In Galati

Buna ziua!

Following my experience in Bucharest, we headed to Galati - home for the next 10 weeks. Romania only has two freeways, one of which runs about half the distance from Bucharest to Galati. The other half of the trip involves normal roads, many of which did not appear to be regularly maintained. The journey was undertaken in the middle of the night, so I could not see the scenery . However, I'm told there really isn't much to see on this particular trip. This post will give an overview of my first impressions of Galati. I will expand on the topics in later posts.

Several sources told me about a very large presence of feral dogs in Romania. The United States State Department even advises long term travelers to the country to be inoculated against rabies. I only noticed a few dogs in Bucharest. However, there were many once we left he city along the roads which we took to Galati. I've even seen a couple of dogs chasing after cars, a few larger packs of wild dogs. Cats also have  a large presence.

We arrived in Galati around 3 in the morning and settled into an an apartment. Housing in Galati is incredibly cheap by American standards. Numerous two bedroom (referred to in Romania as 3 room) apartments can be found for around $300-400 a month. From what I have seen so far, a lot of the apartments are actually nicer than a lot of the much more expensive apartments that can be found in Los Angeles.

Galati is the 7th largest city in Romania, with a population of around 260,000. It has a mostly suburban feel. I am currently staying in the Mazepa neighborhood, a short walk to the Danube River.

Me in front of the Danube

The walk along the Danube is very pleasant with numerous vendors selling refreshments. There are also many boats anchored off shore which are used as restaurants. However, the Danube recently flood and most the restaurants are inaccessible. Only those that built higher walkways between the shore and the boat are currently operating.

Radu, our employer, introduced us to a few friends. They are a fun group and have hosted us for lunch twice. I have had mixed thoughts about the food so far. I am sure there will be several posts coming related to food and wine, so much more on that later. In addition to running SMART, Radu also operates a cafe called Bankers. It is modeled in an early twentieth century American style. Its a fun place and hosts live concerts. I have been spending evenings at Bankers, which has a mostly quiet back room in which I can work.

Today we also took a trip with several SMART staff members to the nearby city of Braila, just across the river. It has a much different look than Galati, with a larger number of older buildings. The following are a few pictures of Braila.

Communist era government administration building

Pastry Shop

Pastry Shop Menu

Besides making the most out of my work with SMART, my biggest goal for my time in Romania is to become as proficient in the language as possible. I have found a tutor, Alex, who has offered to work with me for an hour a day. She has not taught anyone Romanian before, but she seems perfect for the task. She speaks Romanian, French, English, and Italian and works as a translator. She also has a PhD in philosophy, my undergraduate major.

La Revedere!