Travel Shenanigans

Buna! (That’s Hello in Romanian) I wanted this blog to be an easy way to see what I have been up to in Romania. It’s hard to talk to everyone on a daily basis, and even harder to remember everything that happens, so hopefully this helps! Most of what I type will be as if I was speaking, and won’t be grammatically correct all of the time. Actually, I’ll just be honest, it probably won’t be grammatically correct MOST of the time. LOL I have never had a blog before, so I’m not sure how often it will be updated, but I will try to post something every day if possible. Enjoy!

Day 1: Travel Shenanigans -Sunday, August 26th, 2012---Monday, August 25th, 2012

I was so excited to get started on our journey to Romania. I knew the total travel time would be about 30 hours, so I was sure it was bound to be an interesting trip! Our trip from IND to CHI was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that either I grew or this plane shrunk because I was ducking my head as soon as I got on. I couldn’t wait to get to my seat. We had a 4hr layover before our flight from CHI to London, but it went really fast. We sat down at a sushi bar to eat, charge our phones, waste some time playing around online, and make some last-minute phone calls to our family. We boarded the plane, but not before grabbing a pizza for ride. I have never flown internationally, so I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the plane as well as the personal tv screens on the back of the headrests! Planes are a lot more enjoyable with movies, dinner, and lots of room. After watching a movie and eating I tried to get some sleep, the plane left Chicago at 9pm and was to arrive in London at 11a. I put my blanket over my head to stay warm and fell asleep. I woke up to a LOUD noise and a bump to my right side. I peeked out of my cover, still half-sleep realizing a man stretched out on the floor by my feet in the aisle to my right. I thought this was his way of getting comfortable to sleep, and for a moment I was jealous wishing I had thought of it first. The man sitting on the other side of the aisle was wide awake and began tapping and shaking the man. He was unresponsive at first but eventually mumbled a faint 23A. This was the seat his wife was sitting in, and the man across from me immediately jumped out of his seat to get the woman’s attention in 23A. She rushed to the floor and started checking his heart rate. Flight attendants were called to his aid, the cabin lights were turned on, and an announcement came over the intercom in need of a doctor. Soon after, a man with grey hair and glasses came rushing from the first-class seating. I assumed he was the Dr. because of the grey hair, stressed look, and first-class seating-he must have money lol. The flight attendant began saying she thought the man was having a heart attack. Through all the commotion for some reason, I started getting hot and bothered too and took my sweatshirt off. I was nervous about being in the way. Eventually, they slid the man back a few rows to a more open area and relocated some other people so that the Dr. and wife could have seats. I heard some talks of landing the plane early in Canada but when they turned the cabin lights off I fell back asleep and woke up to breakfast. (I eventually realized a large bruise on my right arm from where the man had hit me on this way down to the floor.) The plane landed safely, and I happily exited the long flight in hopes of spending some time in London during our 7-hour layover.

The first thing we did off the plane was pass-through another round of security, then waited in line to get our next boarding pass. After that was over, we had burned about an hour and after realizing that we would board 30min early, there were no travel agents or information in sight, and it was raining; I knew the journey into downtown London was not happening. Oh well, my ankles were swollen and I was ready to eat again (as usual). We were leisurely walking through the airport looking at all the shops and restaurants searching for a place to eat when my ankle completely gave out. I fell to the floor but popped right back up as if nothing had happened and kept on my walk to food. In my mind, I was shaking my head like OMG just get me to a seat ASAP. We sat down at a restaurant, and I decided to get up and take another trip to the bathroom. I went in, used the bathroom, washed my hands, and was on my way out when I heard a custodian saying “Ladies! Ladies!” I didn’t think she was talking to me so I kept walking toward the exit. Finally, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw the worker. I thought to myself, oh shoot I must have left my phone or my passport, then remembered I left all of that at the restaurant. She looked up at me shocked and said, “Lady?”. “Yesss?” I replied, in a slightly annoyed voice. “OH, I thought you were a MAN!” I looked at her ½ shocked, ½ embarrassed, and power walked out of the bathroom toward the restaurant. I had just recently cut my hair and got a texturizer so that my hair would be more manageable overseas. I had taken my earrings out so I could sleep more comfortably on the plane, and after 12 hours of airport living and sleeping I guess I looked a little rough.

I also don’t think this woman had seen a black woman with short hair before either. I hadn't seen any since I left Indy. At this point, all I wanted to do was either be back home or to Romania. I just didn’t want to be traveling anymore. I went to the bathroom once more before we left and scared 3 women. Airport bathrooms don’t have doors, they have zig-zag entrance ways. I was almost out when I stopped to look at my face, (which was breaking out). Three different women walked into first part where I was standing, gasped, then abruptly walked out. After the second lady, came back I realized she thought she had walked into the wrong restroom, checked the sign, then came back in. As I walked out, several people standing in the hallway looked at me, then the sign on the door. I now felt bad for all the men I have laughed at after seeing them walk in and use the women’s restroom. SMH, just get me on this plane.

On the flight to Bucharest I slept most of the way, but woke up promptly at mealtime. (That is usually the way my body operates) I think I can sense the food even when I’m sleeping. We finally arrive at Bucharest (the capital of Romania) and go through customs, which was basically a man in a box that looks at your passport and lets you through. Well, when my turn came he looked at the passport, then looked at me (PICTURE passport verses now) and did that about 10 times. Right as he was about to stamp my passport the man sitting to his right taps him and says, “No, that’s a man.” The man with my passport looks at me, looks at my passport, then back at me again. He then responds to the man beside him who has repeated himself again. At this point, I am beginning to sweat because I am in a sweatshirt with no air conditioning, and we have been walking quickly to get to the money exchange before customs. I probably look guilty and nervous. LOL. My mind instantly flashes to every episode of locked up abroad that I have seen. Flash back to reality- The man with my passport stamps it and hands it back with a smile saying, “Don’t worry lady, you’re ok”. I smile, say thank you, and catch up to my friend who is looking at me trying to figure out what took so long. All I say is my passport doesn’t match, she understands and doesn't need me to explain what happened.

We continue to the baggage claim, and I see some of our bags come through immediately. I am relieved that our bags going missing would be something I no longer had to worry about. As I pulled the bags off of the conveyer belt, Brittany saw one of the airport workers pushing some luggage carts and began walking toward him. Just as she started walking, 5 Romanian women charged the carts. It looked like something I had seen on Animal Planet involving fresh meat and a pack of lions. I saw a woman with one arm fend another woman off with her nub! Brittany finally got a little more aggressive and got the second to last cart. The man who pushed the carts out immediately began helping us with our bags and pushed them out of the doors. We didn’t know what the guys looked like who were picking us up, nor did we have a phone to call them. Luckily two black girls, with giant bags were enough to spot us. They walked us to the car, got our bags in, and gave the cartman a tip. He shook his head profusely refusing the money and saying he needed more. They gave him more, and he walked away. The trip back to Romania was not bad, it was just long. We stopped at a McDonalds, and it tasted just like home which I was happy about. The drive was about 3 hours which included almost hitting a few stray dogs, driving through a mountain range on a two-lane highway, and it was raining. I was excited to see where I would be staying for my next 7 months of life in Romania. We eventually pulled up to an apartment complex, walked the 3 flights up, and into our new home. I was pleasantly surprised. We picked our rooms, unpacked our stuff, and found some free wifi to let our family know that we were ok. After all of the traveling shenanigans, I was happy to finally be in my new home!