La Revedere

Howdy,

This is a short blog with a few updates and goodbyes in it. So to lighten the mood, let's show a picture of Mircea being a dork:

Mircea in Haegen's cowboy boots

The past couple weeks have been very busy, and continue to be. We all finished our projects, gave our presentations, and have had our exit interviews at work. All of our presentations went well, from my perspective. All 4 of us have gained a lot of knowledge and experience this summer working for Tenaris in Romania.

Now, we are about to embark on our journey through Europe. It is bitter sweet. We have made some lifelong friends here in Romania. I can’t really express how much they mean to us in a blog post, and even the hugs and goodbyes we have traded and will trade in the next 12 hours, they won’t feel like enough when we leave. For 2 months we have become close friends, but I will miss them beyond another 2 months. This experience was amazing on many accounts. The experience would have been nothing without our friends. All the adventures we had, whether in a different city, in the office, or around Zalau: they were all worthwhile. Playing pool, going to the town’s only credible pub, eating bad fast food, laughing in the canteen, going to Kaufland, learning to drive a manual, playing tennis and basketball, watching movies, going out for a beer, discovering Budapest, Tibi’s Cabin, Brasov, Sibiu, Sinaia, Cluj, BBQs, Saladina, Giorgios. All of their worth was because of the people we shared those times with, our friends. When I think of Romania, it’s not the food or scenery that comes to mind. Romania to me is Mircea Stef Irina Nana Alex Alin Alexandra Lucian Zoli Mihai Vlad Gaby Sorin Morent Tibi Victor Florin Cristina Gabriela Liviu Georgiana Dana Lucia Danny Florin Daniel Maria and more. I will miss them all in different ways, and have said or will be saying my goodbyes accordingly to each. The others would have the same definition as me, just maybe a few interchanged names here and there. Regardless, we will miss you all.

Okay, because I need to pack so I can say some proper goodbyes later tonight, I will make the rest of this post brief. A few things that have happened in the past week, and a couple pictures so our families back home know we are still alive.

1. We got new interns! Romania’s summer vacation for college (university) begins much later than ours, so they just got here. We all hit it off pretty fast and became friends. I wish they would have been here longer so we could have become closer, but we are still glad to have met them at all:

A few of us at lunch

2. Leon, Haegen, and Aly went skydiving! Yes, they are okay (physically at least). They have videos and pictures, but I will have to upload those at a later time.

3. We went to Tibi and Gabriela’s cabin about an hour away from Zalau. It was an incredibly relaxing weekend. Tibi, Gabi, and Pati (their daughter of 23 whom just interned in the US) hosted us as well as Tibi’s brother Sorin, his wife Luminata, and their kids, Razvan (20) and Gabi (younger). It was a great weekend filled with food, beer, football, a brief hike/drive to a damned lake, and Mel Gibson (we watched Braveheart):

Howdy Y'all (Tibi)

Hike (Haegen, Valerie, Leon, Pati, Aly)

Razvan catching some rays

Val, Pati, Haegen, Aly, myself, Leon, Razvan

Damned Lake

Leon, Haegen, and Aly.... so artsy

4. Leon and I went to play basketball with Razvan (also Stef and Mircea came). We lost the first pickup game, but then we picked up our game and won a few in a row. It was nice time, and we made some new friends:

Pass to Leon, we got mad chemistry in this country

5. We are embarking for Europe tomorrow. It’s a little intimidating. I figured us Americans would get along from the first couple times we met, but now we have gotten to know each other and understand one another. We have become good friends as well, and, always have a good time when we are together. That being said, Europe is going to be a blast.

To close:

I will not blog again soon, because I will be enjoying my time in Europe and soaking in as much as possible. Once back in the states, I will put everything together and share it. But, that will be sometime in September. Oh, and one more thing to mention. Though, not a part of “Romania”, this guy whom we have met here, we will also miss beyond words or expressions. He has been with us from the start, and though he considers himself a grandpa sometimes, he is all too young in spirit. I consider him a brother, and we will miss him like one, this goober:

Aly

La revedere Romania.