There was a roadtrip in August. Instead of leaving the country for more cosmopolitan destinations, my soon-to-be wife and I wanted to see what Romania has to offer. More than we were able to see in ten days on the road it turns out.
I'm still sorting pictures though, and probably at some point in the middle of winter, with summer nostalgia at its peak, I will have finished the post, complete with sun-drenched images.
Although I've become involved in a couple of new projects (in addition to work), there is no one thing that's keeping me from writing other than the feeling that I'd be doing it because I have to.
I could have written about the Canadians who opened a nice little bistro in Piata Muzeului. About the Cluj Comedy festival, about voting in the recent (and upcoming) election. There are also good things happening with local businesses, most notably an improvement in quality of products and services in some cases.
But there are still hard facts of life that remind me I live in the developing world and things could be so much better, 'if only'. Lots of 'if onlies'. Do I really want to write about every single case where just one change could make the entire system better? Not really, even though I probably should.
Finally, I've also been too busy just plain living. Somehow, my social circle has grown exponentially this year. That means less writing, more socializing. It also means I'm more emotionally invested in my life in Cluj and that's more difficult than it sounds - there was a certain charm to being unsettled and in transit. I no longer feel like a permanent tourist, but a citizen of Cluj. The road ahead is looking more and more like the one we traveled this summer. Exciting.
I'm still sorting pictures though, and probably at some point in the middle of winter, with summer nostalgia at its peak, I will have finished the post, complete with sun-drenched images.
Although I've become involved in a couple of new projects (in addition to work), there is no one thing that's keeping me from writing other than the feeling that I'd be doing it because I have to.
I could have written about the Canadians who opened a nice little bistro in Piata Muzeului. About the Cluj Comedy festival, about voting in the recent (and upcoming) election. There are also good things happening with local businesses, most notably an improvement in quality of products and services in some cases.
But there are still hard facts of life that remind me I live in the developing world and things could be so much better, 'if only'. Lots of 'if onlies'. Do I really want to write about every single case where just one change could make the entire system better? Not really, even though I probably should.
Finally, I've also been too busy just plain living. Somehow, my social circle has grown exponentially this year. That means less writing, more socializing. It also means I'm more emotionally invested in my life in Cluj and that's more difficult than it sounds - there was a certain charm to being unsettled and in transit. I no longer feel like a permanent tourist, but a citizen of Cluj. The road ahead is looking more and more like the one we traveled this summer. Exciting.
No way Matt, you can't leave it like that! There are like a billion cool things you've mentioned (ok, only a slight exaggeration) ... please share them!!!! I'm really missing Romania for obvious reasons right about now, so tales of the country in English will be awesome.
ReplyDeletePS: I see the 'soon to be wife' part as a new addition here. Did you recently get engaged???