La Poiata - the back story, as it appeared in the local press.

Bãla Village Life - from an article by Cornel Groza in the Cuvantul-liber, a Targu Mures weekly newspaper, here very roughly translated by Google!

The story I want to tell doesn't start, like all stories, with "it was once." It starts much more prosaically, with a trip through Europe, planned by a mixed family, Romanian-English, Georgiana and Steve Teers. It happened in the summer of 2013, and their plan was, as Steve tells us, “to go on a trip ... France, Italy, Austria, the Black Sea coast, Georgiana's family, in Bucharest. We wanted to see the village from which Georgia's family is drawn, but she hadn't been there for thirty-some years. However, we would have liked to wander the Transylvanian streets, to see the Georgian household. So I came to Băla ”.

The commune of Băla, the target of the Teers family, is documented in the 14th century. The village of Băla is mentioned in documents, from the year 1327, even under the name of Băla. The name comes from the man who first came to that area, who seems to have been a Balinese man, which is why the village is called Băla. The village is located in the area between ârar stream, tributary of Mures, and Milășel stream, tributary of Lechința river, in the middle of the distance between Târgu-Mureș and Reghin. A Romanian area, steeped in traditions and legends ...

The mayor of Băla, Mariana Vlad, remembers: “In 2013, in an afternoon, and I remember perfectly, it was Monday, I was sitting in the office and a cute, nice young woman appeared at the door and told me that it's from London; I made acquaintance. I was glad and I think that at first glance, at the very first meeting with her, I felt that something good was about to happen. Georgiana had a wide smile and told me that she came to visit Băla and that she is on a tour of Europe with her husband and children and would like to take an interest in a house; I did not have many details about that house, but later, searching the agricultural register, I told her that it was sold; In the meantime, when my colleagues were looking through documents, she told me that she really likes Băla, that she is very beautiful here. I wondered within myself, looking for a woman from the other end of the earth, in Băla, and he wants to buy a house. Eventually, they bought her grandparents' former home. ”

The plan of the Teers family was to develop a special tourist location, where things would go in the most traditional way possible. For that they needed help. The mayor offered himself and they put together a kind of meeting with the people from the village. “There were over 150 people at the fireplace. I told them what we want to do and that we need their help to walk the world with the carts. My countrymen were not at all excited: that is, how to walk people on a wagon ... where to take them and why ... you could see the village, I told them. What God to see in Băla? - they answered me. Well, to see how to bake pita, how to milk the cow, how to feed the chickens, please, whatever you do besides the household. In vain I was rubbing, people did not understand in the head break why someone would come from the bottom of the world to see how they milk the cow, how they make pits, sausages, pies. For them it was too out of the way! ”In the end, although they were not convinced at all, the people got on. Year by year they built in the batter, little by little. In a year they made a fence. In another, they set up the old house. Finally, the whole village has discovered a new, simple, bright, beautiful house, in the style of the place, but equipped with everything a decent man could have, in any developed part of the world. And everything seems so natural, in the order of things.

Perhaps the success of the whole business has also contributed to the nature of the Teers family. The Balkan wind that blows us from time to time can bring confusion. Sure, she's Romanian, she has her roots here, the nation is pulling her over, but he? What is English doing here? What would be so beautiful? Well, let it get saturated. Hm, look they still like it, it doesn't get saturated. So much stuck to these places, that they created a real Festival. Băla Fest. This hand of Romanian-English people raised a small village in the center of cultural, sociological, ethnographic interest. Steve is everything you want, except gummy and stingy English. It was better to see him crack wood, feed the chickens, put his hand on the trowel or hammer. This, despite his way of being more apart. Because Steve is passionate about music, he's an artist. Georgiana is different in nature. More pragmatic, excellent organizer, but equally soulful and jumpy.

The first test stone was the wedding of artist Laura Cosoi with Cosmin Curticăpean. Plans were made over plans until, Mariana Vlad - the mayoress - set foot in the threshold: "ready, we make the wedding fixed according to the model of my wedding, with dishes made in the village, with the citizens of the place and all, as in the book" .

I pray, as in the book from Băla. It was 2015. Since then things have developed and the "English patient" has gone from semi-coma to walking on his feet. To date, over 150 foreigners have beaten the dove from Băla. They fed the animals, milked the cows, made pies, pies, prunes and sausages, boiled the squash and took care of the bees. The story does not tell us how good the pita was made by the English, nor how tasty the sausages. But, perhaps most importantly, they brought the image of Băla village to all four cardinal points. And they did it well, since two other English families took their houses in Băla ...

Georgiana also remembers: “a few years ago we started investing in a house in the country, creating our own place of peace, but not only for ourselves, but also for all those who are like us and looking for a place for meditation. and reconnection. I said simple: Poiata Retreat. In short, this place in the country has attracted us to move to Cluj, where we can make the commute easier between city / education and relaxation ”.

And because it comes to education, the two girls of the Teers family, Raluca and Polly make school in Cluj, at Transylvania College, where it is a student-centered school, offering a complete educational path, from nursery to high school. It is the only international school in the region, accredited by the Ministry of National Education, which has received the official BSO (British International School) status from the UK Department of Education. Also, Transylvania College is an accredited member of the COBIS (Council of British International Schools) and is under the High Patronage of His Majesty Margareta, the custodians of the Romanian Crown.

Of course, Poiata Retreat has no way of hosting the flamenco singles alone. He again called on the villagers to keep them in the hospital. Where? How where, in the front room, of course. "But how to get them there, among the antiques - protested the locals - we must muse to go to the city, to take some more sticks. And you don't go to any city, because strangers like your nappies, inherited from ancestors! ”And again, poor people have struggled, though maybe not even now why" Englishmen "would not sleep. in sheets "fine, from the city".

Among those who came to "Băla Fest", as the festival is organized, year after year, by the Teers family, are the TV star, Gianina Corondan: "Of course it is not all idyllic and the sheep do not dance in the rhythm that they have. we dictate, neither the problem of the sewerage is solved very simply, 30 km away from Târgu-Mureș, but someone noticed the bright side and the formidable potential of the people-places symbiosis, found in the village mayor's office a very kind partner, convinced friends to cross the country, to find this little corner of heaven, he put on wheels and housewives and dwarves and uncles and uncles and Hungarian boys, but more Mures. Someone by the name of Georgiana, someone by the name of Steve. "

As for the festival, about Băla-Fest, what else to tell you: we are talking about a festival in its entirety. With days full of activities. With «opening night», at the cultural home, with food, made by the women in the village, you do not want to tell you what kindness, that you die of lust. With music on stage, for training, the children just stood there, not bothering him with songs like "Our Roads" or "Love at first sight", even though some came from the West and had thinner ears. With weaving workshops at war, with the Fira leather, with a wagon ride on the commune's stretches, with kneading and baking bread in the house of adorable ladies, mother and daughter. With breakfast with bio products from bionics I think, you just felt like another force circulating through you after eating cheese, vegetables, eggs prepared in the same way, freshly milked milk, broken vegetables between vegetables grown year by year in the village. With children's entertainment, from pool to fun games of skill and partnership, from playing with pets to learning the beekeepers' favorite craft, working with bees. With evenings of song and good cheer, dance and film. With carved wood in front of our eyes. With the climb to the sheepfold and the discovery of a theater-dance show with fire and the tasting of pieces among haystacks. I just told you, everything is like a book. Like the book in Băla! My story ends in a different way than the usual stories or, more correctly, it doesn't end there. Go on, with or without a saddle!.