Why We Love Romania

Top Eight (with room for more) Things That Might Seem Unusual But We Have Come To Love Because We Live In Iasi

1. Taking a shower while the washer is running which drains into the tub and to top it all off, with the washer going the plug prevents the person from shutting the door of the bathroom (which is could be a problem considering one can stand outside of our door and look through the peep hole all the way into the bathroom). Did I mention that we crouch in the bath tub because there is clothing hanging above us and we have to hold the shower head and due to a lack of a shower curtain the water goes everywhere.. did we also mention that the window is always open with no curtain? Did we also mention that all of this is happening right now.. thank you Whitney!

2.There is a fight for the seats (which are taken from the kitchen) in order to get the best internet connection. Another area with a good connection is under the table in the opposite corner. Also, it is not unusual for someone to randomly exclaim “Oh Franco!” or “Don’t leave me now Franco!” While it might seem like we’ve made a wonderful new best friend.. Franco is the name of our wireless connection and we would sacrifice just about anything to have him in our lives. This is especially true when it is rainy. Franco doesn’t seem to like us much during this weather change (neither does anything else as demonstrated by us running back from church in dressed soaked and shoes with absolutely no grip) so he decides that we should have more bonding time (see number 3).

3. While most young adults are out on dates or dancing or at a movie… We are always in by the time it’s dark outside and our entertainment is a television show which literally can bring tears to our eyes- Quantum Leap. Quantum Leap is only to be watched with all five of us, sitting on the bed/couch together, with some kind of treat. Now what kind of amazing date beats that?

4. While walking down the street if there is not a dog that follows you at some point, a car that almost runs you over, a very tempting gogoasi or covrig stand, a person staring at your shoes, AND middle-age men shouting things at you that make you happy you don’t know Romanian, then either you are invisible or not in Iasi.

5. Forget to bring a purse? Not a big deal! In fact, they are overrated. Just slip that money into your bra and give it a try. It really works wonders. A little more awkward is carrying credit cards in there but it works. Also very convenient for carrying chapstick and flash drives. Just try it! You may get used to it and forget they are even there! Just like finding money in the couch or in the washing machine after a load gets done or in your pocket.. in fact, I have a feeling that this will become a trend. No more purses or pockets for anyone (at least no women that is but guys if you want to try it, let me know how it goes). If we come back to the States and you see our hands reach that way, we aren’t trying to pull the moves, just trying to pay for our food.

6. Going to the G Market has nothing to with thugs or sleazy and inappropriate matters, in fact it is an everyday occurrence which allows us to supply ourselves with franzela (bread) and chocolat.. and water when necessary. Any other foods are a luxury as they do not support our daily diet.

7. The best sleep we get is with four other girls sharing two mattresses in one room. One of the mattresses sleeps two girls. It happens to be hard as a rock and bowing in the middle. Awakening in the middle of the night has nothing to do with bad dreams and everything to do with the fact that at any moment, one could fall off the bed (as the sheets had already done) and onto the person sleeping below. The second mattress sleeps three girls. After some crafty adjustments, the final product is one person laying across the head of the bed width-wise and two people next to each other length-wise. Don’t think this is possible? Give it a try.. it’s more fun than you might think.

8. Is there is a zoo in Iasi? No, but it seems like it when you walk into the hallway of our apartment building. It could be the smell of the stray dogs that reside on the steps, or their urine on the wall (which the tricky Romanian try to hide by painting the walls yellow- good one, huh?), maybe it’s the flies that sit on the wall, or the accumulation of all of these things plus the fact that 95% of Romanian smoke. At some point we might paint animals so that the zoo actually comes alive but for now we just take a deep breath and go up the five floors to the top but when you get to the fifth floor you realize that you still have another flight of stairs to get because the fifth floor is really the sixth floor (yeah, we though fifth sounded better too).