Exploring the Unknown.....DUH DUH DUHHHHHH

The city :D

So many things have happened in the past couple of days, many of which I don't have pictures of sorry. I just always feel weird pulling out my camera, it makes me feel like a tourist. :( Anyway so for awhile I hadn't really been anywhere, but last night I had a Rotary meeting at in which I got to meet the other exchangers! YAY. It was at one of their host parents house and we get along very well. There is Shelby, Liz, Lexi, and Moi. They are all from the East Coast, America. I discovered Shelby just lives up the block from me! First of all this was nice because they helped with the language (ughh), and they know what I'm going through too because we're all going through it.


They took me and Lexi around the city today!!!!! Shelby and Liz have both been here for two weeks. First they took us to the tea house. It was so delicious and we're going back tomorrow because we don't have school until Tuesday!

Liz drinking tea

We got Savanna tea
Yummy
It's a citrus tea

Next we walked down the main road and we say the court house it's the most beautiful thing. First you walk through the courtyard of fountains and then at the very top you find a statue. There are some stairs close to that that lead you up to another statue. After that we went on a little hike.....The hike was somewhat long and somewhat difficult. We were all wearing flats or some sort of inappropriate shoe. It was so beautiful though, and it was nice to know that we could go hike and be outdoors. At the end we were very tired though. Plus there was some man sleeping next to the path...

  

Above is the mall, it's huge it has four stories and SOOO many stores. We went and ate there, mall food isn't much better there oh well. I got pizza! Romanian pizza is quite different. We also went to a technology store, a book store, a shoe store, and an accessory store. Excluding food I only bought one thing and it was 10 lei so it was like 3 dollars. Oh and the tea was like a dollar for each of us haha. Love it here! It was a hair accessory  After that we went down to this amazing park! It's called Zavoi, and it was absolutely beautiful, why can't we have parks like that in America!

Then after that I went to dinner with some of my host families friends, and they were big into joking. Jokes that would have been pretty strange here, and pretty "not okay" with my host parents because I'm a "child."

On the good side I'm starting to understand/speak more Romanian. Simple stuff like Mi-e somn (I am tired) or Interesant. And now I can usually order in ROmanian perfectly fine, and get whatever I need. Such as a left over box or a bottle of water. At the dinner though I barely understood anything 0_0

Wish me luck at school I start on Marţi (Tuesday). Tomorrow I'm going shopping with the other exchangers.

Also I learned that at the end of the month I get to go to a Rotary Meeting in Arad. I'm very excited!

Well I'm Here!!!!

Well there is so much to report, but since I am tired I am going to report very little.

View from apartment

Romania is amazing! It's beautiful and so different. First of all my first host family, is quite nice. Although I feel bad because they had to take me to a doctor because I was sick. Great first day huh? Actually there were good parts, although I felt not so well until now. I'm going to do a quick run through

-My planes, all good except on the flight from Denver to Frankfurt I ate there breakfast (end of my flight) and my stomach was upset ever since then. Hence being sick. I really don't like Frankfurt, it's like a big mall (with Tiffany's) with no chairs. When you're tired you want a chair, especially with foot room.

-Arriving- First I would like to apologize I didn't get any pictures of Bucharest because my stomach was preoccupying my mind. It's beautiful. The airport is all glass and we drove around the Romanian version of the Arc de Triomphe. Although the driving back to my host town! Romanian driving is scary. Twice as scary as driving in San Diego and Los Angles put together. i lived and I'm actually getting used to it.

The view from my room

-Host town, is not longer a host town. It's a host city. Beautiful to me because everything is so different. We don't have huge apartment buildings, although gray and kind of ugly, there so different. Many of the "nice" houses are gorgeous old victorian style.

-Grocery Store was interesting and costs are much higher than I anticipated. I also think we bought like 40 dollars worth of olives. I wouldn't know because I have learned here that I know nothing, but thats okay.

-Doctors, was very different and I think I prefer their way. We went in and my host father came back telling me that it was an hour wait. We went home and I slept. Then we went back. They did different things than the doctors in America, and since I didn't understand them I will never know. They were very nice.

-Host Apartment is so nice. Small, but it kind of grows on you. I've mostly been in my room, sleeping. Now I am watching T.V. with my host dad. Their commercials are strange.

-Host Puppy is cute and knows how to get what he wants!

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu

Well actually it's 6029.6 miles.

Well the excitement and nerves are here. I only have one full day in America left. Then 35 hours of flying/sleeping in airport and I'm in Romania. It's weird to think that by the time the week is up I'll be in Romania. In fact by Wednesday!

-I finally got my Romanian money! It's is much more exquisite than ours.

If you look closely the...
$100 has the drama faces
$10 has an art easel
$50 has an eagle (hard to see)
$5 has a music note
how pretty

I also got my business cards fixed! YAY for having the right address.

I am going to pack tonight, I think. It's very hard to pack, but I have everything now and I'll only be here on Monday and then I leave Tuesday morning EARLY. 4:30 am is way too early for anybody to be up but oh well.

I also got my ipod(s). I have a nano of my own that I got about 6 years ago, it works perfectly fine, and I finally got my current music on it. Then Anna is lending me here ipod touch, which is nice but it can't play music correct. So my plan is to use the nano for music and the touch for everything else. Also that means i will be less likely to lose her ipod.

Good job Espana, Chile, and now welcome Austria!

I'll most likely update this on Tuesday considering I have 11 Hours in Denver International Airport. Although I have made many skype dates! Wish me luck!!!!!! I am so nervous!

Uh OH NINE DAYS! Where did the days go?

Well I'm back again, with more....stuff

Anna and Becca at Starbucks

This week I wouldn't say has been busy, but it has been at the same time. I did go to school for a day. Well like half a day, and nothing was expected of me. I got there at 10 ish, and started out with advisory. Advisory is a class in which you're allowed to do your homework. Weird, I know! After Advisory I went to Anna's second period, Computer Graphics. In which we had an awesome time with a freshman named Kelsey, who is also my neighbor. Then we went to lunch, yummmmmmm. Doughworks and we got AWESOME BAGELS! haha. Drawing with Becca, was next, and I have to admit it was really boring. I didn't know one could lecture about drawing 1. After that AP Euro, one of my favorite classes that I took last year. After that I printed out my plane ticket. Is it sad that I waited until eleven days before I leave.

Secondly, Jaime and I had a tourist day. Our town is a tourist town and so we went to all the tourist destinations and took pictures.

<--- Jaime riding one of the horses that we have in the middle of our town.

We also went to a couple of shops on our excursion. Plus, we went to the Railroads museum.

baggy shirt + fan = fun
This is me
FYI

Later that day I got to meet the Rotary Exchange Student from Romania coming to a town close to mine. It was very nice and less awkward than when I met the Ecuador Exchange Student. It was strange though because I  don't think I have been treated in that way by a guy ever. That way = so freaking polite and nice. I have to say meeting him made me ten times more excited to go. We didn't take any pictures, but he's really tall. If you wanted a mental image haha.

My plans now are to start packing. I know I should have started awhile ago but getting the effort is way to hard. Also I'm trying to hang out with as many people as possible. I would like to see the Romanian Exchange Student before I leave again, but I don't know if that possible. Tonight I'm going to see an African Acrobatic show at my local college. I'm excited!

This is going to be so random, but I got a spider bite....ON MY FACE! Really, I mean out of all the places to get it. It's not too obvious but now I have to put neosporin on it. :( Actually you can barely see it, but still. It's doing surprisingly well too. Random hahaha

Another random thing I have noticed that Chile just shot up my flag counter, so I would like to thank them for making me feel as if I'm somewhat important. CHILE ROCKS, along with Romania hahaha :D

For future reference I will do a before i leave post and a after I get there and they might not be a week apart. :D Wish me luck with my last week

Less than 20 days left!

I'm not sure when the count down actually begins but here is the list of dates.

The view of my town
with a couple of branches

-2 Days until I meet the girl from Ecuador coming to my home town.
-3 Days until school starts here (I can't help but laugh every time I think of it hahaha)
-6 Days until I go to drop off my schedule and say goodbye to people ( I know sucks that I have to go at all, but the goodbye part could be good).
-7 Days until I meet the boy from Romanian going to a town close by mine.
-Estimated 13 Days until my father comes home.
-17 days total :) The weird part is i keep thinking, "oohhhh tomorrow will be 16," when it's not actually that close.....

Who wouldn't be excited for this?

Am I excited?

The answer is yes and no. It's not that I'm not excited for it, but it's very far away. I haven't even gotten everything I need, host family gifts, said goodbye or anything. Although we have planned out my last night here. Yummy Italian food at my favorite restaurant.

What's new?

I bought stretchy jeans. The wonders of these pants. They are so comfortable! Two complaints though. 1. They are a tiny bit too long (petty complaint, I know). 2. They have fake pockets :/ SAY WHAT! I have no place to put my phone hahaha

Good things so far

- I'm at 17 days :O I think thats good
-My host sister, Oana, made it safely to her host town in the US
-My host mother, Dani, added me on skype (although I'm quite nervous to skype her)

Our Skype Conversation
Don't ask what she's doing

-I'm going shopping tomorrow
-I'm going to sleep soon (I LOVE my sleep)
-My friend Danni, whose in Sweden, is having a great time.
-My dog, Socks, is on my bed keeping my feet warm haha

Romanian dictionary
It's a life saver

Romanian is actually going along well, in my point of view.

This is going to be a short post since nothing new has happened.

Îmi pare rau = I am sorry (for having such a pointless post)

Hopefully I will have more to report on later :)



I almost forgot I have a story! My sister, her boyfriend, and me went out to sushi. I never order sushi I just eat whatever gets put in front of me so this is what we got

 This my dear friends is a fish. I know I shouldn't have named him, but I did. His name is Benny. He was used as a bowl to feed us. How sad isn't it. Then Ty, my sister's boyfriend, ate his face. UGHHHHH he lost points there my dear friends. But then he paid for it so it was all okay. hahahaha






And that right there my dear friends --->
is heaven. I don't know what it is, but it tasted AMAZING. I LOVE SUSHI!

Did you know sushi in Romanian is sushi.
I think it's because they don't have sushi there hence there is no original word for sushi. I wonder what sushi is called in Japanese?

Ello Mate

I don't know why I named this post that, I just did. Well not much new to report on, but I'll try my best. I'm almost done with my visa documents completely. Finally got my financial guarantee form notarized the correct way. The first time the bank's letter head wasn't on it, and the second they put the letter head on it only upside down. I also got to order my Romanian money! Although my friends and me were joking about it the whole time. You see the Romanian money is the leu. It sounds like loo. So we would say give me a loo (as in british way to say bathroom) you looser. Yeah we're amazingly mature. :D

Playing Hide and Seek
in Wal-Mart :D

Lately all I have been doing is equal to nothing. Now more people are leaving, and not only Rotary kids. My sister whose 5 years older than me and is currently 21, I'm friends with a lot of her friends (some are in the middle). The ones in the middle are leaving for college! Lucky them they get to leave in August. In addition to the college kids leaving of course the Rotary kids are leaving and I'm amazingly jealous. About eight kids have left so far! Only three people have posted pictures :O!

School is starting soon for America. It's very strange because in my town school starts on August 22, about 2 weeks from now. Romanian school starts in over a month from now :/. I think the scariest part about school in Romania is I will have only been in Romania for five days, the other exchange students get about two weeks.

Another Strange thing with timing is that I leave in 27 days! Of course I don't include the actually day I'm leaving September sixth cause I'll be at the airport at 4:30 am, who counts that as a day? Plus I don't count the day were on because I'm strange.

Oh random though but my friends have been suggesting me to switch to google chrome instead of internet explorer. Don't do it!

Here are some pictures of life right now....... (which means boring)

My baby dog Dotti

Sending Danni on her way
With Smokey the Bear

My Sister and I playing in a costume shop

Mattie in Pink Aviators

Hopa = Oops!

My facebook taught me that today

:D

Everybody is LEAVING

Well hello again....

So the only thing new is that one of my best friends Danni, Sweden, has officially left the United States. It's a very strange feeling, knowing that I won't see her for a year. The feeling is hard to describe, it's like you don't even notice it at all until you think about it. I don't miss her until I want to go do something with her or talk with her. I wish her the best of times in Sweden!
 

Anticlimatic
but we were all happy



The nerf gun!
Way too much fun!

She left on the 30th of July, two days ago, and Anna and I stayed up with her the night before. EXHAUSTING, but fun. First we resolved to clean her room so that her parents didn't have to deal with it when she left. This started out as the three of us cleaning and turned into Danni and Anna cleaning and me shooting the Nerf Gun! It was amazing amounts of fun. Though around 2 am I could no longer stay awake. Anna and I had played tennis for three hours that day, and were utterly exhausted. Danni slept for 20 minutes..... I don't know how she does it. The next we left for the airport and said all of the goodbyes and stuff. Dropping people off at airports isn't as epic as it seems in the movies! First of all your waiting with them for close to an hour before they go through security. I didn't mind that but in the movies they always get their ticket, have a couple of tears in their eye and go their way. Not this time instead we took pictures of Danni and her mom and dad on a fake snowboard and chairlift. Thats how interesting our airport is....its uber small. Then when it was finally time for her to go through security we saw the security gaurd take out her bag of skittles and send it through the scanner alone.... First of all Danni as a terrorist, just wouldn't work. Second of all who hides bombs in Skittles? It was funny none the less. After she went through security we stayed with her parents for about twenty minutes as they were trying to see her through the window behind. They caught a glimpse, but I guess any parent would be like that if it was the last time they saw them for a year.

Doesn't she just look wonderful

Now that was kind of all of the exchange relatedness that I have....even though it wasn't my exchange. Danni's exchange blog is on a link to the left --->

She hasn't made a post about it yet, she's only been there for a day, so she will soon check it though : D



hmmmmm
the wall behind the picture could be better



Hmmmm...another exchangey thing is I got my business cards. Yay! I think the picture actually turned out good! One problem you cannot see though, because it's somewhat private, is the contact information. They put my mother's cell number on it, not mine, and if anybody wants to be sending my mail they will be sending it to my neighbors because they put the wrong house number on it..... I'm still debating on what to do. I don't want to get it redone because that would cost more money. I'm thinking white out, but that would just look tacky...... maybe write it on the back. There's a map on the back, of course! the map is quite ugly, but I have learned that there is a Burlington, Colorado......hmmm oh welll! At least the picture is good :D

35 days until I leave, it seems so far. Good thing though is that school, here in the United States, starts in about three weeks. School for me starts in another month and a half, so I get to sleep in while those suckers get to get up. Plus it's another chance to say goodbye before I leave.

Strange thing to blog about but my cat, the one who brought in the squirrel, has peed in my suitcase. Not on my suitcase but in. I ended up having to wash everything and dousing my suitcase in a mixture of vodka, white vinegar, and this nice smelling stuff. It might be febreeze I didn't really pay attention. My wallet was even in there, so I had to put my money in the wash! I swear my cat has it out for me! She is very cute though! It's hard not to think so....





Since I've already taught you had to say goodbye

La Revedere Mea Prieten = Goodbye My Friend

I'll miss you

: D