear us talk about aliens. | Gab We humans are teenagers next to civilizations much more advanced than us. These people would be, could be, our mentors. Irina You will have positive experiences meeting gypsies if you approach them with an open mind. The same goes with aliens, we have nothing to be afraid of. |
| So Irina does the dishes because she’s faster, isn't that so Gab? | Gab I do my best. I’m too meticulous Irina It makes me crazy when I see him wash a spoon for two minutes. |
