There are times when life just gets too hard, too demanding; when you forced so far out of your comfort zone that you don’t know if you will ever feel the same again. This past weekend was not one of those times!!! It was full of late nights, dorky games, goodbyes and hellos, fast food (Romanian style) and good food, new friends and old friends (well relativity old friends) and parties that last all night long. All in all it was a weekend to remember.
I arrived in Cluj on Friday night after hitchhiking from my home town Oradea. For those of you who know me, that right there is a huge step outside my comfort zone, but here in Romania it really isn’t that big of a deal. Think about it like splitting gas money with strangers. The ride was uneventful, the driver really didn’t say a word, he was too busy driving like a maniac! I have never seen a driver swerve in and out of traffic getting so close to cars. At times I thought our front bumper would touch the back tire of the car we were passing. It was a lot like a roller coaster ride!
Cluj acts as the capital of Transylvania the area of Romania that I am living in these days. To give you a visual it is pretty much the Northwestern part of the country everything to the west of the Carpathian Mountains. This being my first visit to the city however I had absolutely no idea where I was and where I was going, but this dilemma was soon solved with a quick phone call and I was on my way. After meeting up with some more volunteers it was off to a party for a member of group 20. The reason for the party was not the best, this particular individual decided to leave Romania a little early and go back home, we call it Early Termination, or ET’ing for short. But hey it was still a chance to get together with friends, meet some new folks and just blow off some steam. And blow off steam we did, with the party lasting till 5am. Being the old man that I am I could not have made it without two HUGE cups of coffee (thanks kim).
Waking up the next morning was no fun either as no amount of sleep can really help you get over going to bed the same morning. When we finally did get up and decide to explore the city we found it was lunch time and we were hungry so we were off in search of food. We stopped at a great Italian place and while pizza was out (something to do with the oven we were told) the chicken alfredo was great! After lunch it was back to the scene of the party and time for clean up. It is amazing how quickly that can go when you have enough people. The highlight of the evening was still to come however…. As a group of us sat around at an outdoor café someone was struck by the desire for sushi. Keeping in mind that I had already prepared myself for two years without this delectable dish, the thought that good sushi was attainable here made my mouth water immediately. With a quick group consensus we were off to the sushi restaurant. It was a great time and a great meal! There were sixteen of us that took over a private room in the upstairs of the restaurant, and for the first time since I have been over here I had a truly great Japanese meal complete with miso soup, tempura and plenty of sushi.
They say that as we are over here we need to take time out every once in a while and find ways to connect with things that we know. I have mainly been doing this through books, movies and e-mails, but to have the chance to share a familiar meal with friends was a great way to remember everything I love about home. And I have ya’ll to thank for it. Your tax dollars paid for it! Know that while I miss home, the friendships and familiarity of it all I do get to enjoy little pieces of it now and then.
