Well starting the First week in April I went on Spring Break. It was fantastic. This will be a quick rundown... I think, sometimes I meander...

So I spent the first night in Birlad with Brent. He will be my travelling companion on this fine adventure across the vast expanse of the Romanian countryside. The first night was just warm-up, spent a little time at the American Cafe on a back street in the mean neighborhoods of Birlad. Watched a few kids walking around huffing on paint... It's a big problem in Birlad... more on that later.

The next morning we got on an 8 a.m. train to Bucharest. Thankfully I had my handy little laptop with me and Brent and I were able to play a few games of Risk to pass the time. I say a few games because once in a while the train would turn the power off and my computer would thus turn off... reseting the game... We made our usual stop going at the Mcdonald's in the Gara and then hopped another train to Tirgoviste.

Stepping off the train in Tirgoviste we walked right into the loving arms of my old Gazda father. He wisked us away the palace of luxury known as... my old room. The terresa smelled like a log cabin after a fresh spring rain. The breeze was cool and it felt just like home. Brent agreed. We had our room all set up for us, matching beds and covers, so cute.

We spent the night catching up with my gazda and then at 11:30 pm we went into town for the Easter service. My Gazda took us to his parents old church, a family tradition, and we stood outside around an altar as they read the Easter story and everyone lit their candles from a central flame. The real interesting part to me was that Brent and I were the only family who attended the service with my gazda dad. His son never seemed interested in going and his wife had to stay home to prepare dinner, or so I gathered. The next part of the night I felt very touched to be a part of. It is tradition after the Easter service to take the candles over to the graves of loved ones no longer with us. It was a very touching scene.

After that we drove back to the hideaway and had the traditional after Easter service meal. Lamb, lots and lots of lamb and the hard boiled eggs of course. At about 3:00 am we finally turned in for the night. Now Brent would like me to tell you at this point in the story that at no time during our two week long vacation did I ever sleep past 9:00am. No matter how late we went to bed I was always bright eyed and bushy tailed at 9am the next morning. I couldn't explain it. I hate waking up.

The next day we had another cookout. Played some cards, listened to some music and drank all the wine, tuica and beer we could handle, free of charge from our gracious hosts. It was a good Easter. Even though Brent could never figure out how to respond to "Hristos a Inviat" (It's "Adevarat a Inviat" Brent, keep practicing)

Monday was much of the same, eating, drinking, walking around and enjoying eden. On Tuesday we packed up and shipped ourselves over the Brent's old Gazda in the city. We ate and drank some more. Walked around the town and scoped out some new hangouts for the coming summer. Group 27 volunteers arrive on May 20something and it would be great to give them some pointers on the best places to hang out after school. Plus its just plain fun...

This next part deserves its own paragraph, because it is the turning point of my entire Spring Break. Brent and I made a lil excursion to the Agip. A gas station where I found Dr.Pepper over the summer. Brent and I were both excited We were so close we could taste it. I walked in the sliding doors turned the corner to the cooler and bam! No Dr.Pepper, I was heartbroken and had to settle for a lil mini can of coke... I was not a happy camper...

We made our way back to the OMB (Old Man bar) that was where we hung out during the summer. It was Brand Spankin New! Newly sponsored by your favorite Romanian Beer and my second favorite Timisoareana. Blue Tables, Blue Chairs, Blue Awning it was practically Blue world inside. One of the regular occupants actually remembered us from over the summer and asked us what happened to everyone. We told him we all went to different parts of the country. It was nice to be remembered, even by an old man from the old man bar, the bartender remembered us too... free pretzels!

We Went back to Brent's Gazda and had a cook out with Tata and his new girlfriend then walked around Tirgoviste aimlessly at night, great feeling. I miss that city. A lot. The next day we went to Ziua Romanilor, a festival in the main park, Ate some cheap mici had some cheap beer and watched them roast an animal of some kind... very interesting. On Friday Morning we headed out of Tirgoviste and went back to Buc. This time we stayed a little longer and made our way to the Bucharest Mall and had some Chinese... Mall Chinese Food might as well be laced with cocain, its just that good when you haven't seen Chinese food in Three months... for Brent almost a year. We also bought a Whopper from Burger King for the road.

We had an intoxicating train ride up to Bacau where we were greeted by Five lovely ladies for a goodbye party for one of our friends. It was also great. Not so much for Brent. This was by far his worse night. Not a fan of the power hour that one, of course, the sidewalk is no longer a fan of him either. Good Times... the next day we hopped on the bus and made our way back to Birlad for a little rest and relaxation before the start of part 2 of our vacation.