Getting Settled and the Three "P"s

Well, it's going to be difficult to summarize all the adventures unfolding here.  My four flights went smoothly, and my best friend Jill and family happened to be in Bucharest on Thursday and met me at the airport for a coffee, which was amazing and torturous because then I just wanted to go to Sighisoara with them! 

But I eventually tore myself away and took a bus to the station in Bucharest to get my overnight train to Chisinau, and spent a few hours there before departing.  (I have to admit here, I actually ate at McDonald's in the station because there were chairs and a free bathroom.  Sorry to my purist friends.)  When I attempted to sit in the waiting room at the notoriously sketchy Bucharest train station, I was accosted by a man who looked like a ninja, with two nightsticks crossed across his back and big combat boots; he ripped my airline luggage tags off my suitcase without warning, and then proceeded to lecture me on what can happen if people see my luggage tag and realize I am a foreigner, because there are many "shmekers" (my favorite word, English spelling, meaning more or less, "sly dogs.")  Nevermind that he was by far the most aggressive fellow I encountered, and was the one announcing to all that I was a foreigner.  Apparently it then became his personal mission to protect dumb little me, and he paced back and forth around my chair, found out what line my train was leaving from, and glared at everyone who came within 20 feet of where I was sitting.  I am convinved that ninja-man was an awesome answer to someone's prayer for my safety. 

About the apartment.... well, it is actually bigger than my apartment in Missoula.  It's pretty empty but has lots and lots of textiles to go around, like all the houses here.  I kind of wish I had brought more stuff now, like some furniture.  I can summarize the house (it's part of a house, my landlord lives upstairs) with three "P"s: prison, pit bull, and punching bag.  My bedroom window looks out on the prison; however Cristina, the daughter of my landlord, assures me it is safe because "where there are criminals, there are also police."  Additionally, Cristina and her mother Svetlana have a pit bull puppy Shayla, who loves to rip my clothes, but I have to admit she is still really cute.  Some of you know how I feel about pit bulls, in the same category with mushroom tattoos :)  There is also a punching bag in the courtyard, which Cristina is using to train for boxing, and she said I can use it whenever I want.  I am remembering the Russian Rocky scenes fondly -- you never know, I might do some boxing.  Anyway, the neighborhood is really nice, close to the city center, and very green and much cleaner than I expected.  I really can't go out at night by myself, which is A-ok by me.  People seem friendly but I also have seen many of the characters from the Albanian mob scene in "Taken."

One thing I didn't realize is that many people speak Russian as their first language (including Cristina and Svetlana) and Romanian as their second.  So it will be interesting learning some Russian and Russian culture.  Overall, the apartment is great!  Apart from a few terror-inducing many-legged insects in my bathroom, I am pretty comfortable.  I will try to send pictures but don't have great internet access right now.  You'll have to wait.