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frlcb
member
*K&P*
frlcb
member
Please talk to me about the travelers that live in Augusta. Or right across in SC. I am fascinated. I was talking about it with the girl that cuts my hair who is from there and some of the stories she was telling me are crazy!
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Re: *K&P*
OMG, I don't have enough space on here to tell you about them. Way back in the day I was friends with some of the guys. HUGE no-no in the travellers community for the guys to be friends w/ 'country girls.' That's what they call people that aren't travellers. I used to even know how to speak their language (cant, I think it's called. It's a gaellic slang, I think is the right term)!
The reality is about 1,000,000 times more crazy than the stories you hear. They definitely have arranged marriages. I've seen one of the "parties" they have where they dress the little girls up and parade them around for potential matches. The match is supposed to be from a certain family and either money is exchanged or they'll take a sibling match for a trade. For example if you didn't have the money to pay for Finn's wife you could agree to let Lila marry the girls brother and not accept money for her marriage. C-R-A-Z-Y
I can't think of where to even start other than that but feel free to ask away
Have you seen My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on TLC? It is all about British and Irish Travelers, essentially they are gypsies, and the biggest community of them in the US lives in SC right across from Augusta.
It is so fascinating, I was fascinated by them in the UK and even more fascinated that they are here! Is it true they build huge mcmansions and then cover all the windows with tin foil for a year to ward off evil spirits?
I have also heard there is an incredible amount of inbreeding going on, so my friend said that she always knows who they are because they all look alike and have weird knees. I have no idea what she meant by that!
They have actually changed ALOT in the past 10 years. It used to be that any gypsy with mental retardation was kept out of private view but I've seen several that looked like they had Downs or something similar in the past year or so. They didn't mistreat them as much as it was fiercly protective of anyone knowing about them, I guess so no one would make fun of the disabled person? To keep them from feeling shame is what I remember one guy telling me when I asked him about it.
I think technology has really spurred a change in the community. Most of them are not educated after elementary school so the traditions of stealing and scamming are accepted at an early enough age that they don't even really know it's wrong, more just a way of life. There are some gypsy men though that do honest work. Their job isn't viewed as any better or worse though, it's all just something to make money. And they have LOTS of money. That's something I never really understood, how they had THAT much money all the time. They all drive brand new cars (women) and the men all drive brand new big trucks.
And I'll give anyone $100 if you can walk into a Japanese steakhouse in Augusta, GA and not see at least 3 gypsy's.
They treat pregnant girls like Queens. They come out in freaking droves to the hospital when a baby is being born. And they are ALL dressed in either pink or blue from head to toe. And when I say all, I mean like I've seen probably 250 gypsy's in the hospital at one time before.
I've actually seen the McMansions with the blacked out windows in SC and NC.
When I used to work for my dad (at a welding company), we had a couple gypsies that would constantly try to get us to do weird jobs for them and then they'd refuse to pay. I was told to evict them from the property as soon as I saw them. Their persistence was really strange.
You will LOVE it. I'd even catch Rob watching it, mouth agape. It's like the most terrific train wreck you could possibly imagine.
It really is good tv. I watched it the first time it aired in the UK on BBC and was so excited when they brought it here. We would see the caravans of the travelers outside of London and they were just bizarre. They claim they are victims of racism, so to speak, but the truth is they just set up these communities and never pay taxes, never pay council taxes, never pay anything, and then get all up in arms when they are evicted. The ones there are truly travelers in the sense that many of them move from area to area. There are two types, Irish Travelers and Romany Gypsies. I am seriously fascinated by it all!
I think the N. Augusta gypsy's (gypsies?) are more fascinating than the UK communities. Definitely one of the only instances I can think of where the reality is more bizzare than the rumors.
I think I agree simply because the UK ones are pretty well known and most people don't know about the ones in Augusta!
I too was fascinated by them in Ireland. We call them "Tinkers" there. The small kids were so friendly. My relatives always looked down on them.
DH's family is from Hungary and his mom used to joke that they were descended from the gypsies.
Yep, Tinkers in the UK too, although that is apparently a very racist term so it isn't nice to say. But it doesn't stop people!