First night

A two and a half hour delay, a missed connection flight and 12 hours of air travel later... I finally made it! (I actually wasn't so sure I was going to after missing my connection flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest).

I ended up arriving at Bucharest International Airport (Henri Coanda) around 5:30, where I met my professor John and three other students on the trip. From there, we took taxis to our respective hotels and hostels. Another student on the trip, Graham (who so happens to be from CALIFORNIA, Sami Tutone!), and myself are staying at the Butterfly Villa Hostel.

It's my first time staying at a hostel, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I figured I shouldn't expect much. It's a quaint stone building that has a courtyard and a locked gate entrance (as most of the hostels here do, from what I've seen). This hostel seems to be run by young adults who live here full time. Thankfully, I am staying in a single room on the first floor; otherwise, I would have had to drag my luggage up a narrow winding staircase (much like the ones in Athens).

My room is small; similar in size to my freshman year "economy single" dorm, except a bit longer. A pine bunkbed sits against the far wall, where there's a large window overlooking the courtyard. The floor and walls are tiled in beige and taupe limestone, with a decorative border separating the two colors. I'm thankful for the stone walls and flooring because there is no air conditioning, and the tile will help keep the room cool at night (though I'm only staying here for one night, anyway).

After John dropped us off at the hostel and we freshened up, Graham and I walked to a nearby pub a few blocks away, where the group was to meet for dinner. Fortunately, Graham knows his way around the city quite well. This is his third time volunteering for this dig, so he is familiar with Romania. I, on the other hand, hadn't a clue where to go, so I followed him to the pub like a lost puppy.

There, we drank and ate with John and the rest of the crew, which consists of about 15 people (mostly students of John; some have graduated, like me).

Everything is very cheap in Romania, and the dollar goes far here. It's 1 Romanian lei to 0.3 USD. So everyone was buying beer, having dessert. I ordered some whiskey. The boys looked at me like I had three heads.

Although I came into this not knowing anyone, everyone seems to be easygoing and friendly, and we've already started planning a trip to a resort on the Black Sea this weekend.

Tomorrow morning, we are all meeting John outside the Funky Chicken Hostel (yes, that's the name) at 10. From there, we will take a bus to the town of Murighiol, where we will be living and digging for the next four weeks.