It’s 83F in Chisinau, and I’m burning up! It’s not that hot, but I guess I finally understand what people mean when they talk about wet heat versus dry heat. I can’t imagine that 83 in Los Angeles would feel this oppressive. I miss St. Petersburg, and for the weather. I never thought I would say that.
Tomorrow morning I leave for the debate camp. I’m hoping that the forest where we’ll be is cooler than here. And there is a river. Though some have told me that it’s better not to swim in it. I don’t know. If other people are swimming, then I’m going in. It’s been so long since I last swam, and in this weather it’s necessary.
On the plus side, we’ve passed the solstice, which means the white nights are winding down. When I get back to Piter things will be returning to normal 
I made to Chisinau, and true to form with this trip so far, I had problems. The person I was supposed to meet was at the wrong bus station, neither my Russian nor Bulgarian sim cards have roaming in Moldova, and I had less than one dollar’s worth of Moldovan money.
Fortunately I found some very nice people who helped me find a phone where I could call with cash, and not have to buy a card. They also spoke with the guy I was supposed to meet, and explained everything the second time I called, because we hadn’t understood each other the first time.
I’m going to write up some longer posts about my experiences thus far in Bulgaria and Romania, and hopefully get them up this week in installments. Tomorrow I’ll get oriented in the city and buy a Moldovan sim card … hopefully.
I’m currently in Iasi, Romania. I’m having problems getting a visa into Moldova. Yesterday was a nightmare, many things went wrong getting from Bulgaria to Bucharest - including money, phone, train tickets, and schedule. All in all, it’s been a rough 24 hours. But I guess that’s what’s travel is all about …
I’m sure things will work out. In general the people have been very friendly and helpful, and the family I’m staying with has been extremely welcoming. Hopefully I’ll update when I’m in Moldova on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
I’m in Silistra, the town on the Romanian border where I’ll be spending the better part of a week. You can read about the hellish seven-hour busride to get here, at Rob’s site.
I’m made it to Bulgaria, it’s beautiful here. I almost missed my plane … again!!! I set the alarm for 6am and opened the curtains wide so that the sun would help wake me. But I woke up at 8am, and my flight left at 9.30. I freaked, was out the door in less than 20 min, and took a taxi to the airport. I had wanted to leave at 7, but I eventually made it at 8:50. This needs to stop happening! The alarm was set properly, I just slept through it 
But I’m here, and on vacation. Will leave tonight to go to the town where my friend lives. Then in a week it’s off to Romania. This is the lightest I’ve ever packed. Five shirts, two pairs of pants, bathing suit, and seven pairs of underwear and socks. I plan on doing laundry once per week, but going off of past experiences, that may not happen :/
And change of final plans. Instead of coming back on the 17th, I’m planning on staying an extra week and coming back on the 24th. Which gives me some extra time to mosey on down the coast
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m not a big fan of the White Nights. Just to give you an idea of how this magical event looks (and to procrastinate from packing), I wandered out at midnight and took some pictures:
You can compare these two pics with the same place in winter.
These two are of the courtyard behind my building, the one I pass through to get to the bus to school.
I leave at 9:30am tomorrow for my working vacation. I’ll be flying first into Sofia to spend some time with an old friend I haven’t seen in ages, and who thinks I’m a flake I’ll hand around for about a week, then make my way up to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, by way of Romania. I’ll be three weeks in Chisinau.
The first is the working part of the vacation. I’ll meet people and gather information about my thesis, which is on the separatist conflict in Transdnistria. The second week I’ll spend at an old pioneer camp teaching debate to high school students brave enough to take lessons in English. The last week will be for me to just relax in Chisinau. Then I’ll go back to Bulgaria, and hopefully spend the last week treking down the Bulgarian coast.
That’s the rough schedule for my five week working vacation. In a way, I’m not in the mood for vacation because I’ve been having a lot of problems recently, both personal and administrative. But I could definitely use a vacation, and break from the city. We’ll see how it goes, and I’ll keep you posted.
These past two weeks have been full of exams, and today was supposed to be the end. I stayed up way too late last night trying to finish a paper, and working with four hours of sleep I got stuck in the worst traffic I’ve seen yet, and missed the professor I had to give it to. Also, I have problems with another class, and have been told that if I don’t get my paperwork in order I’ll be “cleansed” from the university.
To put it shortly, bad two days. I was very much hoping to spend tonight relaxing as the first night of vacation, but that celebration will have to be put off for a bit. Incidentially, I leave on the 12th of this month to head towards Chishinau, Moldova, where I will be spending three weeks teaching, researching, and relaxing.
