"Let August be August." * When America began sending kids back to school before Labor Day, that was my reaction: let August be August. The summer is only just past its peak, and it feels unnatural and somewhat cruel to put children in classrooms when autumn is still so
August has arrived in Obedin with a vengeance. To be clear, August in Craiova is always hot, but the dogs of Obedin manage to take it to a whole other level of misery. To escape the heat, they sleep, and when dogs sleep all day, they've got nothing
Last month as we sat on the patio, resting our sore muscles from hours of wood chopping, Marian looked around and said, "This house is missing a dog." I understood exactly what he meant and in theory I agree—a dog would be a wonderful addition. But on
Before the world was bloated with transport trucks, trains, and airplanes, everything humans ate was locally sourced. Thousands of scientific studies, plus our own common sense, has taught us that sourcing locally is a pretty good deal for both our bodies and the planet. While I know that winter will
The evening before we left for Craiova, we had Nicu* and his family over for dinner. They were officially our first guests which seems hard to believe since we've been here almost three months. While I don't believe in the notion that a house must be
From what I understand, glamping is when you pack up your stuff then drive somewhere to spend a few days in a not-quite-fully-functioning house surrounded by trees so that you can drink beer and nap in the afternoon. If that's true, then every time we
Anyone who watched the news last week is no doubt aware that Europe boiled under a heat wave. Even here in Viștea de jos the temperature reached 94 F/34 C. Fortunately, being so close to the mountains, the nights were cool (60 F/16 C) so we didn'
In my late teens I moved from Santa Cruz, where I'd always lived, to rural, southwest Ohio. In the months before my departure, I was met with not a few negative comments from my fellow Californians, the crux of which were that rural Ohio would be flat, dry,
The title sounds like we're playing some kind of video game and we've leveled up, but what's actually happened is that after 1 month and only 2 trips to Brașov, I've received my green card. Granted, I had one when we lived
In late spring and early summer, the European countryside is dotted with the creamy blooms of elderberry shrubs. From these tiny flowers, Romanians make a drink called suc (sook). I will share the recipe below. Step 1. take a walk to find elderberry shrubs 2. pick some of the flowers
In the modern world, Transylvania carries mythical connotations. For many Westerners, it exists somewhere between Atlantis—pure fiction—and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon—proof that it existed can only be found on an ancient map in the back room of a musty bookshop specializing in pieces of archaic antiquity.
Anyone who has ever moved (which is to say, everyone) knows that moving is stressful. Sometimes we have to move for terrible reasons—death of a spouse, loss of a job—but even if the reason is good—getting married, relocating for a new job—the stress remains. Moving is
Somewhere in a photobox, there is a stack of pictures featuring young Mihai at the Black Sea. They've aged in that specific way that only Communist Era photos do: the red lipstick, bathing suits, and t-shirts have deepened into a sort of dusky naphthol while everything else,
Drumul Național means The National Road. It's a highway, but if, when you think of a highway, you imagine something like the 101 or even Interstate 5, you're mistaken. Imagine something more like Soquel Drive, except that it spans the country and everyone uses it, from
In the last post I mentioned we'd been exhausting ourselves with endless shopping and I'm happy to report that that phase is over. The pantry is fully stocked, we have all of the toilet paper and coat hangers a house needs to run efficiently, and at
It's been a week, both literally and figuratively. We've been in Viștea de Jos for a week now (although it feels much longer), and we've managed to exhaust ourselves. The exhaustion is due to a number of factors, jet lag being one of them.
In the Carpathians, there now lives an immigrant. You know this, because for the past five years, I’ve told everyone I’ve ever met. “We’re moving to Romania again,” I’ve said, “but this time we’ll be in Viștea de Jos.” And here we are. You’ll
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