Bright minds come back to the land - Stanciova

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?

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.

Their tomatoes are from another world - Nagyszekely

  

 We are in Hungary

Forty types of tomatoes in the garden. 
Your challenge is to taste them and find your favourite.
Soon, you are staring into the sky, oblivious to the challenge, blissed out.

Are the tomatoes from this Earth? Welcome to Nagyszekely.

Nagyszekely is a traditional Hungarian village of 400 people, where a dozen families have moved to start an ecovillage initiative alongside the villagers.

Virag and her mum Etelka

Virag, 'flower' in Hungarian, is an eleven year old ecovillager. She chose the swing to meet and answer our questions.

Are you happy when you are here?

Yes I like it a lot more than Budapest. Here I can go anywhere anytime, in Budapest I can't.

I heard your mum say that sodas are not good for you. Is she too strict, too 'ecological'?

No my mum is doing a great job, I have pocket money and I can buy what I like with it.

What's the best thing about your mum?

Her knowledge of nature. I can ask her anything, she will have the answer.

Will you have children?

Yes maybe. Or I will live in the forest on my own. Actually I want to live in an ecovillage.

And will you have a job?

I don't want a job. But if I choose a job it will be about creating houses or making clothes.

If your mum was your daughter, what advice would you give her?

I would give her no advice, she is just great.

How do you like the compost toilet compared to a regular toilet?

I like the compost one better. Adele [her sister] sometimes forgets to flush the regular toilets.

The mayor has agreed to see us.

A mayor and the villagers, is it like a dad and his children?

Yes this picture is quite true, although the number one thing I do is simply administrative.

How is Nagyszekely doing?

The unemployment rate in the village would be around 50% if we didn't have a municipal programme that helps the unemployed. Many people would leave the village if they could.

How would you describe the 'new kids in town', the ecovillagers?

The arrival of the ecovillagers took place in a difficult climate. It was hard for some long-time residents to accept the newcomers and to recognize all the good things that they do.

Would you consider becoming an ecovillagers yourself?

I wish the ecovillagers contacted me more often, that's for sure!

What do you hope for this village in ten years time?

Our village must remain a rural place. It needs more animals, more vegetable gardens. I'm hoping for a self-sufficient place along the lines of what the ecovillagers try to achieve.

 

Judit is spending four days here with the wish to join an ecovillage in Hungary.   

What brings you to an ecovillage?

This is how people should live, I realized perhaps through my job as a biologist. There is nothing special about the ecovillage life, it should be the norm and not the exception.

Are you ready to move?

Not quite yet. I will spend a month in an ecovillage that I like, then six months, and I will see what happens next.

You are not scared of the compost toilets?

I find them romantic, and they don't smell like the regular ones.

What is an ecovillage for you?

An ecovillage is made of people who choose to live in logic with nature, in harmony.

Will you still be a biologist when you join an ecovillage?

No I will switch to being a teacher, perhaps create an open-air school in the forest. And I will do something creative with my hands.

A Mongolian yurt in a Christian ecovillage - Visnyezeplak

We are in Hungary

You have soap between your toes and shampoo on your head. 
This is the view from the open air shower. 
You are in Visnyezeplak.

 

Ilona’s family has moved fourteen times in sixteen years. They found Visnyezeplak two years ago and are planning to spend the rest of their lives in this ecovillage.

What makes you happy to live here?

I can draw everywhere and I’m free to go everywhere.

What will you do when you’re older?

I will live in a village like here and I will draw things. I want to live in a yurt all my life.

We ask her mum, Reka: what keeps you busy?

Being a mum. I’m following the typical wife role and stay mostly inside while my husband does things outside.

Do you wish for more money?

That would bring us more comfort but that would not increase our happiness.

We’re invited by Charlie to taste the pear schnapps he made, and have a chat.

What makes you such a positive person?

I’m not that positive, I’m a mix of ups and downs. But it’s true that I’m becoming a little more positive every day. More relaxed every day.

Charlie prepares pear schnapps, palinka in Hungarian.

What’s your favourite time of day?

The night. In the summer like right now, the night is when I cool off.

Would you be happier if you had more money?

I would have said yes some years ago. Today I don’t care about money. One day I gave up wanting. I used to want a lot from life but something happened one day while I was hitch-hiking a mountain, it just occurred to me to stop wanting.

Charlie's partner Melinda is knitting.

Who did you prefer to have as a guest, Melinda [his girlfriend] or Christophe [your humble reporter]?

His face looked serious and he said:   Melinda.   But come visit me anytime.    My house is your house.

Can you tell us something funny that happened to you lately?

No, I tend to see the seriousness of things.

If you were the boss around here, what would you change?

I would change nothing. People don’t change with the help of a boss. I was a gardener in Switzerland for two years. People asked me which tress would be best to plant along a road. What I told them ended up having no impact on the trees they picked.

Where would you like your life to be in ten years?

This question doesn’t make sense to me. But I can say that I aim to be more self-sufficient. This means gathering more wood and starting to raise chicken.

What is the meaning of life?

It is to create. Like the new type of bread that I created. Life is about creating things for yourself and for others, with the help of God.

The bell rings at sunrise, noon and sunset; it is time for prayer.

You didn’t seem to find my questions interesting, what should we ask you to understand who is Charlie?

You should not ask anything, you should come and spend time with me.

Aniko was coming back from her mother’s funeral when we met her. She is married and has a son.

What’s the best about living here?

The nature, untouched by man.

I hardly ever see you sitting down. Do you work too much?

I think I do sometimes. I have high expectations for myself. The life in the ecovillage works in such a way that everybody helps everybody and this is awesome.

Which jobs do you not like doing?

Oh I like all of them. And I like getting help when I do them!

Are the winters supportably cold?

We’re covered in snow but the cold is never a problem.

Where is your favourite place in the village?

These days it is the bell tower. But my favourite place changes over time.

The bell tower

Is the sense of community strong enough here?

The relationships between us ecovillagers are well balanced. Each of us gets more or less the amount of community that they desire. The newcomers need time to feel totally comfortable. They need to be comfortable by themselves first before they can integrate within the wider network.

What are your feelings with the loss of your mother?

The feeling is peace. We had lived far away for a long time but we spent her last months very close.

What is the meaning of life?

I see life as three strings that interlace: my life, my religion and my Hungarian nationality.

The roof of an earth house under construction.