I finally have access to my blog! Even though I have had internet access for the past two days, I haven't been able to use certain pages like google, yahoo, youtube, or any blog pages from blogspot/blogger dashboard or wordpress. With some help from the front desk at the hotel, I have fixed that problem. The internet again is my oyster.
Now, to go back in time....
Monday, Sept. 21 - Tuesday, Sept. 22
I finally began to pack on Sunday and stuff all of my things in the same two suitcases that travelled back with me from Cambodia. Compared to the monster suitcases that one of the other Fulbrighters brought, I am packing pretty light. Let's just hope I can get rid of enough things like worn out shoes and used up toiletries for all of the fun things I will buy here! Instead of driving up to Dallas on Sunday, I begged my dad to wait until Monday so that I could finish packing and think about all the things I might have forgotten. This worked out well because we were able to meet my grandmother in Fort Worth for brunch (okay, so we got on the road a little later than expected) and still had time to stop by Best Buy and Target for a few things I needed and then Half Price Books for some reading material for the plane. And, I still made it to the airport with time to spare!
Waiting at the DFW airport and typing my first blog post:
The flight from Dallas to Frankfurt, Germany, was uneventful. It was a remarkably empty flight, and I didn't have anyone sitting next to me. The food was infinitely better and more palatable than the flights to and from Cambodia, but the plane itself was not nearly as comfortable (Lufthansa run though ostensibly through United Airlines). Still, the flight seemed to go fairly quickly even though it was 9 hours. In Frankfurt I had a 5 hour layover where I basically parked myself in a McDonald's and people watched. What an interesting place! It is one of the primary hubs not just in Europe but in the world, and there was an amazing mix of people. Some people from everywhere - Asia, Africa, North America, Europe, Middle East. I didn't really notice anyone from South America, though. Most of the people were European and Middle Eastern - there were lots of men wearing traditional white pants and gowns ith shaved heads and beards. I even saw two women wearing burqas. While we are getting more Middle Easterners in the U.S., this definitely was a different and more conservative population. I think I sat in the same place for at least 3 hours just looking at everyone who walked by! Okay, admittedly I was in a bit of a stupor from the flights, time changes, and lack of sleep, but still it seemed to be a rather fascinating several hours. One more thing, all the signs are in English, so it is an incredibly easy airport to navigate.
Here is a picture of my tasty meal en route to Germany:
From Frankfurt I went on to Bucharest where I had another lengthy layover, around 4 hours. This time I had to go through customs, which was absolutely no problem at all. Even easier than in Cambodia, if that is possible! From there, I had to find my luggage and then check in for the domestic flight to Cluj. However, the check-in counter didn't open for about 2 hours (this is where my reading material came in handy!), and I had to just hang out in front of the counter with the other people waiting to do the same.
People milling around and waiting to check in:
The cool signs in Romanian and English!!! I think this means that I am really in Romania....
I finally checked in (note: you do NOT have to wait for your flight to show up on the board to check in!!!) and went through a couple rounds of security and finally made it to the gate and then eventually to the plane. A very quick flight later, I landed in Cluj. My luggage emerged from the bowels of the airport fairly quickly, and someone was waiting for me in the lobby. Thank goodness for that because it was around 10:00 or 10:30 at night, and I was pretty tired from the two days of traveling. He took me to the hotel/dorm where I currently am staying, and I was in my room by 10:45pm.
The darkened drive through town was very interesting. It did not look as old as I was expecting, but there certainly are old, very European style buildings throughout town. We also drove past blocks and blocks of the HUGE community-era apartment monstrosities. They are absolutely hideous and depressing. I can see a few of them from my window, looking out towards the mountains that surround Cluj. It is so sad because it really messes up an otherwise stunning view. The promotional images online must work very carefully to avoid these buildings! Coming from one post-communist country to another, it is interesting to note the vast differences in the styles of communism. In Romania, Ceaucescu apparently wanted an urbanized country with densely packed cities. In contrast, Pol Pot tried to annhilate Cambodian cities and turn the country into a completely agrarian society. Both were failuries despite their different approaches....
Picture of the morning view from my hotel window. Check out all the massive commie apartments:
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