I've had a rocky start in Romania. I caught a cab at 5:00 this morning to Taksim Square, rode a shuttle to the airport, made it through the very long lines at Ataturk Airport, and arrived safely in Bucharest. And then there was the disaster. I went to the cafe where I was supposed to meet Mihaela, the local team leader for my volunteer group. Mihaela wasn't there, but a woman who is also volunteering was. We didn't know what time the rest of the team was arriving, so we hung out in the cafe for an hour or so until a young Romanian woman with a badge approached us and told us that our bus had already left but that it was coming back to get us, so we had to hurry. I ASKED her if she was with our organization and she said she was and that is why I got on the bus full of international GPs. Soon after we started rolling out of the city, though, I was gripped with a very strong feeling that this was all wrong and that I was still supposed to be in a cafe in the airport. SO, I made my way to the front of the bus and talked to the woman in charge and, sure enough, I was on a bus going to a medical conference in Brasov.
The woman on the bus called our organization for us and explained to Mihaela's husband where we were (about 40 minutes away), while I chatted with some international doctors who found the whole situation hiLARious, and the solution reached was that my volunteer companion and I would hop off the bus right there and Mihaela's husband would come to get us as soon as he could. Which was two hours later. I spent some super quality time sitting on the side of the road watching horse-drawn carts roll by and making friends with a little Romanian boy. Not the worst day I've had on this trip.
I'm now safely in our village. I'm sharing a room with a nice girl from Wisconsin. We have satellite TV and a giant bathtub and a deck and free Internet access. Monday we start work at the hospital.
All's well that ends well.
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9 comments:
you may want to keep these stories for when you come back...I am thinking of your parents (and older brothers and sister) here...
What village? Near what city? Please, I need more details! (I served my mission in Romania and I'm "home"-sick. What kind of hospital?
Do eat sarmale, don't eat pifta. And take pictures, please!
Proof that people from wisconsin are nice, no?
Right on James.
The male Parent
Cynthia--We're in Tutova, near Barlad.
Alice--Why, yes, every person I know from Wisconsin is full of niceness.
James & Dad--Noted. In the future I will keep all my so-see-it-turned-out-okay-in-the-end stories to myself until well after the fact.
Even though it seemed like a bummer, this sounds like a wonderful adventure. (ewe, who just wrote that smarmy garbage?)...but really, it does.
Oh, go ahead and spill it all ... just always be sure to start with a subject line something like: "Whew! Safe again!" I realize this approach would be a spoiler for stories of danger and suffering, but you're not writing a screenplay and we're not watching movie trailers. Love, Marmot Dad. P.S. I will now think of you as being in Roamania.
Jaren says the whole point of traveling is having adventures like this. I say 1)he's a boy and 2) his parents were extremely lenient. Plus, he's not an easy target for a mugging.
But good for you for managing.
I think that's awesome! What a story to tell for many years to come.
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