Week of January 4-10th
As the post about Istanbul said, we got back to Romania on Tuesday the 5th. Well, I shouldn't say "got back" since it was Anna's first time here. On Thursday my friend April drove with us out to Corund so that Anna could check out all of the traditional crafts and things for sale. We were definitely the only touristy people in town, and I felt a little bad that we didn't really buy too much.
Now that Anna has a Corund hat, we had to take a matching picture :)
Friday was the CIWC monthly meeting, so Anna and I both went. Not a very exicting meeting (but that is okay - it was just nice to see everyone!), and we paid WAY too much money for some water and apple juice. Next time I need to remember to bring my own and not drink the stuff for sale at the hotel. It is very nice that they are letting us meet there, but their prices are a little high. Madame Butterfly was showing at the opera that evening, and I cannot remember why we didn't go. I don't think we really did too much the next couple of days - just kind of recovered from all of the traveling.
Week of Jan. 11-17th
On Monday I was thinking we could go to see the Magic Flute at the opera, but I had an interview on skype. Anna was so funny. She left the room as soon as they called, but apparently she planted herself right outside the door and listened the whole time. So sneaky :) The next day, we went to the Hungarian-Lutheran church to see a puppet exhibit. The exhibit was a little strange, but it was in a really neat space so that was nice to see. Afterwards, I think we went out to eat and then headed up to the big mall so that Anna could see what a Romanian mall was like. And, yes, we had enormous gelatos while we were there!
Then, on Wednesday Anna flew to Bucharest to stay the night and then back to the US the next morning. We went out to the airport together, and I hung around a while until it was about time for her to board and she went through security. It was sad to see her go! We had a lot of fun during the visit, and I definitely felt like I was all alone when she left. I am very glad she got to come out because we hadn't seen each other for such a long time.
Anna at the airport in Cluj.
That same day, I went to knitting group in the evening. And, when I got home, I found out that my skype interview went very well and that I was going to the U.S. for a second round interview!!! I was so excited and really wanted to tell Anna since she had been here the whole time, but I just had to send out the info via email. Now, I know you are just wondering what this interview is for and where it is, but you will just have to wait.
I am sure other things happened that week, but I have no idea what!! I worked on some more job applications and went to a really good flute recital at the music school on Sunday. I am so glad that there is a music school here and that I have been able to take advantage of all of the concerts. It has been great! The downside is that it really makes me miss my flute. But, now that I am going to the US for this interview, I am going to have my parents ship my flute to that location so that I can pick it up.
Week of January 18-24th
This was sort of a strange start to the week because Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr., day, which is kind of the big deal in the U.S. (especially in AZ now because they are atoning for not having it as a holiday for so many years). It was just weird to be in another country without any sort of African, much less other non-white, non-European groups of people on a day like that. Made me very aware of the homogeneity of this country.
Some delicious pasta with squash, spinach, and cheese - go me!
I spent most of this week preparing for my interview (going to the U.S. Feb. 5-10th), so lots of research and power points and all sorts of things - basically, a lot of time with my computer, in the library, with books, etc etc. I also was busy finishing up my class, completing all of the grading and getting that kind of thing finished. Only 5 of the approximately 12 students even turned in 5 papers! So, that mean that 7 students failed simply by not even attempting to do any of the work for the class.
In the midst of all the grading and research, I managed to go out to eat a few times. A place called Hora, which is sort of traditional food. That was with the women's group on Friday, and on Saturday I met Raluca from my department at a Japanese restaurant. That is right, I said Japanese. It was pretty good. Well, other than the udon noodle soup, which consisted of some very sad noodles and I broth that I swear was watered down soy sauce...and that was it! I have never seen anything quite like it, and I was ridiculously thirsty for the rest of the day!!!
Mary (from the CIWC) at the restaurant Hora with her very fancy drink.
Also, one of the new Cluj Fulbrighters arrived, and so it was a lot of fun to meet her and show her around town. Shari is a professor of social work at Rutgers in New Jersey, and she is just here for the spring semester. I almost had to move at the beginning of the week (a long story), so I had seen two apartments and was able to show those to her. We also got her cell phone set up, and I drug her around to different music events - a recital at the music school and some kind of Hungarian festival (for the person who wrote their national anthem). And, we even went to a big bridal show/event at the art museum. Now I have been to the art museum twice, but I still haven't really BEEN there or seen the art!!
Shari and I on her first full day in Romania!
The beautiful interior of the Hungarian Lutheran church in Cluj.
Week of January 25-31st
This week also started off in a strange way but for a totally different reason. Do you remember all the internet and electricty problems I was having back in December? Well, they apparently were not over because I lost ALL electricity on Monday and Tuesday nights!! Both times my wonderful landlady came over. It magically came back on on Monday, and on Tuesday we had an eletrician come. Things were definitely messed up, and he did a quick little thing to make it work for a while. (Note: He was supposed to come back and fix it for real while I was in the U.S. No clue if he did, but the internet and electricity have been working fine since then.). I am part of a group for English speakers. They meet once a month for dinner, but I could only go for a little bit because of my electricity problems.
Wednesday was a pretty busy day. I went to Michelle's house at 9am (which meant I actually had to wake up kind of early) to pick out some books. She is running the library for the CIWC, and there actually is a pretty impressive set of books there. I got about 5 of them, including a nice non-fiction book by Amy Tan. Then, we went to Starbucks at the mall to plan some going away parties for a member of the group who is moving. I helped a little, but I will miss both of the parties since I will be out of town. Then, that evening I met April for a recital at the music school. It was for an accompaniment class, which was really interesting to see. And, then we raced over to knitting in the evening.
Just the cutest scene.
The next couple of days, I had a few more meetings and things in preparation for my interview. Since this is for an academic position, I have to give a guest lecture and a job talk. My students were kind enough to meet me on Thursday and be my "class" while I practiced giving my guest lecture. This was really helpful because it is a topic that I definitely am not very comfortable with! Thank you so much!!!!
Week of February 1-7th
My last week before my interview! I mailed some utility receipts to the Fulbright office in Bucharest so that I can get reimbursed, payed my phone bill, and printed out all of my travel documents. Whew. On Wednesday, I also gave my job talk to some of the women in the CIWC. It was very nice to practice that as well, and I think they found my research interesting. Afterwards, we went out to lunch, and then I picked up a traditional embroidery piece to take with me to the U.S. I am staying with my aunt and uncle, and I wanted to give them something as a thank you for letting me stay and for driving me around. They are both arty, so I am not sure the traditional Romanian embroidery is to their taste (it isn't really to mine), but it is authentic, so I think that means something.
Giving the sample job talk.
CIWC members Kalika and Simona at the job talk.
Thursday was pretty busy because I went to Starbucks at the mall in the morning to go to the knitting group, and then I flew to Bucharest that afternoon! I had to stay the night in Bucharest and stayed at an okay place. It was only 35 euros/night, and they have a free shuttle to and from the airport, plus a pretty substantial free breakfast. Hotel Charter, in case you need a place to stay near the airport. It isn't great, but it was pretty nice considering the price. Then, on Friday I left bright and early for the airport - 3 hours or so from Bucharest to London, 4 hours in London, and then another 13 hours to San Francisco. Wow. A friend from graduate school picked me up at the airport and drove me to my aunt and uncle's. That was really nice, and it was great to get to catch up after all these years.
After I arrived, we went out ot sushi, which was delicious, but I just about fell asleep in the wasabi. The tiredness definitely hit. Good thing it was about bedtime :) The next day we took care of some shopping that I need to do (jeans, warm pants, etc - thank you so much!!!) and were able to explore a little bit of Berkeley. What a pretty area! I also had this amazing crab cake crepe for lunch that I think I will remember fondly for the rest of my time in Romania. So good! On Sunday the delicious food continued when we went to dim sum in San Francisco. I LOVE dim sum. I even liked the stuff I didn't really like (if that makes any sense). After getting stuffed, we headed out for a drive over the bay bridge and through Sonoma and Napa valleys. I had no idea that whole area was so close. And, it was so pretty. Just plain nice to see trees and water and green stuff. We went through the cutest little towns. One place was Yountsville or something. I could totally live there...but I bet it is a little out of my price range.
Welcome to California!
The Golden Gate Bridge
The grapevines and mustard plants of wine country.
A neat old theater in Napa.
By Wednesday, I wasn't ready for my three days of transatlantic travel, but I didn't really have a choice. It was a lot of fun going out to California, and I instantly felt more productive - maybe it was having a desk to use or being around people more. The interview was a great experience, and it was so nice to get to see my aunt and uncle. They are people I don't see a whole lot, so it was really nice to have that time together. I just can't believe that my visit out there (which I have been intending to do for years) happened while I was in Romania!
So, Wednesday evening I flew from San Fran to London to Bucharest. Stayed Thursday night in Bucharest and spent a miserable night there - the jet lag was rough! And, Friday I flew to Cluj. As I said, the jet lag was rough, and I was pretty off until at least Monday. It was better than the trip back from Cambodia but still fairly intense. On Saturday I managed to drag myself out of the house for about 2 hours to go to a farsang celebration at Terri's church. It is the Hungarian equivalent to mardi gras and carnival with things like games, costumes, little donuts, and this crazy tea with rum (and, yes, it is pretty gross). Then, on Sunday I met Lauren for dinner and a movie. My first movie in Romania! We went to see Up in the Air (known as Sus in Aer here). It is nice to watch the movies in English with Romanian subtitles. I think it really helps my Romanian. It was Valentine's Day, so the few restaurants that were open (because it was also a Sunday) were packed. It was so crazy and unexpected since generally this place is a ghost town on Sundays.
Week of February 15 - 21st
Well, here is the crazy news. Shari, who I mentioned above, went to Bucharest for the Fulbright orientation (I opted out since I was preparing for my interview) and had a heart attack! She is okay, but wow what an introduction to a country. It sounds like she had a pretty terrifying experience in the hospital there. It apparently looked like something out of the early 1900s, and I think my tiny hospital in small-town Texas might be better equipped, which is pretty scary to think about. But, she is doing well and has decided to stay in Romania instead of going home. I am not so sure I would be able to make that same decision, especially only a week after arriving (and arriving during one of the coldest weeks all winter!!). She spent one week in the hospital and another week at a hotel in Bucharest before she was allowed to travel. This is the week that she got back to Cluj, and the women's group has been really great about visiting, taking her places, bringing meals each day, etc. What a great group of people!
The cats in my neighborhood.
For me, this has been the week of movies. Once I got started on Sunday, I just couldn't stop. Oh, and did I mention that the tickets are less than $2? Yeah, who can say no to that?? On Monday I went to yoga (okay, I took a taxi that time...but it was really cold out!). I am so glad that I am starting to go to yoga - I actually went for the first time the week that I left for the U.S. I did it for a while in college, but really haven't done it much since then, and I feel it A LOT behind my shoulder blades (which is where my tension headaches come from). So, I am definitely going to try to keep going each week. And, maybe it will help me lose the 10-12 lbs I have gained here! Monday evening I met a friend at Starbucks, and I figured out how to buy a ticket and take the bus all by myself. I was so proud! It was very easy and only $1 for a round-trip ticket. I am really glad to know about that because taxi can get a little pricey if it is something I do regularly.
On Wednesday, I went over to Shari's house for lunch and finally had a chance to catch up since her heart attack. She seems to be doing pretty well, all things considered. From there, I walked over to the American Studies library and worked on things for class (since it starts just a week later!). The next day I had knitting in the morning at a really nice, non-smoking (!!!) cafe near the central park. Afterwards, a group of us went over to this nice Italian place called Trattoria Fiorentina. It was definitely the most expensive place I have been, but they do make their own pasta. It was good, but I felt a little odd for the rest of the day. Not sure if that was having coffee on an empty stomach or the food itself.... Then, at 4:30 I met Lauren to see a documentary about 5 African musicians and dancers. It was interesting to watch but hard to actually follow because much of it was in a different language and then had Romanian sub-titles. Guess I won't be watching too many foreign films here! It is too bad because there is a really good one called Le Concert that will be showing. Here is the preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0UUrar3uGg - It is in French, but you can get the idea.
On Friday, I had to give a re-examination for my class. The universities have a very strange (to me) system. Basically, students can skip class all semester and not do any of the work and then take and even fail the final exam...and then they still get to take a re-examination and try to pass. And, they can take the re-examination as many times as they want to. This is seems pretty ridiculous to me, and I was not very pleased that I had to offer students (who literally never came to class or did the work) a re-examination to pass. To me, this is not at all fair because the other students who already passed actually did all of the work! I made an exam that they could have passed if they had attended class, did all the reading, and studied for the exam. Of course, none of them did any of those things, and they all failed. I gave them a pretty stern talking to in class, which I think surprised them. Basically, I said that I could leave a whole stack of re-exams here when I leave, but that this would be the easiest one they would ever see and that I guaranteed they would never pass any of the other ones. The only way they could hope to pass the class is to complete ALL of the work and turn it in by the end of April and have their final grade start at an 8 instead of a 9. I think they all believed me, but we will see what happens. In general, though, I am baffled and very saddened by this type of grading system that does absolutely nothing to encourage students to attend class, complete their work, or do well during the semester. What is interesting is that most of the people here (professors, the students who come to class, etc) also disagree with the system, so I am not sure why it is like this.
On Saturday, a small group of people headed out to Aiud (about one hour driving - if you drive like a crazy Romanian) to see a photo exhibit that Lauren was doing. I will let her explain the exhibit on her own blog if she would like to, but basically it was very poorly staged (not by her but by the people at the gallery) - imagine chipped glass frames, very dirty and smudged glass, and a room that smelled like dog. Despite that, it was nice to get out of town and see a new place. Aiud has two big prisons and was one of the places where political prisoners were held and tortured during communism. Another big one was Gherla, which I also have been to.
Lauren and the poster for her exhibit.
Part of the group that made the trek from Cluj to Aiud.
In addition to the prisons, the town has one of the oldest schools (Hungarian) in the country and a really old church and castle-like place in the centry of town. It was nice to see, but the priest refused to open the church to let us look around (me and a Hungarian-Romanian friend who was speaking Hungarian!). She wasn't very suprised though and said it was pretty typical behavior for the Calvinist priests. I didn't even know there was a Calvinist church. I don't think we have that in the U.S., at least not that I have ever heard of, but perhaps it is known as something else there (like Anglican and Episcopalian)???
The old church and center (castle?) wall.
Zsuzsa snapping a picture of the church.
After another terrifying drive, we got back to Cluj, mostly unscathed. I will never understand why people here drive like maniacs on the highway. No casual changing of lanes or accelerating; it is all very abrupt. Let's just say I finished the drive with a stomach that didn't feel so great. Afterwards, Lauren, Zsuzsanna (the above-mentioned Hungarian-Romania friend - she is finishing her PhD in history in the US but here doing research) went to a Hungarian bar for a game night with friends. But, no one had any games and then the electricity went out! It was kind of nice without the lights, but it also meant that there would be no food, and we were starving. We re-located to a pizza place that was amazing!!! Smelled and tasted great and there was a really separate non-smoking section, which was so nice after a car ride with people smoking. So far, I think that is my favorite restaurant in Cluj.
This isn't from the restaurant, but a delicious dinner I made of spinach and baked squash and gnocchi with a cream, sun-dried tomato sauce. It was SO good!!
And, since this was the week of movies, I appropriately finished Sunday with another movie. Zsuzsa and I met up to see Did You Hear About the Morgans. It is the movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant and was pretty funny, but not anything mind blowing. Still, for $2, I am not really complaining! In eight days I went from no movies to three movies - impressive :)
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