Weekly catch-up...sorry!
Hello, all. My sincerest apologies for taking so long on my next post. Ever have that feeling that sometimes, you just don't have anything interesting to write about? But I suppose for a devoted few of you (very few, as evidenced from the number of comments people leave...) you need this kind of weekly infusion of Lauren's life to keep you going in your own. So here goes.
When we last left our heroine, she had survived sheepdogs and shephards and numerous glass of that ever-potent tuica at the Cheese and Brandy Festival. Since then, life has been relatively calm. The big event was my trip back to Bucharest for nearly two weeks to participate in the World Tourism Day activities sponsored by the Ministry, National Geographic, and our lovely team in Bucharest. Event went well overall, though was a bit underwhelming. We had this big ceremony, with public figures and tourism stakeholders (national-level folks, none of my local pals), all there to sign a document agreeing to implement the Geotourism Strategy into their tourism activities. Well, that's all and good, but nothing is coming out of it immediately. I see the value of it in terms of leveraging big names (like NGS) to get certain initiatives pushed through at the local level, but I guess time will tell how much of a difference this will make to Romanian tourism. Did get to go out for drinks with a VP of NGS, though. That was neat; he's a marine biologist and filmmaker at heart, so we could talk science a little. Even asked him about my favorite scientific query on shark populations changing their migration routes to follow the food supply from slaving ships. (His answer was that he's never heard that before, and it's unlikely that that alone would have caused a change in migraiton patterns, though it's an interesting proposition and he wasn't quite sure how to replicate it for study...I think he was intrigued.) Was refreshing to have someone on par with me scientifically for once. Just like the anthropology mantra, "once a scientist, always a scientist."
After WTD '05, I remained in Bucharest to work on a project proposal on a glass summer school in Dorohoi (NE Romania) with a local glass artist, Ioan Nemtoi. A lot of writing for a project that is highly likely to go nowhere. But hey, that's okay. I'll take one for the team. Niche problem. Ended up writing an entire business plan for this summer school (minus the specific financials, mind you, as no one is prepared or has them yet) and presented it to USAID with less than dramatic results (although I did trip leaving the office, and my boss quipped that I wasn't supposed to be drinking on the job...damn weak ankles). Anyways, got some shopping in while in Bucharest, though I found out later that there is an even better mall to go to. Something to look forward to in my next visit. But saw the Wedding Crashers, laughed my ass off, bought a necklace and some Body Shop essentials (the new Tea Tree Oil line is great, ladies!) and went to as many foreign/ethnic restaurants as I could. And yes, my trip to Ruby Tuesdays does count as "ethnic" food.
So, that's it for now. Intend to go kickboxing tomorrow and to poker night with the other American expats (better known as PCVs, to those in the know) Wednesday night, and a zillion other things to accomplish at work this week. USAID is in town this week, so we have to be able to cater to their every beck and call, but not actually attend any meetings with them....yeah...that's what we're here for. Uh-huh.
Well, time to hit the torn-up streets of Sibiu and go home. Time for dinner, and then back to my cold room in a guesthouse (different from Ela's; she was booked) to finally finish that first quiz for the class I'm TA-ing. Need to finish the darn thing already! And I will. I'm even considering getting up early to work on it in a coffeeshop, providing that the coffeeshops are open at 8am. Have to find out tonight to be sure.
Toodle-loo! :-)
When we last left our heroine, she had survived sheepdogs and shephards and numerous glass of that ever-potent tuica at the Cheese and Brandy Festival. Since then, life has been relatively calm. The big event was my trip back to Bucharest for nearly two weeks to participate in the World Tourism Day activities sponsored by the Ministry, National Geographic, and our lovely team in Bucharest. Event went well overall, though was a bit underwhelming. We had this big ceremony, with public figures and tourism stakeholders (national-level folks, none of my local pals), all there to sign a document agreeing to implement the Geotourism Strategy into their tourism activities. Well, that's all and good, but nothing is coming out of it immediately. I see the value of it in terms of leveraging big names (like NGS) to get certain initiatives pushed through at the local level, but I guess time will tell how much of a difference this will make to Romanian tourism. Did get to go out for drinks with a VP of NGS, though. That was neat; he's a marine biologist and filmmaker at heart, so we could talk science a little. Even asked him about my favorite scientific query on shark populations changing their migration routes to follow the food supply from slaving ships. (His answer was that he's never heard that before, and it's unlikely that that alone would have caused a change in migraiton patterns, though it's an interesting proposition and he wasn't quite sure how to replicate it for study...I think he was intrigued.) Was refreshing to have someone on par with me scientifically for once. Just like the anthropology mantra, "once a scientist, always a scientist."After WTD '05, I remained in Bucharest to work on a project proposal on a glass summer school in Dorohoi (NE Romania) with a local glass artist, Ioan Nemtoi. A lot of writing for a project that is highly likely to go nowhere. But hey, that's okay. I'll take one for the team. Niche problem. Ended up writing an entire business plan for this summer school (minus the specific financials, mind you, as no one is prepared or has them yet) and presented it to USAID with less than dramatic results (although I did trip leaving the office, and my boss quipped that I wasn't supposed to be drinking on the job...damn weak ankles). Anyways, got some shopping in while in Bucharest, though I found out later that there is an even better mall to go to. Something to look forward to in my next visit. But saw the Wedding Crashers, laughed my ass off, bought a necklace and some Body Shop essentials (the new Tea Tree Oil line is great, ladies!) and went to as many foreign/ethnic restaurants as I could. And yes, my trip to Ruby Tuesdays does count as "ethnic" food.
So, that's it for now. Intend to go kickboxing tomorrow and to poker night with the other American expats (better known as PCVs, to those in the know) Wednesday night, and a zillion other things to accomplish at work this week. USAID is in town this week, so we have to be able to cater to their every beck and call, but not actually attend any meetings with them....yeah...that's what we're here for. Uh-huh.
Well, time to hit the torn-up streets of Sibiu and go home. Time for dinner, and then back to my cold room in a guesthouse (different from Ela's; she was booked) to finally finish that first quiz for the class I'm TA-ing. Need to finish the darn thing already! And I will. I'm even considering getting up early to work on it in a coffeeshop, providing that the coffeeshops are open at 8am. Have to find out tonight to be sure.
Toodle-loo! :-)
posted by Lauren | 8:29 PM
1 Comments:
Hi! Just want to say what a nice site. Bye, see you soon.
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