Dude, Where's My Blog?

I haven't been able to see pictures on here for days and I've wanted to post so bad, but I'm just stuck waiting...

We saw a guy on the subway this morning with A TREE. Ok, maybe I'm overexaggerating a little and it was a large plant, but that almost wins over the sink. Almost.

Everything But...

"I carried a sink?" shameless Dirty Dancing reference

The kitchen sink? Not this guy. Now I’ve seen some odd stuff go down on the subway. I’ve seen the crazies, the homeless kids, the drunks, the violin players, the scam artists, the overzealous religious newspaper pushers, and countless other types of people and incidents. I was just glad that on this day, for once maybe people weren’t staring at my sneakers with work clothes subway getup, or my blatantly obvious non-Romanian features.

I mean the guy had a SINK on the subway. I think I would have shelled out the maybe $4 it takes to get anywhere in the city by cab rather than cart around a ginormous porcelain object up and down all those underground passageways. But maybe I’m lazy, I haven’t exercised for three months, that’s for sure.


Excuse me, Excuse me, comin through, man with a sink

Tuna Torture

“We can do this. If you swallow without chewing, it just slides right down.” – Marya

I think I might have been a rabbit in a previous life. What’s up with my face? Marya and I ventured to a new restaurant last Friday night. I think we were the only people there. This has happened to us on more than one occasion so I’m beginning to think we smell or something. The second we sat down the music turned into a medley of Broadway/rat pack/oldies. Hilarious. They were probably like “the Americans are here, put in the CD! Put in the CD!” Anyway, we thought we’d be bold and order the Caesar salad. All the salads we’ve seen here so far don’t look very appetizing, but hey, ya never know until ya try. As we’re waiting, the waiter brought us that evening’s chef special, tuna salad, on the house. We politely thanked him and then sat there debating if we could really eat it. We had bread and, after all, it was resting on a tomato, so we decided we could handle it by combining it with other stuff to get it down. It wasn’t so bad. I’ve definitely eaten worse. I’ll take tuna over pigskin any day.

Steaua - Part Doua

We left work around 6 last Wednesday for the rescheduled Steaua game. When we got there, the event staff wasn’t letting any more spectators in, even though we had valid tickets. I guess paying money for a ticket doesn’t really mean anything in Romania. Once the stadium is packed, forget it. After attempting to get around the guards and nearly getting run over by a trolley, we gave up and a group of us headed back to our apartment to enjoy the game on TV. I, for one, was perfectly fine with this decision. I really didn’t feel like getting into trouble with law enforcement officials in this city again (yes, again, but that story is for another time and place). We’re going to try and go to a national game this Wednesday, but I don’t think we were really meant to see a soccer game here. Some crazy sporting forces are working against us. That’s ok though, at least my toes were nice and toasty in my warm winter socks.

Bill

So I know I’ve mentioned all of the stray dogs in Romania. I might actually miss them. No, I WILL miss them. How could I not? Most of them are adorable, and the other ones that want to bite me, ok, I won’t miss them, but whatever. Anyway…so we’ve all named the dogs we see on a regular basis. Marya has Cujo, Marc has Oscar and Grover, and I have…drum roll please…Bill. He’s the greatest. He’s our office dog. He hangs out right out front and he’s usually somewhere in the vicinity all day. This morning when I came in he was catchin some rays. Check it out.


Maxin and relaxin

Then yesterday I saw him sprawled out one of the tenant’s welcome carpets. People were stepping over him to get into the building. Ugh, he’s adorable. I want to take him home with me. I don’t think dogs travel well though, and he might feel a little funny if the only nourishment I have for him in Amsterdam are some brownies…because of the chocolate, of course.

Mallrats

Now THAT's what I call a purse

Going back to January, on the first night we arrived, we went to the Bucharest Mall. Yes, our first meal in Romania was at Ruby Tuesday’s. Pretty sad, but anyway, getting to the point, this pseudo-mall is awful. It’s super hot and crowded (Danielle, think our worst nightmare of all shopping nightmares), the elevators are very oddly placed (you have to walk like halfway around the mall to get to the escalator that takes you down another level), and most of all, NEVER EVER try to eat there. There’s never an open table in the food court, so you get your food and then stand there like an idiot waiting for people to get up. Mind you, they’re probably only smoking and chatting while your food is getting cold. I get so mad, furious actually, almost to the point where I’d rather not eat because I’m pissed. Too bad I don’t know how to scream “MOVE, CAN’T YOU SEE I’M TRYING TO EAT?” in Romanian. Ok, I would never do that, but still, that’s how mad I get.

We heard about another mall somewhere so we decided to check it out on Saturday. We had no idea that we were missing out. Oh, it’s excellent. It’s not crowded or super hot, the movie theater is cheaper, there’s a good coffee and pastry place and they have some bangin clothing stores. And the best part? A ginormous food court with LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of open tables.

Steaua - Part 1

We look happy....

Cold. Frigid. Freezing. ARCTIC. A few words to describe our experience at the Steaua (famous Romanian soccer, aka futbol team) game last Thursday. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been that cold or witnessed such a snowstorm in my entire life. I thought I was good to go with Marc’s hat, my gloves and scarf, and a few extra layers. I thought I had been trained for cold sporting events by attending so many PSU games. However, when it’s snowing avalanches and everything gets soaked in like two seconds, nothing helps. It took a good 24 hours to get the blood fully pumping back into my extremities. Needless to say, the game was delayed. I don’t think I could have made it if they played anyway. Talk about fans though; these peeps are TROOPERS. I love the chants too. I can’t even explain them, it’s like they all sing and yell things in this funny low pitched voice, kind of like when you used to set the record player to the lower speed. They had the same tone of voice, but the speed was a little faster. So hysterical. I had a blast just being there and freezing my tuckus off for a little over an hour. It was definitely an experience but not one I wish to relive any time soon. That being said, I’m hoping for any weather above freezing for this Wednesday’s rescheduled game. Maybe I’m being too optimistic though for Romania in mid March. I’ll keep you posted.


but really, we can't feel our toes.

For Me? You Shouldn't Have

Thanks guys!

Holidays revolving around men don’t exist here. Father’s Day? Forget it. I can’t complain though, for all that Romania lacks in male holidays it certainly makes up for in female. March 1 was some type of “sweetheart” day and the men in the office presented Marya, Raluca and me each with a small bouquet of flowers and some good luck charm thingies (yes, that’s the best description I could come up with). Then two days ago, we’re sitting at our desks and out come more flowers, this time supplemented with a box of yummy coffee/hazelnut white chocolates. Apparently, it was International Women’s Day as I’m sure you already know if you Googled. I’m being treated like a queen. This could be bad. My expectations for the male species will be all out of whack when I get home. Romania has definitely raised the bar. All you Philly guys better look out. I’m comin back with higher standards :)

I see London, I see France

"I want......that one"

I see a sale for underpants (you have to say it in your head like the rhyme, c’mon, you know you want to). Ok, so I don’t know what you guys do when exiting the subway, but me? I need to buy some fluorescent orange thongs ASAP, or maybe some blouses. Don’t even think about trying anything on though. Everything is sold out of these mall/kiosk like booths where a sample item is usually plastered against the glass with a price listed underneath. You ask the vendor (who probably mans the booth all day) for what you want, and things are sold to you from their stock. These little huts are everywhere and they sell anything and everything; from food to books to calling cards and toiletries. But undies? That’s pushin it. Although, I shouldn’t be complaining because having them around is quite convenient. It’s like the Romanian form of Target, except I can’t physically walk into the store.


"I think I'm in a green mood today."

The term “window shopping” definitely takes on a whole new meaning in this country.

Lost and Gone Forever

If you haven’t heard already, my wonderful little blue iPod mini got stolen. Yes, stolen. How you ask? I have no idea. It must have been on the subway. I had it last Friday when I left the office, then didn’t take it to Brasov, and when I went to look for it on Sunday it was gone. Someone somehow must have slipped it out of my purse. I don’t put anything past the pickpockets now; my purse was zipped and tucked directly under my arm.

Oh, Sunday was a sad day in Bucharest for Katie Reed. I was in full-tilt mourning mode. It’s so hard to fall asleep now without it and I especially miss it when I’m walking to or from (and on) the subway. :(

But…Apple must have known, because they came out with the 6G mini on Monday. YES. After further scrutiny of all the models, I’ve decided to purchase the silver 6G mini. I figure, someday I’ll fill up the 20G anyway and then I’ll just be transferring songs to and from it using my computer and using it like a portable collection of music. So why not get the mini again? It’s lighter and smaller and I already have some accessories for it at home. Apple’s offering free shipping and free engraving. I want the engraving to be somehow dedicated to the passing of my dear blue mini. Any suggestions? I’m trying to think of a good Romanian phrase. This could take me a while, considering my Romanian lexicon contains somewhere near 75 words.

Poiana Brasov / Bran Castle

ROAD TRIP. We were off to visit the neighboring cities of Brasov and Bran with Mihai as our non-official tour guide. Marya gets carsick so she automatically claims shotgun leaving Marc and I in the backseat. Now, Mihai had warned us about the winding crazy roads to get to his home town (Brasov), but I didn’t think they could be that bad. I have driven up and down mountains countless times traveling to PSU (R.I.P. my little Shadow). No, this was bad. I’m talking practically coming to a stop on the curves just to maneuver the wheel to turn in the right direction and not hit any oncoming traffic. I think Marya’s face turned five shades of green at one point.

So, we finally make it there and are greeted by Mihai’s parents and brother. His mother had prepared us crepes with apricot jam and a yummy bean dip. So, we talked to the rents a while and then made our way up to Poiana Brasov, a highly respectable town/ski resort. According to Mihai, this was where they all came in high school to “hang out”. Here’s a view of the town of Brasov on the way up to the point:


Chillin at Poiana Brasov

Marya and I didn’t want to ski (she’s terrified of breaking limbs, I’m terrified of skiing in general) so it was off to Bran. For some reason, this is widely known as Dracula’s castle even though Vlad the Impaler maybe stayed here once in his entire lifetime. This castle was mainly used as a defense mechanism to protect Romania from invasion. Apparently some nasty things went down outside this palace causing whole armies of invaders to retreat. I forget the details, but that’s the basic gist. Anyway…it was cool to see.

Here I am in one of the old wells/torture chambers? I’m laughing because it was super creepy in there and Marc thought it would be funny to stick his head in and startle me. It worked:


Can we say Blair Witch? Good thing there weren't any corners.


After that we went to grab some authentic Romanian eats with Mihai and his friend Radu. We placed our orders and the waitress walks by and places a plate of what looks like curly fries on our table. Oh, no my friends, it was pigskin. Yes, you read it right…pigskin. Lovely. I really didn’t think I could do it, but Marc and Mihai were eating it like crazy so I decided it couldn’t be that bad:


Ew

It was gross. It had the consistency of calamari but the taste of…well…skin? Ugh. Never again. We walked around the square in town for a bit and then thought we should hit the road again to make it back at a decent hour. Marc’s iPod batteries went dead, so to keep ourselves amused, we played a movie trivia game. Ya know, we’ll name an actor, you name a movie he/she was in, pretty simple. Teams were boys against girls and Marc’s seen tons of movies, so we thought our chances were slim. It so happens that Marya and I have seen lots of “chick flicks” and teen movies so we used that knowledge to our full ability and pulled off a 20-14 win. I had no idea that seeing stupid movies like “Joe vs. the Volcano” and “Bring it On” would someday eventually pay off. It felt good to win.