How about an update on the apartment? I've spent part of the past week and a half putting my apartment together, installing some clothing lines, cleaning, buying necessary items, and ridding it of the smoke smell from the previous tenants. It has been slow and needless to say I have received nothing on time. Mihaela has been helping me shop around town; we've (meaning she's) found some good deals. Pots and pans, utensils, dishes, containers, and other household necessities were purchased. A stove and external gas tank were hooked up Monday but that is really all that has been done aside from my doing. I am still waiting for counters and cabinets, for my bathroom sink to be installed, for my bedroom door's window to be replaced, for a number of items that are not my own to be removed from the apartment, Internet to be installed, and most importantly, for a refrigerator. I can't consider the apartment functional until I have a refrigerator as I have meats and other items that must remain chilled. Most aggravating is that the Internet company says they are "out" of modems so they can't hook up my Internet until "they don't know when". Really, Rom Telecom? Get your act together.
Eh, asta este (an attitude I am trying to understand, the efficiency loving American that I am). Unfortunately, one piece of advice from my father that stuck when growing up, "Son, men get things done" and variations hence on that same theme (NB: not meant as a slight towards women), does not mesh well with the typical non-immediate "imediat" attitude of Romanian society. That is to say, at least with reference to American English, "imediat" seems to be a false cognate.
Anywho, the kitchen has been painted light blue and I would like to say the foyer area was painted the same except that may imply the entirety of the foyer was painted, which it was not. In fact, 70% of the way through the third wall I ran out of paint. Why not go get some of the same color, you ask? Because you have to mix the colors yourself here and I didn't measure how much dye I put into the bucket in the first place, believing I had enough. Thus I have a diagonal line through the light switch on one wall separating two colors, and the entire archway wall into the kitchen area cut in but unpainted. Brilliant. It reminded me of when I painted for a year after college and couldn't for the life of me ever estimate how much paint I would need for a given area of wall space. I haven't decided yet how I will fix this problem but if and when I decide I will make sure to fill you in.
I've been reading some good books recently. I reread Nietzsche's The AntiChrist which was more powerful the second time, as are most philosophical works. I read the first three Foundation series by Asimov, which are interesting and fairly entertaining. I've been poking around Mark Twain's complete collection for some time now, reading short stories here and there. Then there's this other work, called Suicide Note (which is exactly what its title reads), that's about 1900 pages of the author's philosophical views on extreme nihilism or something. He ended up offing himself on the steps of a Harvard campus building in front of a tour group on a Jewish holiday the moment he finished (yes, he was an ethnic Jew); a number of individuals received his work in their in-boxes four hours later. It sound gruesome I admit but at least the first hundred pages or so have been a very intriguing picture of the course of human civilization, its important role in the transition between biological and technological evolution, and it's potential destiny in the creation of "God-AI". Yeah, I know. Apparently he didn't want any part in that ... his loss. Also check out The Kingkiller Chronicles, a great fantasy novel that my nose has been stuffed into for just under a week; great characters and plot!
Hmmm ... went to Iași recently to see some live music. I met some English teachers there, one of whom was performing. I also got the chance to meet some more locals from Negresti. I went with Florin and some of his friends, all of whom were super cool. Aside from the English teacher there was a girl with us who also played guitar and sang; very talented. You can see Andrei here and Alexandra here. I hope to find a bass for cheap soon so I can join Florin's guitar circle (sort of like "guitar club" or something) and maybe even play a gig or two somewhere at some point. We'll see how that pans out. It would probably be asking too much to borrow a saxophone but Florin is going to keep his eyes peeled for one.
Sinaia next week for a conference with Peace Corps. I get to see my fellow group mates and meet the rest of group twenty-seven. Cool! It is a training session but the city is supposed to be a beautiful place so I am looking forward to some bored fun. I'll throw up a video of my apartment when I am finally settled. Pace pentru acum.
