Map of the world...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

So far from home...

Well I'm sitting her alone playing on the computer, listening to music and trying to read a book.
This morning at 5:00 AM my friends left to catch a train to their next destination (Budapest, Hungary). N, M, S, J.L., and I met up in Sibiu. N, M, and I had some fun times in Sibiu where we spent some time exploring the city and enjoying each other's company while eating and drinking (don't worry no alcohol). My cousin helped us make reservations on a bus for the next day to head up to Cluj (my hometown).
The next day we met at the bus station where we waited and waited for our bus. N who was worried we would miss the bus kept asking people and looking around for the bus. One lady said yes the bus comes but it stops outside at the gate. After waiting not so paitiently we saw the bus pulling up on the street, but after a few minutes it did not come into the gate so we took our stuff and ran to the street. The bus no longer came in the bus station as I remember, but just stops on the street just outside of the gate across the street. We made it on the bus and after getting out seats together we were off on our 3.5 hours bus ride to Cluj.
On the way N. and I listened to music, looked at pictures, watched a movie (Cloverfield) and took naps.
Oh, man I just saw the garbage truck and I was wondering when it comes so I can get rid of all our garbage. Oh, well I guess my cousin will have to put it out for next week.
Back to my story. The weather was cloudy and rainy while going up to Cluj. It was good though because I remember last year it was so hot I was wet when I got to Cluj. Cloverfield was not the best movie to watch on a bus, because it is so shaky and I got pretty car sick. At least the nap helped.
Before I go on I want to tell you my phone story. So I went to the phone store and charged or added 10 euro worth of minutes on my phone. I received the txt saying my credit was added. I tried to use the phone but the voice mail said I was "in a period of expiration" and needed to add credit to undo the expiration status. I went back to the phone store and told the nice lady what happened. She checked on my number and said that in did my phone was in that period but should be fixed soon. I left and after a few hours checked again. Nothing. I saw "call failed" and heard the "you are in a period of expiration and need to add credit to work" multiple times. During my time with N. and M. I went to the phone store again and the guy who was there this time contacted the main office of Orange and he said my phone should work sometime today.
So now back to Cluj. Being the next day I was mad my phone still did not work and we had to call the people who had the key to my aunt's house where we were staying. N.'s phone died also so we found a place where we were able to charge up her phone so we phoned the lady who had the key and she was waiting for us. We found two taxi's and off we went. We made a block detour to get the key and we were soon at my aunt's house.
We paid the taxi drives adnd we were soon in the yard. The gate key worked. The door key not so much. We were stuck outside in the rain with all our stuff. We looked to see if a spare key was hiding somewhere. No luck! I called a few of my relatives and found out the key I had was to the other side of the house. At least we were out of the rain, but since that side of the house hasn't been in use for a while... it was cold and dark. As we were waiting my cousin Marta arrived with her boyfriend and she was very surprised to see strangers in her yard. She recognized me and while talking to her she told me she did not know we were coming.
We put our stuff in the house and rested for a few minutes before deciding to go the mall to explore and have dinner. While talking to N. I learned that I overpaid the taxi driver since I paid 53 lei from the bus station to here and she paid 10 lei including tip. (we needed two taxis since there were 5 of us and lots of luggage. also the taxi was 1.79 lei per km, but since I was so tired I did not realize 53 was a lot of money). I was so mad, how did I not realize I was paying more for a ten minute ride then for my 3.5 hour ride from Sibiu (our bus ticket was 28 lei).
I was furious.
On our way to the mall we both paid 11 lei each for the taxi. We were amazed to see the mall. There was Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and many other stores I don't shop at. We had dinner in the food court (McDonalds, pizza, Shaorma, salads, etc.) and later walked around the mall looking at books, trying our luck at the casino and admiring the fountain. N and I had Starbucks to take home.
Off we were in another taxi. The whole time I was out I looked for my taxi so I can give him a piece of my mind for ripping me off. And at night I was dreaming about the words I would use when I saw him. Still upset about that.
We made our bads and off to sleep we were. We all slept in the next morning. After getting ready and have a good breakfast we were off to the city center. It rained all night but in the morning it stopped so were able to walk. We walked and walked. I don't even know how much we walked but we went to the train station to buy the tickets for them for tomorrow. We walked to the center of the city and were able to see old churches, many statues and old buildings.
We went to have lunch at a restaurant where I had great tea last year and wanted to have more again. We were all pretty hungry and excited to sit for a while. I ordered soup, two different salads, tea, and french fries (I tried french fries three different times in Sibiu and non were what I expected, so I was giving it another try). When my food came everything looked good, but when I tasted my fries they were not what I expected. I asked for a different kind of potatoe side (potatoes with garlic, N. had some on her plate and they looked good), and the waitress looked at me funny probably thinking (what a pig, eating all that food) and she asked "you mean you want another portion"? to which I answered "yes".
The potatoes were a lot better. The tea was great and I was full. Off we went back to our walk.
We went on different streets but we were still able to find the tea place that sold the same tea I had at the restaurant. Last year I looked for it everywhere and no luck.
We were back home and relaxing. In the evening we ordered Pizza Hut which is a big deal here in Romania as it is a new thing. The way they do it is they give a taxi driver the pizza and they take it to the person and we pay the taxi driver for his time and for the pizza.
It was great pizza.
And like I said now I'm sitting her alone waiting for my aunt and sad that N. and everyone else left.
I'm bored.