After all the travelling in Romania from the cities of Oradea and Timisoara to the villages of Secusigiu I have finally reached my long term destination of Bucharest, Romania. It is beautiful. It is quite funny because I had so many warnings on why Bucharest is such a horrid place and it turns out; it is by far my favorite place in Romania.Before I took the 5am 8 hour train ride here my last words of advice from a resident Romanian was "Watch your back, the Bucharesti's are no good, don't trust anyone, even those you become close to." Of course it was in the Romanian language, something I am not exactly learning considering I have used Gabe as my translator the entire time.

Gabe left me two nights ago and now I am on my own. The first day he left me I stayed cooped up in the house the majority of the time. I was too nervous to go test my language ability with real Bucharesti's, not to mention the fear most Romanian's had put into me that if I were to walk in the streets alone I would probably get mugged for everything I had. Around the time my stomach started screaming at me, I decided to make a beeline for the store for some bread (paine) and salami (salame) two things I could actually say.Luckily, I went the correct way and arrived directly at the store and you can guess what happened...I chickened out. I say these words all the time to Gabe and his family but for the life of me I couldn't spit them out at the deli counter. The woman behind the counter must have thought I was planning a salame heist. I kept slowly walking by, taking baby steps then giant steps then halting all together, then scurrying quickly down another aisle only to reappear to try to work up a nerve. Along with the fact that I looked like an idiot, I swear my stomach was making noises that were not made for the average ear.I left the store with vodka, berry juice and water. At least the vodka would take away the hunger pains.

The next morning I started work. It is wonderful. One of my co-workers so graciously met me right out of my metro stop in order to walk me to work. It wasn't too difficult but it's always nice to have someone who knows what they are doing when every step you take is in a mine field. I received a tour of my new home for the next 3 months and both of my co-workers are gems. I even got to help out a bit in the office on my first day, making flyers of information.After work I attempted the bread store which is much smaller than the original grocery store I went to. I managed to slur out the words "yo vreau un paine." (I want one bread). I think the girl understood only my pointing finger and the word un but it worked and I am no longer starving.

Besides the stray dogs, Bucharest could not be better. It is a beautiful city with rich history in the buildings and the people. I have had several conversations with people who lived during Ceausescu's Communist's rule and what it was like. I am so amazed the people talk about this with such ease. It is like everyone who experienced that ruling is so happy and excited about what Romania is becoming. It is a beautiful place with friendly people and I do not think I could have chosen a richer environment.