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Sorry it's been a while since I last posted!
Not too much has gone on. I've been here about 5 weeks now, and I think this is where you really start to get in a routine. This is just my life now, instead of just a trip. I have my daily routine down. I wake up around 6, go on a run, get ready for work, then ride into work with two of the women who work in my building. Then there's work, which varies in its levels of satisfaction and frustration. I then ride home in the evening, cook dinner, watch some NCIS (Kevi has 6 seasons on dvd), and go to sleep at 10. Though it sounds pretty boring and routine, I like it because it moved into a certain level of comfort with this place.
I have a pretty busy next few weeks planned out. Today, there's a dinner at the 2nd in command's house for the interns and young foreign service officers. This Friday, I'll be traveling to Craiova (Romania's 6th largest city), for work stuff involving democracy building grants. This weekend, Kevi and I are going to a charity dog walk for one of the shelters here in town. Next Friday is the huge 4th of July party that the embassy hosts for 3,000 Romanians. (I would much rather be home blowing things up and eating hot dogs than watching three thousand Romanians gorge themselves on McDonalds and cupcakes shaped like American flags.) But, on the bright side, I leave the next morning to fly to Istanbul, where I'll be for 4 days. Natalie, a friend of mine from Vienna, is flying from Switzerland to join me there. I've wanted to go to Istanbul for years, so I'm very excited to go! Then the next week, Stephen is coming out to visit for a week, which I'm also very excited about.
To conclude this post, I will leave you with some of my thoughts on Romania / Romanians (most of them - there are obviously exceptions):
- Romanians enjoy showing off wealth, even though most of them are really poor. The person with the brand new BMW generally lives in a barely habitable apartment. Same goes for cell phones - they'll buy really expensive cell phones and then wear them around their necks on a cord. Makes sense when you consider their past relationship with materialism (or a lack thereof), but it's still strange.
- Like the Austrians and The Sound of Music, Romanians didn't know Dracula was something people associated with their country until the fall of Communism, when a bunch of tourists showed up looking for vampires. I think it still confuses them, but they've at least managed to find ways to profit off of it.
- There is a huge difference between urban and rural life here. Under communism, many peasants were forced to move either to Bucharest or to artificially created commonuties centered around factories. This has resulted in Bucharest being the only major city in the country, and the complete center of their political and economic system. The peasants feel a huge disconnect and oftentimes, aid and education don't manage to reach anywhere outside of Bucharest.
- While speaking with a 23 year-old Romanian student, I was initially quite jealous. She gets to go to college (bachelor's and master's) for free! But then she went on to explain that a master's in Romania doesn't mean anything, because there are never any jobs. She says she'll probably end up working at a grocery store or gas station, becauset that's where there are jobs. No wonder so many people emigrate!
- They call people here "grammar Communists" instead of "grammar Nazis." Which is funny.
-Bucharestians have a strong desire to be "European". This manifested primarily in the way the men dress. On a side note, most of the women here are pretty beautiful, and the men are very much not. I can see why a lot of models come from Eastern Europe - plus, they're always dressed in mini-skirts and 4 inch heels anyway, so they wouldn't need much training.
- Thoughts on the Romanian healthcare system - it's pretty terrible. The American Embassy employees get med-evaced for pretty much everything, because the hospitals here are so bad. Not very clean and you have to bribe everyone, from the receptionist to the nurse to the doctor to get anything done. On a side note, Romanians (and most Eastern Europeans) believe that all of their diseases are caused by drafts. So they refuse to open windows or turn on the AC even when it's sweltering hot inside. Fortunately, I don't work in a room with any Romanians, so I can keep it nice and drafty.
- There are security companies everywhere. Apparently, it's because after the fall of communism, there were suddenly a bunch of unemployed secret police types around. I'm still not exactly sure what they do.
- Romanians are generally very disenfranchised with their government, primarily because it is so corrupt. You get jobs in the government based purely on who you pay off. There are a lot of "ghost positions", where someone gets paid a salary but never actually works. Young people, in particular, don't see the point in voting or even caring about politics.
- As is a common theme in this blog, the stray dogs and particularly the stray cats are starting to get to me. I petted a tiny little stray kitten on the way to work today, and it almost broke my heart. Unfortunately, there aren't enough shelters, and the shelters that do exist are overflowing. I take comfort in the fact that all the strays seem to be very well fed. All the embassy's security staff feed and brush the dogs and cats near their embassy. The Austrians across the street have two, and my boss feeds one by our embassy everyday. And the cats are very street savvy. But, as an animal lover, it's still really hard to see.
That's all for today! I'll try to update a bit more frequently from here on out!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Transylvania (yes, it is a real place)
I’m starting to feel like I’m finally settling in here. Work, leisure, running, etc. have become routines instead of adventures, which is a very nice feeling.
Work has its interesting and its boring moments. A lot of work at an embassy is pretty routine and, like most work environments, involves a lot of meetings. There are certainly interesting days though. Like today was the 130th Anniversary of Romanian-American diplomatic relations, which involved a large conference, complete with speakers from the Academy, Romanian politicians, and American scholars and embassy personnel. I’m on week 3 of my 10 week internship, so things are moving along pretty quickly.
This last weekend I took my first trip out of Bucharest. Kevi had a meeting in a town in Transylvania, so Jeremy (another Embassy employee) and I went along. First, on Saturday, we stopped at Peleş Castle, which is a beautifully ornate castle that was once the summer home of the Romanian royal family. This castle and town, like most in the area, were originally created and inhabited by Saxons, so there is a solid German feel to the people, food, and architecture. Oftentimes, the people will even speak to you in German first, Romanian second (which I liked!). We then continued on to Braşov, the main destination for our trip. There, we wandered around town, took the cable car to the mountain next to the city, and saw a couple of beautiful old churches. Braşov survived the Communist period with very few scars, which was a welcome relief from Bucharest. We stayed the night in a ski resort town in the mountain above Braşov. It was a Dracula themed hotel, but by far the scariest part was the lack of air conditioning in the 90 degree weather. Thankfully, as the only guests in the hotel, we managed to scrounge up some fans.
Peleș Castle
The view of Brașov
The next morning, after a breakfast of what the Romanians claimed were omelettes, we headed to our next destination, a small town called Raşanov. The only attraction in this town was their massive citadel in the mountain above the town. After a quick stop, we headed on to my favorite stop of the trip, Bran. Bran is home to the castle that was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Despite what you would think, the castle was not dark, scary, or gothic, but rather bright and airy. It was a bit sparse, because the Romanian state just recently returned the castle to its rightful owner after the Communists took it. There were also some beautiful markets at the base of the mountain.
Bran Castle
Overall, it was a very nice trip and I really enjoyed getting out of dirty Bucharest and into the beautiful Romanian mountains and countryside. However, it was also very eye opening in regards to the extreme poverty that exists outside of the capital. We drove past several villages made of corrugated metal and wood, in which a horse and wagon was the main form of transportation. Also, the legacy of Communism was obvious with the multitude of massive, abandoned factories.
My travels will be fairly limited in the coming weeks. Next weekend, I believe I will be going on a camping trip to Constanţa (on the Black Sea) with the Romanian interns from the Embassy. After that, I will be taking care of Kevi’s dog while she’s in Ireland, which will limit my ability to go anywhere. Then Stephen is coming to visit for a week, and then I’ll be cat sitting. I will definitely be going somewhere for the week between the end of my internship (August 6) and my departure from Bucharest (August 13), probably Greece or Turkey.
Hope all is going well in the good ol' USA! Happy Flag Day!
Work has its interesting and its boring moments. A lot of work at an embassy is pretty routine and, like most work environments, involves a lot of meetings. There are certainly interesting days though. Like today was the 130th Anniversary of Romanian-American diplomatic relations, which involved a large conference, complete with speakers from the Academy, Romanian politicians, and American scholars and embassy personnel. I’m on week 3 of my 10 week internship, so things are moving along pretty quickly.
This last weekend I took my first trip out of Bucharest. Kevi had a meeting in a town in Transylvania, so Jeremy (another Embassy employee) and I went along. First, on Saturday, we stopped at Peleş Castle, which is a beautifully ornate castle that was once the summer home of the Romanian royal family. This castle and town, like most in the area, were originally created and inhabited by Saxons, so there is a solid German feel to the people, food, and architecture. Oftentimes, the people will even speak to you in German first, Romanian second (which I liked!). We then continued on to Braşov, the main destination for our trip. There, we wandered around town, took the cable car to the mountain next to the city, and saw a couple of beautiful old churches. Braşov survived the Communist period with very few scars, which was a welcome relief from Bucharest. We stayed the night in a ski resort town in the mountain above Braşov. It was a Dracula themed hotel, but by far the scariest part was the lack of air conditioning in the 90 degree weather. Thankfully, as the only guests in the hotel, we managed to scrounge up some fans.
Peleș Castle
The view of Brașov
The next morning, after a breakfast of what the Romanians claimed were omelettes, we headed to our next destination, a small town called Raşanov. The only attraction in this town was their massive citadel in the mountain above the town. After a quick stop, we headed on to my favorite stop of the trip, Bran. Bran is home to the castle that was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Despite what you would think, the castle was not dark, scary, or gothic, but rather bright and airy. It was a bit sparse, because the Romanian state just recently returned the castle to its rightful owner after the Communists took it. There were also some beautiful markets at the base of the mountain.
Bran Castle
Overall, it was a very nice trip and I really enjoyed getting out of dirty Bucharest and into the beautiful Romanian mountains and countryside. However, it was also very eye opening in regards to the extreme poverty that exists outside of the capital. We drove past several villages made of corrugated metal and wood, in which a horse and wagon was the main form of transportation. Also, the legacy of Communism was obvious with the multitude of massive, abandoned factories.
My travels will be fairly limited in the coming weeks. Next weekend, I believe I will be going on a camping trip to Constanţa (on the Black Sea) with the Romanian interns from the Embassy. After that, I will be taking care of Kevi’s dog while she’s in Ireland, which will limit my ability to go anywhere. Then Stephen is coming to visit for a week, and then I’ll be cat sitting. I will definitely be going somewhere for the week between the end of my internship (August 6) and my departure from Bucharest (August 13), probably Greece or Turkey.
Hope all is going well in the good ol' USA! Happy Flag Day!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Work, Run, Travel
It's Sunday morning here, and I'm munching on my Müsli with yogurt and sipping my German coffee. The Romanians are surprisingly big fans of all things German, particularly their luxury cars. Half the people in this city live in the crappiest apartments you can imagine but also drive BMWs. It's a little ridiculous.
I'm finished with my first week of work. I'm working in the Public Diplomacy section. As the website will tell you, the Cultural part of that department (which I primarily work in), "arranges lectures, seminars, workshops, and training programs in various fields with an emphasis on the rule of law, civic education, women's issues, international affairs, and free market economics." We also work with educational institutions, like Fulbright, and with high school and college students. I call it the "we love America and so should you!" section. :) For example, June 10th is Flag Day (who knew!), so 51 teams of Romanian high school students have created projects representing each of the U.S. states (and D.C.). On the 10th, they all get to go to the Ambassador's Residence for Pizza Hut pizza, games, an American movie, etc. The job of PD is a little easier in Romania, because, for some reason, the Romanians LOVE Americans.
As some of you know, I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon while here in Bucharest. This has been quite the challenge for several reasons. The stray dogs get jumpy when someone is running near them. Romanian drivers have NO respect for crosswalks and have nearly hit me a couple of times. The sidewalks are treated as roads and/or parking lots, depending on the time of day. They have "bike lanes" which they set up right before the NATO Summit was hosted here, that no one knows how to use correctly. Oh, and Romanians don't run, so they all look at me like I'm crazy. However, I do live next to a beautiful park, which makes it easier.
So far, I've just stayed in Bucharest. Next weekend, I will be hitching a ride with Kevi to go to Brasov, which is a city in Transylvania, north of Bucharest. Apparently, it's a really gorgeous old German city. I'm also making plans for other trips in the future. I would really like to visit Bulgaria and Turkey at some point.
I'm finished with my first week of work. I'm working in the Public Diplomacy section. As the website will tell you, the Cultural part of that department (which I primarily work in), "arranges lectures, seminars, workshops, and training programs in various fields with an emphasis on the rule of law, civic education, women's issues, international affairs, and free market economics." We also work with educational institutions, like Fulbright, and with high school and college students. I call it the "we love America and so should you!" section. :) For example, June 10th is Flag Day (who knew!), so 51 teams of Romanian high school students have created projects representing each of the U.S. states (and D.C.). On the 10th, they all get to go to the Ambassador's Residence for Pizza Hut pizza, games, an American movie, etc. The job of PD is a little easier in Romania, because, for some reason, the Romanians LOVE Americans.
As some of you know, I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon while here in Bucharest. This has been quite the challenge for several reasons. The stray dogs get jumpy when someone is running near them. Romanian drivers have NO respect for crosswalks and have nearly hit me a couple of times. The sidewalks are treated as roads and/or parking lots, depending on the time of day. They have "bike lanes" which they set up right before the NATO Summit was hosted here, that no one knows how to use correctly. Oh, and Romanians don't run, so they all look at me like I'm crazy. However, I do live next to a beautiful park, which makes it easier.
So far, I've just stayed in Bucharest. Next weekend, I will be hitching a ride with Kevi to go to Brasov, which is a city in Transylvania, north of Bucharest. Apparently, it's a really gorgeous old German city. I'm also making plans for other trips in the future. I would really like to visit Bulgaria and Turkey at some point.
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