Romania is a very flat land, and there wasn't much to see during the drive except for miles upon miles of bright yellow sunflower fields (which were quite stunning, actually). Sunflower seeds and oil are a popular commodity here. For those of you who have been to Greece, Romania looks very similar, but much poorer and without the hills. The village of Murighiol, where we are staying, is home to only a thousand people, and most of the houses are disheveled with thatched roofs. Some of the nicer-looking homes are stuck and have orange or grey tile roofing. The roads are unpaved, uneven dirt. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere, like Greece, and often people allow their farm animals to roam the village unattended. But since it is such a small town and everyone knows everyone, John says, if someone were to steal something or break into someone's home, the villagers would find out about it and could probably figure out who did it. So, crime as we know it isn't a problem here.
Myself and eight other girls are staying at Mihail's house, while the six boys and two remaining girls are staying in quaint cabins located just outside where we eat our meals each day. Dr. Mihail Zahariade is a sixty-two year-old Romanian archaeologist, who is head of the Romanian Institute of Archaeology. He and John are co-principal investigators for Halmyris. He is very sweet and hospitable, and speaks English well but very slowly. His house is quite nice in comparison to some of the other houses in the village. It's a ranch style, white stucco house with air- conditioning, a large unkempt garden and a wrap-around porch that overlooks Purple Lake. The house has the main part where Minail lives, with a kitchen and living room, ad then it has three unconnected bedrooms, each with two or three beds and a bathroom. I am staying in one of these three bedrooms with Allison, a senior archaeology major at Dickinson, and Andrea, a senior art history an classics double major at Weslyian.
After settling in, John gave us a quick tour of the village (its very small), and then we met up with Mihail for dinner.
As most of you know, I do not eat any meat, poultry or dairy products. And the word "vegetarian" (let alone "vegan") doesn't exactly exist here. Romanians are big on eating meat with every meal, and potatoes come with everything whether they're mashed, boiled or fried. Oh, and don't forget the beer. Lots of beer. Romanian beer has twice the amount of alcohol than in the states.
John and I have had a little trouble trying to explain to our cook, who doesn't speak English, what vegetarian means and why I can't eat anything that's cooked in butter. But I realize this is a situation where I need to be a bit more flexible, and so far I am just trying to be easygoing and eat what I can that's on my plate.
Otherwise, our meals are well-prepares and fresh. We are served breakfast and then two or three courses for both lunch and dinner.
After dinner, we all headed over to a sports bar to watch the World Cup final. Mihail and John were rooting for Italy, while the rest of us cheered on Spain as they won 4 - null.
It's been a long day of traveling and meeting new faces, and I know I will pass out the minute my head hits the pillow.
Give the kitten back to whomever you stole it from haha
ReplyDelete