Peles Castle

The day began when all the Fulbrighters boarded the bus for Sinaia, to go to Peles Castle.

Bucuresti traffic

Cornfields out the bus window

This way to the castle!

We arrived after a 2 1/2 hour drive.  The walk to the castle took us up a cobbled road.  When we got tot he top, the view opened up, and it was like stepping into a fairy tale!

What a picturesque scene!

 The castle is truly more of a palace in function.  It was built by Romania's first king, Carol I in the late 19th century.  The outside is quite grand, but the interior is breathtaking.  The rooms have ornate wood carvings, Murano glass, Bohemian crystal, Persian rugs, and weaponry from across Europe and Asia.  I'd have loved to take pictures, but there was an extra fee of approximately $10, and I just couldn't justify spending the money.

The central courtyard

The gardens

 There were also vendors selling souvenirs and local crafts nearby, and I took the opportunity to buy some crocheted and embroidered tablecloths, a few postcards, and a carved wooden set of salt and pepper shakers shaped like bears.  They were all at a very reasonable price.

Stunning vistas of the Carpathian Mountains

 After visiting the castle, our group continued on a winery up the valley.  The winery began in 1892, when the original producer of the wines was brought to the area by the king to produce wines for Peles Castle..  The winery is most famous for its sparking wines, which it still makes with the same process used when it began.

The winery, founded in 1892

We got a tour of the wine cellar

At stage two of the process, bottles must be turned by hand twice a day.

This machine opens bottles, adds a sweetener, re-corks the bottle, and adds the wire cover

 After our tour of the wine cellar, we had a wine tasting with three different varieties of sparkling wine.

After the wine tasting, our group had lunch at the winery restaurant.  Afterwards, we headed back to Bucuresti.

Lunch at the winery

 When we returned to the hotel in Bucuresti, two other ETAs and I headed out into the city for the evening.  We weren't sure what to do or where to go, so we inquired at the hotel desk.  The hotel driver kindly offered to drive us to the old part of the city.  We walked around an open market and stopped for gelato.  After an hour or so, we called up the hotel and the driver returned to bring us back.

The oldest bank in Bucuresti (if I remember correctly)

Back in Bucuresti

On Tuesday I did nothing.  Well, that's not exactly true.  I finished the tentative syllabus for my classes, and I watched half of the first season of the Big Bang Theory.  I also successfully reheated leftovers without a microwave.

Yesterday was much more busy.  In fact, it was jam-packed with things to do and places to be!  My first classes met yesterday.

In total, I have four sections that I teach.  Officially, there are two different courses I teach.  Each is a practical course: two sections for second-year students and two sections for third-year students.  However, since there is a lot of leeway in the curriculum (I was more or less told I can teach them anything I want that pertains to American culture or the English language), I can teach the same material to all four sections of students.  I have class on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  On each day I have second-year students from 10:00-12:00 and third-year students from 12:00-2:00.

Yesterday began two hours later than I intended.  I'm not entirely sure if my alarm just didn't go off or I shut it off in one of my characteristic half-asleep stupors.  At any rate, I awoke at 8:50 when Mihaela called to ask me about my departure for Bucuresti.  I took a speed shower in freezing water that took its sweet time warming up and bolted out the door with my little bag of trash in hand.  Thinking the dumpster I'd heard rumor of was hiding on a side street, I detoured on my way the the bus but only found large recycling receptacles.  I was in a big hurry and wasn't just going to leave the bag on the ground somewhere and I most certainly was not going to tote it on the bus with me!  Luckily, one of the trash cans by the bus stop had been vandalized and its cover ripped off.  This meant I could stuff my trash into the receptacle without littering or being the freak on the bus.  This is probably the only time I've truly benefited from the defacement of public property.

With 30 minutes until my first class started and an uncopied article in hand, I waited at the bus stop, begging God to have mercy on my poor soul.  He heard my plea and took pity on me, sending a maxi-taxi after only a minute.  Now, maxi-taxis are some sort of hybrid transporter--a cross between a taxi and a bus.  Maxi-taxis follow a set route and have routine stops, but they will stop any place along the way if you flag them down.  The fare is 1 leu, so it's cheaper than the bus (1.6 lei) and you just hand cash to the driver as you climb in.  Since they are cheap and easy to use, they are also ridiculously crowded.  People are filling all the seats, and somewhere between 15 and several hundred people are sardined into the aisle of this van-sized vehicle.  But it gets me to the university in half the time the bus would even if it had come along at the same time.  I have just over 20 minutes before class and can inhale for the first time that day.

I bring my little article to the copy center and even have time to stop by the English department's office before class.

My first class begins.  Of the approximately 20 students estimated to be in the class (for some reason, the department can only guess for the time being), 4 show up.  It turns out that one isn't even a student at the university anymore.  Down to a whopping total of 3 students.  Then a girl came in halfway through class.  Woo! Back up to 4!

Class #2 began on time at noon and 6 students were in attendance! An amazing turnout for the first week of school, I'm told.  The lessons went well, even if my first class found it torturous to speak.  I was also able to get input from students about what they want to learn about this semester, so I can now finalize my syllabus.

After classes ended, I maxi-taxied my way back to the apartment to finish packing so I could leave 45 minutes later for the train station.  It turns out the bus routes in front of my apartment end at the train station, so I had no trouble finding my way.  I bought my ticket and then realized the train was scheduled to depart 30 minutes later than I'd thought.  So I plopped myself on a bench and pulled out my book.

A blurry photo of the sunset from the train

When the train arrived in Bucuresti, a driver sent by the Fulbright Commission was waiting for me.  Not only was he friendly and polite, but Dan the driver was also the first man to ever introduce himself to me and kiss my hand.  He chatted jovially on the trip to the hotel and left me with his business card (he used to be a taxi driver) in case I ever need any assistance while in Bucuresti.  I ended up in the same hotel room as on my arrival; its almost like my home in Bucuresti, now!

I went to the hotel restaurant and ordered a pizza and some nutella-filled crepes.  It was yummy and much cheaper than in the US.  Including a bottle of water and the tip, it all cost me approximately $8.

Some buildings in Bucuresti

Four out of five ETAs to Romania

Me and the director of the Romanian-US Commission

Today was the Fulbright Orientation.  At 9:00 we were taken to the Romanian-US Fulbright Commission and had many info sessions and briefings by officials and professors from both countries and from former Fulbright grantees.  The whole shebang wrapped up at 7:30 pm following a dinner reception.  All the sessions were very interesting and informative, but the best part of the whole day was getting to meet my fellow grantees.  Tomorrow we're all going to Peles Castle.  It'll be my first time to a castle, and I must admit I'm a bit excited!

The University Opens for the Year

A road sign near my apartment: Please no horse-pulled wagons or trucks!

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day.  Mihaela showed me how to get to the mall using the bus, and I shopped around for a few hours.  I ate lunch at the food court there and tried mici for the first time. Mici are basically little sausages without the casings.  They were delicious, although the french fries with them were sub-par and soggy.  I ended up buying a "travelling scarf" that will be making its rounds 'round the globe among some of my girl friends from CUA.  I also bought a big, fluffy bath towel and a few extra kitchen items, such as serrated knife and a vegetable peeler.  It was a nice day out, so I decided to walk home.  It took a half hour, but it was very refreshing. 

The Mall

Are you sure this isn't the US?

The Mici and Some Soggy Fries

A church at the edge of Lake Tabacaniei, viewed from behind the mall.

Lake Tabacaniei, behind the mall

Lake Tabacaniei

On Sunday I woke up early to attend mass at Constanta's Roman Catholic Church.  It is only two blocks from Mihaela's apartment, so she gave me a ride.  One of the great things about being Roman Catholic is attending mass in many different countries and having the celebration have the same format.  I may not have understood the vast majority of the prayers or readings, but because I am familiar with the mass in English, I knew what was happening at every step.  I was really pleased with the church and the Catholic Community here in Constanta.

After mass, I walked with Mihaela to her apartment where she was preparing a Romanian lunch.  She needed a few ingredients, so I went to the piate with her.  We returned to the same piata as before and also to a new piata, where Mihaela bought a type of semi-soft sheep cheese, called urda.  The closest thing it is like in the US is ricotta, but with less moisture.

They just slice off a piece of cheese from the whole lump.

Other types of cheese.

An indoor piata.

Back at Mihaela's apartment, her niece, Flori, and Flori's boyfriend, Cornel, joined us for lunch.  It was really nice to meet some people around my age (they're actually a few years older).  After a lunch of ciorba and sarmale in foi de vita (a Romanian specialty version of stuffed grape leaves), Flori and Cornel showed me around the old part of the city.  I took a lot of pictures and they took some of me, as well, so now I have proof that I, Katelyn, am really in Romania.

Some very spicy peppers from Bulgaria.

Sarmale

One of our first stops was the big Romanian Orthodox church in the city.  We stopped inside, and there was a small ceremony going on; a baptism.  The first thing that struck me about the church was that there were no pews or seats.  It was richly decorated with scarlet and gold and very beautiful.  Normally you don't take pictures in churches, but since a photographer was capturing photos for the baptism, we figured no one would mind if I snapped a few shots myself from the doorway (no flash, of course).  Also, outside of the church were some metal boxes that looked a it like grills.  I had also noticed them at the Catholic church, but had no idea what they were.  Inside them are holes where people put long thin candles.  One set of boxes hold candles offered in prayer for the dead, while the other set holds candles lit in prayer for the living.

Constanta has this one mosque.

That tower belongs to the Catholic Church, which is on the other side of the block, out of sight.

The front of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Inside the Orthodox church, where a baptism is being celebrated

Outside the church are these boxes with lit candles

Candles here are lit in prayer for the dead.

and these are for the living.

We visited several other places as well, but I'll let the pictures tell that story.

Constanta is the oldest city in Romania; here I am in front of some  ruins from the days of the Roman Empire.

The Constanta Shipyard

The Casino is now out of use, but it is still iconic of Constanta.

Me and Flori

Those giant cement jacks were placed all along the coast of the city to prevent erosion from the sea.

A statue of Mihai Eminescu, Romanian's most-famous poet.

We found an ice cream truck.

Here is Ovid, the Roman poet who was exiled here to  the Roman outpost of Tomis (now Constanta).

Today was the opening of Ovidius University for the academic year.  At 11:00 there was an assembly outdoors with the president of the university giving a speech I didn't understand in the slightest.  Then there was some sort of religious ceremony and blessing by clergy of the Romanian Orthodox Church (one of whom I think is a bishop).  It was really interesting to see, since I've never attended an Orthodox ceremony before, with the exception of the baptism I briefly observed yesterday.

There were a lot of students there..not all were paying attention.

I'll be teaching in this building.

I will not be teaching in this nicer building.

After the welcome ceremony I stopped by the English and German office and got the keys to open the office and the classroom in which I'll be teaching.  At 1:00 there was a meeting for all the new students studying English in one capacity or another.

Afterwards I returned to my apartment for a short while.  Then Mihaela stopped by and took me to the bank to open an account.  It was really fortuitous that I had Mihaela to translate for me, because it would have been nigh impossible for me to open the account without a translator.