Bazaar...Baths!

It has been a very full day. We started out our morning going to the Aya Sofya, ıt was so beautiful! Our plan was to spend some tıme there and then head to the Bazaar for some shopping. Lonely Planet strictly instructed us to put on a smile and make sure we were ın a good mood before going. Excellent advice! We learned how to make a good bargain, even without speaking the language. Most people spoke enough English and those who didn't often spoke Romanıan surprisingly! While Marie spent a very long tıme purchasing a puzzle ring and learning how to put it together, I headed down the way to another shop. I seemed to be having a lot of luck avoiding the pressure of the shop keeper by smiling and telling them their things were beautiful. In one particular shop I could tell I might have a little trouble when the handsome young man responded, "yes, so are you!" I responded with a hearty laugh and called him a smecher, that ıs what we call those men ın Romanian. He feigned innocence but continued a more appropriate conversation with me. To make a longish story shorter, I left the store with nothing but his card (he wrote hıs name on it for me and then decided it wasn't neat enough, pulled out another one to write ıt nicer) and an invitation to have tea with hım later. I found Marie, stıll working on her ring, and hıd out in the shop with her for a while having a lovely conversation ın Romanıan with a lovely Turkısh man. At one point I stepped out of the shop for a minute and heard ın a sweet sing-songy voice, "Heelaree!" I waved and stepped right back in with Marıe. NICE! The Bazaar was everything we hoped ıt would be and more, we both spent too much money (one of us not really sure how she was manipulated into spending quite so much on something she didn't really want) and were entirely satısfıed with our experience.

After a long walk and a short tram ride we decided that a day of shopping had earned us a massage at the Turkish baths. I for one was a bit unfamiliar with what exactly a Turkish bath is and what it might entail. As Wikipedia's defınıtıon ıs not quite accurate I wıll explain a little and leave the rest to your imagination. Turkısh baths or Hamam are actually places where you are bathed. Note, I did not say places where you go to take a bath. Similar to going to get a massage, one removes ones clothing, wraps in a cloth and then the similarities pretty much end. I am stopping here sınce after several attempts I find I am at a complete loss. Again I persuade you to use your imagination and well, hmmm, would I do ıt again? Of course, ıt was amazing!

We had a wonderful Turkısh dinner that I cannot pronounce and delicious dessert! I love baklava!

(sorry no pictures but they will be coming soon!)

Istanbul was Constantinople (and its nobody's business but the Turks!)

I am surely having more fun than I deserve. Tuesday I headed up to Sinaia where Peles Castle is. Unfortunately, it was closed on Tuesdays and I had to leave before it opened on Wednesday morning. Sinaia however, is like the Park City of Romania. It is a quaint little ski town with great character, beautiful mountains and plenty of charm. In the morning I took the train back to Bucuresti where I met up with Marie.

From there we took the 19 1/2 hour train from Romania, through Bulgaria and into Turkey. Four stamps in our passport and one visa for Turkey later, we arrived in Istanbul. I love it! I could never have imagined how amazing it would be. As the train crept along the coast of the Sea of Marmara, you could see the ancient wall that used to stand as a protection and a warning. The city has simply been built around these ruins and in some cases has included them in the new structure. We spent the day wandering around Old Sultanahmet, where you can find the Bisilica Cisterna, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, various museums, great shopping, tasty food and more great shopping. We visited the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cisterna which is an underground well that I believe was once the basement of a church. It is dark and cool inside and even a little spooky because of the creative lighting and distant music they have playing.

As we came out, a turkish man we had met right before going in grabbed us and invited us to come into his shop. It was a specialty leather shop with expensive jackets and purses. He served us apple tea and despite our honesty about our budget was convinced we needed something that he could sell us. We are becoming more and more aware of the attention two american girls can draw, most of it unwanted. It is driving Marie crazy as she has been fighting the cat calls in Romania for the last year, poor girl.

The Blue Mosque is beautiful, crowded and not what I expected. It is so great to go into a building that is specifically set apart for the worship of God it commands a reverence that not all choose to observe. So many tourists!

We also went to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and of course, did some shopping. We are staying in Istanbul until Sunday night when we will head for the coast and the ruins at Ephesus. More to come...

Some funny stuff I've seen and heard...so far!

1) Hot guy at the airport in hot pink and bright orange camo capris and a horizontal striped (in various colors of green) shirt.

2) Road work. Why is that funny you ask? It's Romania, they do everything by hand and it is not always so improved when they finish.

3) This sign and then another, the other said: SORRY WE ARE NOT CLOSED!

4)Woman walking down the street in normal pants and shoes and a knee length, hot pink bath robe.

5) That man coming out of the bushes, pretty sure he had just gone to the bathroom.

6) Not so hot man in jeans and a bright yellow shirt with bright yellow matching leather jacket and pointy toed ankle boots.

7) The look on my face and squeel that came out of my mouth when I was walking back to my pensiune in Sinaia by myself in the dark and a dog started chasing me. Natalie, I put you to shame!

8) On the train this woman said to her son (all in Romanian), "come back here or the gypsies will take you. Don't you know that they steal kids?"

9) Turkish salesmans was being pushy so Marie and I started speaking Romanian. As we were leaving he said to us, "Te iubesc, girls!" (Romanian translation, I love you girls)

10) And finally, yes ladies and gentlemen, that is a vending machine for BEER!

Something about the smell...

This city probably smells like garbage the ordinary nose but those who know and love Bucharest will roll down their windows in the car as soon as they leave the airport. Let me back up a little. I had a very uneventful trip and despite two layovers, one in Houston and the other in Paris, I didn't have even one extra minute between flights and slept the entire flight from Houston to Paris since no one was in the seat next to me, NICE! The office elders picked me up in Buc and after dropping off 80 lbs worth of goods from my luggage for missionaries at the mission presidents home we headed toward Unirii where I would be staying. Courtesy one wonderful sleeping pill I slept like a baby until church the next morning. Though I tried to keep my expectations realistic I was still so sad at how few faces I recognized. I was also sad about how much of the language I have lost but I am improving each time I open my mouth, hooray! I am still looking forward to some of my favorite foods and a taste of Transylvania. Marie will be here tomorrow night and off we go to either Athens or Istanbul, itinerary still in the works...For now, la revedere si va iubesc!

3 Days!

I feel like a five year old on Christmas Eve! I have jumped up and down while clapping enough times in the last few days to be really embarrassed but I have a good reason. I leave in 3 days! I already have it all planned out...stay up all night Thursday packing, work till 2 on Friday, be at the airport by 3pm for my 5pm flight, read for as long as I can on the plane to stay awake and then sleep for the remainder of the 21 hours! Sounds good eh? I actually have 2 connecting flights that will interrupt my nap, one in Houston and the other in Paris, not a fan of either airport but it is a means to an end. I also have sleeping pills!

I get to Bucharest at 2:30 Saturday and will be in Romania till Wednesday, seeing all Transylvania has to offer! Wednesday we're off to Athens and several days of Greek Isles! We'll hop all the way over to Ephesus, Turkey and then we'll be on a train to Istanbul! A few days in Istanbul and then we fly back to Buc. Two weeks of pure bliss (and hopefully no pickpockets)!

Jessie's mom advises, "kiss a man in every country you go to!"

My mom advises, "be careful , and watch out for pickpockets!"

Natalie advises, "watch out for vampires."

Thanks for the good advise ladies, I'll see what I can do!

"Ooh baby, do you know what that's worth?"

I have a list, several lists actually, but one of them is a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. A lot of the thing on this list are small, seemingly insignificant things. Others are big, expensive or very difficult things. Somewhere about two thirds down the list is: sing Karaoke!


You may qualify this under one of those small things but to me, the difficulty of carrying out said task is ridiculously disproportionate to the actual effort it ought to take. Though I am no Broadway performer, I can carry a tune. I have been in choirs, musicals, performed at church and I am a rock star in the shower! I don't know what it is about a smokey bar full of people that makes my palms sweat but I cannot do it. I took some first steps last night at Monks. Candace invited me to join a group of her thespian/musical friends for Saturday night karaoke. Step one, I went...step two, I sang Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a place on earth" with three other girls. It was fun, there is no denying I had a blast! I'll be brave next time.

College Football and Asbestos?

Saturday was an interesting day. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at approximately 7am, something that NEVER happens. Those who know me are aware that mornings are not my favorite! Regardless of my desire to return to the world of fabulous dreams (yes, they were fabulous) I could not lull myself back to sleep. I decided to get up and work on an itinerary for my upcoming vacation. Do I want to go to Greece and Turkey or the Adriatic coast? Difficult question any time of day so keep in mind it was early. After coming up with a vague Plan A, dreamland beckoned me back and I took a 45 minute field trip. After breakfast, shower and a few minutes on the phone with mom I got a text from Jessie that said, "Long boarding pro yeah that's a black eye for your enjoyment" with an accompanying photo of the black eye and some wicked road rash (you should check her blog in a few days for pics)! I headed to her house to see for myself, poor girl was seriously injured (pride and all), sorry Jess!


At 3 o'clock I met my sisters, Natalie and Cecily, to head up to the Utah v. Air Force game, the first home game of the season. This pathetic alum doesn't even own a Utah t-shirt and sat in the visitor section courtesy of Natalie's friend and some free tix. It was fun even though the Utes didn't walk away with the victory. Go Utes!

After the game I had plans to go see King of Kong: A fist full of quarters, with Lance. This is where the asbestos comes in. I arrive to find a frantic and still wet from the shower Lance. He jumped the gun on some ceiling popcorn removal and is now certain he is going to die in two weeks from asbestos poisoning. I took him to go pick up a pizza knowing food always calms and cheers him but even this could not work. I left a drier but equally frantic Lance, frustrated to be thwarted in not my 1st, not my 2nd, but my 3rd attempt to see the above mentioned documentary. I hope Lance realizes that it is not insensitivity but a strong sense of logic that allows me to feel frustration in his time of need. Good luck Lance, and good luck to me in my next attempt to find hilarity in a documentary about video games!

Drunken Humor

Having been a sober observer at several parties I often wonder, why get drunk? Who wants to have your friend spend the evening holding your hair or wake up the next morning and not be able to find your cell phone but vaguely remember dropping it and then putting the several pieces in a "safe place?" Saturday, Michelle and I were the only two at the whole party who didn't have a single taste of alcohol. So, for all those individuals who say that it helps you loosen up and have more fun, I beg to differ and dare you to laugh as hard as we did! We laughed until there were tears, real tears, and our tummies were aching! Michelle's hubby had been watching a documentary online about people who have life dolls. I hadn't the slightest what a life doll was so I'll enlighten all who are wondering. Apparently there are life size, life like dolls that you can purchase for a mere 6 grand or so, some people even have "relationships" with them. One man in the documentary was quoted, "at first it was just a lot of sex, then our relationship grew and we would just gaze into each others eyes." Ummm...oh yeah, that guy lives at home with his mom. Michelle and I decided we wanted the voodoo version of said doll, we chose a name for it and...well, I don't want to give too many details, you should have been there and just like drunken humor, it was probably funnier then than it is now. Moral of the story: laugh and laugh hard, you'll probably feel drunk and aside from no hangover, nobody has to hold your hair and you won't misplace your cell.