Pizza Papparazi

We only had one practice this morning at 10:30a and after getting a full 8 hours of sleep I finally felt well-rested. We went to lunch and had my favorite Romanian salad (Salta de Varza) which is similar to American coleslaw with cabbage, lettuce, and carrots. However, instead of the American creamy sauce, it has a vinegar and oil dressing. For it to be so simple it is the bomb! We also had soup, as usual, potatoes, and chicken with some kind of sauce. After lunch, we visited the small mall, it has a Sephora right in the front. Just what I need, everyday access to makeup, nail polish, and perfume!

Our main activity of the day was to go to the top of one of the mountains, Poiana Brasov. In the winter it is a ski resort, but during the warmer months, it has hiking trails, shops, and restaurants. I bought a couple of souvenirs and got to hold a chinchilla! On the way back down the mountain, the bus was extremely crowded. We were standing up as the bus winded down the mountainside. At one point the bus stopped to pick up two bus officials. They get on random times, and sometimes not at all to check to make sure you have a ticket for the bus. As he was checking, he got to a short, shifty-eyed, blond-haired lady. She showed him something that looked like a bootleg passport but most definitely was not a bus ticket. He looked at it, and they began conversing in Romanian. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but through facial expression, I knew she did not belong on the bus. I was in the middle. Then the lady rudely pushed my teammate's hand off of one of the rails she was holding so that she could argue with the official. So now I was in the middle of the bus with the official and the lady fighting him in front of me. My teammates had re-located up ahead. The conversation began getting more heated and escalated to hand gestures and eye rolls. At one point everyone at the front of the bus was looking back to see what was going on. The entire bus got silent so they could listen in to the conversation. A lady rushed from the front to the back to join in on the conversation. I am assuming this was a friend of the lady with the bogus ticket because she began to argue with him too. He wasn’t having it and got on the phone to call someone about the situation. Finally, we arrived back at the bus stop. Everyone got off, but there wasn’t much I could do because I was stuck behind them. After a few moments and everyone else had exited, they finally got off too, and the official ushered both her and her friend away. Needless to say, we decided to take a taxi the rest of the way home.

Although we were tired from all of the walking and action of the day we still had to go to Carre Four (Romanian Super Walmart) to get a drying rack. I have never heard of it before in my life, but basically, they only have washers here, no dryers. So most people either hang clothes out of their windows, or they buy a drying rack. I was afraid the taxi wouldn’t be able to fit the drying racks but thank goodness it did. Once we got back to the apartment we were so tired but needed to eat dinner. We knew we had seen several pizza places on the way to Carre Four, so Brittany and I started walking down the street to find one of them for a quick dinner. As we waited at a stoplight we heard a car honking several times. We tried not to look then realized they were honking at us! We looked up and noticed everyone in the car waving their hands to get our attention. I have been honked at before, but unless it was someone I knew, I have never had the crazed waving that followed. At this point I was both tired and hungry, so I was in no mood to be gawked at, luckily the restaurant was just ahead. There was barely anyone in there, I’m guessing because it was about 21:00. We sat down and had just ordered our pizzas when two young guys walked in and sat at the table beside us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that they are talking and pointing at us. This is not sneaky pointing either. I’m talking index finger stretched out, hey look at that type of pointing. As we waited for our food, they turned in their seats and faced us as if they were watching tv! The only English they muttered were the words, “hungry, yah” lol. We smiled and said, “yes, very hungry”. I tried to look the other direction most of the time, this is when I wished I had a phone so that I could have something to do other than twiddle my fingers and try not to look at the wanna-be-paparazzi. Just as I was thinking that, I began to see flashes going off as they were taking pictures of us! In my mind I said, “aww…hell nah”, but instead gave them a look that was a combination of: I’m trying to be nice, you’re not slick, and are you done yet?! Our pizza finally came, it was all fresh ingredients and was just what I needed. After we ate, Brittany got up to see if we paid our check at the front or at the table. Right as she got up they started saying, “Your number, Your number!” I had my phone out to check the time. I replied, “Oh, it doesn’t work.” I probably looked guilty with an iPhone in my hand, but saying it doesn’t work lol. Again they say, “Your number, Your number!”, this time a little more aggressive. I don’t know much Romanian, so I just smiled and said, “Only wifi, American number”. They say, “Yes American! I want your number.” By this time, Brittany is almost done paying and motions me to come to the front. As I get up, one of them turns to the keypad on his phone for me to put the number in there. All I could do was laugh and say, “ I’m sorry, I don’t have a number”. Needless to say, it was funny, and if they didn’t have my number they definitely had some pictures! You never know, if all they can say is, “I’m hungry”, they might be my kind of people! :)