Whataburger

Howdy,

This post will contain many pictures, most of which will be at the bottom. Also, a short blurb by Haegen at the end. Enjoy reading.

Friday was a wonderful day at work. One of my co-workers in quality had a baby girl! Kaizer Tamas has a little girl named Ilinca Andreea. The pictures were adorable. Tamas's mother made a banana cream fruit cake that was very good......really good. We all stopped working for the cake and celebration. Again, darling baby girl.

My office (quality) is a very good place to work. The people are very nice and smart as well. Though the 4 of us Americans are getting off at 5 every day, everyone in my office goes strictly by a "I go home when I am done with my work" mentality, some of them staying till 8 or 9 and going in on weekends. Even if we do not accomplish anything within our respective projects, I guarantee our work ethics will continue to grow in this culture. Still, I like the people in my office. Gabi, a 6'3 guy who likes to talk to me and take smoke breaks downstairs. It's okay, he tends to only come when I need a break anyways, and I enjoy our conversations. Gabi is from a part of Romania with lots of gold and uranium. I like Gabi.

More random facts will be at the very bottom, but before that, let me tell you about our Friday night and Saturday. Friday night: we relaxed. We went to the supermarket to stock up on some more food. The best part of being Americans in the supermarket, is having this kid with us:

Leon

The best part about the picture above is this: Leon, a Chinese American speaking English in a German supermarket in a small Romanian town. The diversity is astounding, and it turns most everyone's head to our direction. Later that evening, we just played some 42 (dominoes) between the 4 of us and our good Egyptian friend, Aly. We also played Greenie Weenie (a silly game that helps you put up all the dominoes in the box), a very fun game (as well).

Saturday: We went hiking. Mircea, Stef (an HR guy at Tenaris that is 23 years old), and Stef's girlfriend, Nana, went hiking with us. Well, according to Mircea, "we went hiking with him". (Yeah, we would have been lost without him.) So, he took us to the old Roman castle (just some stones in the ground now) but the hike there was terrific. It was about 10 miles there and 10 back through the hills (a little low for mountains). The hike, view, and spending all day doing it were incredible. None of us had been on a hike that long, ever. So, now, the pictures:

Mircea washing his face in some fresh water.

Valerie, Leon, Stef, and Nana

Nana and Stef being cute

Woods on the walk up

First steps out of the woods

Leon

Logs

We thought we could get tan, more like sunburn. Felt great though

Lumber Jack

Baaaaaa 

I feel like a bible verse should be inserted here.

Haegen and I just being goobs on some sacred grounds

Valerie, Nana, Stef, and Mircea

Mircea being artsy, he claims to be a professional amateur

Haegen's naked!!!.......nah jk

In the gate

So beautiful

Wonderful

What use to be a castle

Stef being thug (trying to be)

Last Sunday at the BBQ at Florin's place (Daniel on the far left and Alin in the middle)

Cheers (Palinka)

Haegen in his natural element

1900 years later, and the poses still remain

Chilling on a gate to a castle

Haegen, in deep thought

Logs and Dudes

Cameras on cameras on cameras on professional amateur camera

By far my favorite picture. Haegen and Leon eating on the edge of the amphitheater.

Val and me enjoying lunch at the amphitheater

Chill.

Initial picture of a picture

Leon taking it all in

Okay, well that was the end of the pictures. I hope they were tasteful enough. Now some quick moments I would like to share, as always:
1. Mircea threw a chocolate ball to me at work and I caught it in my mouth. Not crazy special, but the fact it was while other people were working was fun. And, we went straight back to work, almost like it didn't happen.
2. Eating all your sides and entrees at the same time is considered odd here. I normally eat my soup with the rest of the items on my plate, but now I try and eat it first.
3. We learned today that there is not much to do in Zalau. So, on the weekends we are not traveling, we will be hiking again :).
4. On the hike, in the amphitheater, we met a Romanian couple *Raul and Mana) and a Belgium couple (Andre and Leah). I was running through a field with my arms like an airplane yelling "woooooo" when I stopped in place after seeing them and discovering the amphitheater simultaneously. So, a simple "salud" and I went down to meet them. It turns out Raul used to work in a Whataburger in Austin, Texas!!! What are the chances!!! His wife, Mana, is also on contract with Tenaris and she teaches Romanian to employees. Our friend from Egypt, Aly, starts classes with her Tuesday. It was a nice taste of home.
5. The light switches here are weird.
6. We went out to eat at a local Italian restaurant owned by an Italian guy named Giorgio. It was great. But, before dinner, we were hungry. The table over from us had just left and one of their little girls hardly touched her dessert. Naturally, Stef went to the front to order a couple beers for us (aka, distract the front desk) as I walked over and took the dessert. The little girl has very good taste in cakes.

Until next time, ciao.

But wait!! Haegen wanted to add a bit, so here is his blurb:

The first thing I noticed when entering the plant was the amount of people holding hands while walking to work. In Romania or more importantly Zalau, it is socially acceptable to date co was that it is socially acceptable to date co-workers. In fact our buddies Bumbu and Irina have been dating for six months and work in the same department. It is strange to see something that is so tabu in America be the norm around me.

Once I got to the office the next thing I noticed was the Romanian hatred for something I love, Air Conditioning. It is a relatively new and unused product in Romania and because it is not as hot and humid as it is in Texas, the general population does not approve of it. They prefer to just open a window and feel the outside air. I am not opposed to the idea and once you build up a thin layer of sweat, you become accustomed to it.

While trying “and for the most part failing” to get a cheap Romanian phone, Josiah and myself struck up a conversation with an older Romanian pensionist (retiree). He told us how he had worked all his life under communism and missed the old days. He also mentioned that he had daughters that lived in the US who he visited once per year as he could not afford to visit more due to his low pension. He spoke about how great it was that everyone had a job and that gas prices, compared to the current status, used to be very cheap however the freedom to express yourself was nearly nonexistent.

Mircea has been a great buddy, helping with everyday work, referencing every commercial ever invented, and occasionally making somewhat questionable food recommendations. By questionable food recommendations I mean Leon and myself attempted to eat the equivalent of a jalapeno pepper raw with our chorba soup (chorba soup being traditional Romanian cow belly soup).

Not to leave out the best part, some of the buddies and co-workers have found out that I belong to a fraternity. The views are.....somewhat questionable. Many reference “Animal House”, others reference the show “GREEK”, and some believe that means I am just an alcoholic with letters on my shirt. To dispel the rumors to all the Romanians reading, that is NOT the case. However it is always fun to hear what they think I am and be challenged to a foray of drinking contests, all of which to date I have declined.

Romania has been a fun place so far and the people are just the best. Overall one of the best places I have ever been.