17.3.12

Country Livin'

So as I mentioned a while ago, we purchased a house and some land out in the country here in Romania.  The house is located in a small village about 21 km outside of the thriving "metropolis" that is Tulcea.  The village is called Bestepe - which incidentally is a Turkish name.  Bes (besh) means 5, and Tepe means mountains/hills.  Yes.  I'm living at the foot of 5 mountains. 

  My house is up on a small hill in the center of the village.  And from my property you can see the Danube river and some of the small ponds around the river.  It's really quite beautiful even in the dead of winter when everything is grayish in color.  But now that spring is coming the green is starting to creep in.  I've got all kinds of fruit trees on my property and lots of grapes.  Yes I have a vineyard; now all I've gotta do is learn how to make wine.  :/

  The only problem I have is that because my house is up on the hill and the roads up there are heinous, I can't get internet because the companies haven't run any lines up there.  Seriously the roads are just dirt lanes with some rocks. The mayor there won't fix them.  No one is asking for asphalt, just to level out the earth and put in some rocks so that we can drive directly to our houses, or walk our kids to school without needing rubber boots all the time.

  I've been all moved in for a month now and I've lost about 10-15 pounds.  It's about a mile from our house to the school, so I get to walk a total of 4 miles everyday.  I walk the kids to school, then walk back home.  Then of course I have to walk back down to the school to pick them up and walk them back home.  Also I've gotten pretty good at splitting wood with my little hatchet.  ;)

  My cat caught 2 mice so far.  Yeah, I know.  I bought poison, but I think these mice have evolved or something - cause they ain't eating it.

  I've taken some photos of the house, land, etc., but I forgot to bring my camera with me.  I'm in Tulcea at a friends house using her computer and high speed internet!  Next time, I promise the next blog will be nothing but pics.

6 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Looking forward to the pictures!

LTM said...

Whoa! OK, the five mountains thing sounds cool, but not the four miles part. :p

But what an adventure you're having. It's really very cool to read about (maybe not as cool IRL), and I hope you're keeping a journal or something. Now get eating, girl! :o) <3

Miss you guys!

Rowena said...

All I can say is that you must come from tough stock because while I wouldn't mind the 4 miles of walking, I don't think I could manage without internet. Ever. I used to live in an isolated patch of fern forest on the Big Island of Hawaii and while the roads weren't paved, atleast the county threw gravel down (sucked when heavy rains created big holes in the roads).

I am counting the days until you post some pics. Oh, and the mice in my garden don't touch the poison either....little buzzards.

redneck said...

http://www.adevarul.ro/locale/tulcea/O_pisica_bolnava_de_rabie_a_atacat_doi_localnici_din_Bestepe_0_672532906.html#

You live in a dangerous place, even cats attack people in the Danube Delta, lol.
About Internet service providers, have you tried Romtelecom ? They might have cheap ADSL.

Anonymous said...

Hello! I just watched the interview with Raol Pop and I'm surprised that you live in this little town Tulcea. Tulcea is my native town....hometown and it's the first time I see that Americans live here. In Bestepe we say that there are many farmers who raise goats specially...for cheese. Many sell this cheese to markets in Tulcea (Piata noua) :)

I wish you all the best and good luck with the Internet there.

Romina S

Anonymous said...

BTW you can buy a wireless modem from the big 3 telephone providers (Orange, Vodafone, Cosmote) at pretty good rates these days. No need to wait for a hard cable to be installed!