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Yes - my internship was based in Bucharest, so that's where I needed to be most of the time, but we also did a conference in Constanta, and a friend I made in Romania took me around to a few other cities, staying with her friends. My Romanian could definately use improvement - but on meetig people they assumed I was from Romania anyway, but from the Hungarian minority - there were just so few other nationalities in Romania at the time.
When I was there I rented a room in a nice neighborhood in Bucharest for about 50 dollars a month. My co-workers kept telliing me how expensive that was and that I was getting ripped off. I wish I had stayed longer - now our finances are such that it would be very difficult to make such a trip again - especially with 2 kids. I can only dream of going at the moment - but I'd love to see how everything has changed!
OMG, you paid 50 dollars for a room in 1995? That was like paying 1000 Dollars for a room in a 3 stars hotel now. Or even worse, I was very young in '95, I am not sure about the exchange rate.
To go back to your previous post, Romania has changed quite a lot, it's been almost 20 years!! Still plenty of things need changing, but the restaurants, the hotels, the bars, the clubs, they are all pretty much the same as in any other country ( I am refering to the big cities).
Last edited by sparkk2chane; 09-16-2012 at 09:25 AM..
The media may not tell everything. On the other hand, I've never been to Russia, so I have no idea.
From wiki:
Very few cases, and that's Caucasians mostly. We've got some very noticeble problem with them - terrorism, banditism, general (and outrageous) misbehaviour.
There are up to 100,000 Afro-Russians, plus tourists and immigrant workers. They are doing just fine. Especially with Russian girls.
This is how I see it. The media can shape how people think about other nations. I will admit, it has made me question alot of things. For instance, one place I have wanted to travel to is Russia. I have heard some interesting things through reading books. Alot has sparked my interest. This is why at age 13, I learned the Russian alphabet. I wanted to know what those signs were in Russian. I wanted to see place like the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Basil's Cathedral, Murmansk, Volgograd, many of the Siberian cities like Irkutsk, Vladivostok, and Novosibirsk. Alot of the good and interesting things I heard came from watching travel documentaries, such as Great Railway Journeys(the episode I watched had Natalia Makarova in it), Globe Trekker, Full Circle with Michael Palin, Pole to Pole with Michael Palin, and a documentary about the Trans-Siberian Railroad. These documentaries made me want to go there.
However, when I got older, I started hearing things in the news about Neo-Nazis attacking Blacks, Asians, and people from the Caucasus. I also heard it was escalating and that the police haven't done much about it. I also heard that there were people getting killed from these attacks. This scared me alot, as I am Black.
So, it left me undecided. I don't have the money to travel. However, I still want to travel to Russia, and see it for myself.
As for the situation with Romania and gypsies, I can tell the difference between Romanians and gypsies. Romania has also struck me as an interesting place, as far as what I've seen on travel documentaries about it. Large forests, Sighisoara(home of Dracula), Constanta(coastal city), Bucuresti(Little Paris of Eastern Europe), I've tried Romanian food(quite good), the music, the Danube delta, Moldoveanu(highest point in Romania), the Carpathian Mountains, and I haven't even been to Romania yet. This is some of what I know from my interactions with Romanians, and reading about Romania.
I want to see Eastern Europe for myself, and see it as more than a tourist.
You know plenty about the country, especially since you've never been there!
I am a little fascinated by Russia, too, but I am also a little scared by it. Most of Romanians (including myself) have a pretty bad opinion about Russia (communism came from there, all the opression, the language is a nightmare, they scare the cr.ap out of us). I was never there, although when I lived in Romania it would have been an hour plane ride away. In my future travel plans, for sure
Let's talk Romania, just for the hell of it:
- not enough information
- no direct flights
- not on the Euro
- Romance language, but nobody knows it ... and people don't know what their English proficiency is
- corruption has, up to recently, been part and parcel of the way they run
- lack of tourist infrastructure, unlike France and Italy
If I have to raise all these questions about just one country, why would I be interested in going to Romania and adjacent countries?
Everything you said is true:
The information is not enough and I blame this on the people in the Ministry, because they have no clue how to advertise the country;
I don't know where you are from, so the no direct flights might apply to you, just as well as it applies to many other people who do visit
Not on the Euro...not a bad thing, as far as I am concerned, a definite misnu for some tourists, I guess; but how about the people who travel to Asia or Africa? no Euro or dollar there, either
Romanian language is difficult, but everybody dealing with tourists know english; especially since the language is not internationally used, most of the population knows at least some english and plenty speak at least 2 foreign languages
Corruption is still a problem, but why would a tourist care about that?
The infrastructure is a nightmare, I will give you that; they have been working on improving the system since forever, but they are either incompetent, or don't really care to get the job done.
So, bottom line, Romania is a tough destination, it's far away (from the US, Canada, Australia, South America, etc); it's not the IT place to spend your vacation in, it's rustic, it's different, it's not for everyone.
OMG, you paid 50 dollars for a room in 1995? That was like paying 1000 Dollars for a room in a 3 stars hotel now. Or even worse, I was very young in '95, I am not sure about the exchange rate.
To go back to your previous post, Romania has changed quite a lot, it's been almost 20 years!! Still plenty of things need changing, but the restaurants, the hotels, the bars, the clubs, they are all pretty much the same as in any other country ( I am refering to the big cities).
OMG right? At the time, I was told that $50 was approx. the average monthly salary in Romania. I was not at all bothered paying it--to me it was nothing (particularly coming from NYC), In fact, my internship was with a Romanian company - I had expected it to be unpaid, but they insisted on paying me the equivalent of about $50 a month and I felt terrible taking it.
Do you know what types of salaries people in Romania make now, and how much rentals go for there now? It's crazy how much the world has changed in those 17 years. I dont know of anywhere you could go with less than $100 US dollars/month now and live a great quality of life. If such a place exists, I'd really like to know where it is, because I'd be on that plane in a minute.
You know plenty about the country, especially since you've never been there!
I am a little fascinated by Russia, too, but I am also a little scared by it. Most of Romanians (including myself) have a pretty bad opinion about Russia (communism came from there, all the opression, the language is a nightmare, they scare the cr.ap out of us). I was never there, although when I lived in Romania it would have been an hour plane ride away. In my future travel plans, for sure
I graduated college with a Geography degree. I have learned about quite a few places.
I know Russia had some influence in Romania for a while. I want to see both nations for myself.
Very few cases, and that's Caucasians mostly. We've got some very noticeble problem with them - terrorism, banditism, general (and outrageous) misbehaviour.
There are up to 100,000 Afro-Russians, plus tourists and immigrant workers. They are doing just fine. Especially with Russian girls.
If you know how to be safe in America - you know how to be safe almost anywhere. Crime in Russia is just like in America, but there are virtually no guns here...
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