The Zike-Bike Diaries: First Impressions

"It's just so different from what I'm used to." - Logan Rummel

I vividly recall the first time I came to Romania. We arrived in Bucharest in the middle of a muggy summer night, our suitcases filled with diapers, toilet paper, deodorant, and other random items like a set of silverware, a can of compound cement, and a cheese grater. Unless we could squeeze it in our luggage, we had to live without it because so few things were available in Romania in those days. Amenities were virtually nonexistent and whatever you could find in the way of necessities was usually such poor quality that you often didn't bother to buy it.
The infrastructure was a mess: during most hours of the day the water was shut off and electricity was spotty. The highways were nothing more than two lane roads filled with Dacias and Trabants. (To appease the newly arrived, safety-conscious American, Silviu installed seat belts in his Dacia but at some point I realized that none of the seats were bolted into the floor of the car.)
No one spoke English, there was no internet, and the only way to contact the States was to make a long-distance call at a cost of 15 cents per minute.
It was really entering another world.
So I wondered, now, in 2017, at Villa Ionescu with its high speed internet, WhatsApp, and shopping malls filled with stores like Zara and KFC, what would it be like for a first-time visitor to Romania? Would it feel like they had traveled to another country or would it merely feel like they were in a colder version of Santa Cruz?
I sat down with Griffin and Logan and asked them about their impressions of Romania so far. The answer at the beginning of this post is what I got from Logan. In addition, they had the following observations:

-The village looked like what I thought an Eastern European town would look like. If it had snowed it would look better.*

-The village is kind of run down, there are a lot of unfinished buildings.

-It's weird to walk around and speak English and have people stare at us.

-It's strange to smell diesel and cigarette smoke everywhere.

-The milk is creamier, the meat is better, there are a lot of sour things and everything is homemade.

So, internet and KFC aside, Romania still makes an impression on the American traveler.

Although we're focusing these first few days on relaxing so we can get over our sleep debt and jet-lag, we still took the boys out for a walk through the village and into Craiova to visit friends and do some shopping.
Below are a few photos I took with my phone to document some of the new things they've been exposed to:

Everyone in Romania wears papuci in the house. Silvia bought all of us brand new papuci so we feel like bona fide Romanians

Mititei and sausages at Kaufland

Tanti Lenuţa's beci, and filling up bottles with her zeamă de varză

Garbage pick up in Obedin

We've spent a lot of time playing games which Logan says he's really enjoying because he's not used to doing nothing while on vacation. (I include the top photo since, to date, it's the only one I have of Silvia's face)