Is this for real?

September 3-4 2007

Well I made it......it actually happened. I arrived in Iasi, Romania around 1:15 pm local time. That translates into about 4:15 am Utah time. Lets' just say I was a little tired. My journey to Romania took me to the Styx river and back for those of you who know your Mythology. It was one of heck of a trip, here is just a small glimpse.
I got up this morning (yes my body is still on Monday time even though it is Tuesday evening) with little feeling. Instead of feeling excited and nervous I felt blah. To me it felt more like I was dropping my sister off instead of me. After some teary eyes I said my goodbyes, it was not until I was alone did I start to feel really alone in the world I was about to conquer. I no longer had my best friend at my side and that was hard. To cheer myself up a bit I grabbed a Cinnabon: my last attempt at US confection.

The plane ride to Washington Dulles was quick enough once we got off the ground:) We had a slight delay because the check engine fuel light came on. We later found out for no apparent reason. The mechanics checked it over and about an hour and a half later we were in the air with the light still on. That made me a little nervous but all turned out okay I guess.

Since our last flight was delayed we had to rush to our next flight, just barely making it. I will be honest I though one of the interns was not going to make it on the plan, I was relived when she made it just in the nic of time.

Flying with Austrian Air was really nice. The food was great and the stewardesses were very hospitable. The color choice was however not the best. Let me put it this way, the planes interior coloring looked as if a clown had thrown up. It was a mixture of bright teal seats accented with lime green blankets and fire engine red pillows. It made me laugh. That was our flight to Vienna.
The flight to Iasi was definitely a different story. When was the last time you flew in a plane with propellers? It think the plane that we road in had to have been made in 1967. It was really old:) What was cool was that we got to walk on to the plane, the whole four steps. It was really cold and windy in Vienna so not as enjoyable as it could have been but still an experience that I have never had before. I was not feeling so hot on that plan ride. I felt terrible actually. I felt really nausea and the plane was really really load so it was hard to sleep. However that all ended once I stepped off the plane. Romania is so beautiful. It has tons of mountains and rolling hills. It is a little humid and muggy but a nice temperature. From the plane the forests looked like think ground moss, with no spot of open space. It really was so beautiful. Once getting off the plane we went though security, were I almost got kicked out but that is a different story. Some lady tried to steal my luggage....ha ha ha. Don't worry I got it back before she could take two steps:)
The streets of Romania look exactly how you would picture a Eastern European country to look. The are very old and run down, full of little children begging for money and gypsies living on the streets. I was amazed at how Americanized the world has become. Really we are everywhere. The first thing I heard when I got in the taxi to take us to our apartment was “Rockstar” by some Daughtry? Maybe.....

It made me laugh that even in Romania we still have a say over the people.

Oh wow I am really tired. Sniff.