Go Michael Jackson Go!

Bucharest loves them some MJ, and what better way to celebrate his legacy and birthday than a flash mob tribute? I waddled my butt up to Herastrau Park tonight to enjoy their mini dance show, complete with Annie and about fifty original portraits of the King of Pop.

The vigil runs 24/6 but today it was
especially fragrant and waxy.

They're bad. You know it. Uh huh.  

MJMJMJMJMJMJMJ....

My particular favorite.

Things Will Be Great When You're Downtown!

Home sweet home. Again. Recently the Schlink clan moved from Bucharest 'burbs and landed a new roost downtown. We traded a large 4 bedroom house for a 2.5 bedroom apartment and already feeling the love of the city after two insanely busy weeks. While I miss my insanely awesome neighbors, that is literally the only thing I miss about our last home. Apparently we eclipsed the sightings of Sharon Stone who is temporarily shacked up in our old neighborhood while filming here in Bucharest. Darn. But you know what? We got to see Messi!!! I consider that monumentally FAR more exciting.

Yum. Like a walking tequila sunrise.

We have so much to look at in our neighborhood, with two huge parks on either side, and a fantastic green belt that has provided a good source of people watching: cyclists, commuters, and crazy folks who like to throw sticks at you while watering the dog. That happened to me earlier this week, but she failed to take into account wind trajectory and missed. Regardless, our new home is a pretty good fit. So hurry up and come visit!

Here are a few snapshots of what we've seen so far...

Ballsy (in more ways than one) Chihuahua
letting us have it from his perch.

Dudes doin' the butterfly stretch oh so well.

A dog and his boy.

Billets, billets everywhere so let's go
have a drink. At the plentiful neighborly bars!

The FAMOUS Bucharest City Tour Bus hits all the
haute spots: check out the stupendous
Schlink household on your left!

On the Road Again

Well, technically Google Maps wasn't wrong when we followed its suggested route to Harghita but we went from this:

New section of the A3, a VERY aspirational hwy
that should go 584 km from Bucharest to Oradea. A lovely
piece of deserted heaven, if only for a short 68 km.

To this: 

Hard to capture the actual bumps and jolts,
but I assure you they were there.

which was about an hours' drive through ruts, cattle, and tiny dilapidated villages during a conveniently timed downpour.  It's always an adventure, and the whole car load (Jim included) were quite good natured if not a little dazed when we rolled into town to see our lovely friends for a short weekend. 

It was a bittersweet visit since a friend of Mark's during Peace Corp days suddenly died the week before, and the funeral was the same weekend. The whole town was shocked by the loss of this well known gentleman who served in Odorheiu's city government and the streets were packed with mourners to pay their respects. On a lighter note, there was also a Hungarian music, dance and craft fair we went to. Apparently, all the cool and popular kids dance to traditional folk music and they were good! I wondered what would be comparable traditional dancing to the US would be. Square dancing? Disco? Could folk dancing ever win a popularity contest? Well I will tell you, if marching band still isn't these days, it probably never will.

Bring it on.

As usual, the food spread was impressive: honey, palinka, cheese, and cured meats with original animal skin intact. I could feel my blood pressure rising just from the decadent smells as we enjoyed the beautiful wood work, embroidery, and felted wool products. I managed to buy my unborn daughter her first strapless too which I unashamedly put on Deets (for sizing purposes only of course). The highlight of the trip however was watching Deets play with the rabbits, who really did multiply... like rabbits! They must have tripled their numbers since our last visit in May.

Heading back on Sunday, we made fantastic timing until we ran into backed up traffic in the mountains. It literally took us one hour to drive 14.4 km along the 2 lane highway between Predeal and Busteni, reminding me of the seemingly endless I-70 traffic we frequently encountered in Colorado but with two differences: 1, the traffic was entirely due to the MANY crosswalks and lack of traffic lights in Busteni and 2, no where on I-70 do you get to buy baskets of berries freshly picked by the locals. Like a scene fresh out of Office Space with the geriatric man hobbling past our car faster than the crawling traffic, the berry sellers were making considerably better headway than we did!

Sixty minutes until the nearest bathroom stop at nearly
8 months pregnant... it wasn't pretty.

Doritz? You want?

Rabies? No Thanks.

Today I had the dubious honor of giving a dear friend of mine her last injection for her rabies treatment. Just yesterday I was commenting to Mark about my fears of a successful return to nursing if/when the time came.  It's been almost ten months since I've worked and I worry whether blood and guts would still be fascinating instead of creepy? Could I reasonably and responsibly assess a patient's status without missing something important? After watching a few episodes of Nurse Jackie, I was freaking out even more. However, in the time of need I was more than happy to help considering what she had been dealing with in Romanian hospitals.  Diplomats are really lucky with handholding when it comes to medical treatment, I will just leave it at that.  

My gal pal's story began 28 days ago when she was hiking in the mountains with her three year old while her husband participated in a mountain bike race. During her hike, five scrappy sheepdogs surrounded her, keen on protecting something or someone. They began attacking despite her best intentions to remain calm and fierce, sinking their fangs into her hips and legs. Despite all this whirlwind activity, she kept her daughter protected, hoisted high on her shoulders who thankfully didn't know what was going on. My friend is pretty amazing like that. I would have crapped my pants. Staying quiet clearly wasn't working, so the screaming began and it was only a short time later when the sheepherder emerged from the thick trees to call off his beasts. In the end she made it into town, tracked down her husband and drove straight back to Bucharest for medical attention where she was able to begin the rigamarole of rabies injections. 

A series of 5 injections for rabies precautions.
Back in the day, it used to be daily belly injections
over 3 crappy, long weeks.

Here's the coolest part of her story: despite all this trauma, (and believe me, she was bruised, swollen, and punctured EVERYWHERE), she still took a two week mountain bike trek through northern Romania with her husband and daughter. We're talking major mountainy terrain where sometimes the trails required more pushing than biking, and schlepping of two trailers worth of camping gear, food, and child behind them the whole time. If that isn't tough, I don't know what is.  It was admirable she didn't let that stop her. So with a few extra packed precautions and heightened awareness, they went for it and never looked back.

I was looking at the pink injection I was about to give, and admittedly my hands were shaking but I thought, "Big deal Schlink. It's just a freakin' injection and she's been through much worse. Get over yourself!" So I did. And it wasn't that bad. Just get back on that horse, because it's like taking candy from a baby... right?

Aftermath. 

Want Some Whine With That?

I totally had a reality check. Life isn't so bad even if my "situation" at hand means being 7 months pregnant with a pinched nerve in my ass, my child can't swim in our embassy's pool due to diaper drama, and the frequent power/water outages at our yuppie suburban compound encounters in 100 degree weather. These complaints could probably qualify me to be posted on whitewhine.com and so I am ratting myself out before they do. It can always be worse, and last Sunday was my proverbial reality check. I took my family to a cute town called Urlați, and while totally unknown to travel guides, it's known for a few things: 

1) It's only an hour's drive north of Bucharest, so it's the perfect escape.

2) Gorgeous rolling hills that are smothered in vineyards and orchards. Hello Feteasca Neagra Wine. 

3) Mountain bike and hiking trails here are practically untouched, just begging to be used and abused. You MUST check out Cycling Romania if you are interested in cycling at all, it's a pretty cool company.

I was invited to check out a brand new non-profit organization called Fundatia Bucuria Ajutorului, aka Joy Aid Foundation. It's basically meant for children who need more social and emotional engagement than what they are getting form home, but they welcome everyone. Kind of like an after school headquarters to do homework, play, pray and relax but with the idea of showing these kids how to be the positive change that their community needs. Obviously, most of the children there come from very poor homes or with a significant missing link in their lives. There was a group of seven brothers and sisters, ages 6-12 whose father is in prison and mother is MIA most of the day. The eldest by default gets to take care of the rest.

And back to my botanical obsession.

All this time I thought fruit came from the store...

I went there to do an interview and ended up staying for several hours with Mark and Deets. We were showered with Romanian hospitality: piles of peaches,  mountains of melons, and tons of tomatoes. All of which of course they grew themselves. (They, being Father Manuel, his wife Ligia, and a faithful volunteer named Geta.) This particular Sunday, there were about twenty kids in the yard playing soccer or foosball, on the swing set or playing with blocks. They all got along famously, a rare sighting at many Bucharest parks, and they even took Deets under their wing to play amongst themselves. And some of these kids clearly didn't have access to basic essentials: water, shoes, consistent nutrition.  

I LOVE a Good Stoop.

Deets getting in on the block action.

Ligia told me that although the foundation has been officially open since early 2012, (unofficially since 2010) she has seen grades improve, more team work, and more respect with each other and the adults. Their bigger goal is to ensure the participation of parents and family members because she knows it can't be done alone. I think they will be successful, because folks like these are a rare breed. We parted ways, already talking about the next time we'd get to hang out with them.  It was rather inspiring to break from Schlinky Bucharest life and engage with locals who really have something worth complaining about, but who didn't complain whatsoever. Shut me up, that's for sure. 

Stressful Times of Romania's Govt.

A few people have asked me the "why and what" has been going on with the drama of Romania's government recently, and I admittedly wasn't informed enough to give a good story. I have such a hard time wrapping my head around politics, and when I asked Mark even he couldn't give me the two minute version. So I decided to write an article about what's been going on, thanks to the encouragement peer pressure of my husband and boss. After days of sifting the Internet, consulting, writing and rewriting my article to get the seal of approval, I think I managed to cover the biggest chunks of soap opera that is Romania's government at the moment. If you were wondering yourself, then this article might be up your alley... 

~~

Like the United States and about 148 other countries in the world, Romania’s government at its most basic definition is a Republic: power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. Some republics have a president serving as head of state and government, some have a prime minister, and others have both. The general difference being the president is elected by popular vote and the prime minster is elected by their party. 

Romania has both a president and prime minister. The President represents the country in foreign relations and ensures obedience to the Constitution. The President nominates the prime minster from the party with the majority in Parliament, who in turn selects a council of ministers.  The Parliament is split between the Senate with 140 members and the Chamber of Deputies with 346 members, all of whom are elected every four years and will be elected again in November.

The members of the Chamber proportionally represent three major parties. Interestingly, there are also nine minor parties, and a total of 38 registered political parties in Romania. Lastly, the justice system is independent from the other branches, and is a series of hierarchical courts ending with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, a.k.a. the Supreme Court of Romania. Since entry into the EU in 2007, there has been a highly publicized fight against corruption, but Romania continues to struggle, and is ranked together with Bulgaria and Greece as the most corrupt EU countries. 

Romania’s government has been put through the ringer this year. Austerity measures instituted  by a once popular President Basescu to cope with required spending cuts after a two billion dollar loan was given by the International Monetary Fund, EU, and World Bank. There was intense public frustration over public sector wage cuts as high as 25%, reduced benefits, higher taxes, and overall widespread governmental corruption. Protests broke out calling for the removal of President Basescu and the PM at the time, Emil Boc. The latter resigned in February 2012. Victor Ponta took over May 2012 after a quick 79 day government led by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu.

President Traian Basescu

PM Victor Ponta

Recently there was a major point of contention between the PM and the President over who represents Romania at the European Council. The Council meets in Brussels quarterly where they discuss, develop, and define political directions of the EU. While Romania’s Constitutional Court affirmed the President’s right to attend, Prime Minister Ponta went anyway. The debate over who attends European Council was a power struggle between  the Prime Minister and the President. Prime Minister Ponta is a member of the Social Democrat Party (PSD - left of center), whereas President Basescu has close relationships with Democrat Liberals (PDL - right of center). 

Unfortunately, the tensions between these two go beyond political differences.

The most powerful PSD PM in Romania’s post-communist history was Adrian Nastase, who is also Ponta’s political mentor. Nastase was last month sentenced to prison for two years following corruption charges. The Prime Minister was also recently accused by Nature Magazine of plagiarizing at least 85 pages of his 307 page doctoral thesis, and accused President Basescu of being behind the allegations. 

As of July 6, 2012, the USL (a coalition between PSD and PNL – the National Liberal Party)  suspended President Basescu due to allegations of overstepping his powers and violating the country’s Constitution. Crin Antonescu, PNL leader, is now the interim President  Suspended President Basescu’s future will be put to the voters  on July 29, and, if they vote for the suspension, early presidential elections will follow within three months afterwards. Whether Romania asked for it or not, it is going to be an exciting summer.

A Rare View...

Getting a view of the Press Building and Arcul de Triumf in one fell swoop doesn't happen very often. Bulevardul Kiseleff is normally a thick, hardened artery dumping cars into downtown. But tonight it was closed for  the embassy's July 4th celebration, and I just couldn't resist...

All the traffic was diverted
just so we could park! I felt so special.

Straight shot of the Arc
and Press Building.

Normally, we'd be road kill
if this was any other day.

It's not fireworks exciting, but it was a special treat for having sat in traffic on the way down. Happy 4th of July!