8.5 hours until Take-off

B and I are busy getting ready for our trip back to the US in the morning. We are mostly packed and now are taking a minute to unwind before hitting the sack-our alarms will be going off in 5.5 hours and the shuttle will be here in 6.5! This time tomorrow we should be in ATL! -S

Not a good start to the week

Thankfully, we got our internet and cable back yesterday afternoon and no longer have to go to internet cafes to check email. Tiny victories.

Unfortunately, we had some of the worst news on Monday, which is that B's grandfather passed away. He was a wonderful man and certainly the patriarch of the family. He was known for his fantastic sense of humor and sometimes for telling some slightly off-color jokes to the crowd.

Sadly, tried as we did, and we did, we were not able to change our tickets and return in time for the funeral due to some awful airline rules. We were pretty dissapointed by this, but know there are no other reasonable options, so we will be happy when we are back in 2 days and can see family.

So, we are doing our best to get in the Christmas spirit and I think I will make some cookies today. -S

Out of touch

As B and I are recovering from our colds, we have been able to do more around town and after 3 days of not leaving the apartment, I finally felt up to doing some things. Yesterday morning as we were getting ready to head out, we wanted to check the weather online and discovered that neither our cable or internet were working! We had heard it raining some the night before but didn't think too much of it, however this seems to be the cause of the outage as when we were walking to the metro we noticed some men working on the cables. Unfortunately, neither is working yet and today being Sunday, the repairmen evidently are not working. They did, however, leave the downed lines in clumps on the ground in the rain water-very safe! So, B and I are currently at an internet cafe he used a lot during his last visit here.

Without internet or cable at home and with cold and rain outside, we had to find some way to entertain ourselves in the city, so we returned to the Unirii mall where they have what they call "Funland" on the top floor with arcade games and a bowling alley! We bowled a few games and played some ski-ball. It was really fun, though it felt like it was 100 degrees in there! Due to the overheating, we were forced to sample some gelato in the food court- Tirimisu for me and Green Mint for B. It was very good and helped to cool us down. We then went to an electronics store in the mall and bought an S-video cable to try to be able to watch DVDs from our laptop on the TV. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make this work. Oh, well. We can still watch the movies on the computer.

We may try to check out another Christmas market in a bit and then go home and hibernate as it is pretty cold and grey out (no snow) and is perfect for watching movies on the sofa.

Hopefully the internet and cable will be restored soon! -S

Restaurant Review #2

This evening since I was still not feeling up to snuff and the idea of reheating leftover soup or pizza was not appealing, B and I decided to give Tamarind (our first Bucharest Indian food experience) a second chance. We also thought that some spicy food would help my sinus congestion. As the owner explained to us on the first visit that his primary business is food made to order for home delivery, we decided to try this option. As usual, I had to try the Dal Makhni (for a direct comparison, you see) and B tried something called Lamb Bombay (?). We also ordered aloo paratha and some rice with my dish (B's came with rice). We were told to expect a delivery in 1-1.5 hours! Shortly after placing the order, we got a call back stating that the only kind of paratha they had was with raisins-plain was not even available, so raisin it was. The food did finally arrive and we got only 1 piece of bread. As B and I dug in, we both realized this was not what we had been looking for. B said his dish was spicy, as ordered, but he was not at all impressed by the dish and neither was I by mine. I think its becoming clear that Dal Makhni may not happen in Bucharest. This time, at least, there were lentils, but also a strange reddish sauce that tasted faintly like tomatoes-weird. As for the raisin paratha-very doughy and greasy. All in all, Tamarind continues to rate only 2 Samosas. -S

Sick Day

Well folks- cold season is officially here and, not wanting to be left out, B and I are participating in full force. B starting feeling down on Sat evening and by Sun evening he was definitely sick! I held out from catching his cold until late last night. B had to be home on Mon and Tues since he wasn't feeling at all well and he sweetly stayed home to help me today. Our landlady is convinced this is all due to not wearing slippers in the house. Evidently the passing of germs between people is not the real reason colds get passed-scientific hooey to be sure.

Before I started feeling badly, I spent time running errands and trying my best to take care of B. Yesterday evening, our landlady offered to take me back to the large grocery store we went to on our first day here. It was much more manageable this time since I was not jet lagged or dirty. Since we left the house at 5:30 PM-the height of rush hour and in Bucharest that is no laughing matter- the entire trip to the store was over 3 hours! I feel like I nearly bought the whole store, but it was really nice to be able to buy what we needed/wanted and not feel constrained by what we could carry. At least we are set for a while and we even have the Romanian equivalent to Doritos-labelled Tortilla Chips- and some salsa! We also have tons of dried goods and I was able to find quite a few spices, including cinnamon and nutmeg. I was even able to find a soup packet (they don't really do canned soup here) of the Romanian version of Chicken Noodle soup and B said it was actually pretty good. It was all very exciting and has been helpful since neither of us are feeling up to going out to shop or eat at a restaurant at the moment. -S

Travelling on the Cheap!

While hanging out with the other Fulbrighters on Saturday, one of them told S and I about a website which allows you to do generic searches, based on your country of origin, for flights to other European cities run by budget airlines. We checked it out, and found some pretty incredible deals for flights to Vienna, London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Venice, and Bologna. After thinking about it a bit more, we decided to book a trip towards the end of January to Milan--and got both of our tickets for a total of $117. Incredible! So if any of you faithful readers have tips on "must-see" tourist locations, places to eat, or hotels/hostels to stay at, send them our way!

There's not much else to say. Yesterday (Sunday) we went back to the Targ de Sfantul Nicolae (St. Nicholas Market) at the museum and did a bit more shopping (and, let's be honest, to have some more of that delicious Hungarian sweet bread, this time with the crushed nut topping). Afterwards, we went home. I'm sick with a cold, and so today I stayed in. S was very sweet and went out to do the shopping, and bought an excellent tea sampler with four different flavors. So far I've tried the cardamom and mango varieties, and they are both quite good. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow, but will still spend the day taking it easy. Knowing what I know from my studies about the Romanian health care system--I would really, really like to avoid having to see a doctor here if possible.

That's all for now! -B

Christmas comes to Bucharest!

We have had so far a full weekend and Sunday hasn't even really started. Friday was spent by me trying to stay warm in our apartment and B doing more work at the Institute for Holocaust studies. That evening we went to a going away party for a new friend who is on her way back to the US. The restaurant was OK and in the beginning the group was fine. B was able to speak with someone who studies topics related to his project and I spent some time speaking with a guy who is originally from SC and works as a chef in Bucharest. Unfortunately, as the evening wore on, the group got bigger and there was about a 1/2 hr in which the only people who spoke to me were B and the wait staff! It was disappointing to say the least. I definitely felt lonely and missed having my own group of friends to hang out with, but after getting home and being able to chat online with a friend from home-I was feeling better.

Yesterday, the Fulbright Commission had its Christmas party. We all met at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, which is only a 8 min walk from our house, and B and I had a chance to meet the other Fulbrighters who are in the country-many of whom seem nice. I think with the exception of a couple folks, B and I are sort of in between in terms of age between the Junior Fulbrighters (most of whom just graduated college this spring) and the Senior Fulbrighters (who are all professors already), but they were all nice and friendly. At the museum we had a chance to see the exhibits, which of course B has already seen, but was fun for me. It is a nice museum. Oddly, in the basement there is an exhibit about communism and I have to say it seemed a bit creepy as what greets you at the bottom of the stairs is a large painted portrait of Stalin-no thanks! Typically in the museum gift shop, there are local craftsman selling their wares, but this weekend there is also a large St. Nicholas Fair in which many more artisans were there and we were able to buy several wonderful crafts. We didn't really have a chance to see it all, so we plan to return today. While we were there, we were told by other Fulbrighters that we must try a certain type of Hungarian sweet bread, called Covaci cu Scortisoare (sp?), so we did. The folks were making it fresh there and we got bread that was hot and steamy! Its not really bread, as much as dough spun on a spool over coals and then covered in either cinnamon (which we bought), sugar, nuts or cocoa and then the coating was melted/burnt on over more coals. It was wonderful!

After the fair, there was an actual party at the Fulbright office, where we had the chance to talk more with the Fulbrighters and enjoyed getting to know them. Then last night, we met some of the Fulbrighters for a drink and imagine our surprise when we discovered that all the Christmas lights had been lit! It was beautiful sight and at the square near the University there is a large Christmas tree made only of lights. On our way home, we took a taxi (since all public transport stops running at 11 PM), and got to see all the different lights in different areas. It was very pretty and helped us feel more in the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, when we got home, B was started to feel kind of sick with a cold, so we went to bed and thankfully he is feeling a little better this morning. What a whirlwind! -S

Random tidbits

The last couple of days have not been very unusual as B and I find ourselves developing a routine. Yesterday I spent the day catching up on emails and visited with our landlady for a few minutes while B was at the Institute for the Study of the Holocaust meeting with the Director of Roma Studies and working at the Library of the Academy. Yesterday, I was excited to try the Christmas blend of coffee from Starbucks. It was cold in the apartment and I had more than my usual one cup of coffee, when our landlady asked me in to visit, and so I had an espresso as well. By the time B came home and we ran a quick errand, I was feeling pretty jittery and hungry. B was so nice to make some pasta while I was feeling sick and we had a simple but nice dinner.

Today B was back to more research and I spent time cleaning up in the apartment and (I must admit) cramming for my Romanian lesson. The lesson went well, but was kind of long. This evening B and I met with a colleague of his who has just finished her Fulbright time here and is off to the Holocaust Museum-quite a switcheroo! We had dinner at La Mama, a local "home cooking" Romanian chain of restaurants. I have to confess I wasn't exactly looking forward to the meal as I have not been overly impressed by Romanian food, but the evening was quite nice - the company AND the food. Its too bad that this particular friend is leaving so soon as she seems very nice and fun, but we are invited to a going away party for her tomorrow and hope, among other things, to meet more nice folks here in Bucharest.

We have been lucky to have experienced a fairly mild winter so far in Bucharest. It has not snowed yet, and though the sun has hidden on occassion, it has only been VERY cold a few days. Tonight when we were walking home, however, we experienced another weather phenomenon-wind. At one point, there were a few gusts that we both thought would blow us away! It's a good thing this happened at the end of the night becuase my windswept hairdo was NOT cute!

On our walks to and from dinner tonight we also noticed several areas where Christmas lights and decorations have been going up, which helps us to get in the mood. Apparently in Romania, the tradition is to wait to put up decorations until Christmas Eve, so we have been happy to see some already. We are getting excited for the upcoming holidays and hope y'all are too. -S

Season's Greetings!

Today was a beautiful and sunny day here in Bucharest and until evening it was quite pleasant for walking around, which was good since my schedule was more full than it has been in a while. It was nice to be active and now it is nice to feel the pleasure of relaxing after a full day. I can hardly call the day busy, as at no time was I hurried (or harried), but it certainly was steady.

B and I started the day by attending the opening of the Starbucks I mentioned in an earlier post. Yeah! Starbucks! The shop is nice and looks like a Starbucks for sure. It seems when Starbucks opens a new store, they tailor the menu a bit to local tastes, so unfortunately no peppermint mochas to be had. :( Why, I ask? I mean, who doesn't like peppermint, especially with chocolate? Anyway, the special Christmas drinks here are a Dark Cherry Mocha and Toffee Nut Latte. I tried the Toffee Nut Latte and it was pretty good. B had a Hot Chocolate and we shared some pastries. We also met the manager, who seemed very nice and she even gave us a sample of their Christmas Blend ... I'm looking forward to making it in the morning! It even smells good just in the package.

After the Starbucks run, we had a meeting with folks at the Center for Independent Journalism. The center is doing a project about the (in)ability of Roma to access health care and associated issues. It seems there may be things for both of us to do to help with the project, which is exciting and the folks we met there seem very nice and interesting. They also have a small library and in our short visit B was already able to spot materials he would like to see. The Center is pretty close to the archives where B has been doing most of his research so if he is ever stuck or unable to get materials at the archives, it would only be a short walk to the Center to be able to look at their materials.

After our meeting, I had to return home for my next Romanian lesson and B went on to do research at the Library of the Academy. While the Romanian lesson went well (I was even able to construct some sentences on my own from memory- short and simple, as they were), it is becoming increasingly difficult to communicate when I only know the present tense of verbs. I guess if I was a Buddhist, the present tense would be all I need, however, I think we can all agree that being in the moment and not being worried about past or present is not my strong point. So, I think learning future and past tense will need to happen soon.

When B got home, we had dinner. I thought it would just be a simple dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese, but I have to say the sandwiches were pretty good. The soup (from a Knorr packet) was awfully thin and uninteresting, but the sandwiches were on dark bread with a mixture of Tilitser (boring, but we already bought it) and Gouda (yummy!) cheeses with grilled red onions and tomato for me and salami for B. They were great! Now we are just relaxing and enjoying some TV and our Christmas decorations! We have added some photos of our humble decorations below. Happy Holidays! -S

It's the Small Things

Today was a national holiday here in Romania and so B's archives were closed and we spent some time just relaxing together. [B here: The holiday commemorates the unification in 1918 of the Kingdom of Romania with the provinces of Bucovina, Bessarabia, and especially Transylvania. Today there was a huge military parade complete with tanks and rocket launchers. Kind of scary, and a reminder how nationalist Romania still is. Needless to say, the holiday is not exactly celebrated by Romania's minority populations, like Hungarians, who are less happy about the status quo.] We had a chance to catch up on some emails and had a nice breakfast, which included TOAST! from our new toaster. These days it's just the little things that make me happy.

Later this afternoon, we took a walk around our neighborhood to get some fresh air. It was really cold out, but we were both happy to just get out and have a change of scenery. We had a quick dinner at a restaurant in a mall that is close to our home. The restaurant serves sushi and different asian dishes, as well as more common Western meals, such as eggs and bacon as well as ham sandwiches and greek salads. The food was good and the the owner, who is a Filipino woman married to an Israeli businessman originally from Romania, came to talk with us and told us the restaurant is relatively new and she hopes to be able to add delivery soon. Full of yummy asian food, we braved the cold weather and walked back home. This evening we plan to put up the few Christmas decorations we bought yesterday and get to bed early as tomorrow morning will be rather busy. We both have a meeting with an organization called the Center for Independent Journalism that is doing a project we may both be able to assist with and before the meeting we plan to go to the Starbucks close to us that I mentioned earlier. Tomorrow is their grand opening and I am pretty excited about it. What did I say about the small things?-S

Restaurant Review #1

[We don't know if this will be interesting to anyone else, but one of our shared passions is Indian cuisine. Before leaving for Bucharest, we were delighted to learn that there are quite a few Indian restaurants in Bucharest--a significant change since my first visit in 2004--and we are determined to try them all, and share the results with our beloved readers. Or at least note our experiences for our own amusement!]

So, after trekking for three miles, past the Centru Civic, the Palace, and the Marriott, we finally reached our destination--Taj Indian Cuisine. There are at least six Indian restaurants in Bucharest, and we had thus far been to two: Tamarind and Karishma. (For those experiences, see our previous posts.) Taj was the first Indian restaurant to open in Bucharest (and therefore so far as I know, in Romania), starting business in 1995. At first we were afraid we wouldn't find it, but right when we were about to give up, I noticed it across the street from us. Take that, Bucharest! This time your confusing layout did not defeat us.

The interior was very nice, and the non-smoking section was, in fact, blissfully smoke-free. The staff were not Indian (thought the owner/executive chef is) but seemed pretty knowledgeable about the food. The menu was extensive, including not only over thirty Indian main entrees, but also an eclectic "international food" section, which listed among other things a burrito. This last bit did not inspire much confidence, but we decided to keep an open mind. For starters, we ordered vegetarian samosas. For the equivalent of five dollars we got five pieces, making it a better deal than what you normally get in the States. They were quite tasty, although they would have benefited from a bit more spice, and were served only with raita and not the traditional chutney duo (chili and tamarind). For our main course, S ordered her old stand-by, daal makhni, and I got Rogan Josh, and asked for it to be spicy since they tend to turn down the heat for the Romanian palate. S also ordered a glass of the house red, and I a mango lassi.

The Rogan Josh was quite good, and thankfully the chef heeded my request for spice, as the heat was definitely present. S was less pleased with her meal--basically what she got was rajma, a dish made with kidney beans, instead of daal makhni, which of course has lentils. For rajma, she said it was tasty, but daal makhni it was not! I wasn't sure how the mango lassi would turn out, and almost didn't order it, but I'll be darned if it wasn't better than the lassis I get at our favorite place in Bloomington, Shanti. The house wine S ordered wasn't bad (a bit thin), but the quantity for what she ordered ($1.50 for a carafe holding two glasses) made it a great bargain. We had plenty leftover food to take home, and also ordered some gulab jamun to go--which were quite tasty!

One last thing worth mentioning: Taj was busy. Aside from us, there were several other couples, a table of four businesswomen, and a large party of about twenty people in one of the back rooms. It is good to know so many Romanians enjoy Indian food!

So, then, here is how we rank Taj compared to the other two Indian restaurants we have been to in Bucharest. Our highly scientific system takes into account menu, ambiance, service, and taste, renders the variables to a single score of 1-10 samosas, 10 being perfect, and 1 representing something even a Goan street-hawker wouldn't eat. As a base, our beloved Shanti in Bloomington ranks as an 8.5.

Now for the results thus far:
Tamarind--2 Samosas (though to be fair, we haven't had any made-to-order food from there yet, just what they had available for take-out)

Karishma--8 Samosas (easily on par with the best restaurants we've been to in the States, but not quite on the level of what you find in Toronto, Houston, etc.)

Taj--6.5 Samosas (might have been an even 7 had the "daal makhni" actually been daal makhni)

There you have it! There are still several other places to try--maybe we'll make it to one before we come back for Christmas. . .or maybe we'll just go back to Karishma. . .

Weekend Update

Hello everyone! S and I have not written a new post in a several days, and there is actually a lot to say, so here goes. . .

On Wednesday, I went to the Holocaust Institute, where I have an affiliation. The day didn't start out too well, as I had a difficult time finding it and ended up being thirty minutes late for my appointment. It is located on an extremely short street, tucked within a maze of similar small streets, and even when I asked some cabbies if they knew where it was they couldn't tell me. Eventually I did find it, and after apologizing profusely, I spoke with the director and two historians for about forty minutes about my research project, what I hoped to accomplish while in Romania, and the archives and libraries I intended to visit. They then provided me with a list of people to contact, and offered to provide me with letters of introduction to some of the instiutions mentioned during our conversation. Afterwards, they showed me to the reading room--the Institute has a pretty decent amount of material from the National Archives on microfilm, and their reader is capable of creating .pdfs from microfilm, which will save me money down the road . They're even providing me with a desk and computer!

While walking home I stopped in a tiny shopping mall on the more run-down end of Calea Victoriei and poked around for a bit, eventually finding what I wanted: a good umbrella and a toaster for S! I thought they'd make nice Thanksgiving gifts. That evening S made a declicious dinner--creamy rissotto with oven-roasted vegetables.

On Friday S did a bit of shopping and cleaning, while I worked. One of the staff from the Holocaust Institute walked me over to the Library of the Romanian Academy and helped me get my credentials established so I could work there, and I spent the rest of the day looking up periodicals and books to request. They have an excellent collection, including some obscure Roma publications from the 1930s that aren't available in the States. After coming back home, S and I finished the leftover rissotto and watched one of our favorite movies on the laptop, Bend It Like Beckham. A nice, cozy evening at home!

After running some basic errands on Saturday (paying off our cellphone bill, picking up dry cleaning, etc) we worked up an appetite, and inspired by the previous evening's movie selection, we decided only Indian would do! I will write a separate post about that, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about the journey there. After taking the metro to Piata Unirii, we walked a total of three miles to the restaurant. On the way, just as the sky began to darken and as autumn mist clung to the air, we walked past the Palatul Parliamnetului (Palace of the Parliament), formerly known as the Palatul al Poporului (Palace of the People). As S would agree, there is nothing I could say to really impress upon you just how dauntingly enormous of a monument to Nicolae Ceausescu's arrogance it is. To put it in some perspective, it is the second-largest building in the world, after the Pentagon.

It sits in the center of the Centru Civic (Civic Center), which Ceausescu hoped would eclipse all other city centers in Europe. In 1977, Bucharest suffered a massive earthquake which damaged a great deal of the city, and Ceausescu decided to remake Bucharest into his idea of a socialist paradise. Huge communist apartment blocs were erected both on the city's outskirts and center, and Ceausescu levelled roughly one-fifth of the historic district to make room for the Palace and Civic Centru, destroying hundreds of beautiful homes, synagogues, and churches. His mad dream failed, however, and now Centru Civic is like a ghost town. Most of the large buildings are only partially occupied (some even remain unfinished), and as for the Palace itself, which houses both chambers of the Romanian Parliament, only about 10% is actually used on a day-to-day basis. The rest of the complex can be rented out (for an exorbitant sum). I took a tour once, and one day I'll go through again with S, as the interior is every bit as overwhelming as the exterior. The entire structure, inside and out, was created solely from Romanian materials, a source of some national pride, but on the whole Bucharesters hate the building with a passion. Walking past it in foggy twilight gloom evoked just the right feeling dreariness.

Past the Palace, we saw the Marriott Grand Hotel. I had always heard of this place, but never actually seen it. The hotel is enormous (though a dwarf compared to the Palace) and contains within it a high-end shopping mall called Grand Avenue (think Rolex and Louis Vuitton, etc). As we were on a mission for food we didn't go inside, but one day we'll have to check it out just for the experience. To encounter the Marriott after the Palace represented a stark contrast in grandiosity, to say the least, although ultimately in both we find the driving force of Ego.
The night ended nicely, Skyping with our friends Jake and Aerin (and little Edy!) and S's parents and ultimately zoning out.

Today we did quite a bit of grocery shopping, which left us both exhausted due to a combination of walking, negotiating crowds, dealing with rude people, and carrying a ton. In the Unirea department store we found some Christmas decorations, which we'll put up tomorrow, and this time visited the top floor--where we found a schnazzy food court and an arcade. Skeeball, billiards, video games of all sorts, and even bowling! -B

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello All,

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We miss you all and hope everyone is having a wonderful day with family and friends and is using this opportunity to relax and have a nice long weekend! B and I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner, which started with a HUGE bowl of corn soup, at the Bucharest Hilton. We spent the morning watching CNN coverage of the attacks in Mumbai. It is such a sad and terrible situation. It makes you wonder what is wrong with people? And wonder when will all the terror stop? It is strange to watch all the coverage as all the places they are reporting about, are places I have been to several times before-spooky. We hope those who are trapped and held are safe and able to get out soon, those who are injured are able to recover well and send our condolences to the families of those who have died.

We are thankful to be safe and sound, have loving friends and family and are blessed with comfort and safety. We wish you all and your family well. -S

Starbucks-woo hoo!

Today started like any other day- we got up, had breakfast, got dressed and B went off to the archives. I was getting ready to head to the grocery store when my Romanian tutor showed up to have our lesson early. It was a nice lesson, but still somewhat scattered. He is only in high school, after all. At the end he told me how impressed he was with my ability to figure out how to spell things when I have only heard the word. Great! I can now spell back to the cabbie/cashier the words they have said ... glad I have the right skill set for this adventure ... sigh.
After the Romanian lesson, I did head to the store, which is about a 15 minute walk away. This store is a little pricier than Carrefour, but the selection, especially of stuff we want, is better and today I noticed a shelf with tortilla chips, tortillas, salsa and guac. I didn't get any today, but at least it's there. I managed to get all the things on the list, pay and get walking home on my own! Imagine my surprise when I was walking back on a street we have been on several times and I looked across the street and saw a sign for a Starbucks!! Yeah! Seeing the store made me so happy I nearly started jumping up and down on the street, but managed to contain myself. Now, don't get me wrong, I do really like being able to get good cappuccino in any cafe (and there are so many everywhere here), but the idea of being able to go into a Starbucks and order what I would at home and have it be similar (dare I dream- the same?) was overwhelmingly exciting. Given that I had an arm full of bags and we are to have dinner with our friend later, I refrained from going to Starbucks just now, but maybe tomorrow morning! Wow! Starbucks and just in time for peppermint mochas! Yeah!
Please excuse the the ode to Starbucks. Once I got home and got all the groceries unloaded I was sitting down to check email when our door bell rang and our landlady had come by to say that they were finally able to get their car back from the shop and were heading to a large (inexpensive) grocery store and would I like to come? What luck. Oh, well.
Soon, I will leave to meet B at the metro near the archives so we can meet up with our friend for dinner. It should be a nice evening and I am looking forward to it. Well, I will have another Romanian lesson tomorrow as I had to reschedule my normal Thursday lesson because of Thanksgiving. Have a good day and have a mocha for me!-S

Thanksgiving Plans!

Today I tackled (what turned out to be) the monumental task of cleaning the bathroom. Though I am without my favorite bathroom cleaning tool, Bleach Wipes, I was able to clean most of the bathroom with Mr. Proper (Mr. Clean to those of you at home-it's even the same logo and everything) and Romanian version of Windex. However, the challenge came when it was time to mop. I had seen a mop and bucket in the hall outside our door, so thought - no big deal. Unfortunately, I underestimated the funckitude of the mop and bucket. Apparently whoever used it last decided not to clean it out and so it took not one, but TWO buckets of soapy water to get the mop clean enough just to use. Meanwhile, I realized I had to use the shower (newly cleaned) in which to empty the dirty water and that because we are in the basement and things tend to stay humid down here, it would take extra long to dry. So ... what I thought would be a quick clean before a shower, became a two hour process before the floor dried, I re-cleaned the shower and finally got to get clean myself ... sheesh! What a process.

After this, there was endless Internet searching and some continued rearranging of our stuff. As I mentioned before, our apartment tends to get pretty humid, so we have to open our windows for a few hours everyday in order to make the place bearable (Brr!). Unfortunately, this means we have a lot of debris in the house and now I am realizing that it seems we will need to sweep daily in order to get the leaves, etc out. Fun!

Although all of that is pretty dull, we did have a bit of good news: we have found a place to have Thanksgiving dinner! Before we arrived in Romania, B had been told by a couple of his colleagues who have been here on Fulbrights in the past that the Fulbright folks were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner at either the Fulbright office or Embassy, so we assumed this would be true this year, as well. Unfortunately, in the previous years, the director of Fulbright here was an American woman, but she has subsequently stepped down and now the director is a Romanian. So, this year the Fulbright folks have arranged a "holiday get together" on Dec. 6, leaving Thanksgiving day gapingly without any plans. We were told, though, that sometimes the American owned hotels in town host a Thanksgiving dinner. After many calls and emails, we were able to secure a reservation at the Hilton for Thanksgiving dinner. We are pretty excited and cheered up. We were getting worried that we would not be able to make any plans and both down about it, so we are glad to have set plans now. A good end to an otherwise frustrating day!-S

A Full Weekend, Part Two

So, as I was saying. . .

Life here can be hard. It frequently frustrates me, and I speak the language, like the culture, and have been here multiple times. It must be all the harder for S. Bucharest is very overwhelming: it is a sprawling city, difficult to navigate (see previous posts), and unfortunately people are not the most patient when it comes to dealing with foreigners. You have to develop thick skin and accept that things will be difficult at times to figure out. So yesterday I think we both felt a little drained.

Today proved to be much better. While at the Fulbright Commission last Wednesday, we were given tickets for a concert at the Atheneum, a beautiful concert hall built in 1886 and one of Bucharest's architectural crown jewels. We accidentally slept in a bit, so we rushed to get ready, leaving without breakfast. The concert was put on by the Society of Engineer's Orchestra, so they weren't professional musicians, but except for a couple gaffes it was an excellent concert (enhanced by the Atheneum's gorgeous interior, which I had never seen before). They played pieced by Sibelius, Beethoven, and Brahms (I don't have the program in front of me, so I can't say what the were). After the two-hour concert, we felt famished and tried a cafe a friend recommended. It was pretty nice, and serves breakfast (S had an omelet and toast) and sandwiches (I had a great chicken sandwich).

Refueled, we left for Carrefour to find non-food supplies. Mainly, we needed some organizational materials: tupperware, some bins to put electronic equipment in, thumbtacks, magnets, etc. Carrefour is right behind the Unirii (United) department store, which I had never been in, so we decided to explore it a little. We were impressed. The ground floor was mostly filled with perfume and jewelry stores, as well as The Body Shop. The second floor mainly held fashion boutiques, more of which are located on the third floor, as well as an electronics shop and a store called Diverta which sells both office supplies and books. We didn't even visit the basement or fourth floors, as I started getting a bit overheated (they had the thermostat set to eleven!), so we got a drink at a cafe, and then popped into Carrefour. We managed to get almost everything we wanted. More importantly, we had a very good, fun day.

A Full Weekend, Part One

B here. Yesterday and today present striking contrasts. Yesterday, we didn't get to doing too much as it rained all day. S had seen a poster advertising an Indian Handcrafts exhibition being held at Muzeul National al Satului, i.e. the National Museum of the Romanian Village. This museum was created by Romania's first great sociologist, Dmitrie Gusti, who identified huts, churches and other buildings representative of folk traditions from each of Romania's regions, and brought them to Bucharest. Most of these structures are over two hundred years old, and form an open-air museum in one corner of Herastrau Park, a beautiful sprawling park in the north of the city. The museum isn't that far from us, so we decided to walk over there and check out the exhibit. Daring cold rain and deep puddles, we walked down Soseaua Kiseleff (named after a Russian general who served as governor of the Romanian principalities for a time in the early 19th century, who actually did a lot to develop the area), past embassies, a couple grand old hotels well past their prime, Romania's own Arc de Triumph (built to honor the nation's World War I casualties and celebrate the unification of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania), and one of the entrances to Herastrau before reaching the museum. Since it was raining, we decided to skip the open-air portion and stick to the Indian exhibit.

The exhibit was fun, but not quite what we were expecting. There were artisans there representing various traditional art forms from several regions of India: woodworking, painting, printmaking, miniature sculpting, etc. Each artisan had crafts for sale, and we ended up buying a small painting which we will hang on one of the walls of the apartment. The crowd was a little small, with some Romanians but mostly Indians. The poster S saw stated that vendors would provide food, but none was to be had, at least not for us: apparently refreshments were only available for the opening day. Before leaving we stopped in the museum's gift shop and looked around, picking up a small bit of pottery to use as a toothbrush holder (functional art!) and getting some Christmas ideas.

We then headed to La Belle Epoque, a Belgian restaurant and bar a few minutes walk from home, for a late lunch (since our stomachs were sadly not full of yummy Indian food). Aside from reaaking of smoke, it turned out to be a nice establishment: well-appointed with nice wooden tables and chairs, and the food was pretty decent (as was the Belgian ale I quaffed). I had "frigarui de vita" aka beef skewers, and S chowed down on a croque madame sans ham (or a glorified grilled cheese-with egg). Tummies full, we did some minor grocery-shopping at the non-stop, bought an onion at the produce market next door (which turned out to have the best display of fruits and vegetables we've seen so far) and headed home.

All the above seems like a lot, but actually, it didn't take up that much time. While at home, S got pretty sad--a lot of frustrations buidling up over the week, plus homesickness. I think it just really hit home that, even with our upcoming Christmas reprieve, we're here for the long haul. So we just spent a lot of time talking about it, and I think Skyping with S's parents helped too.

Speaking of Skype, I just realized it is time to call my parents, so I'll have to make this a two-parter. More to come in an hour!

Weekend!

Today I had my second Romanian lesson. I think it is going to be pretty hard to learn this language, but at home I can become decent enough to get by. Today my tutor and I put sticky notes all over the apartment labelling things in Romanian. We'll see how that works. I know B found the sight pretty funny. Also, my tutor had a book about Yogi and Bu Bu on vacation from his childhood that he asked me to read aloud to practice pronunciation and learn some vocab. I always got "Yogi" and "Bu Bu" right, at least. Baby steps ...

Earlier this week, I noticed in the metro station a poster about an Indian Crafts exhibit and it turns out that it is at a museum near our house and goes until Sun. Best of all, there are suppossed to be some food stalls, so we plan to check this out tomorrow and we are pretty excited. Unfortunately, I think it's suppossed to rain, which is lame.

We have been watching some CNN lately and all the news about the pirates is pretty awful. Also-pirates? What year is this? I guess it's best to expect the unexpected (or so they say).

Well, it's time to catch some Z's. -S

Long Day

Hello All,

This morning B and I went to the special post office where our package from the US was waiting. We were able to pick it up pretty easily and bring it home and it seems everything is intact and we now have measuring cups and spoons-yeah! When we got back we were both very hungry and there was little here, so we went to an Italian restaurant about a block away called Angel's. We have passed it serveral times and wondered about it. The building itself is really beautiful, but there is ALWAYS a guy sitting in front of the restaurant. Though each day is a different guy, none of them ever speak or look at anyone, yet there they sit all day. We weren't sure what the purpose of this person was ... bouncer? valet? all around thug? who knows? Bouncer and valet seemed not very likely since we had never seen folks coming in or out, but we still were not sure. In anycase, we did decide to check it out and it turns out it is a very nice place with excellent food. It's nice to know we have such a nice place just minutes away from us.
After lunch, B went to the archives and I had my FIRST Romanian language lesson. It lasted two hours and I had quite a headache after, but I hope this means I can learn Romanian quickly. I have my next lesson tomorrow, so I guess we'll see if I learned anything today. After my hard work, I was rewarded with a movie at a local theatre. The movie (City of Ember) was fun, but the theatre had NO heat and that was definetly a downer. Well, next time I will dress in layers for the movies. Who knew? What a day.-S

Meet and Greet

B here. Tonight we went to the Fulbright Commission for the briefing with a member of the State Dept. I had been asked to discuss minority issues in Romania, but that was about all the guidance I received. So I spent most of last night (till about 2:30am) and all today preparing a presentation concerning Romania's Roma population and the historical roots of contemporary problems such as segregation. What I was not informed of was that there would be an audience in the room besides the State Dept. rep, comprised mostly of Romanian alums of Fulbright exchanges to the US. The State Dept. officer also gave a spiel about the changing role of public policy. At any rate, I think the briefing went well--I tried to impress upon the officer how important these issues are for Romanian society and highlighted ways in which they could impact US foreign policy in the region. We'll see--I always find when I speak to diplomats that it is difficult to tell if they actually hear what you're saying or not. A journalist from TVR 1 (one of the Romanian public television channels) taped the presentation, and next week we're meeting for an interview. Apparently she wants to do a segment about me and my research.

After the briefing there was a reception, and I got a chance to meet and greet with embassy staff, Romanian professors, and talk some more with the rep. She ended up taking a very short video of me which may or may not end up on the State Dept. website. I have to say what I most enjoyed was speaking to a young prof. in the department of American Studies at Universitatea din Bucuresti who is teaching a course on modern American poetry--it was nice to talk about one of my hobbies! S and I also got free tix for a concert being performed this Sunday at the Atheneum, a beautiful concert hall in the center of Bucharest. We may or may not go, but it is nice to have the option.

Well, that's about it. I'm looking forward to a more quiet day tomorrow--picking up our package from the post office, and then back to the archives for me.

Hump Day

Hello All,
Yesterday was more or less uneventful, which isn't bad. B was contacted on Monday that the package he sent via diplomatic pouch had arrived at the Fulbright office, so we went there to pick it up. While there, our main contact noted that the box was too big to carry so offered to have their driver drop it by. We also talked with the folks at Fulbright and learned the presentation B is suppossed to give is tonight not tomorrow night as had previously been stated. Thank goodness for the clarification. After the Fulbright office, B went to the archives and I stayed here to do some laundry and start translating a vegetarian cookbook that we bought. It is in Romanian and I thought if I translated it would help me learn the language. I mentioned this to our landlady while chainging the laundry and she then "offered" to help and I spent some time in their house while she actually translated for me. The best part of the day, though, was that the son of the landlord offered to start tutoring me in Romanian and he has apparently done this with previous tenants. So, tomorrow afternoon will be my first official Romanian lesson ... we'll see how it goes. Today B is staying home to work on his presentation and then we will meet with the State Dept Big Wig this evening. Whoa! -S

B: I'm very glad the box arrived safe and sound, as I really needed some of the books inside as references for the presentation I'm giving. Tomorrow morning we will go to pick up our other box, which was sent via regular mail, and contains sundries, including some boks for Shiv's entertainment. Another thing of note is that yesterday evening we skyped with my Uncle Craig, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Nicole, and had a very nice chat. The picture quality was great, and Craig said it was better than using Live Messenger. So all you LM users, get on Skype! Tomorrow evening I think we're going to try and see a movie at one of the single-screen theaters on the same street as the National Archives. The film is City of Ember. Our friend Jake panned it, but I think it will still be a fun outing. Well, back to finishing my presentation--wish me luck!

An Interesting Day

B. here. Today was a great, but odd, day. I walked to the archives and began going through inventories of document collections, and am happy to say that I encountered no difficulties. I also learned that you can now pay a flat daily fee to photograph documents, whereas before this was forbidden. This will end up saving me lots of time and money. While at the archives I got two pieces of news. First, the Fulbright Commission called me to say that the box I had sent via diplomatic pouch had arrived, so tomorrow morning I'm going to pick it up! They called me again a bit later, and this time the deputy director of the commission, Mihai, informed me that a high-ranking member of the State Department will be in Bucharest Thursday, and wants to be briefed on various aspects of Romania. I have been asked to speak about Romania's ethnic minorities. Apparently afterwards I am to be interviewed by a Romanian television station! The first part doesn't phase me, but I'm very nervous about the latter. We'll see how it goes!

While I was at the archives, S. went out to run errands, going on the metro to one of the larger shopping stores, Carrefour (which is something like a Target, albeit on a smaller scale and without electronics). I know it wasn't easy to take that first step by herself, especially dealing with rude cashiers, and I am very, very proud of her. Good job, Scumpo! (Scumpo is a Romanian term of endearment.)

Tonight we met our friend Diana and a friend of hers, Cristina, who came to Bucharest last year on a Fulbright and in three weeks is leaving for a fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (which as most of you know, is where I was this past summer!). We ate at an Indian restaurant called Karishma. I have to say, based on our experience with Tamarind (see an earlier post) we had rather low expectations. How wrong we were! Karishma was FANTASTIC. The decor is extremely nice, the service was very professional, the menus were extensive and featured all the classics, and the food was every bit as good as what we've had at better Indian restaurants in the States. It was a bit pricey by Romanian standards (meaning it cost exactly what you'd pay in the US) but certainly worth if to two hungry kids who love Indian food. In all, a great day!

Easy like Sunday Morning

Greetings!

Well, today was pretty low key, which was just fine by me. We met with a fellow Fulbrighter who lives in our neighborhood and had lunch. This guy was nice, but much younger than us and so we didn't have tons in common, yet he was very nice and friendly. Also, he may have a lead on a good Romanian language tutor, which would be great. After the lunch, we were able to talk with my brother and B's parents on skype, which was nice. We are currently watching a special about chimps on Animal Planet ... they are awfully cute animals. It has started to get pretty chilly here and it's getting dark earlier, so that's too bad, but at least we will get winter out of the way earlier in our stay. Tomorrow, B is off to his first full day at the archives and I will be on my own for an extended period of time. We'll see how things go ... maybe I will be bold and attempt errands on my own, maybe I will get cozy with a book ... only time will tell. -S

romanian cooking

Greetings,

Today we didn't do too much, but picked stuff up at the cleaners, went to the store and got groceries for the next several days and did some laundry. We were also lucky enough to be able to talk with some friends on Skype and my parents, too. I have to say I love Skype! Being able to see your friends and family and make unlimited calls from computer to computer for FREE?!?!?!? Are you kidding. How great.

Also, this afternoon our landlady showed me how to make a traditional Romanian dish, Tocanita, with some dehydrated soy nuggets. I know -it sounds odd- but apparently the previous tenant of this apartment was another Fullbrighter and he was a vegetarian. Apparently she showed him how to make traditional Romanian dishes using vegetarian ingredients and these nuggets look similar to dried mushrooms. So, in order to make the dish, the nuggets had to be rehydrated and then mixed with a sauce made with onions, garlic, tomato sauce, and sweet paprika. It is traditional to serve this with mashed potatoes or polenta. I had a packet of mashed potato powder and so we made this. The Tocanita was pretty good, though I think I would use less salt and oil in the future. As for the potatoes- I prefer from scratch, but these were fine for tonight. One funny moment was when we were to fry the onions, our landlady asked for oil. I handed her the bottle of olive oil I had and she just shook her head. She insisted that one can not use olive oil for cooking, only for salads and finishing. Apparently, the oil of choice in Romania is sunflower oil and so she went to her kitchen upstairs and retrieved the proper oil. Now I have had some authentic Romanian cuisine and we have leftovers - score!

Well, that is it for now. We have plans to have coffee with another Fullbrighter tomorrow, which we are both looking forward to. Take care.-S

Archives and Outings

Hello all, B here: So today I made it over to the archives and got registered. One might think, especially since I have done this before, this should not be such a momentous feat. But then one would underestimate Bucharest's capacity for obfuscation. Instead of taking the metro there, which in fact would have been a simple matter, I decided to walk instead, as it would be good exercise, would make my 10-ride metro pass go further, and help me learn a bit more of the city. Well, after walking down our street to the right a ways, you come to a very large intersection where several of Bucharest's main traffic arteries meet: Piata Victoriei (this is the plaza where our metro stop is located). I knew the street I wanted, Calea Victoriei, was one of the radii coming off the center, however in true Bucharest style, there were no street signs to be seen, so I had to pick the one I thought might be Calea Victoriei. After thirty minutes, I finally saw a sign and realized I had picked the wrong road. I thought I might be able to take an intersecting street running perpindicular to the two, but again I was wrong, and ended up walking all the way to the main train station Gara de Nord, not a nice neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination. Finally I did get my bearings and found Calea Victoriei, but not before passing through some rather dodgy areas. By the time I finally got to the archives, they were only going to be open for another thirty minutes, just long enough to jump through the usual bureaucratic hoops. It was a little tense in the beginning though, because despite my university sending a letter announcing my arrival in advance, and having in hand a letter from the director of the archives himself, the archivists claimed they had no idea I was coming and at first weren't going to let me register, but I was gently persistent and finally got set up. We'll see how things go on Monday.

Walking back (and yes, this time I did figure out the right way back without problems), I went up the length of Calea Victoriei, passing some beautiful museums. When I got home I felt exhausted and a little gross from inhaling so much car exhaust, but S. was incredibly sweet and made some hot tea for me. After a quick dinner, we went to an English-style pub (or so it was styled, it didn't seem very English to me) called Edgar's, to meet a colleague of mine from University of Illinois, Diana. We had met at a couple conferences, and she is here on one of the same grants I have. Conversation ranged everywhere, from research to the dangers of winding staircases. S. and I had a great time hanging out with her, and really look forward to the next outing. All in all, a pretty good day!

Day of rest

Hello kiddies!

Well, today was mostly a day of rest. We did not do much, but were able to catch up on some rest. We took a short walk to pick up shirts from the dry cleaner's and it was nice that the sun was out. Aside from that, nothing too exciting. Getting settled is kind of exhausting. Tomorrow we have plans to meet another grantee who has been here for a couple of months. I'm looking forward to meeting someone else our age. Well, that's it for now. More later! -S

One week

So, we have made it one week in. We were able to run some more errands today and we found an English-language bookstore that is not too difficult to get to! It is rather pricey, but nice to know it is there for when we have already read the books we brought with us. Also, we went for a walk in one of the city's largest parks and had a nice coffee break. I am loving the wide availablity of good cappucinno, it's just too bad it always comes with a heavy coat of cigarette smoke! Yuck! Between the constant smoking around us and the pollution, I can feel my lungs blacken every second!
This evening to mark our time so far, we decided to try one of the Indian restaurants in Bucharest that B had found on the internet before we came here. The website said that it was "fast food Indian" but the photos and menu gave the impression of a small casual restaurant, so off we set at 5:45 PM, directions and address in hand. Note to self: from now on avoid the Metro during rush hour when at all possible- we had a VERY full car and several workers who had clearly already had happy hour - thank goodness it was only 2 stops! Once we got there, we were unsure which exit to use since Romanians clearly have a deep and abiding objection to street/information signs. After walking down two major streets, we finally picked the correct one and began walking. The restaurant was number 35 and the first street number we saw was 234! Luckily, after only a block, we finally saw the restaurant on the opposite side of the street. When we arrived, it turned out that it was a VERY small storefront. Imagine a walk-up pizza place. The owner had one table set up, but the cooler with the drinks and some of the food had to be moved in order to be able to sit at the table. Despite the large menu, he only had about 4 dishes available in the case. Apparently most of his business is delivery and take out and he makes dishes on order, but it takes about 40 minutes. So, we each got a plate of something that was already made (tarka dal for S and Chicken Tikka for B) and ate there. The food was good and the owner, Paul, was very friendly and had apparently moved to Bucharest 2 years ago from NY because his wife is Romanian and they had a child, so living in NY became too expensive. I am not sure what part of India he is from, but he did not seem to be a big fan of the Romanian people. The dinner was good, B and I tried our best not to crack up laughing in front of Paul, but could not help noticing the stares of the locals as they passed the window in which we were eating! What an experience. Next time, it's either delivery or another restaurant. Live and Learn, I guess.-S

Errands!

Well, today was a very busy day here in Bucharest. We spent about two hours this afternoon setting up Romanian cell phones. Most of the time was spent waiting for someone to be available to help us, but when we finally got some help, we were able to get 2 phones and now we just have to figure out how to use them. They will be mainly for calling each other and other folks in Romania, but it's nice to have accomplished this task. Then, as if that was not enough, we also managed to go to a huge store that seems to be Romania's equivalent to a Super Target so we were able to get some more groceries, as well as some needed home supplies. After all of this, we are completely exhausted, but feel victorious! It's just the little things sometimes.

Well, we need to make dinner, but can I just say: What is up with skinny jeans and tall boots? They are EVERYWHERE- I mean it: 4 year old girls and 45 year old women. How can I be so out of touch so quickly? S

Link to more photos

So, my attempt to put up all the photos failed earlier, so I have put them on snapfish. This should be the link:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=248635353/a=115918513/t_=115918513

I hope this works! I think most of it is pretty self explanatory. Mostly beautiful homes and monuments in our neighborhood, as well as an upscale shopping center close to us, a Masserati dealership and a traditional church all on one block, as well as Bucurest's answer to lack of parking. Also, at the end are pictures of our apartment beginning with the side door of the house to the apartment and the windy staircase down --- as well as the spare room with a futon- just waiting for visitors!

Enjoy! S:)

Photos

Pictures

Here is a photo of our house

The next post is a lot of other photos of Bucharest and of our apartment. Enjoy! S:)

Manic Monday

Hello All,

Well for the first time since we arrived, I was actually sleepy at bedtime and able to wake up at a normal morning hour. Progress.

It seems it is gloomy again today, though hard to tell inside since we are in a basement. We are still planning to take photos today and see if we can manage to upload them. I hope the folks on the street do not become suspicious of our cameras. Since we live in the Embassy district, there are several guards on the street (one outside of each Embassy). They mostly seem friendly, but I hope they are not too protective to allow us to take photos. There are so many beautiful large houses in this area- some in better repair than others, but all beautiful.

Yesterday we did some laundry and visited yet another grocery store. This one seems closest to us and has the added bonus of being open 24/7 or as they say here is "non-stop". Also, though it was small, the selection was pretty good and they had an extensive deli counter with prepared foods. They looked pretty good, so that may be a good source for quick meals in the future.

The more we are here, the more I am adjusting. Our kitchen is nice and large by European standards (I am told). I am learning to be in the kitchen without dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave or toaster. Oddly, the things I miss most are the garbage disposal and toaster. We may buy a toaster at some point, but I think I am going to have to get really good at scraping everything well since our landlords tell us the drain here can not handle much. We'll see.
Thankfully, we have a drip coffee maker and all the stores seem to have a good supply of coffee. Yeah for me! I have to admit I have been quite surprised by the items that ARE available here and the quality of the stores and restaurants. We are both also very much enjoying the high speed internet and wireless router to which we have access. I think this has made the biggest difference. We are able to stay connected and also it is nice to have CNN and watch news, especially of the election from afar.

Speaking of which, an interview with Barak Obama (rocker bomber-thanks Gavin!) on Larry King. So, we hope to hear from (and even see?) as many of you as possible. We miss y'all and love being in touch.

Saturday Misadventures

Hello All,

Ok, so it's noon again- how does this keep happening- and I am just waking up and still in PJs.

Yesterday we had planned to get Romanian cell phones, however they required a copy of our lease and we did not have it with us, so we will have to try again tomorrow. The phone store is across the street we walked on Friday with a lot of upscale shopping (including a Mazeretti dealership ... Mazerrati anyone?). Let me mention here that owing to the gas shut off I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had neither a shower nor any food. After not being able to get the phones, B suggested we walk to the other side of the street we were on to see what it had to offer. 20 minutes later, we had not seen anything much (however there were TWO ecologically friendly dry cleaners ... that's pretty neat) and I was hungry. It was 2pm when we decided to go to the area of town where the archives are and B suggested a restaurant he had been to previously that served New Romanian cuisine and which he described to be "not that far". I thought trying Romanian fare would be good, so we walked the 20 minutes or so to the metro stop (passing our apartment along the way), got on the metro and rode two stops. Unfortunately, when we got off the metro, their was major remodeling being done to the top story of this station and the stores B had used as landmarks to know which exit to use were not there and there were no signs, so we took some time, going up one, looking around, walking a bit, realizing it was wrong, going back down to the metro, picking another and so on. We tried three until we were on the right side of the road. Once we had found the correct road and were on our way, I thought it would be a quick walk to the restaurant, so when B graciously offered to eat at the Pizza Hut, noting my hunger and fatigue, I thought I could wait a bit to get to the Romanian restaurant and get something new and unique. However, we have discovered that my idea and B's idea of "not that far" are not the same. So, we walked down several very long streets, and about 10 minutes before we arrived at the restaurant, we looked at my watch and saw that it was now 3:30 PM (1.5 hours since we had set off) and we were not even there yet ... not even on the right street! At this point, given that I had no idea where we were, how far it really was and concerned the place would no longer be there or be inexplicably closed on Sat, I began to get grumbly. However, we did finally make it and it was beautiful. Unfortunatley, the very overconfident power-possesed host told us that they would not seat us without a reservation, despite the many availble seats. Aaaahhhh!!!!! Are you kidding me? In order to not have any brushes with Romanian authorities so early in my stay here, I quickly turned on my heal and left instead of yelling at the host about the ridiculousness the situation and throwing a glass of water at him, as I very much desired to do! Luckily, we found a very nice Italian restaurant just a few feet away, had a nice meal, walked around the area a bit more (I got to see the archives bldg where B will be working) and went home. Though glad to be fed and home, we were not able to accomplish the thinsg on our list and a few hours later were hungry for dinner. So, we decided eggs and toast (with slices of salami for B) would be good. After I had the pans nice and hot for the fried eggs, I attempted to crack the egg into the pan and discovered it was Frozen! So, grilled cheese, grapes (and salami for B) it was. What a day. Maybe today will be more productive. All in all, once we were fed, it did seem like a funny experience and I feel I know so many more areas from our walk.

Day 3

Good Morning!
Well, it's nearly noon here, but I still can't manage to quite get adjusted to the time. We are planning to get Romanian cell phones today, but have to wait until after noon to shower due to a a planned gas shut off. I wonder if this happens often. I'm glad we saw the notice on the gate or else we would have been VERY confused this AM.
We found out that we can not access Netflix streaming movies outside of the US-something about film rights, getting paid, etc. I say it's lame! We may, however, try to go to a local theatre and see a movie today or tomorrow.
I am, hovever, on a wireless connection right now that our landlords' son hooked up for us yesterday, so that is nice. Also, if we are up late, we can get CNN coverage from the US ... so that's nice to keep up.
We are glad so many folks have checked out our blog so far. We are happy to hear from folks and will try to add photos soon -- we have heard the requests!
Well, more later. Take care!

Day 2

Today is somewhat gloomy and chilly, but we were able to walk around a good deal this morning and found that we are close to a street that has many shops that will be useful, including an electronics store. We got a hairdryer since, even with a converter and adaptor, my American one blew an outlet (oops!). We went to the Fullbright office this AM- it is very nice and close by. That's about it for now. So far, we are trying to fight the urge to give in to jet lag and not go back to sleep, yet. It's only 2:30 PM so far.

In Country

Hello All,

We have successfully made it to Romania and made it through our first full day here. Before I say anything about our trip or time here, let me first say ... Woo Hoo! Obama Won! No, he TROUNCED (to quote a very questionable celebrity ... do you know which one?) John McBush and Bible Spice! My faith in the American people has been restored! But I did think, it's finally getting good and NOW I move out of the country? Oh, well. I am still excited!

For the most part, our trip went smoothly. We departed from Charlotte, and spent four hours at Dulles before boarding our transatlanic flight. Overall, Lufthansa was a disappointment. On flights with KLM, Air France, and British Airways, you get your own viewing screen with a decent number of films to choose from. On our 7 hr 40 min flight to Frankfurt, we had to use a common screen mounted to the ceiling, and had no choice in programming. To add some excitment to the trip, however, an old man collapsed while walking to the lavatory. I (B., at least for this paragraph) caught him before he fell all the way, and with another passenger gently lowered him to the ground. Apparently, he succumbed to a panic attack due to claustrophobia and fainted, poor guy.

With over three hours to kill in Frankfurt, we first located our gate, which was easy enough to accomplish but as it turned out we could not wait there, as they only allowed passangers on the next flight to enter the gate area. Actually, finding a place to rest in the Frankfurt airport was difficult--there is a serious dearth of seating there! We did manage to find a room with a a few free places. Oddly, this room was full of Indians--I felt like I was visiting with S.'s family again! (And yes, once again I felt like a giant, teehee.) Happily, the flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest was both comfortable and uneventful.

S. again ... After a VERY long day of flying (could Lufthansa make the economy seats any closer together or any narrower?), we made it to Bucharest in one piece, received all of our luggage ... also in one piece and were brought to our apartment. The apartment is just as nice as the photos indicated and our landlords were extremely welcoming and friendly. In fact, within the first hour they took us to the grocery store and then later invited us to dinner at their house. Our landlords are a retired couple and they have a son who is finishing high school. I feel lucky that they all speak such clear English since my Romanian is nonexistent, but hopefully I will learn more soon. While I was so grateful for the trip to the store, I was exhausted, overwhelmed and dirty (no shower for over 24 hrs plus airplane funk ... yuck!) and anxious to call my family and I have to admit, I kind of lost it a bit and started crying in the store. Fortunately only B. realized and our landlords simply thought I had the flu and attempted to give me some medicine (how generous). I did finally talk with my dad for a few minutes, cried on the phone with him, went back to the apartment, cried a bunch more and then watched Juno on our very large TV, which gets about 10 English language channels, including HBO. After, I felt a lot better. We had a nice meal with our landlords, hung out in our place, unpacked, I FINALLY got a shower and then sleep!!!!

Today we spent time walking around in our neighborhood and realized we live very close to the Museum of The Romanian Peasant and the Museum of Natural History, as well as many shops and restaurants. Also, many of the homes in this area are beautiful and there is a very nice large park nearby. We bought a few more provisions and found our way home. We eventually managed to make dinner (very gourmet ... spaghetti) and finish unpacking and doing a deep dust removal.

We have a meeting with Fullbright in the morning and hope to get to meet some more Americans who will also be here.

That's all for now ... hope you all are well. Please keep in touch. We miss you all soo much already.

And for those new parents in MO out there ... CONGRATULATIONS and how beautiful!

Hello

Welcome to our Blog!

We leave in the AM for an all day journey to Romania! We are excited and nervous and very curious to see our place and ready to get settled in. We hope you will visit our blog and write to us often.