Church by the lake

Almost every day I step in dog poo.
It's everywhere.

Even on holy grounds you can't escape it.

Conspiracy theory

Today I found out that my lovely friends in Wales still think about me. Iris, the Art-fusion project coordinator, told me this today in the bus on our way to the Village museum. Yeah, cool….but how does she know this? Lately these things happen to me a bit too much that its becoming strange. I will explain. Iris went to a training in Japan last week where she met Georgie from UNA exchange, the lady that is responsible for my departure to Romania that lives in Cardiff and knows my friend Ewan -and probably many others by now. When Iris told me that back in Wales my friends still think about me I was speechless, turned red and kept on saying “O my god!” Surrounded by Romanians that routinely make a cross whilst passing a church –also in the bus- it must have been quite a funny thing to see. God. I'm not forgotten, can even travel in thoughts from Wales to Japan ending up in Romania by a string of people that all play a role in my life and there random encounters. This maybe sounds a bit soppy, but it made me feel warm inside that after more than a year I’m still in the thoughts of my Welsh friends.

If you think this run-in is bizarre, I will tell you what happened last night. We first watched a film and ate pancakes and a bin bag filled with popcorn at Anna’s and Bzzz, not weird at all. After a lot of laughing and a little nap for most of us we went out dancing in Control, one of many clubs in Bucharest. We got there around midnight in quite a big group. It was busy. I looked around and suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see who it was and my mouth fell open.

The time in between living in Berlin and moving to Bucharest I lived with my dad in Utrecht for a month. I tried to prepare as much as possible for this whole new culture I was about to enter, and one day I searched on the couch surfing site to see if there were any Romanian speaking people in Utrecht. There was only one match, his name was Zohar, an Israeli guy that lived in Bucharest but moved to Utrecht for his study. We met up for a coffee and he told me a lot about the Romanian culture and Bucharest.

There he was, just visiting for a couple of days. Of the many clubs in Bucharest he decided to go to this one, amazing. After doing the whole “O my god!” routine he introduced me to his friends that wanted to show me this other club. It was on the edge of town, quite expensive and nothing I had ever seen they sad. Needed to see this place! I didn't fit in at all, but loved it al the better. Crystal is the trendy place to be with exotic dancers and funky light shows. So wrong that it was perfect for me. When I got home early in the morning the others weren’t there yet, they came home during my kitchen routine. When I told them about the club they didn’t believe it, Iris kept on shouting “Did you go to Crystal, o my god!” The whole block had an early wake-up call.

The past few days I used the phrase “O my god!” many more times, like when I bought hand made puppets on the market and after having too many milkshakes…. not to forget the fun chicken night.

Love, true.

Our house, in the middle of the street

The last two weeks I have tried to answer the question that comes up in almost every email: How are you and how is Bucharest? On one hand side this is an easy question, all is good, but when I then try to explain the “what and how” it becomes difficult. To describe what makes Bucharest tick and –even harder- how I experience this, is like peeling potatoes without a knife. Hard work. Although the work for Art-Fusion is the main reason I’m here I won’t tell you anything about the exciting project we are working on right now –safe the best for later- cause I would like to give you a little insight in my new life, home and everyday Bucharest escaped.

Besides living together with 5 others and sleeping in a bunk bed I got a brand new family on the side. The Art-Fusion volunteers take us out to concerts, smoky bars and well hidden tea shops where –I’m certain- the word 'launching' got it's roots. Sipping on a delicious cup of tea sinking into a pile of cushions in a little corners warmed by the fire place....

The closest to heaven as you can get. Love hanging out here, but home is also pretty good.

Our flat is in a block opposite of a playground that is next to a little power station next to a garbage pile filled with washing lines with a sort of a hut –people live supposedly- opposite of a modern office building. This is all in 20 meters of our front door. The church is somewhere around the back and if you walk 5 minutes you get to the metro station where you can have yourself weighed on the street, buy your daily porn and flowers on the corner. When not using the metro you can enter the indoor market with narrow lanes that are basically too small for the big furniture you can buy there. When getting too hot -the Romanians love putting there heating on extra hot- you can escape to the outside bit where traditional craftsmen have stands next to ladies specialised in cookies for dogs and cakes for us. The local wine dealers will fill you up a bottle, some young guys sells zippers and the latest perfume is presented by a tall stunning lady covered in make-up and fake fur. There is nothing you can't get here, be prepared to pay for it though and try not to get lost. You can always tag along with a dog, they will eventually find an exit.

Dogs. There are quite a lot of dogs, and they are smarter then I’ve ever seen. Besides crossing roads when the light turns green and having the perfect daily routine of sleeping and walking around the block systematically, I have seen them opening doors of smalls kiosks and following people till the get something to eat. Anything. They don’t bother me too much -yet- and are more a bit like street decoration, shitty street decoration! The other day, after getting lost in the mall, I found this hyper modern gym with funky drill bands and complicated machines you only see in your wildest dreams. I was well impressed and decided to give it a try. What a smell, even the gym smells of shit.....that's me. I think I stepped in more dog shit the last two weeks than in my entire life. Shit again. Am going again though, hopefully they will forget my stinky shoes, need some exercise with all the mouthwatering food surrounding me.

I think Bucharest should be called Cheese pastry heaven, they are so good! At the moment the exchange rate of 1 Euro/ 4,2 Lei makes a meal –that’s how big they are- 20 cents. Coffee and a meal for 40 cents sounds perfect for someone used to a Euro but if your wage is 3 lei an hour it all changes.

We visited the Palace of Parliament on Wednesday, the second largest administrative building in the world that houses the museum for contemporary art at the back. This massif project of Ceausescu was a very costly –not only financial- and neighbourhoods where demolished for this monster structure. I stood on the steps and looked at the wasteland where there used to be houses, now there was nothing, no precious gardens but just space and garbage.

As you can read I find it difficult to have one coherent story, its more like bits and pieces that don’t have anything in common with each other. They do, and I like them all, but it’s difficult to explain what it is I like. I love the massif straight streets, but at the same time I don’t like the way they got created. I like the concrete blocks but not what they stand for. The people are sweet but sometimes very harsh, very poor or very rich. The tram can take you to a hyper modern 3d cinema and, if you stay on for one stop more, to a street market you won’t feel that safe at all. Trust me. The many neon flashy commercials are ugly and focused on consumerism but at the same time give the streets a nice colourful glow. It’s not all that simple any more, what to like and what to dislike?