I'm back...
... from the trip nested in the trip nested in what might be called a trip...
Uh, that probably made little to no sense. See, I'm back in Timişoara from my weekend in Cluj, but not back in England from Romania and certainly not back in the US from England. All clear? Good.
Annnnyway, it was a good weekend. I'm really glad I decided to go because I suspected that I *needed* to get out of Timişoara for a couple days. Riding the train through the foothills in Transylvania confirmed my suspicion. Timişoara had parks and all, but it can get a little depressing sometimes.
So, here’s a little run-down of my weekend for anyone interested:
.
Trains in Romania seem to be allergic to the reasonable departure hours of 8-12, so I got to pull myself out of bed Saturday morning at about 5 in order to make a 6:45 train. Turned out to be okay though, because I dozed for about two hours out of the six I spent clattering to Cluj. I probably would have slept more if I had dared to put my legs and feet up on the seat in the compartment I had completely to myself, but I feared the conductor might have found that rude. And, actually, I’m glad I wasn’t sleeping through the foothills, because they were gorgeous. I saw soooooo many photos that I wanted to take and couldn’t because I was on a moving train. I did take some quick and sloppy shots which I’ll post soon. The railway follows a river (not sure which one) and so I was leaning at the open window watching the water being towered over by richly green hills shot through with bare rock and covered in a variety of trees. Some people waved at me (though one little girl threw a rock at the train!) and others trotted by on horse-drawn carts, which are still very functional and somewhat common here. I saw dozens of the region’s distinctive haystacks (there will be a picture) including a few being built. It’s interesting because the farming here seems to still be done primarily by hand. Pitchforks, hoes, and horses were the key tools I saw in use as I zipped by fields. Don’t think that it looked like a trip back in time though. The workers are as likely to be in modern clothing as in something that seems to belong to a past time. Also, cars are everywhere and houses range in style.
When I got to Cluj I enjoyed (not really) an hour or so at interpreting my hotel’s horrible directions. It was hot, I was hungry, and I started out going in the opposite direction I needed to. However, once I managed to find the place, I was a bit in awe. It’s truly a small, elegant hotel. I always stay in cheap hostels, but the one hostel in Cluj was booked for Saturday, so I splurged and stayed in the Deja Vu Hotel for my first night. I would very much like to steal the decoration scheme for this place. It’s fantastical without being hokey and the colors are beautiful.
See the pretty hotel!
The neighborhood was really quiet too, so it felt lovely and peaceful. However, the next day I felt slightly less happy with the place when it turned out that my calls to Leti and Eta to meet up had cost three times what they listed. Apparently calls to cell phones cost more than calls to landlines. I paid, but pointed out that they should really list the difference. Oh well.
So, I pretty much lazed away the afternoon getting some glorified potato salad (Arizona Salata) and watching TV (behind the scenes program on Cirque du Soleil, ho-hum sitcom, and rescuing pets from the Hurricane Katrina aftermath). Not my brightest traveling moment, but it was nice to just not worry about anything.
Finally, feeling I should probably stop watching TV and start into town, I walked along the river to the city center. There I found a lovely little tea house and wandered into the art museum courtyard for a free jazz concert. After this, I met Eta and Leti at the ginormous statue of Matthias Corvinus. We proceeded to walk, drink, and take Leti home to her dorm room. Then I joined Eta at her place for a pre-party gathering where I drank some cheap beer and watched a drunk and/or high opera singer prance about the room. We then trailed out into the rainy night to visit a basement club where the actual party was being held. It was fun (if incredibly warm and crowded), but the electronica music tended to operate on the same beat song after song. At about 1AM I finally gave it up and went back to my quiet room and slept.
Yeesh, this is a long post…
The next day was a switch to the Retro Youth Hostel. This place was *much* friendlier and relaxed than Déjà Vu. It was more interesting too, because of the people. For instance, while I waited to be checked in, I chatted with a woman from Israel who was on a family history research trip. She was nice, but had some views to air about my being in Romania to work with kids. Basically, she said that people should work with the poor (her word) in their own countries first. I told her that I agreed, but also felt that it was important to learn about other cultures and that after this I would be returning to England and working there (England sort of being my current home country). We left it at that. ( :
My bed and things sorted, I ventured out in search of my first meal of the day (1PM). The search was a nice walk until some idiot guy threw white paint on me and then walked away grinning. Have you ever shouted “FUCK YOU” on a crowded street in Romania? I now have. I was really very tempted, after my initial disbelief, to follow him and do something physically damaging to him… but we all know that I’m not that sort of person and, anyway, it probably would have been me who got hurt. Thus, spattered and extremely pissed off I grabbed a pizza and stalked back to my hostel. If you ever go to Cluj, stay at this hostel. The staff are wonderful. When I asked if I could wash my jeans somewhere, the girl at the desk kindly said she would do it and didn’t charge me for it. The paint didn’t come out, but she was so nice to try.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Art Museum at a sculpture exhibit, in the cathedral, and sitting by the M.C. statue sketching. The cathedral had a really beautiful, small blue organ dated 1771. It also had a lot of tree branches leaning along the walls. I later found out this is common practice for weddings (according to Eta).
Eta nicely fed me dinner and then we went for a walk. She showed me her favorite church in Cluj and we caught the tail-end of a Hungarian service when we visited. Pretty music and the pastor shook my hand as we left. Felt a bit surreal, as I’m not Christian and haven’t been to a church service in ages.
After a wandering, casual sort of tour of a bit of the city I bought Eta a soda and we met up with one of her roommates… which reminds me that I didn’t say anything about their apartment. This place is the most bohemian home I’ve seen in real life. The kitchen and bathroom combine in the first room and the second room holds all three beds and a big single window looking out on the street. The stove is gigantic and old and the wall between the two rooms is mostly glass.
Anyhoo, we finished up the day catching the last movie of the film festival they’d been holding for ten days. We saw ”En la cama”. It was in Spanish, but had English and Romanian subtitles. I liked it, though I thought the pair having sex three times with pretty much no variation in method was a bit much. By the third time I wanted to ask the actress, “Aren’t you bored?”. Um, yeah. Anyway, it’s basically two people in bed for a one night stand. They slowly get to know more about the other person and the complications involved with moving past the simply physical. If you have a chance to see it, it’s worthwhile.
The rest of my weekend was hostel, bed, up at 5AM again, and a train back to Timişoara. Two odd sort of things. One, when I was going to bed and trying to be *really* quiet, two other Americans were stumbling into bed drunk off their asses and kind of loud. :: shakes her head and sighs ::
Two, I boarded my train to find the complete opposite situation to the train I had taken up to Cluj. This one was nicer than the trains in England. High ceilings, cushy seats, clean… but I found myself missing the ability to open a window and stand at it feeling the wind on my face. It made me think about the trade-off between freedom and comfort. Possibly I’ll delve into my journal and consider that a bit more later.
So, now I’m back and tomorrow I’ll hopefully be working with the kids on our project. ( :
Uh, that probably made little to no sense. See, I'm back in Timişoara from my weekend in Cluj, but not back in England from Romania and certainly not back in the US from England. All clear? Good.
Annnnyway, it was a good weekend. I'm really glad I decided to go because I suspected that I *needed* to get out of Timişoara for a couple days. Riding the train through the foothills in Transylvania confirmed my suspicion. Timişoara had parks and all, but it can get a little depressing sometimes.
So, here’s a little run-down of my weekend for anyone interested:
.
Trains in Romania seem to be allergic to the reasonable departure hours of 8-12, so I got to pull myself out of bed Saturday morning at about 5 in order to make a 6:45 train. Turned out to be okay though, because I dozed for about two hours out of the six I spent clattering to Cluj. I probably would have slept more if I had dared to put my legs and feet up on the seat in the compartment I had completely to myself, but I feared the conductor might have found that rude. And, actually, I’m glad I wasn’t sleeping through the foothills, because they were gorgeous. I saw soooooo many photos that I wanted to take and couldn’t because I was on a moving train. I did take some quick and sloppy shots which I’ll post soon. The railway follows a river (not sure which one) and so I was leaning at the open window watching the water being towered over by richly green hills shot through with bare rock and covered in a variety of trees. Some people waved at me (though one little girl threw a rock at the train!) and others trotted by on horse-drawn carts, which are still very functional and somewhat common here. I saw dozens of the region’s distinctive haystacks (there will be a picture) including a few being built. It’s interesting because the farming here seems to still be done primarily by hand. Pitchforks, hoes, and horses were the key tools I saw in use as I zipped by fields. Don’t think that it looked like a trip back in time though. The workers are as likely to be in modern clothing as in something that seems to belong to a past time. Also, cars are everywhere and houses range in style.
When I got to Cluj I enjoyed (not really) an hour or so at interpreting my hotel’s horrible directions. It was hot, I was hungry, and I started out going in the opposite direction I needed to. However, once I managed to find the place, I was a bit in awe. It’s truly a small, elegant hotel. I always stay in cheap hostels, but the one hostel in Cluj was booked for Saturday, so I splurged and stayed in the Deja Vu Hotel for my first night. I would very much like to steal the decoration scheme for this place. It’s fantastical without being hokey and the colors are beautiful.
See the pretty hotel!
The neighborhood was really quiet too, so it felt lovely and peaceful. However, the next day I felt slightly less happy with the place when it turned out that my calls to Leti and Eta to meet up had cost three times what they listed. Apparently calls to cell phones cost more than calls to landlines. I paid, but pointed out that they should really list the difference. Oh well.
So, I pretty much lazed away the afternoon getting some glorified potato salad (Arizona Salata) and watching TV (behind the scenes program on Cirque du Soleil, ho-hum sitcom, and rescuing pets from the Hurricane Katrina aftermath). Not my brightest traveling moment, but it was nice to just not worry about anything.
Finally, feeling I should probably stop watching TV and start into town, I walked along the river to the city center. There I found a lovely little tea house and wandered into the art museum courtyard for a free jazz concert. After this, I met Eta and Leti at the ginormous statue of Matthias Corvinus. We proceeded to walk, drink, and take Leti home to her dorm room. Then I joined Eta at her place for a pre-party gathering where I drank some cheap beer and watched a drunk and/or high opera singer prance about the room. We then trailed out into the rainy night to visit a basement club where the actual party was being held. It was fun (if incredibly warm and crowded), but the electronica music tended to operate on the same beat song after song. At about 1AM I finally gave it up and went back to my quiet room and slept.
Yeesh, this is a long post…
The next day was a switch to the Retro Youth Hostel. This place was *much* friendlier and relaxed than Déjà Vu. It was more interesting too, because of the people. For instance, while I waited to be checked in, I chatted with a woman from Israel who was on a family history research trip. She was nice, but had some views to air about my being in Romania to work with kids. Basically, she said that people should work with the poor (her word) in their own countries first. I told her that I agreed, but also felt that it was important to learn about other cultures and that after this I would be returning to England and working there (England sort of being my current home country). We left it at that. ( :
My bed and things sorted, I ventured out in search of my first meal of the day (1PM). The search was a nice walk until some idiot guy threw white paint on me and then walked away grinning. Have you ever shouted “FUCK YOU” on a crowded street in Romania? I now have. I was really very tempted, after my initial disbelief, to follow him and do something physically damaging to him… but we all know that I’m not that sort of person and, anyway, it probably would have been me who got hurt. Thus, spattered and extremely pissed off I grabbed a pizza and stalked back to my hostel. If you ever go to Cluj, stay at this hostel. The staff are wonderful. When I asked if I could wash my jeans somewhere, the girl at the desk kindly said she would do it and didn’t charge me for it. The paint didn’t come out, but she was so nice to try.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Art Museum at a sculpture exhibit, in the cathedral, and sitting by the M.C. statue sketching. The cathedral had a really beautiful, small blue organ dated 1771. It also had a lot of tree branches leaning along the walls. I later found out this is common practice for weddings (according to Eta).
Eta nicely fed me dinner and then we went for a walk. She showed me her favorite church in Cluj and we caught the tail-end of a Hungarian service when we visited. Pretty music and the pastor shook my hand as we left. Felt a bit surreal, as I’m not Christian and haven’t been to a church service in ages.
After a wandering, casual sort of tour of a bit of the city I bought Eta a soda and we met up with one of her roommates… which reminds me that I didn’t say anything about their apartment. This place is the most bohemian home I’ve seen in real life. The kitchen and bathroom combine in the first room and the second room holds all three beds and a big single window looking out on the street. The stove is gigantic and old and the wall between the two rooms is mostly glass.
Anyhoo, we finished up the day catching the last movie of the film festival they’d been holding for ten days. We saw ”En la cama”. It was in Spanish, but had English and Romanian subtitles. I liked it, though I thought the pair having sex three times with pretty much no variation in method was a bit much. By the third time I wanted to ask the actress, “Aren’t you bored?”. Um, yeah. Anyway, it’s basically two people in bed for a one night stand. They slowly get to know more about the other person and the complications involved with moving past the simply physical. If you have a chance to see it, it’s worthwhile.
The rest of my weekend was hostel, bed, up at 5AM again, and a train back to Timişoara. Two odd sort of things. One, when I was going to bed and trying to be *really* quiet, two other Americans were stumbling into bed drunk off their asses and kind of loud. :: shakes her head and sighs ::
Two, I boarded my train to find the complete opposite situation to the train I had taken up to Cluj. This one was nicer than the trains in England. High ceilings, cushy seats, clean… but I found myself missing the ability to open a window and stand at it feeling the wind on my face. It made me think about the trade-off between freedom and comfort. Possibly I’ll delve into my journal and consider that a bit more later.
So, now I’m back and tomorrow I’ll hopefully be working with the kids on our project. ( :