International Tourism Fair in Bucharest, my voyage to Vurpar, and a visitor from CHF headquarters!

Buna Ziua!

Now, let's see...we left off in the middle of October. On 19-23 was the International Tourism Fair in Bucharest. CHF assisted in the preparations for this event, getting everyone to play nice and contribute to "selling" Sibiu at the fair. The event went pretty well, though no follow up was ever really done. Need to improve that for next time! I spent most of the time that I was at the fair going around to competing destinations, seeing how they were branding themselves, and getting ideas for other marketing strategies and materials. We have a lot to do in Sibiu!

Earlier that week I also spent some time at the Office for Foreigners, to extend my 90-day tourist visa in the country. Of course, we went on the 87th day of my visa, so if my application was rejected (which was highly likely, since it was incomplete), I would have to leave the country and re-enter. Luckily for me, they didn't notice the missing documents, and my "legitimazie" is being processed. Can you believe that the actual processing is done somewhere in Germany? Strange. Anyways, I can't leave the country until I have it fully processed, and since this happened a few weeks ago, I should be receiving it back soon. So, mom and dad, if I don't come home in December, you know why...

Unfortunately, my good friend Amit, who is an Indian citizen with US residency, got rejected, and had to go alllll the way back to the US for his business visa to be reprocessed. Somebody goofed up, and unfortunately, Amit had to pay the price. The good news is that he is finally coming back this weekend. Yeah!


After the Tourism Fair, I came back to Sibiu, and promptly set off with some Peace Corps friends to attend a local soccer match and barbeque in a small town called Vurpar. This was quite the interesting experience! Soccer (or "football", as the rest of the world calls it...silly people that they are!) is huge here. Jeff (PCV) lived in Vurpar for a while, and so knows everyone (it seems) in town. After the exciting match (the Vurpar team unfortunately lost), we headed to the (one and only) local watering hole for a barbeque. Grilled pork and "mici" (spiced sausages) were on the menu, and beer. That was it. Angela and I explored the town churches a little, and then returned to the meal, which took about 3-4 hours to prepare. After the meal, there was some...no, a LOT of dancing. There were only a few women present, so we were at a premium, it would seem. :-) Romanians love to dance; especially the men. No dancing for me, though...I needed to be just a little more intoxicated than I was...

Later next week...

We hosted a visitor from CHF Headquarters, Jen Hyman. Much of the week was then spent showing Jen (and Madalina from Bucharest) around Sibiu, so they could understand what made Sibiu so special, and be able to write a success story on it. We had a blast. I love my job! We went on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the outdoors, open-air village museum, toured Sibiu, visited Sighisoara, and then went for shisha (hooka) and tequila shots. (The shisha photo has Jen, my friend Robert, and myself at the shisha bar.) I get paid for this? Oh wait, no, I don't...I'm a volunteer...

Other last thoughts...

Let's see, what else happened before Mark came to visit...? Well, we had some kids from a local association that PCVs work with stop by the office for trick or treating. Halloween isn't really celebrated here, except for the cheesy foreign tourists at Dracula-themed nightclubs. But it was nice to see kids having a good time. Plus, I scored with a lot of leftover candy in the office... :-)


And, last but not least, my apartment. I've had it for about three weeks, and only just recently cooked in it. (More details to come on that adventure in my next blog.) It's nice, expensive for Sibiu/Romanian standards, but cheap for back home. It's a one-bedroom apartment, with a washer (dryers don't exist here...I have to hang my clothes around the apartment or on the line outside) and satellite TV (hopefully fixed soon!). I like it well enough, and am going to arrange to stay here for next year, too. It's on the fourth floor (3rd floor in Europe) of a communist-styled, grey block building, about a 15-min walk from the office. The inside is a lot nicer than the outside, which is what I've learned to expect in this country. Of both people and places, the outside may seem a little shabby and unpredictable, but inside is a warmth of hospitality and kindness...