Constansa

This past week in Galati had some high and very low points. I'll start with the bad news to get it out of the way. On Wednesday, a Roma stole my iPhone. The police said it was a French technique, as she covered my phone with a flyer and asked me for money (distracting me) and then swiped my phone when she removed the flyer from the table. I was actually skyping with my parents on my ipad, and had forgotten my phone was even on the table. She was kicked out before I realized she had stolen my phone. Once I realized my phone was missing, we called the police and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening at the police station writing our statements with help of a translator. Unfortunately, the "Find my iPhone" app was not activated on my phone, leaving me no idea where my phone is or could be. The police seemed very confident about finding my phone, but just in case, I had my parents deactivate my number and I erased all personal information from the phone. Though this experience was very negative, I was able to learn part of the police process and learned that apple has some really cool features you can access online without a phone. I have become even more paranoid about where my belongings are and the people around me since then. I am very glad she just took my phone, and not my wallet with my money and passport inside.

Putting the theft aside, I had a great birthday and relaxing weekend in Constansa. I celebrated my birthday on Thursday night with my friends here in Galati because Jordan and I left for Constansa early Friday, my actual birthday. Thursday night at Bankers is movie night, so we watched Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe. I thought I had never seen the movie before, but once the movie was playing, I remembered watching it with my grandparents this past Christmas. It is still a great movie, and I recommend anyone to watch it if you have never seen it. Afterwards, my friends surprised me with two ice cream cakes and a present! They gave me a traditional Romanian shirt and necklace that were beautiful! To them, thank you so much again for the wonderful gifts and just coming to celebrate my birthday, it meant a lot. :)

Everyone who came to celebrate my birthday! :)

Blowing out my 23 candles on my ice cream cakes

My traditional Romanian shirt and necklace

Friday morning, Jordan and I left for Constansa. We took a bus for the 3.5 hour commute. It was very helpful to have met an English speaker on the bus who helped us find the public transportation to get to our hotel. The hotel we stayed in was actually in Mamaia which is isthmus between the Black Sea and Siutghiol Lake, just a 10 minute bus ride away from Constansa. After checking into the hotel, Jordan and I went in search of the aquarium there. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love aquariums and thought it would be a perfect place to go on my birthday. We had a very difficult time navigating the bus routes to that section of town, and ended up taking a taxi to Ovidui Square near by the aquarium. Once there, we still had difficulties asking people how to get to the aquarium, but no one understood until we found out that Romanians call aquariums museums of fish. Eventually, we found the aquarium and this one was bigger than Galati, but still does not compare to the one's I've been to in the U.S. They didn't have some of the basic animals I've come to associate with aquariums- sharks, stingrays, or even jelly fish. The main fish on display is a Russian sturgeon which were the most interesting to look at. The only "colorful" fish they had were clown and blue tang fish (aka Nemo and Dori.) Other than those, there was not a lot of interesting fish that catch your eye. After the aquarium, we went to an archaeological museum and saw some Roman ruins that were near by. The archaeological museum was HUGE! There were so many things to look at, it could have taken us hours to walk through the entire thing. They had archaeological exhibits from what it seemed like every time period. We didn't have enough energy to spend many hours there, so we headed back to Mamaia after about an hour.

View of the lake from my hotel room

Beautiful Sun Set

The view we accidentally found while trying to get to the aquarium

Ovidiu's Square that was under construction

The archaeological museum

The "casino" next to the aquarium - it looked closed to us

Inside the aquarium

The aquarium

Roman Ruins

A closer look at the tiled floor

Statue of Ovidiu in front of the archaeological museum

When we got back to the hotel, we walked across the street to the beach. I've never been to the beach in Europe before and had forgotten about the accepted nudity. Needless to say, it was difficult to take pictures that were "clean," and I did not partake in the European beach "style." The Black Sea was not as cold as the ocean in California, but I didn't think it was warm. It was refreshing from the heat of the sun, but was too chilly for me if I spent too much time in the water. I liked that you are able to see the bottom when you go further into the water. I like being able to see where I'm stepping to avoid rocks, shells, or animals.The sand would have been soft and pleasant had it not been for the mass amount of broken shells that were in the mixture. I still had a good time at the beach where I mainly spent time laying on the sand reading a book. I deemed this beach trip an extra success because I didn't get sun burned!

For my birthday dinner, Jordan and I found this restaurant right on the beach that was perfect because of the great view and various choices of food on the menu. I found out that they don't give free birthday desserts like in the States, I asked and was given a strange look from the waiter. But it was okay because they had margaritas! Those are my favorite drinks at home, and this was the first time I had seen them on the drink menu. I was nervous after ordering the drink that it would be different than margaritas I'm used to in the U.S. (after all "smoothies" in Romania are thought of as mere fruit juice), but it was exactly like margaritas in the U.S., and was happy to have found one on my birthday. :)

Saturday, we spent some time exploring Constansa and tried to see Monsters University, but the time we were at the theater was a Romanian showing, not English. Instead of the movie, we just headed back to the beach in Mamaia and spent the afternoon there laying on the beach. For dinner we went to a more touristy part of Mamaia, and found a restaurant with many different types of food with a good view of the boardwalk for people watching. There were tons of people walking around playing some carnival games, making this area a great spot to watch other tourists.

After we had dinner, we met up with a friend from Galati at the main mall in Constansa for a Latin dance show, followed by going to a salsa dancing club. I love watching dance shows, so it was great to see one live at the mall. Since the talking was all in Romanian, I wasn't sure if they were just performing of if they were competing for something. Some of them got medals, but others didn't. I'm not sure what I watched, but enjoyed watching the dances. One of the most interesting dances was this guy who was a belly dancer. I don't think I've seen a guy belly dancer before. He was wearing a bright green outfit that had sequins around the hips to show off every move he made. I remember thinking that it was interesting how he moved his hips better than almost any woman I've ever seen, and that when he turned around, from the back, he looked like a woman. I was very confused for most of the performance because he was trying to be seductive, but I thought all of his moves were very feminine making him look more like a girl. Following his performance, there were two guys that I think were from South America with extremely deep V cut shirts and tight pants. I had no idea what their dance was called, I just remember them shimming.. A LOT. Watching the dance show put me in the mood to dance at the salsa club. I thought my previous experience at a Latin club would help me, but it did not. A guy asked me to dance, and after telling him I wasn't very good/ didn't know how to salsa dance, he insisted it was okay- he would help me. I think he underestimated my lack of salsa dance skills and knowledge of the dance because when we were done dancing he told me I desperately need to take lessons when I get back to the States. I only danced one more dance with our friend, and he was more helpful in telling me directions of what to do in the dance. With more instruction, I did much better and had my confidence restored.

I left Constansa early Sunday morning to get things ready for my trip to Germany this week! I'm very excited to spend 5 days in Munich with Jordan and our classmate, Ellyn, who is interning in Montenegro. The weather should be a lot cooler, and there is lots to see!

Until next time!

The Half Way Point

Compared to my last weekend in Turkey, spending a weekend in Galati was quiet for the most part, but I am officially over halfway done with my internship. Jordan and I went to a winery on Saturday with a friend we met at the entrepreneur conference weeks ago. We had a great time at the winery. We took the ferry over the Danube and a quick 15 minute drive on a mini bus.

Once at the winery, we toured the grounds and were able to see where they fermented and packaged the wine. After the tour, we headed to the tasting room where we tasted 12 wines along with the best homemade bread I have ever had and apples. There were some wines I liked and wines I knew after one sip was not my taste. I ended up buying one bottle of a Romanian white wine to bring back to the states with me. At the end of the tasting, we were fed lunch and had some more time to explore the area. I had a great experience at the winery. It was very relaxing and a perfect mini trip while in Galati.

Both on Friday and Saturday night my Romanian mom, Dona and her friend Nadia took Jordan and me out to some "better" restaurants in Galati. Friday night we went to a Turkish restaurant that was delicious. It was really fun for me to eat at a Turkish restaurant in Romania after having just spent the previous weekend in Turkey. The restaurant did a good job cooking Turkish food, I felt like I was having a meal back in Ankara. After, we went to the TV tower that has a restaurant at the top and an amazing view of the city. We had dessert there and took pictures of Galati at night.

Nadia, me, and Dona

The next night we went to a restaurant on the Danube, literally ON the Danube. It was a restaurant on a little boat that we had to walk on a ramp to get to. It was very nice there, and being on the Danube made for great weather so we sat outside. After dinner we were forced to walk along the Danube as Dona accidentally threw her car keys in the water! At first I thought it was a late April Fools joke with the way Dona was so calm about never seeing her keys again, but she definitely was not kidding and seemed to move on quickly from the mishap. I would not have been as nonchalant. However, the accident led to us getting ice cream from one of the many Danube venders and ended the night with a good laugh.

Dona and Me

Sunday was the first day since I've been in Romania that I had nothing to do. It was nice to just do some grocery shopping and be lazy most of the day. :)

Work at SMART is starting to get more exciting as I am working on several different tasks for the Black Sea Project. SMART and it's other partners in Armenia, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova are starting a civic engagement campaign using an online platform called SolveNet. SolveNet is similar to Public-Policies.eu with implementing the SMART Method of Public Policy, but with a focus on issues in those regions of the Black Sea. Solvenet.org, aims to facilitate cooperation between civic society and public agencies in the policy decision making process, and create a stronger and more sustainable economic and social development framework in the Black Sea Basin region. Because there is a lack of appropriate means that allow citizens to make their voices heard, solvenet.org will serve as an important tool to exchange ideas and propose solutions that would improve citizen participation processes. Last week, I finished writing two press releases describing what the project aimed to do, and how it will be beneficial for the Black Sea regions involved. I had not written a press release before, but that's what an internship is suppose to be for- to learn and get experience in things I've never done before. This week and next week, I am working on information booklets and flyers on civic engagement and the SMART Method of Public Policy. Since I just finished a class this past semester on civic engagement, I am very knowledgeable on this topic, and am using what I learned in class here at work.

As for my plans this weekend, Jordan and I are planning to go Constansa, a Black Sea coast town. I am excited to go there, because we've heard there are a lot of activities to do and things to see (including great beaches!). Constansa sounds like a great place to spend my 23rd birthday which is on FRIDAY! I am very excited!!

Ankara, Turkey

Merhaba - Hello!

Merhaba is the only Turkish word I learned while in Ankara, Turkey this past weekend- Turkish is very difficult to learn! Everyone I met was very welcoming and very hospitable. Even though I only saw a small fraction of Turkey, I can tell it is a special place. Ankara is massive, around 5 million people, compared to what I'm use to in Galati, about 280,000 people. There was lots to see, but not enough time or energy to see it all. I guess that means I have to go back again someday to see the rest of it!  

On my next trip, I feel I will be a pro when it comes to traveling to and navigating Turkish airports. I had to take a van from Galati to the airport, which was about a 4 hour ride. I was surprised to find the bus stop was in the McDonalds parking lot with no sign or other markings letting me know I was at a bus stop. Once at the airport, I learned the kiosks to check into your flight only open up 2 hours before your flight, and since I arrived at the airport 3 hours early, to accommodate the bus ride, I had to wait to get my boarding pass. Then, I flew into Istanbul first for about an hour lay over before flying to Ankara. In this hour, I had to get my boarding pass for the next flight, purchase a visa, go through customs, exit the airport, go to the domestic terminal, go through security, and find the gate. I was UNAWARE of most of those procedures before I got off my flight from Bucharest, luckily all the airport employees I asked for help spoke English. I eventually made it to my gate in plenty of time for my flight to Ankara, but I worried from the moment I stepped off the plane about whether or not I was going to make it. Traveling back to Romania, I had longer layovers and knew what to expect so it was less stressful. 

Despite the all the traveling issues, I had such a great time visiting my best friend there. I also loved seeing where she's lived for the past two years, and meeting all her friends I've heard so much about. She works in Ankara at an international school as a kindergarten teacher. She leaves back for the states at the end of the month, so this was my last chance to visit her there.

View of Ankara from a local cafe 

Best Friends

Ankara Bazaar

On Saturday my friend and I went to the Ankara Bazaar, the Ankara Castle, and walked through other parts of the city. The picture above is of the Bazaar with a beautiful view of the city. In the middle of the city view, you can see one of the many Turkish mosques that were everywhere throughout Ankara. One of the really cool places in the bazaar  was a spice shop that had just about any spice you could think of on their shelves. We didn't buy any spices, but the overwhelming stock of spices and the overpowering smell had me in awe. After doing some shopping, we headed up to the Ankara Castle for more amazing views of the city. 
 

Spice Shop

Ankara Castle

View from the middle of the Castle

Me as close to the edge as I dared to go. Notice the lack of railings

Drop into the castle- this does not do the height justice.

According to Wikipedia, it is unknown when the castle was built, but the Seljuq Turks occupied it around 1073. There was beautiful views of Ankara from there, and I would recommend that spot to see the many great monuments of Ankara at once. However, if you are afraid of heights, be weary.. There are no railings and you are standing on about a 3ft wide wall with a huge drop on one side and about three stories drop of castle brick on the other. Needless to say, I was afraid of me or someone else falling, but I must have been the only one because people were having photo shoots and walking around no problem.

I came to visit at a very unique time for Turkey. Protests against the Prime Minister were going on, but know that my friend and I were very vigilant of our safety and was never in danger (for those interested, I found this article helpful in understanding the recent happenings of the protest in Istanbul, and know there are many other sources available). My trip was originally planned to meet up with my friend in Istanbul, but I had to change to Ankara when the protests started. Both my friend and I were very happy with the switch because she is more familiar with Ankara and we were able to avoid parts of town that had larger protest groups. Despite all the dangers, I really liked seeing the protests. As long as we weren't around where the police and protesters met (that's where there were water cannons and tear gas- we definitely wanted to avoid those), I found the Ankara protesters nonviolent. The best way I can explain the protests is very patriotic. Everyone was wearing Turkish flags and shirts, and some even had the founder of modern Turkey- Ataturk- on them. Many were also wearing V for Vendetta masks as a symbol of rebellion against oppression. The protests are probably something I will not see again, and they are, to this extreme, very foreign to U.S. citizens. 

I hope to one day go back to Turkey because there was so much I feel I didn't get to see in my short visit. My friend was a great tour guide under the circumstances, and I loved the small dose of home staying with her. :)

Now back in Galati, I'm back to work, and officially halfway into my internship. At work, we are fully into the beginning stages of the Black Sea Project with our partners in Armenia, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. Jordan and I each have our assignments ranging from press releases to creating brochures and booklets to helping set up the website. We also still have our policy recommendations to complete, leaving us very busy!  

This weekend, Jordan and I hope to visit a local winery for a tasting, lunch, and a tour!