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!