Gymnastics Attire

These are the clothes that Maria's coaches want her to practice in until the heat is turned on in the gym! They are very concerned that the girls will get sick from being cold. This culture has yet to embrace the idea that illness comes from germs and not the temperature of the air.

Maria has on: A long sleeve unitard, two long sleeve t-shirts, long tights, ear muffs, thick socks, and gloves.

The Losing Streak Has Ended!

It's official, my losing streak at Monopoly has ended. I have won the past two nights in a row. I know my blogging audience has been very concerned over my lack of Monopoly skills so now you can sleep better tonight!

My Husband ROCKS!

Steve called from work and told me to go get the remote for the air conditioning. I got it and he said to look and see if there was a "sunshine" next to the "snowflake". I said, "Yes, there is, does that mean what I think it means?"

It did!!!!

We now have heat in the den. The bedrooms are still chilly but we can add blankets to the beds to sleep. Just the sound of the heater running is warm. :) I am so thankful since it is supposed to get down to 36 degrees tonight!

Maria and I did bake cookies yesterday. Mimi, Steve's friend from work, had given us 38 Hershey Kisses. Someone gave them to her from the American Embassy. So I made one of my favorite cookies. Peanut Butter Blossoms with a kiss on top. Yummy! Steve took some to work to share with the Romanians.

I'm a much more content woman since the tip of my nose has returned to normal!

I am freezing!

I am freezing. I have no idea what the temperature is inside our apartment but it is dipping to the upper 30s at night and the low 50s in the day. In the states, this would be when I walk over to our thermostat and, REGARDLESS of the reading, I would "bump it up". This is the problem in Bucharest. First, there is no thermostat, there is a dial on each radiator with a vague numbering of 1-5. Second, even when I turn the little dial there is no heat because the government turns off the heat in the summer. And I am still freezing.

I learned last night at language lessons that they will turn on our heat when it is less than 10 degree Celsius (50 degree Fahrenheit) for three days straight. They'll also turn it off again if it warms up for a couple of days! But there is tons of discussion about when to turn it on and off each year. I have a novel idea, even though my brain is partially frozen. Let the individual people decide for themselves when it is "too hot for heat" and "too cold for no heat". Wow!!! I have met quite a few Romanians now and I am completely confident that they could handle this concept! This would be one less responsibility for the government to concern itself over. Call me an American (and a freezing one too!) but, I believe that if I can pay for heat, and I'm cold (which I am), then I should be able to turn up my heat. Even if it's the middle of August, and its 105 outside. It really is my business! Do I sound as much like my Daddy as I think I do?!? Man, even the tip of my nose is cold.

So anyway this is what Maria and I looked like yesterday. She went to her bed in the afternoon, in her jacket, to read and be warm. I piled up in a chair in THREE shirts and a blanket to do sudoku! I am freezing. I think we'll bake cookies today, just to heat up the house!




We thought they would turn on the heat during the night and set our "dials" with hope that in the morning we would have heat. No luck, I'm still freezing! I think we'll be going through some of the brown sugar we brought back with us. Did I mention that I'm freezing?

Timişoara

On Saturday morning we headed out around 9:00am to travel by Metro, the underground subway, to the train station. We changed Metro lines and arrived at the train station without any problem. Once at the train station we located our line and only had to wait around 20 minutes before the train pulled in. We were soon on our way to Timişoara, in a first class car. We were sitting in a private car with three other people. This was great since it cut down on most of the noise and through traffic. It was an eight hour train trip and the countryside was great! Here are a few pictures from the train window.



We had been told that there was a diner car and we had been anticipating eating a late lunch there. Nope. No dining car. Thank goodness I had brought "snacks" with us. With my family this means I had packed: 8 homemade biscuits with country ham, homemade chocolate chip cookies, 3 bananas, grapes, cheese popcorn, cheese sticks (kinda like cheese-its, only long and skinny), and chocolate. The bad thing was we only had two water bottles with us. YIKES! We had to do a little water rationing but we made it.

We arrived in Timişoara around 7:30pm and jumped in a cab to the hotel. Cost of the cab was 5 euros. Remember this price. This is around $6.00 USD. The hotel was clean and the room great. We went back downstairs and had a fantastic supper in the hotel restaurant. They brought us menus in English, then when Steve started talking the waiter asked him if he needed a Romanian menu. He's such a "show-off"! ;) I'm so PROUD of him too! After supper we headed back up to the room and got everything ready for the race and went to bed!

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and Steve and Maria walked over to "check out" the starting line while I showered. He was able to sign in and get his number. He also found out the race was going to start at 10:00 instead of 10:30! They came back to the hotel and Steve changed and we headed out to the finish line where everyone was gathering.

In the square, where the finish line was, they had music playing and the entire atmosphere was festive! The range of runners was a wide one with both elderly and people turning out in jeans and casual tennis shoes. Maria helped Daddy to warm up by chasing pigeons and racing back to me.

After a slight delay we headed over to the start line. For full coverage of the actual race go to Steve's Running Blog. (You can left click on the colored words) It'll be amusing since they didn't STOP TRAFFIC for the runners unless you were one the first three!

After seeing him off, Maria and I walked to the 5k mark to cheer as the runners passed. When Daddy passed he was looking good and happy to see his "girls". Afterwards Maria and I headed back to the finish line to see the first place runners come in!

Steve came in at 1 hour and 47 minutes. I like to say he was the top "American" finisher! :) He received a medal, a goodie bag and a certificate at the finish line. He was pleased with his time and overall we all enjoyed the morning at the race.

We headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and a late checkout. Then lunch and some sight seeing. We just wandered the streets and looked at the old churches and buildings. It really is a beautiful city.

After supper we went and "hung out" in the lobby of the hotel, doing sudoku puzzles, until time for the train. We headed out of the hotel around 9pm and caught a cab. Steve was talking to the man in Romanian and he asked how much the trip would cost. The driver said 5 lei which is less than $2 USD! Then the driver just starting making conversation with Steve...in Romanian. I realized that he thought we were Romanian and that's why we got the lower cab fare. It took about 4 sentences before Steve broke down and told him we are Americans. He was still speaking in Romanian though! We still got the "good" fare too! Go Daddy - You're the MAN!

The train was already at the station and we went ahead and boarded and found our sleeper car. It was only two bunks and they were narrow, so we made Maria a pallet on the floor and climbed in bed. We were asleep by the time the train started moving. I like sleeping while traveling anyway, and to do so in an actual bed with my PJs on is outstanding!

We arrived in Bucharest around 7:30am and took the public back to the apartment. Steve went into work so he wouldn't "waste" a vacation day. Maria and I skipped gymnastics but we have finished school. She is working on her language lesson homework for tonight!

I think we may be in for some future train travel to some of the surrounding Romanian cities or even to some nearby countries. We'll see!

Steve’s Lukewarm Soda Rant

Allow me to apologize to my European audience in advance. Overall, I am having a great time adjusting to the culture here. However, it is time for this spoiled American to climb back on the soapbox.

There is one thing that I just totally dislike about Europeans. They just do not appreciate how important it is to drink your soda cold! Just because a bottle soda is a few degrees below room temperature doesn't mean its cold. When I say cold, I mean 1-2 degrees above freezing cold. People let their soda bottles sit out here all day long and drink it at room temperature. Blasphemy!! Restaurants are just as bad. They usually serve lukewarm soda also. Not only that, even if the soda is cold when they serve it, you don't get ice. So guess what happens halfway through your meal, that's right, you're drinking lukewarm soda again!

Drinking luke warm soda is such a letdown. It's like making it to the Superbowl - and losing by 30 pts. Like winning the lottery - and only getting half the money. Like looking at your paycheck and counting the money - before taxes. You get the idea.

Today's Soda Purchase Ordeal

Ok, I had to run an errand outside the gate at work today. On my way back, I was craving a soda (coke to be exact). What kind of soda did I want? Yes, a COLD one. There are several small stores right outside the gate, so I entered the first one. I went to the "refrigerator" where the drinks are kept and put my hands on a .5 liter coke (price 2 Lei, or 75 cents US). It was totally warm - room temperature. Ok, fine. I figured they had just restocked it, so I put it back and went to another store about 2-3 doors down. This store is actually a bakery, but they had a refrigerator with sodas. I was excited to find a .5 liter coke that was almost cold - the best you will find in Romania, probably about 50 degrees F. It was 2.60 Lei, or about 90 cents US. I had three 1 Lei bills in my hand to pay when I reached the counter. When I tried to pay, the lady informed me that she had NO coins. I thought "How can a store have no coins?" I then remembered I was in Romania.

Despite that fact that 3 Lei is only about 1.10 US, and she only owed me about 15 cents in change, I refused to buy this soda and put it back. I then with to a 4th store (sort of a deli) and they had no regular .5 liter cokes at all. With my options beginning to dwindle, I hiked about 1 city block to a 5th store, looking for the elusive .5 liter bottle of coke. With luck, this 5th store had the .5 liter bottles for 2.20 lei (about 75 cents). Of course it wasn't cold, with a temperature somewhere in between the first 2 stores. I made the purchase and enjoyed about 2 sips of my lukewarm soda, before I couldn't take it anymore. How depressing. I decided to close it up and put in the refrigerator here at work and drink it later - hopefully cold. I should have expected this - when I returned to work and opened the fridge, it was set at the highest possible temperature, barely colder than the room it is in. Why have a fridge if you're only going to set it on level 1 anyway? I can't win!

Steve's solution: Invade Romania!

Dear President Bush,
I understand our military is a little busy right now in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I request at least 2 Army divisions to be sent to Romania for a "humanitarian mission". The purpose will be to free the people from the shackles of lukewarm sodas. Immediate funding will be needed to procure 500,000 ICE CUBE MAKING MACHINES and install them at every restaurant and street market in the city of Bucharest. Do not delay - the people (read Steve) need you.

Pictures of our friends

I finally remembered to take my camera to language lessons last night. This is a picture during the class. Our teacher's name is Anca. She is a young lady that knows English very well. She is very tolerant of Steve quizzing her about how to say certain words and phrases.

This is quick picture of the family that has so graciously opened their home and their lives to us while we are here in Bucharest. There is Gabi - Daddy, Mihaela - Mom, Florin - son, and Alexa - daughter (we call her Guliana at the gym) This is the family that Maria slept over with last month. I'm sorry if I misspelled your families' names Mihaela! Please correct me if I did.

Bad Mama, Happy Daughter

This has been an intense week of gymnastics. They have been running anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour past time. They have done some hard conditioning and "coach assisted" stretching. As we leave the gym we change from the trolley to the bus right in front of a gogoshi stand. These are homemade doughnuts that are made fresh right there all day long - you can imagine the aroma on the streets.

So everyday we walk past this aroma and comment on how yummy it smells.

Today we were both hungry, practice was late, the trolley was late and it was already around 11am when we stepped off the trolley. As we walked by the stand Maria said, as usual, "that smells so good". I looked down at her and said, "Let's have a doughnut for lunch!". She laughed until I got in line and she realized I was serious. I comforted her by saying we would have a sandwich for our afternoon snack! So we bought two chocolate filled doughnuts still hot and carried them home.

We ate them up and licked the sugar off our fingers then started our school day with Bible reading. Onto Math, History, Literature, and Logic.

She is now happily doing a review of a Science magazine article and looking forward to a peanut butter sandwich afterwhile!