Hello, Romania!

As many of you already know, I decided to do a bit of travelling while overseas for my Beyond Borders placement. Thankfully, my very supportive boyfriend, Jordan, wants to travel the world and so was happy to join me! We decided on Romania for our adventure because we both wanted to visit his cousin Jasson, avoid the touristy atmosphere, and stay relatively close to L’vov (which is where I would get picked up to begin my placement).

Even though I will only be gone for a summer, I had a hard time leaving Turkey Point and Waterloo. Even though it meant leaving earlier, it was nice to have this buffer time and Jordan to help ease the transition.

As difficult as it was to leave friends and family, we were both excited about the adventure and even thoroughly enjoyed the plane ride. I forgot how fun panes are! I mean, we sat for a while and watched these giant machines take off, then got on one ourselves and enjoyed dinner and a movie. The flight itself felt like a vacation after the hustle and bustle of travel preparations. We even stopped by Frankfurt for a quick cold one.

This may not seem like much to the average traveler, but I’m the kind of person who enjoys the journey – especially when it’s in good company!

The first day in Romania is definitely one of my favourites We were exhausted when we arrived in Bucharest, but the excitement of new people and environments to explore kept us going. Jordan was reunited with Jasson at the airport and I got to meet Jasson and his wife, Laura there. We didn’t waste and time:

After a quick stop at the grocery store, we made our way to Laura’s family’s farm for some fresh milk and cheese. On the way, we saw many Romanian children and elders casually sitting along the road selling stuff -  cows, horses and stray dogs close at hand. Besides the animals and goods to sell, it reminded me of how people in my family would sit and visit on the porch with the neighbours.

AS far as milk, cheese and homemade wine goes, there was no need to stop by the side of the road since plenty was waiting for us at Laura’s cousin’s farm on the hill. To get to that house – a log cabin of sorts – we parked along the side of the road and then headed down a path, over a bridge and up a hill (which is part of the Carpathian Mountains), through a forest of plum trees. When we reached our destination on the side of the mountain, we were greeted by a man, woman, cat (later named Carl), and copious amounts of cheese, sausage, homemade bread and t’swika (homemade Romanian plum wine). There weren’t any chairs to “pull up” but rather we set out a blanket and enjoyed the snacks picnic style. The food was delicious and the view breathtaking as we peered through the plumb trees to the village below. The sound of wild dogs barking only added to this new atmosphere. I didn’t understand the spoken language but I certainly understood the smiles and gestures as a warm welcome to their home and country.

Jordan awed the crowd with his natural taste for cheese, meat and t’swika while I caught some good luck by having a plum flower pedal land in my glass. Whatever combination it was between luck and help from above, it sure came in hand for the remainder of the trip.

Later than we intended, we left the cousin’s home with tswika and fresh milk. I quickly realized that feeding people is a large part of this culture, as is giving all that you have. It’s not a bad outlook.

I was also exposed to the bathroom culture. My first relatively indoor squatting experience took place at Laura’s cousin’s home, but we also made a bathroom break at her mom’s house en route to Villa Maria. Laura and her mom are very close – another example of the importance of family. Luckily for us, Kate and William were getting married on TV and so her mom had a distraction and didn’t feel the need to feed us.

Running on fumes and fresh cheese (and more fumes), we caught some Zzzz’s on the way to Villa Maria, our home for the next couple days. The villa is very nice and VERY reasonably priced. It’s located on the side of a mountain and had all we needed for cooking and showering facilities – plus a very friendly stray guard dog (now named George).

We cooked dinner on an open fireplace outside, met some tourists from neighbouring countries, had a taste of palinka, got to know Laura and Jasson, and headed to sleep after some serious bonding time.