Final Reflections

I have been back in the United States for two weeks since completing my internship in Galati and wanted to post a few thoughts and reflections on my time in Romania. I left Romania with a very favorable impression. I'll admit that I knew little about Romania prior to my recent experience. If asked for what I associated  with the country, I would have probably said, like most Americans, said something about gymnastics and vampires. I discovered there is actually quite a lot to Romania. First of all, its a beautiful country. I will say, though, that Galaţi  is probably the least attractive place I saw. From Constanţa to Soveja to Bucharest to Braşov,  the various environs found in Romania are lovely and wroth exploring more. 

This leads me to what is certainly one of the largest issues in Romania: poor infrastructure. Traversing the country is not easy. I was fortunate enough to have Romanians who were willing to take me places, but I could see that navigating Romania would be difficult for a foreigner without such an advantage. Roads are not well maintained and the lack of a nationwide system of highways greatly enhances travel time. If the Romanian government is serious about its obvious desire for foreign investment and visitors, it should get serious about infrastructure development. 

As far as Galaţi,   my above comment about it being the least attractive part of Romania I saw should not be construed as disparaging. It is actually a very nice city. The vistas found in the rest of the country simply present difficult competition. The waterfront along the Danube was certainly one of my favorite places and I will miss taking jogs along it. The people in Galaţi  are fantastic. I can not thank everyone  I met enough for greatly enhancing my time there. I would especially like to thank Radu Oprea for proving the opportunity and Alexandra Teodorescu for the Romanian lessons. Mulţumesc mult!

I learned a lot from my work at SMART Development Center, even if we did not advance as far in the Black Sea Project as we would have liked due to government bureaucracy. This, though, is not an issue restricted to Romania and is something I've certainly experienced on another project in the United States. I am still hesitant about too much civic engagement, especially given its potential to drown out those with substantive experience, training, expertise, or knowledge about a topic. However, civic engagement does have its place. Also, its the development of the sort of talent found at SMART that will secure Romania's future. 

Romania is certainly a place I hope to return to in a few years.There is still a lot of the country to see, and I'll need to practice the Romanian I learned.  I will also encourage others to visit, and can hopefully correct misconceptions about it which I may encounter.