Urcand Pe Munte

Here's another little Romanian lesson for my readers back home. 'Urcand pe munte' means 'climbing mountains.' This past weekend, I went hiking in the Bucegi Mountains (pronounced Boo-che-jeh) with my new friend, Irina. When we arranged to go hiking, I guess I expected something more like hiking in Indiana. Beautiful scenary, a few hills, but really not much different from a long walk in the woods. Was I ever wrong. The phrase that Romanians translate as "to hike" is "a merge pe munte." Translated literally, it means "to go on the mountains," and I think that somthing gets lost in the translation to "hiking." This weekend I found out that a merge pe munte in Romania, is something of a cross between hiking and amatuer mountain climbing. On Saturday, we hiked up to an altitude of 2505 meters (8219 feet) and spent the night in a very rustic cabin on the top of Omu Peak. On Sunday morning, we packed up and hiked all the way back down to catch our train back to the city. The scenary was amazing, and I took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, the weather didn't always cooperate, and we spent two hours hiking in the cold rain near Omu Peak. I was exhausted by the end of the trip, but it was completely worth it! My legs are still a bit sore, but I can't wait to get out there again. Enjoy the pictures:


Here's me standing awkwardly in front of a waterfall at the trail head. (As you can see, I hate posing alone in front of tourist attractions and other things like that.)


...mountains...


Here's Irina a few steps behind me on the trail. I don't have any action shots of myself climbing, so you'll have to imagine it.


Irina and some of our fellow hikers crossing a stream and making their way up the trail.


...mountains...


...more mountains...


Some more of our compatriots on the trail ahead of me.


A waterfall.


Onward and upward.


...some more mountains...


...you get the idea.


The rock formation "Babele," or "The old women," is so called because it is said to resemble a group of old women standing around and gossiping.


These are the beds that we slept in at Cabina Omu. It was a very uncomfortable night, because they pack people into these bunks, so that you're sleeping next to some stranger. And on top of that, there were about 25 people in the room, at least 4 of whom snored LOUDLY.


Here's me on day two of the hike. I'm bundled up because it's cold on top of the mountain, and my hair is wet because we had been hiking in a dense fog all morning. I was trying to get a great mountain background here, but I didn't quite succeed.

Romanian "Ice Skates"

I mentioned in my last post that I've been learning a lot while I've been here. And I have. I've been learning a lot about Romanian politics and international diplomacy. But as I realized when I first arrived here, I've had to relearn a lot of things as well. By relearning, I guess what I mean is adapting to Romanian culture and society. Just learning to live here.

Since I started college and moved out on my own, I've learned to take care of myself and do all kinds of things that my parents used to handle. (Thank you, Mom and Dad!) Simple, everyday things like grocery shopping, banking, and laundry. Through trial and error I learned how much food to buy for the week, which brands to buy or avoid, what temperature to wash clothes at, etc.

OK, you may be wondering where I'm going with all of this, but hang in there. I do have a point. What I'm trying to get at, I guess, is culture shock. When I arrived in Bucharest, I had to relearn a lot of these basic skills. Not because I somehow forgot them on the flight over here, but because things are just different enough to throw you off. When I first got here, it was very disorienting. For example, it took me two to three weeks to figure out how to grocery shop here. That probably sounds pretty ridiculous, because how hard can grocery shopping be, really? But not only are the brands different, but the varieties and quality of the food is different, as are there relative prices. Certain things that are standard issue in American stores are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive here. And take pharmacies for instance. In the US, you can buy over-the-counter items by picking them up off the shelf, no need to talk to the druggist. Here you can't browse. You need to be able to tell the pharmacist exactly what ails you (and I have yet to meet a pharmacist here who speaks any useful English), and then they find a remedy to offer you.

My point is that tonight I realized that I've done it. I've relearned these basic life skills to the point that they are no longer remarkable. They seem perfectly normal to me. Which is why it's always a culture shock to go home as well. It's sort of like when you go ice skating. You get used to the motion of the skates, and then when you take them off and try to walk without them, its a bit tricky for a while. You feel unsteady walking on solid ground, because even though you've been doing it for years, your body adjusted briefly to the motion of skating. I've gotten used to the motions of living here, and when I go home in a month, I'll have to remember how to walk without my Romanian skates.

4 Weeks To Go

As the title of this post implies, I have four weeks left in Bucharest. My impending departure has inspired a lot of mixed feelings. It's coming up soon, but at the same time, it's still a long way off. It seems like a long time when I'm bored at work or when I'm lonely and missing my friends and family back home. But it seems like it isn't enough time when I think about all the things I still want to do and see here. I still need to find an Adrian Mutu jersey for Alex and other gifts and souvenirs. I'd like to visit the seaside and go hiking in the mountains, and I still have research to finish up for my thesis.

But on the other hand, there are times when I wish I was going home tomorrow. My American friends here are leaving town one by one, and my Romanian friends are often very busy with their own lives (the fact that I recently lost my cell phone doesn't make it any easier to make plans with them...). It will be great to be home where I speak the language fluently and I have my friends and family, and my Bloomington roommates nearby, but at the same time it will be an adjustment. After getting used to Bucharest, returning to the U.S. will be a culture shock (not to the same extent as moving to Bucharest in the first place, but unsettling just the same).

I've been learning a lot here. My Romanian is improving, and I've been learning a lot about the Foreign Service and about Romanian politics through my job at the Embassy. And I've been learning a lot about myself as well. Over the next few weeks, I'll do my best to post more often, hopefully with pictures from my adventures in the mountains and at the Black Sea.

Love and miss you!
Erin

Happy 4th of July!

Once again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. In addition to getting used to working full time, I've been having some computer problems and spending less time online as a result. But my computer seems to be recovering (with little or no help from my troubleshooting skills), and I have the day off of work today, so I thought I'd take some time to give you an update. There are a few things I wanted to share:


Living abroad as "Oregon Trail"
Several weeks ago I described this trip as an adventure, complete with plenty of difficulties. Although things have improved considerably, it still isn't all fun and excitement. Yes, I'm glad that I'm here. I'm enjoying myself. I'm learning a lot and seeing and doing things that I couldn't at home. But there are still challenges. For example, I'm still having banking problems, and there's no "Apple Store" to fix my computer for me. On a lighter note, I went and got my hair cut at a place in my neighborhood by a stylist (if you could call her that) who didn't speak any English.

So last night it occurred to me that living in Romania is sort of like playing a 21st Century, globalized version of Oregon Trail. You progress through the summer, taking in the sights and meeting new people, until a screen comes up saying "You have no way to access your money," or "You've been asked to move out of your apartment," and you have to decide what to do about it. There are less dire messages, such as "You need to get a haircut. Will you go to the overpriced European Salon near work, or take your chances with the glorified barbershop that charges about $9 for a cut and 'style'?" or "The vendor at the farmers' market switched the fresh lettuce you asked for with some rotten stuff from the back of the stand." I'm just lucky that I haven't gotten any of the really bad ones, the equivalent of "You have dysentery." I have six weeks left, and I'm hoping to avoid "Your passport has been stolen," "You've been arrested on false pretenses by a corrupt cop," and "You've been bitten by a stray dog. Game Over."

Timisoara
On our way back from Krakow, Adam and I had an unexpected layover in Timisoara, a city in Western Romania, near the Hungarian border. Timisoara is very multi-cultural, with a substantial population of Romanians, Hungarians, Serbs, Germans, and other ethnicities, and it is also the city where the Romanian Revolution started in 1989. I've heard that it is a very nice place, so the few hours that we had to spend there were not entirely unwelcome. Here are a few pictures from Timisoara:


A Romanian Orthodox Cathedral


Inside the Cathedral


Houses in the central square of Timisoara

Caine
I know it's been a while, but here's another Romanian lesson. The Romanian word for dog is caine. Unfortunately blogger won't allow me to insert accent marks, but it is pronounced like this: cuh-ee-nay.
Romania is full of dogs. Stray dogs, pet dogs, feral dogs. Sometimes you can't really tell whether they belong to someone or not. In the city, many of the stray dogs are well fed and friendly because people put food out for them or throw them scraps regularly. Here's a picture of a sad looking stray at the train station in Sinaia:


Caine

Tonight I'm going to the 4th of July party at the U.S. Ambassador's residence. I'll try to take some pictures, and either way, I'll be sure to tell you all about it!