... the quick answer being, not much. My overall situation is still pretty much the same as it was the last time I blogged. After a couple weeks back in the hostel, I moved in with the owner for a few days and now I have a new single room near Amzei. The new place is a vast improvement over my previous single room: the price is reasonable, I have full internet access 24/7, it is clean and
centrally located.
I am still not actually making any money, but this is mostly my own fault as I've been being lazy and irresponsible. My two little side projects for making some money online are still in the works, however the best opportunity on the table right now is going into the hostel business up north in Braşov. In that this is essentially an extension of a pre-existing successful business it should work out okay. This will be me, another American guy, and two Romanian guys, including the owner of the hostel in Bucharest. There is a lot to do here, but we're all leaving Bucharest until the start of March, so this is when we'll get to work on this in earnest.
The scheme to get long-term residency here didn't work out and although there are options available, they will cost money. In the interim (between now and making enough money to take care of things better) however, I have worked out an alternative scheme that should allow me to stay here legally without having a problem.
Otherwise, I've just been going out a lot, drinking, and leading a grossly irresponsible lifestyle. I am still pretty much in holiday/vacation mode, but that should ending once I get back here at the start of March. I'm still doing the Goa thing as well and have been hooking up with some very good stuff to go with that, so obviously I'm still happy.
The other day I went to an art opening for Paul Radulescu - http://www.paulradulescu.net/ - with a German girl that was staying at the hostel. This is the second opening I've attended since I came here, the first being a photography exhibit about the street kids here in Bucharest with a
group of French girls, also from the hostel.
I also went to my first concert here in Bucharest, Melotron - http://www.melotron.de/ - who I have been a fan of for some time. Going to the venue early to get tickets – my American friend here also went – I got to meet the band which was very cool. Apparently they were supposed to play in Denver back in December but were unable to get the proper visas, so we joked about me having to fly all the way to Romania to get to see them. In the same vein, I'll be going to a similar show on February
14, DarkFest Romania:
Obviously, contrary to my earlier comments, I found the Bucharest Goth/EBM scene: http://www.lux-noctis.ro
Last Wednesday, my friend Calin and I decided to go visit Chişinău, Moldova and stayed until Saturday. We took a thirteen hour sleeper train going there which turned out to be a lot of fun. Calin met a Moldovan friend of his on the same train (an actor and fellow Goa enthusiast) and we ended up drinking all night in the restaurant/bar car. We also met a few other people who hung out as well, including a couple Dutch guys who were staying in the same hostel that we were. We arrived early in the morning and went and dropped our stuff off at the hostel and walked around a bit.
Despite the impression that Moldova is just a detached part of Romania, in reality it is a VERY different place. Moldova was, of course, a constituent republic of the old Soviet Union and this is very apparent. Virtually everyone there still speaks Russian – though most have at least some Romanian as well – and the whole feel of the place is different. The people are more direct, but usually in a friendly way, and the women are absolutely stunning.
Calin and the two dutch guys were mostly just about clubbing, so this is mostly what we did. After walking around the center a bit and getting a meal, we went back to the hostel and took a nap. It was hard to sleep on the train as we crossed the border at about 4:00 in the morning and had to endure two passport inspections (Romania on the way out, Moldova on the way in) and all the racket of changing the wheel carriages on the train, since the Soviet rail lines are wider than the European ones (a measure taken to upset European invaders).
The first night we went to a club spinning retro – half western, half eastern – which was great. The Moldovans party better than the Romanians in Bucharest. I personally didn't do very well with the women – entirely my own fault – but had a lot of fun anyway. I left earlier than the others went to sleep earlier. This allowed me to wake up earlier and set out on my own to explore more of the city. Clubbing is fine and all, but when visiting a new city in a new country I do actually want to see more than just the night clubs. The day was lovely and I spent several hours just wondering around checking out the place, this is where the photos came from. I did get stopped by a cop – all decked out in very Soviet looking gear – but he was just bumming a cigarette from me, so nothing to worry about. According to Lonely Planet, the cops there still extort bribes from people there often – especially drivers - but luckily that wasn't the case.
After going back and taking a nap, it was time to go back out again. I hooked up with Calin and the Dutch guys and we went to the Irish pub in Chişinău for dinner. While there we ended up bumping into a large group of Americans, mostly Peace Corp volunteers, which was about the only other foreigners we met there. After which it was back out to the clubs. the second club wasn't as good as the first one, but it was still pretty good, I met a few girls and had a pretty good time.
Anyway, my future plans have changed a little bit. Instead of going to Dohab in the Sinai (Egypt) I am now going directly back to Ireland on Feb. 17 to visit Paul & Diatou and take care of some things I need to do there. I'll probably only visit for about a week and then I'll just fly to where ever is cheap for about a week and then it is back to Bucharest and getting to work.
So far, so good!
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