Ciuban

his post will be about shepherds, these rustic men who still practice one of the most ancient trades. Romanians have long been known as shepherds, through Western history, "vlach" (ie, a resident of the Romanian lands, hence the historical name Vlachia --> Wallachia, or Moldovlachia--> Moldavia) meant shepherd. The open plains and rolling hills and mountains are ideal for raising sheep, and the Wallachian type of sheep produces milk, wool, and meat. 

Shepherding is perhaps both the most romantic and yet, must rustic and crude of all occupations. While the thought of living out in the wilderness, observing their flock while playing the pan pipe evokes a nostalgic, ancient sort of image, shepherding is a tough, brutal lifestyle. Shepherds as people are usually not noted for their intelligence, and calling someone aciuban is similar to calling them a redneck or hillbilly.

I've met a few shepherds personally, and I would rather agree with the latter image. Living along in the mountains is romantic and wonderful, but also extremely boring and harsh. Nothing like a few (too many) shots of tuica to make the cold and dullness disappear. And certainly, one requires an innate knowledge of the animals and how to raise them, but any sort of intellectual development is hardly necessary.

However, watching sheepfolds from the train always makes me smile, and the wildness of a life out on the rolling hills and in the deep forests still lingers as some sort of idyllic life. The shepherds also have a rich musical tradition, very ancient sorts of ballads that compose a part of the Romanian folkloric music tradition. 

A Bucovina sheepdog, a gorgeous, large breed. They are livestock guardian dogs which, at an early age, bond with the sheep and consider themselves a part of the flock, bravely defending the flock from any threats. Many of the  LGD breeds most popular in America (including the Akbash, Anatolian, Caucasian, Great Pyrenees, Sarplinic, etc) are from the Eastern European/Central Asian area, where shepherding was the guiding lifestyle for ancient settlers of the area. In fact, seeking grazing lands for their flocks were the main driving forces for all of those generically titled tribes originating from the Caucasian mountains to head west.
Some little sheep from Lunca Ilvei, keeping the tracks free of weeds. Apparently, this is safe. They were observed by a 12 year old boy on bicycle, and he rode around shepherding them from one patch of grass to another around the train station and train tracks. Few trains pass Lunca Ilvei every day, and since he lived near the station, I'm sure he was quite familiar with the schedule, so I doubt this posed any real threat to the herd. Still, it is always funny to see livestock (including cows, horses, goats) grazing so close to the train tracks you see their fur blowing in the breeze. 
Some 'naked' sheep just after Easter, when the Easter dinner lambs are slaughtered (usually the little rams) and the mother sheep are milked. For my viewing pleasure, this shepherd/farmer released all the pitifully baa-ing lambs from their stall so they could frantically scamper and search for their mothers. I like how they have to kneel to nurse hehe. If a foal (horse) has to do that, you might think it's time to wean them....
A shepherd in Lunca holding some of the first lambs of the season, spotted twins. This color pattern in very typical in Wallach lambs. These poor darlings probably turned into Easter dinner since they would have achieved a nice size by the time the holiday rolled around.
Inspecting an old, abandoned shepherd hut on the mountains around Lunca. These rustic little huts, usually with an old straw bed still in the corner, and a small partition which probably serves as some sort of closet, dot the Carpathian mountains at nearly every turn.
Another Lunca shepherd, home for a few weeks with his small children. He spends quite a lot of time in the mountains with a flock of more than 80 sheep and a small herd of dogs.
Very wooly monsters grazing in a paddock close to home.
The fleece of a Wallach sheep, with an old handspindle in the middle. 
A flock around Petrestii, where I would ride occasionally. 

Shepherding is still a very real lifestyle in Romanian towns and villages today. You can scarcely ride on a train for more than 20 minutes without spotting another flock. Spring time is particularly entertaining, as little white fluffs are scampering around their calmer, grazing mothers. 

The lifestyle is probably fading out, slowly, as modernization continues to charge through. Many people who can help it move to cities, tired of the boring toil of country life. However, there are still significant numbers of true peasants in Romania, people who have no desire to leave the countryside (or, for that matter, learn about anything outside of their village) and they keep up the rustic peasant lifestyle and shepherding occupations as their ancient ancestors used to.