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?