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.
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| 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.
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| 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!!
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