A Romanian the Only Beggar in Geneva

Geneva, one of the pearls of world tourism, is the place where French, German, and Italians live together. Romanians are less. They might be missing at all. This is because Geneva, beyond its touristy potential, is an island of world billionaires. Beggar Marin has found some room among them.

"THE CROAT". Marin has left Romania a few years ago and sheltered in Geneva, where he begs daily at the street corners without any competition.

374 meters above sea level, Geneva is a resort with more than 180,000 inhabitants. If we were to simply resume the portion of this superb city that attracts tourists like a magnet, we would show that here one can find tens of parks, numerous museums and buildings - true architectural adornments, like basilicas, temples or synagogues. The Geneva Lake with its landing and the miraculous "Jet d’eau" overwhelm the viewer by being a place where technology meets nature. This could be another reason for mentioning that Geneva is assaulted yearly by several millions of tourists in the world.

UNIQUE

It also has a Romanian, autochthonous touch. The only beggar I encountered was in front of a jumble sale-type shoe store. I have asked from the beginning in Romanian about his whereabouts because he had an imposing tattoo on his tattoo reading: "Milica". He answered me with a smile, in Romanian: "My name is Marin and I am not a Romanian, I am from Croatia!". He was about to tell me that it was better to beg in places where more modest people come, because they give more money and they are open to all kinds of sores. "I think I am the only beggar in the entire city. I didn’t quite see another one. This is why, on my good days, on Saturdays and Sundays I mean, I gather somewhere around 300 - 400 francs. Generally, I don’t leave without at least 100 francs", Marin tells, while suggesting me to move back.

THE FIDLERS

The Romanian spirit seems to have been felt by the locals through the instruments of the few Romanian fiddler we have encountered in Geneva. "Le troix Roumains", as the three young Romanians are known here: Razvan, Vali and Florin, spend their time in the Passagio Restaurant, which is in the building of the central train station - Cornavin. Their powerplays are from the café concert and Disneyland genders, which, here and there has a little Romanian authentic orchestration. They have hardly accepted to speak. "We don’t beg for anyone’s mercy", says Razvan, the most talkative of them. "We wouldn’t like to be misunderstood or our fellow Romanians to misinterpret our words, and this is why I want to say we do this because we didn’t have the chance or possibility of earning money in our country - he defines himself. The authorities’ interest in us is pretty weak. Even though we waited for something to change in Romania, the things are unfortunately the same", he complains.

THE VIOLONIST

"As soon as we arrived in Geneva, in the first night, we slept in the establishment at Acueil de la nuit, which is sponsored by the Armee de salut Christian association. It is a very clean mini-hotel, with all the things a person needs. If you come to Switzerland and have no place to sleep you are offered the chance of sleeping in this social welcoming center for 15 euros per night. In the morning and in the evening you are offered free meals. The only impediment is that you can benefit from this treatment for 10 nights in three months time", Vali completes.

There are some other Romanian fiddlers in Geneva, too. Ianos is a little older, and comes from Ardeal. We have also encountered him in the centre of the city, where he was playing his violin. Another one, named Stefan, who was playing on the accordion Edith Piaf’s famous songs, was in the English Park. It seems that, in the means of transportation one can also encounter a Romanian woman with a baby, playing the clarinet.

INDULGENT AUTHORITIES

As a fiddler, one can sing anywhere in Geneva. There is only one condition though - one cannot stay for more than 20 minutes in front of an institution not to disturb the clerks. The Swiss enjoy music and reward the artists. The minimum is represented by the 5 francs coins. As for the local authorities’ attitude, the fiddlers told me they never bother them. On the contrary, they explain in civilized manners the rules they must obey and even if they do wrong, they always look the other way, being very indulgent. They believe that Romanians are very hardworking people, but they didn’t have a favorable fate.

CONSERVATORY STUDENTS

Razvan is in his second year of trombone study, and Vali in his third year of clarinet study. They are both students at the Conservatory in Iasi. Florin isn’t, but plays very well the keyboards, and here he uses the accordion. Razvan and Florin are from Iasi, and Vali from Tecuci. They left the country for Brussels at the beginning of February, this year. However, they arrived in Geneva and earn respectable sums. With the money gathered on the street they get to pay their hotel and food (approximately 150 Swiss francs), and the rest, earned at the Passagio Restaurant, they save.