Back Home!

I had a wonderful time traveling with Mel for two weeks, then got to spend a week in Vienna and Budapest with Dan. I'm sure most of you have heard all the stories already, but I've posted pictures for you to look at.

Mel's Visit

Trip with Dan

Enjoy!

Marţişor

Marţişor [martz ee shor]: (1) The first day of March, marking the coming of spring and the end of winter (2) The traditional Romanian word for the month of March (3) Anything tied to red and white ribbon (see left) and given to women on (1) and worn throughout (2).

Let it be noted: Romanians go all out for spring. And I must say, after experiencing what's referred to as only a "relatively mild" Romanian winter, I can definitely relate to this joy at seeing the sun again.

About one week before this monumental day rolled around, stands selling small knick knacks of every variety appeared on virtually every street corner. The picture above shows some of the more traditional designs, although, as you'll soon see, it is certainly not limited to these.

The Museum of the Romanian Peasant hosted a 3-day market in honor of spring, and of course I couldn't resist. After eating sausage and barbequed pork on the lawn of the museum courtyard, we wound our way through the hordes of people buying even larger hordes of marţişor, soon to be given to every woman in their lives, keeping with tradition.

A few hours and several hundred variations later, we came to the conclusion that as long as it is tied to red and white thread and is relatively small, pretty much anything can be called a marţişor. For example, beyond the traditional designs of delicate flowers, birds and other things keeping with the springtime theme, we saw pebbles painted as frogs, half an egg shell used as a planter for grass, clay elephant-looking concoctions, yellow smiley faces, crocheted dolls, plastic Happy Meal-esque toys, and painted bookmarks.

The thing that ties these all together, if you'll pardon the pun, is this red and white thread. White symbolizes winter, red symbolizes life and blood and everything vibrant about spring. The two colors are wound together and attached to everything. Even the jewelry, handbags and hand-carved wooden spoons (see left) were bound for good measure.

Everywhere I go, I see girls in red and white. Pinned to their shirts, their backpacks. Bracelets, necklaces, hair ties, even larger cords around their waists as belts. Traditionally it's an assurance of health and strength for the coming year, and the younger generation has embraced it as some kind of spectacular fashion statement. I plan on embracing this tradition for many Marţişors to come.

Five Days in Roma

As promised, a brief overview of the trip to Rome!


After several months of cold grey skies in Bucharest, stepping off the plane into a warm, sunny Italian Friday afternoon was something akin to a hot shower after being lukewarm and filthy for too long. We admired the sun setting behind the palm trees as we waited for the bus that would shuttle us from the airport to the train station, where Sibyl, Dan's good friend from high school, picked us up and took us to her place.



Her husband showed us around Rome that night after a spectacular dinner of pasta and Tuscan red wine, followed necessarily by a scoop of gelatto.


The next morning, after a trip to the market, we had a picnic right in the middle of Circus Maximus (see right), then took a leisurely stroll across the Tiber (drinking the best capuccino of my life along the way) and up a hill overlooking Rome.


That evening we learned some Tuscan cooking secrets from Andrea, which we have wasted no time in implementing back in Bucharest. :)


Sunday we did most of the touristy things, although unfortunately most of our pictures of the Colosseum, Forum, and Spanish Steps got lost.


Monday we decided it would be a great idea to rent a car and drive north of Rome through the region of Umbria. So, not heeding any warnings from Andrea and Sibyl, we got ourselves a bright blue Fiat Panda and proceeded to navigate our way out of Rome. After a few set backs and stopping once or twice to check the map and ask for directions, we managed to get out of the concrete labyrinth of Roman roads and onto A1 headed north for Orvieto. From here, I'll let the pictures say the rest:

Primavara

I hardly dare write this in fear I'm going to jinx something, but I think spring might actually be settling in here in Bucharest!

So yes, it did snow last Friday (which I missed due to a flight to Rome!), but it's gone and the sun is out and we have highs of 50 degrees forecasted this week. So I'm operating under the assumption that it's going to stay this way for a while.

I've been doing a bit of traveling the past few weekends. I went to Cluj, a long night-train ride northwest of Bucharest, and spent a nice weekend watching Hungarian opera with Romanian supertitles and eating sushi. The trip to Rome probably deserves an entry all its own, so sit tight on that.

I don't have any plans for more traveling until Melissa gets here in three weeks. Until then I plan to do all the things in Bucharest that I've been meaning to do for five months but haven't gotten around to, including going to the opera and the Peasant Museum, eating a burger at the American Sports Bar in the Marriott, and going ice skating in Cismigiu Park (if Spring allows).

Gephyrophobia

Gephyrophobia: The fear of bridges and/or crossing them.

I've noticed an interesting pattern in myself: the moment I make a definite decision in my life, for example and most conspicuous right now, buying a plane ticket from one continent to another, I stop enjoying where I am and start stressing out about where I'm going. I can no longer take things one day at a time, appreciating the hesitations, questions, expletives that punctuate life's simple rhythm. Instead I make mental lists of everything I have left to see, to do. Each one of those One Last Coffees I have to grab with friends.

I devote all my attention to the Next Big Step. To resumes and cover letters and thinking it might help to narrow it down to at least one region of the world, but not knowing where to start. 63 days of crescendoing whirlwind. Of last minutes and long goodbyes and just one more times.

I think this is more a fear of time constraints, but there isn't a word for that.

An Eventful January

January is almost over, and it's time for a long-overdue post to the good ol' blog!

The first week of the new year I spent traveling Romania with Mary and Jen, my two good friends from home (who I had actually met studying in Graz). I've posted pictures, and here's the blow-by-blow:

The night of January 1st we took a rather eventful night train to Timisoara. Running late, and not knowing which end of the train our sleeper car was on, we just hopped on and decided to find it once the train started moving. That turned out to not be the wisest of ideas, because several of the doors to the train never got closed, so we had to shimmy along the wall past the open doors. Once we finally found the right car, we were locked out of it, so we had to knock until someone came with the keys to let us in. After all that excitement, we slept like babies, even if we were stacked 3-high in bunk beds!

After Timisoara we went to Oradea and soaked in some thermal springs. Then on to Sighisoara and stayed in the hostel that was in the fortress on top of the hill. In Sibiu we stayed with Nicole, a Fulbrighter (and fellow PNWer!). After a day in Sibiu I came back to early to go back to work, which didn't end up lasting very long because I got the flu and had to spend the week in bed.

Now I'm back in the swing of things at work, staying busy with posters and special events. I've even been formally dubbed their "Artist in Residence" thanks to all my PowerPoint and Publisher expertise. :) I started language classes last week (finally!), and I'm really excited to get some formal learning under my belt before I leave.

Speaking of leaving, I bought my plane ticket home finally. I knew I needed to buy it before I got the crazy idea to just keep staying, as I tend to do. So April 3rd it is. Back to the land of orderly grocery store check out lines, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, solid sidewalks and Mexican food!

Christmas in the Alps

I'm back after a lovely week and a half in the Austrian Alps for Christmas with my Austrian host family from 2005. It was a pretty eventful week, but entirely laid back and relaxing at the same time, which was exactly the kind of Christmas break I needed.

After a 2-hour delay, what should have been a 10:00pm flight didn't arrive in Vienna until 1:00am, and once I finally landed we drove straight through the night and got to the cabin just as the sun was rising. So needless to say, that day was basically spent sitting in the sun, reading and eating. Well ok...that's how most of the week was spent...but at least the first day we had a valid excuse.

I did get to try my hand at skiing for the second time in my life, which ended up being a lot more fun than I remember it being. The next day muscles I didn't know exsisted in my legs were screaming at me, and I had a winning bruise on my hip, but it was totally worth it. You can see pictures of my skiing endeavors, as well as the rest of the week, here.

On my way back to Bucharest I made a pit stop in Vienna to meet Dan and his parents on their way to Prague. I spent the afternoon with them, playing tourguide and showing them around my city. The next day I hit up all six H&Ms in search of a coat and warm clothes, of course taking breaks for coffee in my favorite cafes. Dan flew back to Vienna the next day, and we somehow managed to catch our 6:00am flight (leaving the house at 3am!) back to Bucharest the morning of New Year's Eve. We decided that the incredibly cheap price we paid for the ticket just wasn't worth the pain of starting your day at 2 in the morning.

I'm proud to say that after such an early morning, we still managed to ring in the New Year that night, celebrating with old and new Romanian friends in an apartment in Bucharest. My dear friends Mary and Jen came from the States to see me, and we all watched the fireworks from the balcony and enjoyed good food and champagne.

I hope the New Year finds you all well. Here's wishing you all the best from Romania!