When I returned from Budapest this weekend and walked into my dorm, I felt the sense of home you feel after returning from a long trip. I dropped my bag, opened my non-screened window, and knew I was no longer wandering semi-lost. It seems I’ve accomplished my main goal for this summer: to live, really live, in a foreign country. I’m happy to visit other countries as a tourist, but it is a great and different experience to actually live in another country. Though I don’t have much time in Cluj and my “living” includes staying in a dorm and eating out every night I’ve had a much different experience than I would as a tourist. I have a bakery I stop at each morning for a chocolate croissant and the workers now know me. I know when the taxi drivers are taking me the long way because they think I don’t know my way. Now I’m working on telling them to go the other way. I know which ATMs will give me 50 and 10 lei bills instead of an impossible to break 200 (conversion about $65). I have a favorite restaurant and a favorite coffee shop and like a local I complain about the weather no matter if it’s too hot or too cold.
It’s hard to explain that I’m not on an extended vacation. When I had friends in other countries I was jealous that every second they were on some crazy adventure; running with the bulls one minute, boarding a catamaran the next. (I think I’m nostalgic for Spain.) The truth is when you are living somewhere for months instead of traveling for a few weeks you have to do the boring stuff of living too, (i.e.: laundry, haircuts, Facebook stalking) and that boring stuff tends to take a hell of a lot longer. So continue to be jealous, if you were, but only for part of each day.
Last weekend I spent exploring Budapest and next weekend I’m celebrating my birthday in Rome (insert jealousy here), but this weekend I was just a citizen of Romania doing normal things. Yesterday, I had to do laundry which was a challenge because my normal center closed down. After some searching and dragging my suitcase a few blocks I found somewhere to do laundry and my clothes were the driest they’ve been since I arrived! At this point, I would like to take back any complaints I’ve made about my washer and dryer. Then today I got my first Romanian haircut. This haircut was long overdue due to the fact that I was a little nervous about what could be lost in translation between me and my hairdresser. This stress was completely unnecessary and I love my new hair cut!
This post is as much for me as for you. I tend to heavily idealize my past and I’m sure this summer will be romanticized more and more as the years pass. I refuse to let this be my only experience living in a foreign country because the positives definitely outweigh the neutrals or negatives, but I wanted to give a clear picture of what it’s like to live abroad.
La revedere!
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