An Adventure
As those of you who have talked to me since I arrived in Bucharest already know, it's been a rough couple of days. I've had a lot of trouble with money (it took all day, five banks, and waiting in countless lines to get my travelers' checks cashed, and my debit/ATM card won't work in Romania), and I've been feeling very isolated and lonely. It's not an easy thing to be alone so far from home. When I've traveled before, I've always been with someone I knew. Whether it was family, friends, or just some people on the same study abroad program, there were always people around that I knew and could talk with in English. This trip is a bit different. I'm here alone. I didn't (and mostly still don't) know anyone in the city. Nothing that terrible has happened; my passport hasn't been stolen, I haven't been arrested for no reason by corrupt police officers, or anything horrble like that. But just the same, it hasn't been easy.
However, things are slowly improving. I think I've figured out the money situation. I've found an apartment with a somewhat comfortable bed, a good location, and a nice roommate. My Romanian is improving by leaps and bounds. And today is the first day that I haven't woken up, realized where I was, and wanted to cry. In fact, I haven't cried at all today. It might seem like a small thing, but it's a sign that things are getting better. One of the reasons for this improvement was a change in my thinking about the situation. I started to reflect on the fact that this is an adventure. And yes, adventures are supposed to be fun and exciting, but if I've learned anything from reading Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and watching Star Wars, it's that adventures aren't always fun, and they often aren't easy. There are a lot of times during adventures when things just flat out suck, times when you want to give up and go home. And when you're watching a movie or reading a book, you get to share in the suspense and excitement, but you don't have to experience the difficulties. So I started to think of this as an adventure. Not just the exciting parts, but a real adventure, hard parts and all. That's been helping me to feel better about being lonely, about wanting to go home, and all of that. It's sort of like facing down Voldemort, or blowing up the Death Star, or trudging through Mordor, only much more mundane.
I'm sorry if that was a bit of a downer. It really isn't supposed to be. Because the point is that I'm feeling better. I'm feeling more settled, and I met one of my Romanian "pen pals" last night, and he showed me around the city a bit. I'm looking forward to meeting more people and making friends here. I'm finding out that Bucharest is actually kind of a cool place, if you know where to look. But more on that (with pictures!) later. I just tried to upload some pictures that I took this morning, but unfortunately I'm still working from an "internet cafe" (which is full of teenage and pre-teen boys playing video games. One of them keeps showing off his English by saying charming things like "Oh, my f***ing God!"), and for some reason, this computer won't let me upload photos. More to come soon! Miss you!
However, things are slowly improving. I think I've figured out the money situation. I've found an apartment with a somewhat comfortable bed, a good location, and a nice roommate. My Romanian is improving by leaps and bounds. And today is the first day that I haven't woken up, realized where I was, and wanted to cry. In fact, I haven't cried at all today. It might seem like a small thing, but it's a sign that things are getting better. One of the reasons for this improvement was a change in my thinking about the situation. I started to reflect on the fact that this is an adventure. And yes, adventures are supposed to be fun and exciting, but if I've learned anything from reading Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and watching Star Wars, it's that adventures aren't always fun, and they often aren't easy. There are a lot of times during adventures when things just flat out suck, times when you want to give up and go home. And when you're watching a movie or reading a book, you get to share in the suspense and excitement, but you don't have to experience the difficulties. So I started to think of this as an adventure. Not just the exciting parts, but a real adventure, hard parts and all. That's been helping me to feel better about being lonely, about wanting to go home, and all of that. It's sort of like facing down Voldemort, or blowing up the Death Star, or trudging through Mordor, only much more mundane.
I'm sorry if that was a bit of a downer. It really isn't supposed to be. Because the point is that I'm feeling better. I'm feeling more settled, and I met one of my Romanian "pen pals" last night, and he showed me around the city a bit. I'm looking forward to meeting more people and making friends here. I'm finding out that Bucharest is actually kind of a cool place, if you know where to look. But more on that (with pictures!) later. I just tried to upload some pictures that I took this morning, but unfortunately I'm still working from an "internet cafe" (which is full of teenage and pre-teen boys playing video games. One of them keeps showing off his English by saying charming things like "Oh, my f***ing God!"), and for some reason, this computer won't let me upload photos. More to come soon! Miss you!
posted by Erin Kay at 2:55 PM
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