Pizza & Haircuts

Howdy,

Another few days in Romania have passed, and rest assured, we are still alive and in good health. The ever famous Ashley from HR in Houston checked up on us this afternoon via Tenaris instant messaging system. I was tempted to tell her we were being whipped and fed only one piece of dirty bread a day, but I decided to keep up the facade a little longer.

In today’s blog, many small stories will be shared by me, including the random facts at the bottom, as usual. Valerie will contribute her own writing at the bottom of this post. Unfortunately, not many (if any) pictures will be included in this post. So…

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We finished our hike on Saturday. After eating at Giorgio’s, we bunkered down in Leon’s room (the biggest room and our official hang out spot in the hotel). Gladiator seemed as good a choice as any, and Netflix had it ready to go. So, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, and the 4 of us kicked back to recover from the long hike. Our legs were super sore. Leon, though, decided he would pay for a masseuse. The massage last for 1 hour and 15 minutes and he paid the equivalent of 15 USD. That’s a pretty good deal for a massage. The masseuse gave Leon some good leg massages, specifically to get rid of the soreness from the previous day. Oh, and the masseuse ended up being a masseur (a dude). J. Leon says he “reluctantly” let the masseur go a little over the agreed upon time for the massage.

The rest of our weekend (Sunday) proved to be lazy as all get out. I slept till 11, went back to bed after a short breakfast. Then started the day at 3. It is easy to sleep in when you are in Zalau, as sleep is always in the top list of things to do. Haegen and I took a trip to Kaufland to restock on milk, lunch meat, etc. The biggest disappointment is the peanut butter. It’s still in the US. The closest thing we could find to peanut butter were off brands of Nutella. Even though that stuff is terrible for you, it is the closest thing in the eastern hemisphere to peanut butter. So, we indulged. Also we got some fruit and bread (both of which are pretty cheap) . The peaches and apricots are pretty good, on a side note.

Because it is hard to find things to do in Zalau, we pass most of the time watching TV shows or movies. It isn’t bad at all though, it’s so very different from the college life though. We are used to getting home from work and class, and then having to study and do homework, maybe sprinkling in some organizational obligations, and then going to bed. With a regular job, you come home and have no requirements except to be at work the next day, on time, with acceptable hygiene. So, television and some light reading are the answers. (I began reading a book called Foundation. Sci-Fi. Only 10 pages in but entertained thus far.)

Tuesday, Haegen and Leon went out and brought back a pizza. There were 2 details that made the pizza worth eating: size and toppings. (1) Size: 1 meter x .4 meter (estimate). It was definitely 1 meter long though. (2) Toppings: When you don’t speak Romanian, or at least Italian, when ordering pizza in Zalau, you are pretty much screwed. So, on our pizza: ham, cheese, onions, full sized French fries, and slices of boiled eggs (some not even fully boiled). Worth it:

Boy's Pizza

Valerie and I tried to watch the movie Bad Grandpa, but wifi wasn’t so hot last night. We still got 2/3 of the way through it. Haegen, though, surprised us when he arrived with the pizza. He got his first European haircut. The worst part, it turned out alright. We (me at least) were all hoping for a disaster of a story. But, oh well. Turns out they give decent haircuts in Romania (the sample size of the one barber will do for the entirety of the Romanian barber population).

Today after work, Haegen suggested we get some beers after work. It was a good idea and one of our few endeavors without our Romanian friends accompanying us. We went into a coffee shop, lol. But, they do in fact serve beer. There is a beer here called Ciuc (pronounced Chuke, roughly) and it is quite delicious. Lucky for us, they had it on tap. We got full glasses, me Leon and Haegen that is. It was about 4 dollars for all 3 of us. We gave the car to Valerie so she could get a manicure, and the boys  took an “escapade”  back to the hotel on foot. The moment of relaxation after work was captured by Josiah’s iPhone:

 

Haegen and Leon enjoying their Ciuc

This blog may have been a little less flavorful than others, but it has been a little lazy, and with good reason too. We were all in need of a little rest. The next few weekends we have some awesome plans in store, but no spoilers now.

Random Facts:

1. Outside of Kaufland, the supermarket, a little boy now more than 4 years old was with his mom. He tried running into the street and she grabbed his arm an scolded him as moms do when their baby is in self-inflicted danger. It was a simple moment, but it was nice to see how universal the emotions of mothers are.

2. A machine at work I get to work with some is legit. In less than a minute, it take a sample of a material and can tell you what percent of close to 30 different elements are in the sample to like 4 or 5 decimals. All in one test too. Nerdy, but cool as hell.

3. I told the group I miss falling asleep with a friend. Not literally in the bed with me, but often at home either my roommate Kevin or friend Ryan and I would go to sleep on the couches next to each other until we fell asleep. In a hotel room you don’t have this option. Haegen and Leon made fun of me for a couple minutes but whatever.

4. My internet is down in my room. But it’s okay, it makes the solace of reading without interruption even more enjoyable.

5. I played doubles tennis tonight with Mircea, Irina, and Cristi (Mircea’s roommate). The courts are made of clay, and it was fun. Irina and I lost the 1^st set 6-4 I think, and the second we called a draw because it was late, 6-6.

Until next time,

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Here is Val’s blurb now:

This blog entry is my summary of Sunday and Monday because I spent those two days on my own without the guys.

Sunday  I attended my first meeting (like a church service) at the Kingdom Hall (place of worship) in Zalau. I found the location online at jw.org and followed google maps there. I had planned to go by myself with the car but Leon needed to go to the store so we drove together. It turned out much better this way because once we got there I couldn’t find a place to park so he dropped me off and I walked in. This was the first time I have even been to a Kingdom Hall that was two stories. There are 6 total congregations in Zalau (5 Romanian, 1 Hungarian) so they built the Kingdom Hall with two separate main halls so that two congregations could meet at the same time. I walked into the Hungarian meeting (downstairs) but when they noticed how visibly lost I was they asked me if I would prefer Hungarian or Romanian and I chose Romanian. The person who walked me upstairs asked for Radu  Aciu who speaks English, and I was able to sit with him and his wife Raluca. Once I told her I don’t understand any Romanian, Raluca kindly transcribed everything the speaker was saying into English for a full 30 minutes.

Raluca wrote these as fast as she could so I could keep up with the speaker

Radu and Raluca

Afterward, Radu and Raluca invited me to have lunch at their home. They live on the 6^th floor of a communist era apartment building with Radu’s elderly mother. She had prepared chicken ciorba, a dish of peas, and a cucumber and tomato salad. She also made a tart flaky plum dessert. On top of all that, there was a grainy strawberry vanilla ice cream. Raluca served me a glass with runny strawberry jam at the bottom and told me you are supposed to fill it with water and drink the mixture. I liked it better than actual juice. I learned that Radu and Raluca were married just last July, and that Radu is a plumber for the hospital in Zalau and Raluca is an English teacher in a town nearby. After lunch they invited me to play volleyball later that evening with a group. I didn’t know what to expect but there ended up being about 40 people from different congregations at the volleyball court. They picked teams and I played very poorly. By the end I chose to sit out to give my team an opportunity to win. While I sat out, I started speaking to the people around me and many invited me to get together soon. I walked home with Diana (16) and made plans with her and Iulia (19)  to meet the next day and have a walking tour of Zalau because although I’ve been here a week, I don’t know anything beyond the main street. Iulia is taking her International Baccalaureate exams this week and plans to be a nurse. Diana is in high school and goes to the same school as Iulia’s sister Ema (16).

We met Monday at 7 at Kaufland and walked through several neighborhoods. Iulia took me to a friend’s salon where she made me an appointment for a manicure later in the week. Diana pulled some kind of blackberry and a tiny sour apple off a tree so I could try them, and pointed out a pizza place where they sell meter long pizzas. Then we walked to a large park and people watched while we waited for their neighbor George (12) to meet us there. George kept telling me how he thinks its so cool I’m from the US, and we talked about how he likes beat boxing, skateboarding, and Spongebob. During the walk back home Iulia and Ema invited me to spend the night at their house. We walked back to my hotel and I gave them Mexican candy called Pulparindo to try while they waited for me to pack a bag. From what I could tell, at least two people liked it.

When we got to their house Iulia heated up Sarmale (cabbage rolls filled with tomato, rice, and meat) her mom had made earlier in the day and served it with sour cream. Honestly, at first they looked questionable but I’m glad I tried them because they were delicious! I ate more than anyone at the table. After sarmale they pulled out their recipe book and started to make “pancakes”, in Romanian called Clatite. In the US they would definitely be considered crepes. Apparently it was Ema’s first time ever to make pancakes so they were a little worried. After Ema got the hang of it they passed the batter to me so I could try. In the end, Iulia poured the batter and I flipped the pancakes. I thought it was weird they had me flipping pancakes with a knife so I asked for a spatula but they said the knife I was using was specially made for pancakes and spatulas are used for something else. They live in an apartment but they said their grandparents live in a nearby town with more land where they grow blackberries and keep bees.  We ate the pancakes with a spread of blended white and milk chocolate, then we watched a show called Lie To Me. I forgot to pack pajamas so Iulia lent me some. By the time the show was over it was past 1 in the morning and it was time to go to bed.

Making pancakes with Iulia

By the time I woke up the next morning, Ema had already left for school and Iulia was boiling milk to have with chicory coffee. I grabbed my toothbrush and headed to the bathroom where I had an unexpected language barrier problem. I forgot to bring my own toothpaste so I had to use theirs, but I don’t know any toothpaste brands here and Iulia was busy in the kitchen. I thought the shape of the tube or cap would give it away but they had an assortment of things in tubes that could pass as toothpaste and obviously the labels were largely in Romanian. I narrowed it down to two tubes that said they were “herbal” scented. In the end I picked the right one but I think I was really close to brushing my teeth with foot cream. I sat in the kitchen to have coffee and pancakes with Iulia and I found that Ema had left a note for me on the table. Iulia packed me pancakes to eat at work. I sat on Iulia’s bunk bed and did my make up while she told me how she and Ema want to redecorate their room soon. Their dad had taken the car and gone fishing the night before so I figured I would have to walk to work, but fortunately he arrived early enough that they could give me a ride to work. 

Ema’s note to me

Everyone from Tenaris has been so eager to help us interns with anything we need, whether it be with our projects at work or when making plans for our weekends. And fortunately, friendliness has been a common theme here in Romania. After my experience Sunday and Monday, I can say that the Romanians I have met outside of Tenaris have been more friendly than I could have ever expected! Of course, I had no doubt that the brothers (fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses) here would be very welcoming, but it did not expect them to go above and beyond like translating an entire talk for me or inviting me to stay a night with them.

Random tidbits:

Iulia told me that Tenaris is a good place to work here in Zalau because it provides free basic grocery items to its employees on top of their regular salary. Some items she mentioned were tea and sugar in the winter, mineral water in the summer, and soap and toothpaste year round.

Now that I have been to two different homes, I have noticed taking off shoes before you enter the house is a thing here.