Happy 2016!

So I must admit, I'm getting old, for the last few years I've been asleep, along with the hubby before the stroke of midnight.  Our kids wake us up to pop their kiddie bubbly for them, then we all go to bed at exactly 12:05 a.m., every.single.January 1st!

  So I know people make new years resolutions, I've personally never done that because well, I'm a chronic procrastinator, just ask my kids!  Makes me wonder if the people who actually do makes resolutions *ever* keep them?I mean seriously if you feel the need to sit down an make a list of things about yourself, your life, situation, what-have-you, do you really think you're gonna do any of them?  Besides maybe cutting back from 6 cups of coffee a day to 5?!?

  I think that this is one aspect of Romanian mentality that doesn't drive me nuts....they don't make resolutions, they know what needs to be done, and they do it, without any fuss, or social media announcements.  They announce things that matter: marriages, births, baptisms, important life events.  The rest is just the day to day of it all.

  I see all these meme's all over Facebook from friends that say something along the lines of "this is the year you'll receive God's blessings"....I have a problem with that line of reasoning.  I think if you are a Christian and know what the bible says, then you know you only receive His blessings by living a Godly life.  Posting a random meme about God isn't going to reign down pennies from heaven on you.  All through Proverbs and the Gospels, God's word speaks of honest men, doing honest work, and reaping the benefits of working for what they've received, and yes, God rewards the honest, God fearing man with opportunities, blessings, etc.  But everyone seems to be so BLESS ME oriented, as far as money is concerned that they have forgotten that God says that the MEEK shall inherit the earth, and that it is easier for a rich man to enter through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  Okay so there's my Rant for New Years.  Now here's my Rave:  Hubby was out of work for like 5 months, it's been a ROUGH summer, fall, and beginning of winter.  Hubby just left at 3 a.m. this very morning to head back to Malta to start work.  It's gonna be hard on him physically, but it's good that I won't have to keep asking the parental unit for help......that's a BAAAAAAD feeling; being 37 years old and having to ask your parents to help you pay bills and buy food.  But now that he's going back to work, we'll be able to finish doing the home improvements we started!  So YEA for the Toma Family!

 Now for my Rave, which is an old rave.  Romanian version of potato salad, which is called Salata de Beouff.  Not sure if I spelled that right, but OMG it's good!  It's made with, potatoes, green peas, carrots, olives, pickles, chicken breast and home made mayonnaise, which yes, I have learned to make!  This stuff is so good, it will make ya go home and slap ya mamma!  It's made at Christmas and New Year!  Some make it at Easter as well, well, at least I do, cause it's just awesome!

  So there, my Rants, Raves & Faves for the end of 2015!

  

Starbucks, Corrupt Politics and life on the Danube

  So fall has arrived, and this year, fall in Romania is reminding me of Louisiana.  The temps are flip-flopping all over the place.  Some days its sunny, and mild, with just a mild chill in the air, and the next day it's colder than a witch's titty....excuse the expression.  But I like it.  Hubby insulated the house over the summer, which has made QUITE a difference when it comes to keeping in the heat from the "fireplace".  Actually it's more of a type of stove, than a typical fireplace that you find in the U.S.

  So since it's chilly at night, I have a bit more time to surf Facebook and news sites.....the latest thing gaining traction in the U.S.A., besides racial tensions is #Starbucks using Plain red cups this Christmas season.  I've seen several meme's regarding this, and the one that sums it all up the best is one that says something like: "If you need a cup of coffee to something about Christ, then, Honey, I think you are the one who needs Jesus".  And that's pretty much it.  Christmas, or rather December 25th is a pagan holiday, the winter soltice, and many other pagan holidays.  The Gospel of Luke says Christ was born when the sheep were still in the fields.  I live next to shepherds.  The flocks are brought in around November.  Christ was born somewhere between September to October.  Santa Claus is a variation of a Nordic God.  My kids have never been told about Santa Claus, he isn't mentioned in our house.  I've had angry parents confront me, because my kids told theirs that Santa isn't real, that the parents are "santa".  I've had to tell the parents, I don't lie to my kids, I'm not going to say Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy are real, only to have them grow up and think "well she lied about them, she must of lied about God and Jesus too"! Constantine was the emperor who combined pagan holidays with the Catholic church as a political move.  He was never truly a Christian, it was all show for him as a way to gain more of a political foothold.

 Besides, as Christians, do we really, and SERIOUSLY think that God, in His infinite wisdom, really cares whether or not a secular company puts the words Merry Christmas on their merchandise.  The thing is, Christ says that the GREATEST COMMANDMENT, besides loving the Lord thy God, is Loving Thy Neighbor as thyself.  So, why all the anger?  Why all the misguided rage?  We've made ourselves no better than the Jihadists raging holy war in the name of Allah; whom we all condemn.  Christ said that the world would know us by our Love, by our witness of Him in our lives.  Christians should be out there helping the widows and orphans, first, and everyone else after that..... the rest is politics!

  As for the race issue, I have just this to say.... we are ALL ONE RACE, the Human Race.  Doesn't matter if you believe in Evolution or Creation, we all come from the same place  in each theory.  The difference is the amount of melanin each of us have in our skin.  Some have more, making them appear dark brown or black, and then there are those who have less making them light brown or white.  If you're like me, you look like snow white, with freckles, minus the 7 short guys!  So, really, what's all the fuss about?!?  I'll tell you what it's about.  It's about the "Great and Powerful Oz"; those 'wizards' behind the curtains, pulling the stings and levers, editing the evening news, and telling us what to think and buy, etc.  Use the brain you were given. Stop, take a moment, talk to a stranger of a different pigmentation, and you'll see, you think alike, probably believe alike!  We are the only species who fight among ourselves.

  As for the corrupt politics I mentioned in the title.... on Halloween, a club in Bucharest caught fire during a concert, because some idiot set off fireworks inside the club.  So far the body count is up to 45.  The fire marshal never signed off on the building, and the mayor went ahead and signed papers allowing the owner of the club to open.....That's the way things go here, if you can't get what you need from one agency, you go to the one higher, pay that official some money, and everything is done.  Because of this incident, people have taken to the streets in a peaceful manner, protesting the corruption that exists here.  It's about time, because it's unbelievable what can be done with just a few hundred Euro or Dollars!

I'm Baaaaack.....

So it's been a LOOOOOOONG time since I've written anything here. Main reason for that was not reliable internet where I am, plus only having a smartphone to blog with.  Well, I still have the smart phone, but now I have hubby's laptop.  Plus I finally got some semblance of high speed internet connection with no thanks to #Romtelecom, now #TelecomRomania.

  Anyway, so hubby has been some since end of June.  Italians bought the shipyard where he was working in Malta.  It's has now gone belly up.  The shipyard here in Tulcea was also bought by some Italians, and it too has gone belly-up.  What's up with that?!?  Italian buys a company and within a few years that company is bankrupt......there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, er.....Italy......

  So hubs has been home and looking for work.  Had GREAT prospect for a job, only to have it fall through because the employment agency here was either too stupid or too inept to do it's homework....they were working with a foreign employment agency, not the actually company the employees would be working for.  Employment agency from that country wanted 1000 euro per worker per month, leaving the workers with pretty much nothing.  Employment agency here said NO!  Good for them that they didn't agree to that, but boo, because they didn't research better before getting workers lined up and getting their hopes up.  We lost a good 3 weeks of job hunting because of this.

  I love Romania, but despise most Romanians.  Why you ask, well because, you find a job advert.  Everything sounds good, not great, but good, good enough to make a person decide to leave their home and family for months on end in order to do something good for said home and family.  Only to find out when you start talking to them, that they are basically throwing you to the wolves.  They pay you peanuts and expect you to support yourself in a foreign country on peanuts.

  These Romanian agencies KNOW all too well the conditions here in Romania, but continue to exploit their own countrymen for the own benefit.  I have decided to try to put myself out there as a head-hunter/recruiting agent.  Why should foreign companies put their trust in Romanian agencies who are only going to anger the workers, which will only hinder productivity, and create more of a bad reputation for Romanians throughout Europe and the world?!?  Why not deal with someone like me, who wants nothing but good for both the companies, and the recruits; and of course if I can make a little money out of it to help my family, why not?!?

  So everyone cross your fingers and toes, say a prayer, or chant or whatever, and lets hope that I can get something going to help EVERYONE!

U.S. vs. Romania

  So I was lucky enough to get to take a trip home this summer, thanks to my dad and step-mom who doled out the cash for 4 round trip tickets for me and the kids.  Reason, being,  is that my brother has gotten married and had a baby in the 4 1/2 years we've been in Romania.  Bubba was missing me pretty bad, plus they all wanted me to see my niece as a baby.  It was great seeing my family and old friends.  I ate and ate and ate some more.  Put on close to 10 pounds, so did the kids!

  However after being away for so long here are few things that struck me that I had forgotten about. The first being the state of the roads.  America has great roads, even with the occasional pot holes.  The roads here in Romania are a complete nightmare.They build new roads and within 6 months to a year they are a disaster, with pot holes so big your car can get lost.  Which brings me to another difference.  The size of the cars.  Cars in U.S. are MONSTROUS compared to Romania, well all of Europe really.    Gas prices are cheaper there too.  For example we pay about $2.50 a liter here.  There are 4 liters in a gallon. So next time you are griping at the pump for paying $4-$5/gallon, just think you could be paying $10 a gallon like me.

  Speaking of size difference.  The cars aren't the only thing bigger in the U.S., the people are bigger too, and I ain't talking height either.  People there are massive.  I think it has to do with several things, the first being the food.  While tasty, it's full of chemicals, and hormones, or grown with GMO seeds, etc.  Second people don't walk there like they do here.  In U.S. you HAVE to drive everywhere, because everything is spread out that walking is not an option.  Here everything is close together making it easier to walk from point A to point B.  Thereby people here stay slim because of all the walking, plus the food is chemical and hormone free.  GMO's are banned im Europe.

  I do miss the size of the grocery stores, where you have enough space for people to move down without bumping into each other.  THAT was awesome, combined with the fact that people in the U.S. respected each others personal space and din't invade it!  I heard a choir of angels sighing HALLELUJAH for me!  ;)

  I missed the night sky here in RO, especially up here by my house.  It's so clear and clean.  I can see all the stars in the sky.  I love that.  I also love that there is very little humidity here.  It's the same temperature as in S.Louisiana, but without the humidity!  Whoo-Hoo!  I don't suffocate outside here!

  I will miss my brother's hamburgers, he has perfected his recipe to such a degree its sinful!  However he told me how to make them, and got me the seasoning I'll need!  :)  so I'll be grilling burgers when my hubby comes home next month!

Going Home.

  So about this time next week I'll be loading up my car and heading to Bucharest to catch a flight to Baton Rouge, LA. to visit my family and friends.  I haven't set foot on American soil since Jan.19, 2009.  Bush was technically still president when I left.  When I landed in Romania 4 1/2 years ago Obama was en route to be sworn in as Commander-In-Chief.

  I'm excited to go home and see my family, especially my brother, who has since I left the U.S. gotten married and had a daughter.  My niece just turned 1 year old in May.  I can't wait to see them.  Also to see my best friend since the age 12 who also got married.  Another best friend who was in the birthing room with me when my oldest daughter was born has had 2 kids since I left, so I get to meet them.  A lot has changed since I left.  I've missed a LOT.  And missing some of those things has really pissed me off, especially missing my baby brothers wedding.  I missed that milestone of seeing him step up into being a man and husband.  I kind of helped raised him, so in a sense it was like missing my own child's wedding.  Not sure if any of you can understand that, but that's how it felt.

  I'm REALLY looking forward to eating!  Especially a medium rare filet mignon.  Catfish Po-Boy's, Boudin balls, fried okra, hamburgers, Pizza, Fried Chicken, etc., etc.  I make fried chicken here, but it just ain't the same as Popeye's or KFC!  Steaks don't exist here.  Beef is not a meat that is consumed a lot here.  Pork however is.    I'm a little more excited about the food than anything else; does that make me crazy???

  I think it will be interesting to see my kids reactions to the U.S.  my oldest daughter remembers it better than my younger two, especially my baby, Paul, who was only 18 months old when we left.   He has no clue about McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, etc.  This should be a trip.  I think it will be a bit of a culture shock for me as well.  I've become used to seeing horse drawn carts on the highways, etc.   Bad road construction, not being able to find what you want or need.  I'll definitely be posting while there.

  One thing I'm not looking forward to is talking with one family member who has basically called me terrorist because of how I judge the U.S. government, both this and the past administration.  To me there are just one to many things that do NOT add up.  Evidently questioning your government, and expressing the view to never live there again makes one a terrorist.  This should be a *fun* July 4th for me!

  So I will keep you posted on our trip there and back.  Until then enjoy the warm weather!

Harvest time

So as you know I've moved out to the sticks.  Well it's time to gather all the goodies that were planted in the spring.  Not to mention making the wine!!!!!

I've picked 1 1/2 hectares of corn.  And cut about 1 hectare of corn stalks.  Still got another 1/2 hectare to cut & bundle.  Corn gathering is hard work and takes all day.  But my chickens have food, I've got cornmeal, and fuel for fire.

This week I'm helping 2 neighbors pick their grapes, then they'll help me with mine.  Then I get to be Lucy from the episode where she went to Italy .....you know what I'm talking about.  Must have CLEAN feet!!!!

Anyway here's a few picks of my corn crib and the corn I've still got to put in the crib!!!

Looking Back

  So I wanted to go back, since, well, I've never given my first impressions of Romania.  And yes, even though it's been nearly 3 years since my arrival here, I still remember very vividly my initial thoughts and feelings.  So let's go back to January 20, 2009, the day we arrived, the same day that Obama was sworn in too, oddly enough.

  So we arrived in Bucuresti with our 3 kids in tow.  Kelly was 6, Isabel was 4, and Paul was 18 months old. We'd been traveling for about 17 hours total.  Paul developed air sickness in the form of diarrhea - FUN, and I'm sure the flight attendants just LOVED me when it was time to clean out the trash bins.  :/

  Anyway, so there we were with 2 carts FULL of all our luggage.  My hubby had lost his passport and was traveling with a Embassy Travel Document.  He'd not had a visa to be in the U.S., and the border agent asked him if he'd had one, he was honest and said no, we were told to wait a minute.  The agent came out from the booth and as he passed Marius, he told him quietly:  "your lucky.  my boss left early today."  He went into a little office, and a few minutes later came out and gave us all our documents back.  He told Marius, look I fixed it in the computer that you DID have a visa.  They'll stop you again before you get to the lobby, if they ask if you had a visa say yes.  *whew*

  We weren't stopped again.  There were military guards by the doors to exit the airport, they looked straight at us, Marius was sweating bullets, I wasn't worried, I think it was a mixture of exhaustion, and over-wrought emotions.  The guards, instead of stopping us, sent an airport worker to help us get our bags to the car.  Marius' 2 brothers and his sister were there waiting for us.  Marius hadn't seen his family in over 12 years.  It was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride standing there in the airport.

  So off to the rental van we went.  We arrived at 4:45 p.m. - can we say RUSH HOUR?!?  It took us 4 hours just to get out of Bucuresti.  What should have been a 4-5 hour drive took 7.  We didn't arrive at my mother in laws house till 2 a.m.  By this time we'd been travelling well over 24 hours.  There waiting for us was of course my mother in law, one of my other sister in laws, and her nephew who lives with MIL in a TINY 2 room apartment.  So there we were, 11 people crammed into a 300 sq.ft. apartment.  Yeah.  Claudiu, the baby, left to go back to Bucuresti, where he lives with his wife, their son and his in-laws.  Vali the brother under Marius and his wife, went back to their house there in Tulcea.  All that was left, were me, Marius, our 3 kids, Elena, Marius' sister, and Vali's son, Cristi.  So we crammed ourselves into the beds and sofa beds to sleep.  The next day I felt like I was in a dream.  It was the dead middle of winter. Everything was stark and grey.  I could see the beauty beneath the harsh veneer of Soviet style architecture.  Old cobblestone roads.  It was quite an experience.

  Marius took me to Piata Noua, the farmer's market. we were besieged by dirty little kids begging for money.  Marius ignored them, I started digging in mine and his pockets to give them some change.  One night, Me, Marius his brother Vali and his wife Cati (Cathy), went to a local restaraunt to have a coffee.  While we were sitting there, a little ran up to the table, my sister in law yelled at her, then one of the men who worked there, came out yelling at her, chasing her out, and kicked her in the behind as she ran for the door.  I was shocked.  I put my head down and tried not to cry, but I couldn't help it, the tears welled up in my eyes.  Evidently Marius or one of my in-laws noticed the change in my composure, and Marius looked at me and asked what it was, and I said, what was that?  Why did he kick that little girl.  It was a gypsy kid.  I knew that.  Marius explained they have a bad habit of running up to your table and grabbing whatever is on the table, or a purse, jacket, whatever.  I was near the window, and none of my stuff was accessible, which was good, since I had mine and the kids passports in my purse.  I told Marius I understood the concern, but it was still no reason to kick a CHILD, gypsy or not.  My in-laws at first didn't understand why I was so upset, but when Marius explained to them, that a child is still a child regardless of whether it's a gypsy or not.  They told me to wait till I'd been here a few years, stuff like that wouldn't phase me anymore.  Say sorry sai, but they were right.  After having my kids picked on by gyspy kids who live in our bloc, or CONSTANTLY come to my door begging, it doesn't phase me.  I've even had to yell at them.  They would come to our door, I would give them some money, or some bread, or fruit, well then they started coming EVERYDAY, sometimes 2-3 times a day.  Enough was enough.  I would tell them I didn't have anything, and really I didn't; and would close the door, they would knock again, again I would say "N-am nimic.  Imi pare rau." (I don't have anything.  I'm sorry).  Close the door, yet AGAIN they would ring the bell.  That was enough, I was being taken for a fool, so I opened the door, and said loudly "N-am!  PLECA DE AICI!"  (I don't have anything, GET OUT OF HERE!)  They don't come to my door everyday anymore.  Maybe once a month.  Usually when the seasons change and I clean out the kids clothes for things they've outgrown or messed up, I bag it up, and when they come to the door, I give them the clothes.

  Gypsies aside.  I noticed a difference in people's attitude here as well.  People here are very guarded, for good reason 40+ years of Communism makes you guarded.  I would smile at people we passed on the street, and I kept noticing that they would look at me strangely, especially the men, older ones in particular.  I mentioned this to Marius; "Do people not smile here?  I mean I smile at people when we pass them, and they look at me like I'm crazy or something."  Marius asked what I meant, and we had just passed an older man.  I told him, well, when we passed that man I smiled at him, and he looked at me funny.  Marius laughed and said that usually when a woman smiles at a man, she's telling him that she's available.  I stopped smiling.

  Life moves slower here.  At least in Tulcea.  In the larger cities like Bucuresti, maybe it moves at a faster pace like in the U.S., I don't know.  But I like it here.  In the spring and summer the landscape is lush with green and flowers.  Lots of birds, especially here in the delta area.  Winter is dismal and harsh, but there's still beauty to be found, even in the bleakness, especially when the city is laying under a blanket of white!

  Like I said, those first few days felt like some sort of waking dream.  I'd just left everything and everyone I'd ever known and moved halfway around the world, where everything was different. And I didn't understand a word being said.  But it was cool, I noticed things that people here didn't notice anymore.  Things Marius had never noticed the whole time he was growing up here.  He got to see his hometown with new eyes too.

♪♫Waiting For The Man♪♫

....well that's how David Bowie put it anyway.  Albeit 'The Man' in Bowie's classic is NOT the same 'Man' I've been waiting on.  No - no smack for me, thank you very much.

..No, the man I've been waiting on, well several anyway, is an arm of the Romanian government. Yes, I do love it here, but there are situations where my love and adoration is caught in a 'Catch-22'..... *sigh*

Okay, so Marius came home 2 weeks ago  for his vacation.  We went to the D.M.V., or the RO version anyway, to see what was needed to change our drivers licenses from U.S. to RO ones.  Marius had gone about 2 years ago, and was told we would have to take an exam, and that you could study and practice online - Marius didn't even pass the online exams - I guess they want the drivers here to be Einstein's - if you meet a RO with a RO drivers license I can guarantee they KNOW how to drive, and drive safely, even if their driving looks a bit scary.

So on this visit, we were told NO, we did NOT have to take exams, we did however have to have the following:
1.  Our original U.S. licenses
2.  Copies of our D.L.'s, and copies of ID cards (mine being issued by Immigration)
3.  Translations of our D.L.'s into ROmanian, which had to be notarized.
4.  Medical Visitis (which included a Psych eval; sorta)
5.  Taxes to be paid
6. Criminal background check (which included paying more taxes at another place)
7.  A notarized declaration stating, that our D.L.'s were real, not revoked, no outstanding warrants on them, etc.)

The criminal background check for me wasn't ready till today.  Marius was able to get all of his turned in last week - literally the day before he left.  It took us close to 2 weeks to get all of this done.  My background check took 4 days because I'm American, and mine had to be done in Bucuresti, unlike Marius' which was done locally here in Tulcea.

So anyway, I get up this morning, head on over to the Police Station to see if my Cazere (background check) was in, and it was, I then head straight over to the D.M.V., since I have everything else. I got there at around 9:15.  There was already a HUGE line ahead of me.  So I waited around for a few minutes, then I notice that the first hour (9-10) was for the people taking exams.  So I decide to walk next door to talk to my sister in law, who works at a pet store there.  We drank a coffee, and then I hiked back across Piata Ciuvica, and across the street to get to the Romtelecom offices to pay my home phone, cable, and internet bill, then walk back over to the D.M.V.  It is now 10 a.m. and the same people are still in line.  I thought about leaving and just coming back at 2 p.m.  Cause the offices close at 1 for lunch, and re-open at 2.  Glad I didn't.  After waiting for nearly 2 hours, the guy (actually the dept. boss) looks at everything and notices MY declaration is incomplete.  It was exactly the same at Marius'!!  Well according to law, because I'm not a RO citizen my declaration needed to cite a few laws and say a few more things.  GRRRRRR...... WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US THAT WHEN MARIUS WAS HOME?!?!?

  So off I go to the Notary, and bring them the wording, and law citations and attempt to explain that MY declaration needs to say such and such.  They say it will take half an hour.  It's 12:40 - I explain I need to get home, my kids are there waiting on me, and that I would come back at 2.  PERFECT! the lady says!

  Okay, before your panties twisted in a knot, it's acceptable and normal here to leave your kids alone in the house for a few hours.  That and they are old enough to stay alone.

  So I grab them some snacks they begged me for and head home.  I get home just before 1.  I've also got to go to the P.O., cause I have a package from the U.S. there.  I can only pick up pkgs from outside the E.U. at a certain P.O. on certain days, Mondays & Thrusdays, and then only between 1-3 in the afternoon.  So I hang up the laundry I washed, grab all my stuff and head back out the door at 1:40.  Arrive at P.O. at 1:45, get package, which was from a friend I haven't heard from in ages. She made my girls some very pretty hair bows.  So now back to the notary.  I arrive there at 2:03, and notice the notary headed out as I'm headed in. *grrrrrr*.  They give me the declaration, along with the paper the dude at the DMV gave me, make sure everything is correct, and give it back to them.  Now I have to wait an HOUR for the notary to come back - why didn't she tell me the notary would be leaving at 2 - I could've come back at 1:30.

  So 3 o'clock rolls around, and here comes the notary.  They take care of me first (thank God), and I pay for their services and head on over to the DMV.  Now the guy told me to come back in the morning with the new declaration, but I said, "Nah, let me just go ahead and get this over with now".  So I go in, hand it to him, everything is good!  I take my picture, sign what I have to sign, and he then tells me it will be mailed to me within about 15 days.  I ask him for the temp. license; a piece of paper that I show (if stopped) to the po-po proving that I have permission to drive, just waiting on the actual license.  He doesn't have any, and that I have to come again in the morning around 10 or 10:30, so his co-worker can fill it out!  So now I understand why he said to come back in the morning.

  *****SSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHH*****

  So about the medical visit, which included seeing a shrink.  We get to the medical place at around 9, give our info, pay the fees, and  are told to go across the hall.  Another doctor comes out grabs us, hurries up and takes our info.  signs off where he has to sign off - that he examined us, and we're cool.  Then tells us to hurry up and go over to the shrink - who is in the mental hospital, which is right next door to our apartment building coincidentally, but to hurry, she will be closing her office at 10, it's 9:30.  So off we run, park the car at 9:40, run around, and finally find this woman's office, we walk in at 10 min. to 10.  I say hello, and give her my ID, Marius explains we're there for the fisa for prescimbare permis de conducre.  She takes my ID, and looks at it, and asks "what is this" to herself. Marius says "Ea este Americanca".  It was hysterical.  She immediately puts the card down, and hurries up and fills out our fisa, and signs it.  We then go to the eye doctor, who was late coming in.  I get in there, and I have to read the very last line.  Now, in Romanian they don't have names for the letters - they just say the ABC's by their sound.  So there I am BUTCHERING the letters, and I guess the doctor and the nurse kinda looked at each other and at Marius a little funny, cause he again explains "She's American, and still learning the language".  "AH!  Bine.  She's okay!"  I'm done.

Now if this would have been Marius on his own doing all this, he would have gotten nothing but ATTITUDE from everyone at every Dr.'s office, ever place to pay taxes, EVERYWHERE, but because his wife, the AMERICANCA was with him, well they were just a sweet as sugar, sweeter maybe, if that's possible.  This is that catch-22 I was talking about.  You have to run around like a chicken with its head cut-off to get anything done here, but because I'm AMERICAN, it goes easier for me and Marius, for the most part anyway.  Oh that and you can get things done faster with bribery.  Yesh, I know that goes on everywhere, but it seems to be more open and blatant here, which again is a good thing and a bad thing.

I asked Marius, why the DMV didn't just do it like they do back home, you know put the little eye checker's there, and pay everything there.  And WHY all the medical sign-offs?  I was like it would make things much easier for everyone.  He looked at me and said, cause if they did that, they couldn't get your money, and he's right.  It cost us right around $500 for the two of us to get our licenses.

Romania I LOVE YOU, but at the same time, you make me crazy!

What I ♥ about Romania

  I've been here in the old Eastern Bloc for nearly 3 years now.  Yes there are things about back home that miss, mainly my family, the rest of it...meh.  But here's what & why I love living in Romania.

1.  Romania is peaceful.
      Romania has a long history, with it's share of violence, but none that she herself started.  Since it's inception, WAYYY back in the day.  Romania had 1 thing on her mind:  how to live a good and peaceful life.  She never sought world domination.  Instead she was attacked and plundered by the Ottoman's - who she eventually overthrew (the only country I know of that did that during that time) thanks to Vlad Tepes, a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler, or for you 'Twilight' freaks - Dracula.  Then came the Romans, who were in this country only a short time - the shortest of all their occupations.  Then later came the Soviets and the only way that they really kept Moscow out of their business was to be even harsher in their policies than the Russians themselves.  And now - the E.U.....but I'll save that for another post.
     Romanians have a mentality of "let those fools take care of themselves, we've got ourselves to think of".  And in that I think they are right.  They don't want to get involved in physical or cultural wars.  They just want to live a good life, one that doesn't involve scraping by, or constantly fighting.  For this they have an enormous amount of my respect.  But this has also made them weak in the sense that it allows countries and politicians that are perceived as more wealthy or powerful to prey up on this intrinsically rich country.

2.  Romania is old fashioned.
      Travel through a little village (Satu) here in Romania, and you will still see horse drawn carts, horses and mules being used to plow fields.  The old ladies cutting funny looking plants to boil into a tea to cure an ailment.  The ways of the past live on here.  Yes technology is here as well, otherwise, well I wouldn't be blogging now would I.  But it doesn't permeate every facet of life here, and for this I'm grateful.  I don't have to rely soley on whatever crack-pot calls themselves a doctor here (at least in Tulcea anyway), I can talk to the old ladies in my neighborhood and they will tell me exactly what I need to do in order to cure a cold, or kidney stones, or liver or kidney problems - and they work!  LOVE THEM OLD LADIES!!!!

3.  Romania is Beautiful
     Romania has some truly gorgeous landscapes.  Granted the sovietic style architecture detracts from the beauty to be found along the coast of the black sea, and in the cities.  But out in the country, there are mountains, hillsides, everything.  It's untouched.  Now there is a MAJOR problem with littering here.  For some reason or other the people here have no qualms about leaving trash on the streets or sidewalks.  I don't understand that.  It makes the country look poor and ugly, and it's really not.  Another thing that would help, especially in the cities, is if they learned what landscaping is.  Yes, the blocs of apartments are old and ugly, but some fresh paint on the buildings and fences, put in some grass, bushes and flowers, and you could really make it pretty.  Everyone in the building could chip in to renovate the outside to look as good as what they've renovated inside their own apartments.

4.  Romania is "Centrally" located.....
     ......well at least to all the places in Europe I have always wanted to visit.  Italy is only a 2 hour flight away.  Germany, about the same.  Odessa, Ukraine is only a few hundred kilometers by boat or car. I want to see the city with my name, mainly so I can steal the sign that says "Welcome To Odessa", even if it is in Cyrillic! ;p  Turkey, specifically Istanbul is just across the black sea, or a 1 day trip by bus.  France isn't too far either.  Ireland - I think I will save the home of my ancestors for last, cause I really want to take my time there, and enjoy it.  No I won't be having a pint of Guinness - that stuff is just awful, but I can pour you a perfect pint!


There is more to this list, but this will have to do for now.  I've stayed away from the C.T.'s cause I think most people, well Americans anyway think I'm nuts when I start sharing those!  ;p  Speaking of Americans.  I will soon follow up with a "How To Behave When In Europe" .... my last trip to Italy, made me embarrassed to be carrying a U.S. Passport, thanks to some College girls from the states.  Oy to the vey!

What's the World Coming To?

  So there is a massive bloc party in the U.S. at the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Whatever.....I think he's been dead for years, but that info was never released in order for us to have a reason to stay in the Middle East.  But POTUS' #'s are in the toilet so what does he do, first releases his long form birth certificate, which is proving to be a forgery - big shock there - and now....he takes out the world's most wanted man, and then doesn't release proof....sounds fishy to me.

  But enough of the conspiracy theories, as I'm sure I'll just piss off someone back home, which will prompt a phone call from my dad.....*sigh*.  So if you aren't aware I live in Romania, a small-ish city on the banks of the Danube River delta.  It's a small, peaceful, and quiet city.  But today has shook me to the core.  Next door to me is a hospital for people with infectious diseases, like Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, etc.  Now what really gets me, is they let patients out of the hospital (in their PJ's) to walk across the street to the little convenience store there.  Well today, while I was gone to the larger store (grocery store), a young girl came out of the hospital, went to the store, then crossed the street to go back to the hospital, but before she could get back the maybe 20 ft to the hospital 3 Gypsy men who had been waiting in their car (parked in front of my bloc) got out and dragged the girl to their car.  She put up a fight, screamed and fought, but they overpowered her and got her into the car and sped off.   Fortunately a lady saw the whole thing, got the plate numbers and called the police.  I hope they find her.

  This sort of thing is something I expect to hear about going on in Bucuresti, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, or Galati even - all of these cities are much larger than our little city, and are usually in the news, but Tulcea???  Things like this never go on here.  I went to the little store that she had gone into and asked the cashier if the girl was very young.  Her response "Ah....she was a gypsy"..... she could have cared less.  In her eyes, and probably most of the people here, to them it was just one less gypsy to worry about.  Now granted the gypsies don't do much to help their standing in this country, or anywhere else in Europe, but c'mon people - this was a human being, a young girl!

  I usually let my kids go outside by themselves to play in front our our building.  After today, this won't be happening anymore.  Events like these are things that keep me awake at night.  I fear for my kids, even thought nothing even remotely close to this has ever happened, sometimes when I am trying to fall asleep I am gripped with fear, panic and images of something like this or similar happening to my kids and it shakes me to my core.

  If you pray, please pray for this girl that was taken, from what I could find out she was a teenager.  Pray that she is found and is unharmed.

Romania is a 3rd world country?????

  So I made a new friend on Facebook....have I mentioned how much FB rocks?!?  He is a Romanian native who is studying architecture in Bucuresti, he read my entire blog, and found it interesting (he must be smoking some good stuff there in the capital), anyway, he finds it interesting to see/read how foreigners view his country.  He pointed me out to this blog by another ex-pat.  Sam is hysterical, and spot on!  My friend on FB found my blog through King of Romania's blog.  Evidentally Sam scoures the internet looking for outsider's views on Romania, he came across one I did back in August, where I posted a bunch of pics of painting, pottery, etc. of local artisans.  He LIKE ME!!!  Whoo-Hoo!

  Anyway, in that same post "king" posted a link to a missionary from Kansas City & the IHOP (international house of prayer - GAG!), where she described Romania as being a complete 3rd world country.  I have to agree with King Sam on this one - it was a thinly veiled guise of superiority on her part.  Romania is NOT a 3rd world country - just outside the cities they could care less about technology - they still farm and do things the old way, which in my book is WAY cool; since all the old ladies know what plants to boil into a tea for whatever illness you have.  It's trés cool!

I got stupid questions before we moved over here like "will you have electricity", "will you have running water"??? C'mon people!  Yes, Romania is pretty much the rear-end of Europe, but it's not the deepest darkest jungle in the middle of the amazon with head-hunting cannibals running wild in their loin cloths!  SHEESH!!!!

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black.....

  Okay, so evidently one of the non Orthadox churches here in Romania has some sort of scandal - it's just 1, ONE individual church.  Something about taking money from the people in the church - for all I know it could be about tithing.  I don't know all the particular's - but it has give the Orthadox church here a HUGE stone to throw.  They are trying to convince the RO government to make all other religious sects illegal or something to that effect.

Well here's my issue with the Orthadox church here in Romania.  Drive through the country - go through any small, run-down, and I do mean RUN DOWN village, and what do you see, the Orthadox church spending hundreds of thousands of Euro to build a HUGE, NEW church building in a place where the people have no money.  These people have to decide what they are going to do with their money when they do get some; do they buy food so they can eat, or pay their water or electric bill?  You think I'm joking, no, I'm dead serious.  And here's the kicker:

  Someone in their family dies, they have to PAY the priest to perform the ceremony, even though that person when to mass every Sunday!!!  The dead person's family has to buy and give away food to all the people at the grave site!  Okay, that is a tradition here, I don't know if that has anything to do with the church or the culture.  But you get my point.

  The orthodox church receives money from the RO government.  The priests pay no taxes - have a nice home to live in (monastery) with indoor plumbing (some not all), electricity, clothes, plenty of food, and NEW vehicles to conduct their "business" in.  Not to mention they all have cell phones too!  When you visit the monastery you can purchase things that are made there on the premises.  One convent just outside of Tulcea produces honey and wine - both of which are really good.  So they are always making money some kind of way, but I never see them HELPING those that they expect to attend church every week.

  Want to get married in the church - you have to fork over money for that too, regardless if you attend regularly.  That's not for the use of the church space - that's for the priest, personally!

  During the Christmas and New Year season, the priests go around from house to house, apartment to apartment and "Bless" the homes - guess what, if you allow the priest to perform this rite - you better fork over some money. 

  One priest came to my door twice this past holiday season.  I explained I wasn't Romanian, nor was I Orthodox.  He proceeded to perform his rite anyway, and then I was pressured into kissing a picture of Christ, on BOTH his visits.  Everything in me was SCREAMING, but I was polite, and respectful, and kissed the friggin' icon anyway.  I felt like I'd just committed idolatry, even though I believe in Christ Jesus, and it was an icon of Christ! 

  So why did I do that?  Well because my kids were standing right there, and I didn't want to make a scene and confuse and embarrass them - not yet anyway, I'll wait till they're a bit older...... 

.....plus, for all I know that same priest could be teaching their religion class one day, and I don't want them to have a hard time. 

  As far as I know none of the other denominations charge for any of that.  The church that my sister in law attends is "pentecostal", but not what we think of as pentecostal in the U.S., technically they are somewhat charismatic.  But not like Benny Hinn, et. all.  She has never mentioned them asking the members of the church for money for funerals or weddings, etc.  Basically her church is a lot like the church in Acts Ch.2 - the members meet the needs of the other members.

  The Communist regime was atheistic, but allowed the Orthodox church to remain, out of tradition they said - but really the church operated as tattle-tale agency for the government.  When a person went to confession, or attended mass too often - the priests turned that parishioner into the Securitate; this was one bad a** agency you did NOT want to get tangled up with. 

  Even now, in some of the smaller towns and villages in Romania and Moldova, when a non Orthodox church "opens", more like people meeting in their homes - the Orthodox priests have been known to disrupt the services by throwing rocks through windows, etc. 

  So I guess my statement to the Romanian Orthodox Church is "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

Learning Curve

  While I used to think of myself as somewhat intelligent, I now question that assumption.  I mean they say people who learn other languages quickly are smart, really smart!  So what's wrong with me???

  I've been in this country for 2 years now, and can only understand and communicate verbally on a small scale.  However I can read and write it dang near perfectly!!!  What's up with that, it's normally the other way around.  Most people learn to speak it first, and later they master the written part!!

  I always knew I was a little different, but c'mon!  Okay, enough squawking from me.  One thing I have noticed of myself though is that it depends on who you are conversing with when trying to understand and speak a second language.  For example, my mother in law, who I thought would be the very LAST person I would be able to communicate with, has been the first.

  Let me paint you a mental picture of my mother in law.  She's 58 years old, at least 6 feet tall, or just under it.  Set in her ways.  Never been outside this country.  She grew up under communistic rule.  She's got have things her way.  When she speaks with Marius or his siblings, etc.  It's not "harsh", but it's not "sweet" either, it is just matter of fact.  When asking why they did such and such, it's not in the the tone of "well, baby, why did you do that?"  It's more like "WHY?  Why did you do that?"  (conveying tone of voice is not easy).  I hope you know what I mean.....

...so you can see why I was thinking I would never be able to communicate with her.  I was scared, but it does make a person nervous.  However, with my mother in law, she is patient with me (something I wasn't expecting, as she is NOT the most patient of persons).  Another example, the woman who owns the little store in front of our bloc - I don't speak grammatically correct, and I mis-pronounce the words, but she is patient with me, helps me when I need help in saying a word.  She talks to me as if I understand her, and believe it or not, most of the time I understand about half of what she is saying.

  Then there are people who when I try to talk look at me like I'm a retarded alien from the planet Xenon!  So what I've learned to do is when I go to the market, or a banc, or somewhere new, where the people don't know me (like the people at the store by my bloc), I start off with saying "Scuze, nu vorbesti Romaneste foarte bine....." then go on to say what I want/need.  That usually softens them up and they know that I dont' speak well.  And they try to help.  Most of them do, I still get some cranky women from time to time who think the sun and earth revolve around them, and they start chastizing me for NOT speaking the language fluently!  Grrrrr.....I would like to rip them up out of their comfort zone and drop them in middle of Kansas where there isn't anyone around who speaks Romanian, and tell them, "OKAY!!  Your Turn.  You have 1 year to be fluent in English, now, let's see you do it!  And oh yeah, here are 3 small kids to deal with on top of it all!"

  Yeah, I know, wrong attitude, but I'm human, and well, that's just me.  But for all of you out there who run into emigrants, who don't fully speak the native language fluently, or even partially.  Be patient with them, especially if you see them trying.  For myself, when people look at me funny, cause they don't get what I'm trying to say, it makes me want to shut up and not even bother.  But when I see them trying to understand me through my butchery of their language, and then try to help me, it gives me a little more confidence, like, "Hey!  I can do this!"

  And I can, I mean I look at my husband, he speaks 5 languages, well 4 now really, as he hasn't used one of them in so long, it's kinda touchy with that one.

  So next time you run into a Mexican, German, French-man/woman, etc., and you see them trying to speak English, don't look at them like "YOU SHOULD BE FLUENT", don't give them attitude, help them out!  Encourage them.  And a lot of them probably know more English than they think they do, but are so self-conscious about their pronunciation and bad grammar that they are embarrassed to try to speak!  Encourage them!

Starting Over (pt.2)

  So my parents had returned to the states and I was okay, until October, when my best friend since the ripe ole age of 12 got married.  Not being there for Briana's wedding was hard to take, I cried, got a bit depressed.  Then came December it wasn't just my first Christmas without my family around, but my other best friend was giving birth to her first child.  Grey had been my room-mate and side kick.  She was with me through my entire pregnancy with my oldest - she even gained sympathy weight, and was with me in the delivery room when Kelly was born.  She was kind, patient, never complained about the crying, collicky baby screaming her little head off at 2 and 3 a.m.  But I was still okay.  I had my husband, and children, that was why I was here to keep MY family together.  So that my kids wouldn't go for years without seeing their father, and that is what would have happened, had we stayed behind in the U.S. and let Marius come over here alone.

  So everything is going okay, and then rolls in 2010, Marius had finally found work in March of 2010, only it was in Italy, which wasn't ideal, as he would be away from home for months at a time, but it was better than the alternatives of no work at all, or a little work here in Romania working for pretty much nothing.  Or me and the kids being back in the U.S., as I stated earlier.  There was a small glimmer of home that I would be able to fly home in April for my brother's wedding, only I had no one to keep the kids for me, and no funds.  My parents were helping pay for the wedding, and if they bought me a flight, then they wouldn't be able to afford to fly over and see ALL of us in the summer.  So I stayed put in Romania, dad brought his laptop to the wedding and we attempted to have me there via webcam.  Just as the wedding started, the computer overheated and shut down.  I got to see my baby brother in his tux and talk to him prior to the wedding, but I wasn't there, and then I couldn't even see it with the aid of technology. 

  I wasn't there to watch my brother take the steps from boy to man, his transition to being an adult.  At this I was angry, I didn't want to talk to anyone.  Marius called and he was like, it was just a wedding, I missed a lot too.  I yelled at him saying "You never missed anyone's wedding!  You have 2 brothers and a sister, none of whom have had a wedding!  I only have 1, O.N.E. brother, who I helped raise!!!"  He realized there was no way to console me, so he let me vent.  *Have I mentioned how extraordinarily awesome my husband is?!?*

  So I got over it, obviously.  I continued to try to adapt, and eventually found my rhythm.  I found myself learning the language more and more since Marius was no longer with me everyday.  I was beginning to be able to communicate with my mother in law.  MIL are generally not a great thing, at least not here, but even with a language barrier me and Ana get along, she loves me, I help where and when I can.  I try, and I thought she would be the last person I would be able to understand, or have understand me as I muddled my way through the language.  But to my surprise I learned more from her, and she has more patience with me, than most other people.  I went to visit Marius in Italy in June of 2010, and noticed that when I was with him and his room-mates, all the RO I had learned flew out of  my head, I wasn't even trying to understand what they were saying.  I subconsciously knew that he would translate for me.  I hated myself for that.  But I still do it, just a habit I guess. 

  So here I am now exactly 2 years later since first arriving in this country.  It is a beautiful country, and has so much possibility, if crooked politicians would stop lining their pockets with Romania's life blood of it's people.  My language skills are still pretty bad, but I'm getting it slowly, but surely.  My kids are thriving, and my husband is working. 

  It's not fun playing the single-mom to three kids for 48 weeks a year, but it's a choice I've made, and for me it is better to have my husband only a 2 hour flight away instead of a 20 hour plus butt-load of paperwork away.  My kids are getting a better education here, than they would in the U.S.  They are bi-lingual, and will soon be tri-lingual, as I want them to take another language besides English in school.  I want one to take French, another Spanish, and the other to take German.  German is supposedly easier for native English speakers to learn.  My kids are getting an advantage they wouldn't have in the U.S.  They are learning how hard life can be, because here life is extremely hard.  There are people who have to choose whether to buy food, or pay for electricity.

  Yeah, my life is hard, more emotionally, and psychologically hard here than it would be in the U.S.  But honestly I wouldn't change my mind about coming here.  Keeping my family together is more important than anything else.  While I would LOVE more than anything to be able to see my parents and brother and sister in law any time I want, my marriage, and my kids having their father close by is more important.

Marius if you are reading this, I LOVE you with all my heart and wouldn't change a thing about our life, well except for maybe us owning our own apartment instead of renting one!  ;) 

Starting Over (pt.1)

  January 19, 2009,4:00 p.m. Ryan Airport, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A. 

LOADS of luggage, heavy winter coats, 2 adults, 3 small kids, 5 carry on bags.  My parents, and brother, his girlfriend, and her parents, and siblings standing near the security gate crying our good-bye's.  My kids were somewhat oblivious to what was really going on.  No matter how hard I explained that we were moving for good to Romania, that I wasn't sure if or when we would ever come back to the states, they were fine, which was good.  I was okay, holding it together, that is until my dad hugged me and wouldn't let go. 

  I could feel him holding it in, and I lost it at that point - the tears flowed, no matter how hard I tried to restrain them.  At that moment I had a fear of that being the last time I would ever see my dad's face, his kind eyes, hear is infectious laugh, and be held in strong, safe arms.  Even now thinking back on it, I get bleary eyed.

Fast forward 20 hours: January 20, 2009 4:45 p.m. Otopeni International Airport, Bucuresti, Romania
Feel like I'm in a dream.  Just watched a miracle take place with my husband's Embassy issued Travel Document, and admitting to having been in the U.S. without a visa.  Romanian Border agent fixed husband's problems in the system - so now there was no more problem.  We gather our gagillion pieces of luggage on two carts and head out into the lobby.  There we are greeted by his two brothers and one sister.  Tears of relief, and joy are flowing freely.  My husband hadn't seen his family in over 12 years.

We leave the airport at around 5:30 p.m., seven hours later, at 1 a.m. we arrive to his mother's apartment in the small city of Tulcea.  We begin to start again.  Marius takes me all over the city showing me where he went to school, where he hung out.  I met his childhood friends.  I sat in the back-seat of his brother's small Dacia bracing myself in a daze, from what I was sure was going to be a head on collision due to small streets, and people not knowing how to park properly.  I understood nothing of what was being said.

I call my dad's cell phone to let him know we made it safe and sound, and were home.  It was nearly 2 a.m. in Louisiana, I got his voice mail, and hearing the sound of his voice made me cry.  It was a big adjustment for me.  I was okay for the first 6 months or so, and all it once it all hit me.  I came home from one of the "supermarkets" and screamed at Marius because of people pushing me with their buggies, or standing right on top of me in the check-out line.  The couldn't stand back and let me pay for my items, no they had to peer around to the read out to see my total.

  I walked in, slammed the door, and dropped the bags on the floor, and started yelling "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!?"  Marius totally oblivious to what I was talking about, was just sitting there stunned - I never loose it like this.  I explain about the check-out line.  He explains it goes back to when it was communist, and people had to get up before the sun to get in line just to get milk and bread and the stood close to each other to keep people from cutting in line.  I said I understood that, but it wasn't communist anymore.  Then I just started yelling about how everyone was a communist - to which Marius jumps up and just holds me close. 

I wouldn't admit it to him, heck, I could barely admit it to myself, but I hated it here, I wanted to go home.  I hated everything, and everyone.  I would sit in the bathroom and cry, because I didn't know what else to do.  What it really boiled down to, was my fear of never seeing my parents again, especially my dad.  I didn't realize that was where my anger and frustration was coming from until they came to visit us in August. 

They arrived in Bucuresti, we met them at the airport, when my dad hugged me, it was similar to the hug he gave me when we left, but this time, it was "I'm holding my little girl again" hug, not a "I'm sending my little girl off into the unknown" hug.  We were all of us crying, and everyone at the airport was staring at us.  They just don't display affection like that here - I didn't care, I had my dad with me again, even if only for a week or so.

When they left, I was okay, I was at peace within.  My fear of never seeing my dad again disappeared in the airport.  I would love to see my dad's house, to sleep under his roof again, and that might still happen one day.

I had spent 8 months in a foreign place trying to understand the language the cultural difference.  Getting some of it, but missing most.  I watched as my kids quickly adapted and learned a new language.  I watched as my oldest daughter started school in a new country, while still learning new words in phrases in a language she had learned only 6 months earlier. He aptitude for language astonished me.  She was fluent within 2 months of our arrival!  My middle child learned the after resisting to learn for six months, but once she let go, and decided to learn it, she was just as quick.  My son, my baby was only 18 months old when we moved here, he was still learning English - he stopped speaking all together for a while.  Now he is speaking both - not great at his pronunciation, but he understands and speaks both!

TACI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  So I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but the people who live above me like to fight - and loudly!!!  We have been awoke at 3 a.m. to hear the sounds of furniture being shoved around, accompanied by shouting and yelling.

  I think most of time time they are near the bathroom when the fighting starts up, as that is where it is the loudest - in my bathroom.  Then sometimes they take it to the kitchen, and the balcony just off the kitchen.  I have no clue what they are fighting about.  However one time I did hear the woman yell a very bad word at the man.  The only reason I know this word is because in English when you say 'pull-up' it sounds like this Romanian word for a mans 'member'.

 So the other day, I'm in the bathroom, giving the girls their bath, and we hear the fighting, they've been going at it for a while now, and it had been one of those days, where EVERYTHING was getting on my last nerve.  So after getting the girls dried off, dressed, and sent to get under the blankets to keep warm, I was picking up in the bathroom, and just got tired of hearing their yelling, so I looked up at my bathroom ceiling and yelled at the top of my lungs "TACI" (pronounced 'toch' [short 'o' sound])! 

Taci, is romanian for shut up, Taci din gura, mean shut your mouth; gura means mouth.... 

...anyway, so after I yelled Taci as loudly as I could, the fighting stopped, at least we didn't hear it anymore.  Not the rest of that day anyway. 

Honestly, I have NO reason to be annoyed with the noise level coming from any of my neighbors, since my 3 monkeys make more noise than you find at a Metallica concert.....okay, not really, but it's close!  I mean they play loudly, and they fight even louder!  And of course I have to yell, so that they can hear me above their yelling, it's really quiet embarrassing, and I'm surprised none of our neighbors have ever said anything; in fact they usually stop my kids to talk to them, or will bring them treats from time to time.

So if you are ever in Romania, and someone is getting on your nerves just tell them 'Taci din gura'! 

New Year, New Rants....

  So just finished up my 3rd attempt at making Fudge.  The first time, I discovered how Hershey's makes it's syrup.  The second time, the middle was gooey, this time.....er.....not sure, waiting for fudge to cool and set.

....hmmmmm.....still don't know what 'sheen' is, as when it looses that, is indicator to stop beating and pour into pan....

..On the upside, have emptied about 1/2 a liter of milk into saucepan, and will be enjoying some pretty amazing hot cocoa/chocolate in just a few!  Aren't you jealous now?!?

...yeah, I wouldn't be either.

N-E-Way, Marius was home for like 2 whole weeks for Christmas and New Year.  Was so nice to have my little family all together for the holidays, this year was especially nice, since Marius' 2 brothers and 1 sister were all together for the first time in over 13 years.....there's a lot to be thankful for.

  We spent more than we should have on food - of which I cooked - I lived in the kitchen beginning Christmas Eve and ending the day after New Year!  I was T.I.R.E.D.!

  But as I said, it was totally worth it.  Money is made to be saved and to be spent, especially on special occasions such as this was for us!  Now if MY family would have been able to have been here as then too, well, I think I would have died right there, flown up to the pearly gates and asked St. Peter to pinch me to make sure I hadn't dreamed it all up!

...wooops, I hear the milk hissing at me......until later....

Is God There?

  So I went to a pentecostal church here in Tulcea this morning with my sister in law.  My Romanian is still very, VERY, limited so I understood pretty much nothing.  The services here are much different than what we experience back home, there is a lot of standing, sitting kneeling & praying, then singing.  The several different men got up and spoke, reading scripture [i think], then more down on the knees and praying. 

  I didn't know if people were "speaking in tongues" or just praying out loud in Romanian.  I didn't feel God's presence, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because I didn't understand anything being said, or if it's something else.  Kinda made me wonder. 

  I know that most of what goes on in the mainstream churches in the U.S. is heretical and un-biblical, so it made me wonder if some of the 'charismatic' move has moved on over here too.  I believe in God, His son Jesus, the crucifixion, resurrection, etc.  However, I don't necessarily believe in the whole slain in the spirit & speaking in tongues, 'holy laughter', etc. that runs rampant these days.  Most of that seems demonic, not righteous and holy.  BUT, I do believe that a fraction, a very small fraction of it is real. 

  I think mainly I've just seen the Word so twisted and convoluted in "churches" - that it has left a really bad, bitter taste in my mouth.  I try to not judge and not be bitter, not be so cynical about it, but I guess the whole fool me once: shame on you, fool me twice: shame on me, kinda fits the bill here.  I've been fooled one too many times by charlatans and false teachers, and propho-liars!  I can count on 1, ONE, hand how many TRUE men/women of God that I know, who are teachers/preachers.

  Anyway, so do you think it comes down to understanding what is being said in order to feel God's presence, or is it like most everything else in churches these days - a big show that induces psychosomatic sensations, i.e. the power of suggestion?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

....No I didn't go to Vegas and win a big hand at Black-Jack.

I actually suck  money butt at card playing, even when it's just for toothpicks - God help me if I ever have loads of food stuck between my teeth and the only option to getting a tooth pick depends upon my winning at Texas Hold 'Em or Black Jack!  I'll have a teeth full of food - gross!!!

No, day before yesterday, I came home with the kids from school, and stayed outside with them for a little while, so they could run off some of that pent up energy.

While I'm sitting there watching the kids, and the expression on the faces of the neighbor's kids when they hear me talk - cause I'm an alien, who speaks in funny sounding language!

...seriously, that is how they look at me.  However I'm pretty sure I'm the best looking alien they've ever seen, I mean my skin isn't green or anything.  I'm a non-mutie type o' gal!  They even laugh when I talk, and ask my kids "Ce zic?" (what'd she say?)

So anyway, as I'm sitting there minding my own business (actually trying to mind other people's too, but language barrier sucks), one of the neighbors in the adjoining building starts talking to me.

He's an older guy, wearing a funny wanna-be cowboy type hat, tinted glasses (sort of a rosy/red tint) that happen to blend perfectly with that 'I've got a drinking problem complexion'.  PLUS he's missing teeth.

...don't I feel oh so special?

So he's talking to me, I can't understand him, not just cause of language barrier, but the lack of teeth, compounded with massive quantities of either wine or beer.  Isabel can't understand what he's saying either, and she's fluent in RO!

He keeps invading my personal space (which is one of my pet peeves), and then he asks me how old I am, was shocked to find out I'm over 30, he thought I was like 24 (he did score brownie points there).  He then compliments my blue eyes, and proceeds to tell me his wife is gone, and his kids are in England.

After he's said all this, as well as other stuff, of which I have no clue.  Out comes a couple who just got married Saturday, I believe he was trying to tell me they were leaving for their honeymoon, as he made the international body language sign for 'bedroom wrestling'.

Thankfully my 3 year old son LOVES his mommy, about a minute after this "sign language" took place, Paul runs over to me, wraps himself around my leg looks up at the old man and pointedly tells him:

"Mommy mea! My Mommy!"

I got out of there as quick as possible.  I wasn't scared and didn't feel threatened or anything like that, I actually found it humorous, but as I could smell some sort of alcoholic beverage on his breath, I decided that it would be better if I got the heck out of dodge as quickly as possible lest he start thinking I was enjoying his advances.

So lucky me, I won the "chicken dinner": being hit on by old man with no teeth, stinky breath, in a foreign language!

Now, aren't ya jealous???

Romanian Craftsmanship

So every year on August 15th there is a HUGE celebration here for sailor's or people named Maria, Mary, Marius, etc. - in honor of the virgin Mary.

Well for a week prior to the 15th, tradespeople come in from all over the surrounding area, artistsans of every type have a booth set up where they sell their goods.  Here are some of my shots. 

Please bear in mind I'm an amateur whose still trying to learn all the "tricks".

**NOTE:  if you click on the pictures you see the picture in the original size (or you should be able to)!