Anyway, my original intention was to go visit Paul, Diatou, and the kids for a couple of weeks, change passports, and then come back here. However, by the time I was ready to leave this had changed to visiting the family for about a week, taking a cheap flight to where ever, spending a week there, and then coming back here.
As it turned out, Diatou and the kids went to Sweden and Paul made arrangements with some of his friends to go to London about a week after my arrival. So after getting stuck in Dublin for a night I stayed with Paul for a few days, took care of the things I needed to do there and then we were off to London.
Thanks to the collapse of the British Pound, London was a bit cheaper than it was the last time I was there - again with Paul - about three years ago. Nevertheless, London being one of the world's great cities was still pretty expensive for someone accustomed to Bucharest prices.
The first night in London involved Paul, three of his friends from work (all of whom were decent company) and myself. Being that it was a Wednesday night, many of the clubs were either not open or were closing early. Instead of the original idea of hitting the SoHo clubs, we ended up in Piccadilly Circus and after checking out one other club we ended up in "Metra," the same club Paul and I went to last time.
At this place, Paul and his mates did not hook up at all and I only hooked up with an unattractive girl (but she was unique in that she was the only deaf girl I have ever picked up and made out with). Not surprisingly, everyone decided to leave soon enough.
The problem was that most places weren't too keen on letting in a group of five guys. So after wondering about a bit and getting turned away from a couple of places, Paul's friends decided we should go to a strip club; the one place that stays open all night and welcomes groups of guys with money in their pockets.
So off to the strip club we went. What was readily apparent was that it was a slow night at the club. When we walked in there was all of two other guys in the place and literally 40 strippers looking to make some cash. So they swarmed us in a way that would be hard to describe in a blog. There was some sort of rule where they were not allowed to sit with us until we ordered drinks. After some deliberation we bought a grossly overpriced bottle of vodka and the second the bottle touched the table we each had at least two strippers on our laps and the night began.
To give credit where credit is due, these girls did their job very well; we all went away feeling good and with empty pockets. I met a couple Romanian girls there who were in London to make some money, but I only bought personal dances from an American and a British girl. Everyone had their preferences and went away happy.
After leaving the club we bought some more liquor and went back to the hotel. The plan was to stay awake through the night as Paul and his friends had an agenda (shopping in the now cheap London) and then a fairly early flight. As it turned out, I was the only one to stay awake (thanks to ephedrine). The next morning we went to my hostel (as I was staying in London for two more nights) to drop off my stuff and went to some shithole for breakfast.
Paul and friends went to go take care of their shopping, but I was exhausted and went back to my hostel. The idea was to sleep for a while and then go back out on Thursday night. But I couldn't do it. After showering and laying for about an hour unable to sleep (thanks to ephedrine), I got back up and decided to go explore London, doing all the touristy (see all the photos) that I never got around to doing previously.
In the process I also walked into and temporarily joined a Tamil protest against the Sri Lankan government (a very just cause) and came across two separate groups of pro-Palestinian activists (I donated a few Pounds & picked up some literature). I also stumbled across the Socialist Bookshop, where I bought a couple small booklets about post-Trotsky Trotskyism (a current interest of mine).
After a long day of walking around London on zero sleep I was completely exhausted and slept for 14 hours. Once I got up and ready I spent a bit more time exploring (and photographing) London and went back. The hostel was connected to a bar (Belushi's) and I ended up drinking all night with the hostel people and hooking up with a cute - but weird - Dutch girl. Only getting a bit of sleep, soon it was time to head back to Bucharest.
As noted previously, after getting back it was time to help my friend move his business and I have done very little since. Now I am getting back to work.
The fact is that I am still not making money and this is getting to be a problem. I am not broke or desperate yet, but my current lifestyle is completely unsustainable. The primary problem - the primary stumbling block I keep running into at every turn - here in Romania is the language barrier. Every idea I have to make money ultimately comes down to being literate and fluent in Romanian and I am VERY far from being either. There are ways around this of course, like having a reliable Romanian partner, but this hasn't really worked out to my satisfaction.
I have not completely given up, in fact I intend to really throw myself into what ideas and opportunities I do have right now. However, if I don't have something relatively tangible going by the first week of April, I think I am going to make a radical change.
My money is still in Euros and now that that British currency has collapsed the UK is no longer cost prohibitive for me. More importantly, I know the language and can make my own arrangements with no middlemen, translations, or multi-lingual interpretations required. All said, getting legal residency in Romania isn't much easier than doing it in the UK (both are very difficult), but at least there I can function without the language barrier and with a bit more cultural insight. Further, I get more time on a single visa - six months instead of three - per visit per passport. If I am going to be illegal and operating through a domestic company to handle all my affairs - my plan here - I can do this in the UK as well, and with less difficulty. London, of course, is still way too expensive but the UK is a big place and I suspect the money will go far enough in Scotland or Wales for me to start generating some independently.
With the collapse of the British currency and the incontestable fact that the recession there still has some way to go before it bottoms out; the UK might be a better bet. Especially since I will be able to directly make my own arrangements with people without stumbling over every word and its effective meaning. If I can actually talk to people, understand what they say (and mean) in response, and can read & write the legal language, I think I stand a much better chance of being successful.
So, though I haven't given up on this place yet - and yes, I still love Romania - I do think if I don't have better prospects by the end of this month I am going to try the UK. The money won't go as far, but hopefully far enough for me to set up alternative revenue streams. We'll See.
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