On the value of difficulties*
As those of you who are on facebook or have talked to me already know, I arrived safely in Bucharest. Both of my flights were uneventful and on time. So far my trip has been going amazingly well, so well that I'm a little worried about how long my luck is going to hold out! But for now, I'm not going to think about that; I'm just going to enjoy it.
For my two and a half weeks in Bucharest, I am house-sitting for an Embassy staffer. I worked with her last summer, and when I wrote to her telling her when I'd be in town, she offered to let me stay at her apartment for free if I water her plants. It sounded like an incredible deal to me, so I took her up on it and am doing my best to take excellent care of the plants! She will be back in town for the last week or so of my stay. At that point, I'll be moving to her guest room and trying not to be too much trouble. The apartment is beautiful: a large two-bedroom with a great kitchen. And it is in a lovely part of town, not far from a metro stop, shops, and bus lines.
If you read my blog last summer, you'll know that my arrival and first few days are going infinitely better than last year. I've decided that I'm thankful for the awful time that I had at the beginning of last summer. It was terrible while I was going through it, but I survived with no permanent damage to myself or my (or my parents') finances. Having experienced that, I have some good stories to tell (which I'm sure some of you are tired of hearing...), and more importantly, it puts a lot of things in perspective for me. Right now I'm jet lagged, I've gotten a bit homesick once or twice, and my cell phone didn't work when I got here. All of that? No big deal. I'm having an amazing time. If I didn't have the misery of last May to look back on, I might be frustrated or upset. Instead, I'm enjoying the sunshine and the sights of my new neighborhood, looking forward to the adventures that the next six weeks will bring.
* For anyone who saw the post before I changed the title, I decided that "hardship" was a bit too dramatic.
For my two and a half weeks in Bucharest, I am house-sitting for an Embassy staffer. I worked with her last summer, and when I wrote to her telling her when I'd be in town, she offered to let me stay at her apartment for free if I water her plants. It sounded like an incredible deal to me, so I took her up on it and am doing my best to take excellent care of the plants! She will be back in town for the last week or so of my stay. At that point, I'll be moving to her guest room and trying not to be too much trouble. The apartment is beautiful: a large two-bedroom with a great kitchen. And it is in a lovely part of town, not far from a metro stop, shops, and bus lines.
If you read my blog last summer, you'll know that my arrival and first few days are going infinitely better than last year. I've decided that I'm thankful for the awful time that I had at the beginning of last summer. It was terrible while I was going through it, but I survived with no permanent damage to myself or my (or my parents') finances. Having experienced that, I have some good stories to tell (which I'm sure some of you are tired of hearing...), and more importantly, it puts a lot of things in perspective for me. Right now I'm jet lagged, I've gotten a bit homesick once or twice, and my cell phone didn't work when I got here. All of that? No big deal. I'm having an amazing time. If I didn't have the misery of last May to look back on, I might be frustrated or upset. Instead, I'm enjoying the sunshine and the sights of my new neighborhood, looking forward to the adventures that the next six weeks will bring.
* For anyone who saw the post before I changed the title, I decided that "hardship" was a bit too dramatic.
posted by Erin Kay at 11:49 PM
1 Comments:
Glad to hear things are better off this time - I can remember how rough last summer was.
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