DRACULA

Every week I meet people that ask me what kind of accent do I have? Where am I from? Am I Mexican? Indian? Yes, my skin color is olive/white. Not even sure exactly what color it really is. Some surprise me and say, "You are from Romania" and I marvel at how accurate they are. Yes, I was born in Europe, Romania, more exactly Transylvania.

Transylvania is the largest region in Romania. It has many cities, towns, and villages. Transylvania is beautiful-lots of mountains, plains, and rivers. The weather In Romania is about the same as Michigan states' weather. We really have four seasons. Winters are cold and we have snow for Christmas. Summers are hot, dry, and short.

Of course to most Americans Transylvania is known for the evil vampire DRACULA. I have gone to churches even to sing and share about my life with Jesus, and even there when I mention Transylvania folks use their fingers to show me "vampire fangs". Everyone has a good laugh.

So, let me talk about DRACULA. DRACULA was no vampire. The true name of this king of Romania long time ago was Vlad Tepes. His last name came from his well known habit of impaling the rich people who mistreated the poor. Our grandparents and parents say crime rate was really down during his time so much as to if this king left gold in the middle of the city somewhere (intentionally to test people) overnight, no one would dare take it. The king could find the gold there next morning. Now that is fear! I guess that kind of honesty came after he impaled a few who dared to steal that gold.

The sad thing is that he was not the best king for Romania. His brother, king also, Matthew, Hungarian, put him in jail later for some cause I am not sure. Some say because he betrayed the country. Who knows?

Anyway, the name Dracula was given to him because people dreaded him so much. He would impale people and line up their heads according to the status they held in society. The heads were on display for all to see and be afraid.

I would have liked to place some pictures here but because of copyright reasons I cannot. So, here are a few links to learn more and see pictures of Dracula or even buy things associated with his name. Also, you can read about his atrocities just googling "Vlad's atrocities". Have fun! Oh...and no...I am not a vampire!

http://www.aboutromania.com/dracula5.html

http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm