The Trip to the States (1)

2/6/07 - check it out...two nights in a row...what the heck is going on....i decided i need to catch up before i go away again...which is happening in less than two weeks...and i promised some folks they would make the blog...so here goes....my trip back to the states was just under three weeks and it was awesome...the family, the friends, the food, the driving, even the weather...it was just a wonderful, relaxing time where i did NOT think about work once...yahoo!!! it was nice to be in a place where there aren't tons of stray dogs, or garbage blowing everywhere...where i knew where to find anything i wanted in a grocery store, and if there was something i couldn't find, i was confident i could ask for it and the saleperson would understand what i was looking for...it was just good to be back....but of course there were things that reminded me that its not really where i should be living....the biggest being geroge w. in my face on every channel...i don't get that here in romania...and that's a great thing....but here are picture of some of the folks i visited with...thanks to all who met me for food or drinks or gave me a place to stay and hang...and thanks for all the new stories :) these pictures are not in any kind of order...hope you don't mind

this first shot is of my good friends belkys and luis...the DAY BEFORE belkys gave birth to their first child - mikaela...a very cute little girl....and these are her proud parents...good friends of mine who i lived in ecuador with....congrats to them and their entire family :) (send pictures when you have them of that cute girl of yours :) it was great to have the "group home" crew together again :)

this shot is of my mom and her card group...most of these awesome women i have known all my life...they are like my alternate moms :) we got together for the christmas gift exchange, and they all brought their favorite cookies to make...yummy!!! such great women :)

this shot is of sarah, dan, betsy and myself...sarah is a good frined of mine from seattle...who teachs in boston and her folks live in PA...so we try to get together at least once when we are in the same general vicinity :) i joined them for some tasty take-out...such a wonderful family :)

this shot is of me and my good friend dan from the south pole...we met there and found out we lived only 40 minutes from each other when we were growing up....dan is in seattle these days, but still goes home to PA for the holiday...lucky for me...we hung out for an afternoon catching up....what a wonderful time :)
here is a shot of dan, lisa and matty...good friends of mine from volleyball a long, long time ago...there is a member of the family missing...josie...she's getting bounced in her bouncy chair down below the level of the picture...i hope she forgives me for not getting her with the rest of the family...but i swear she is there...they had me over for a tasty dinner and hanging out time :)
here's a shot of my good friend greg and his super cool girlfriend jess, who i was meeting for the first time...we had a great breakfast hanging out and catching up...it was a bunch of fun :)

i had two nights of make-shift high school reunions...it was a blast...and this year is actually my 20th year of graduating from high school...i think this is kind of cool...but i don't feel like its been 20 years...but i have done a lot since that time a long time ago :)

here are some cool folks i hung out with all the time about 20 years ago :) there is shannon, heidi and tim...it was a blast getting everyone together with wives, husbands and financees and such fun to see where folks have gone and where they are headed....it was a just a bunch of fun :)

some other folks who came along for the great valley ride, but were not in high school with me were my friends above...my friend lane - far left - is someone i know from the ice...nice guy who lives/grew up about 30 minutes from where i grew up...this man brought me salt water taffy...yummy....and then my friends joan and kenny....met these folks a few years ago and we have lots of fun everytime we hang :) so glad these three could make out with my high school friends and i one night...it was a good time had by all...

next up are my good friends jen and tracy from science explorer days :) as you can see tracy was pregnant and looking great...she has now had another little boy...this makes her third...so cute...and jen is in the process of figuring out her wedding and the science explorer [part of her life...she owns the company...it was a delicious lunch with the two of them...out in the middle of amish country...rock on science explorer gals....

this is me and my good friend kelley...a friend from my boston days...she actually was in the PA area so we met one afternoon for lunch...it was great to see her and catch up and wish her congratulations in person for her exciting new job :) yahoo!!! let's hear it for the bad sistahs...

this last shot for this post is my good friend lea...aka pinky...i was in NYC with her for a rockin' new years eve...she has become one of the most incredible hula-hoopers in all of NY...she is a burlesque dancer and is amazing on stage...such fun presence...i am so glad i got to see her dance and wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else for new years...thanks pinky...love ya :) i will try and finish up this visit in my next post...but its late and i need to crash...hope you enjoyed seeing my friends and hearing their stories for yourselves....til the next post :)

Romanian Adventures with Wendy - part 2

2/5/07 - hey there all..well...i haven't been doing too well with this and never really finished up from when wendy was in town...so i'll try and do that tonight...although its getting late and i need to go to bed soon...life here in bucharest has been busy...grades were due today and of course that took up some time...plus, i have been getting out and experiencing lots of nightlife...i know some of you are saying what's new about that...but i am really trying to get out even when i have had a cruddy in traffic...its been going well so far...i have been to three new, cool places in the past few weeks...two restuarants and a fun bar :) so life is going okay at the moment and my friend jennifer gets here this weekend...which means another trip is just around the corner...poland and czech republic here i come....anyway...here are some of the shots from the rest of the trip i took with wendy...sorry they took me so freakin long to post....

this first shot is from a great town called sighisoara (pronounced ziggy-shwara)....its the birthplace of vlad tepes...aka dracula....very quaint place...and we stayed in this really cute pensione...there wasn't much room in this room...but the dresser shows you how it was decorated...it was really a nice place....both wendy and i enjoyed...here she is acting as vanna...

this is the town square in the tiny town of sighisoara....cute huh...just like i said...we stayed in the light blue building...on the top floor...so we had a slanted roof over our heads and the clock tower out the window...it was quite warm, so we tried keeping the window open...but the clock kept chiming every 15 minutes....even after having a fun night of drinking, it was still a pain....but overall the place was quaint and i am hoping to get back there....

as i typed above...this town is the birthplace of vlad tepes...also known as "vlad the impaler" or dracula...and here is bust of him with the main church of the town in the background...i am not really sure just what his history is here other than being born and growing up...but i am hoping to read up more on this guy sometime in the near future while i am still living here...

this next shot is of wendy and i outside of dracula's tavern...also the birthplace of the man, the myth, the legend...when we got inside, friends of mine from bucharest where sitting there having drinks and a snack...so of course we joined them...it turned into a great night with romanian music involved a bit later...it was a great place....

one of the reasons the night was so much fun, was because before we got to dracula's tavern we stopped at Teo's place...Teo's is about 85 years old and has a fake eye...a cool guy who only speaks french and romanian and makes his own palinca...which is the national drink of romania...its twice distilled fruit-ish brandy...its just like fire water let me tell you...and when you stop in to see Teo he keeps giving you shots...it was a bit crazy...but also a bunch of fun...here you see us after we have had a few shots and have purchased some palinca for the folks back home...yummy :)

on the way to the next town we were staying in we stopped off in bran...where dracula's castle is located...do you sense a theme to this trip??? maybe its the romanian theme :) anyway...in the town of bran we saw this cool guy selling pork fat, cheese and homemade palinca...don't you just love his hat...lots of men wear them here and women seem to wear similar ones, but theirs are generally made from fur of some sort....

while in bran we had this tasty hungarian pastry...this is a bread roll...which is twisted around a metal pole sort of thingy and they coated in a small bit of butter, brown sugar and whatever toppings you want besides...we got sesame seeds....YUMMY!!!! they were fun to watch make...and i even kind of ordered in romanian...not well...but kind of :)

here's wendy getting ready to take a huge bite of the hungarian pastry with the bran castle in the background...don't you love the foggy look even though its sunny...bran was quite crowded so we didn't stay long...but it was a quick trip with a tour of the castle and tasty pastry....

here's a shot of the last town we stayed at while wendy was here...its called brasov and is known for its really good hot chocolate...and unfortunately the place with the good chocolate was closed for renovations...ugh...what a pain...but this is the cute town square and seen from our room's window...we couldn't have asked for a better spot...

this shot is of wendy fooling around in our shower/tub....hahahahaha....she doesn't know this is here...gotta love that...but this is a typical set up for a romanian bathroom...a shower with a tub...and no shower curtain...its hard to get used to this and when you first use them you tend to make a big mess of the walls and floor...i am not sure how the europeans do it...i need the curtain...maybe i just make a mess too much...anyway...i love this picture....hope you do too :)

this last shot in brasov is on the pedestrian walkway...its a great place to walk up and down and people watch...unfortunately bucharest does not have one of these...they really need to get one...i think it woiould make all the difference in the world...we had a fun time exploring brasov and the other places together...wendy was a wonderful visitor, and if you know her, you'll have to ask her what she thought :)

this last shot is of wendy and i...we hadn't seen each other for more than a year...but this is one of those friendships that picks up where it just left off...the two ice girls had a blast and i hoped you enjoyed our adventures....the next posting should be from my visit back to the states over the holiday...its been a bit of time since i was there...but i promised some folks they would make the blog...hopefully that post will happen sooner rather than later...hope all is well...