*** Sunday, 01 Dec 2002 ***
The weather continued gray but with light rain and distinctly colder. Not much of a day to walk around.

I called Allen to go to lunch. He was already at Belle Epoque (which was near where I was staying) so I went there and had lunch with him. Afterwards we went shopping, then to his apartment near Piatza Charles de Gaulle. For the fun of it, we took the Metrou to Piatsa Romana and then walked across Amzei to Calea Victoria and then to the Hilton. We had a few drinks in the English bar waiting for Earl to call since he was arriving that day. He called and we had a drink with him and then dinner at the Athenu nearby (cheap and good). Home to read project docs.

*** Monday, 02 Dec 2002 ***
I wanted tours of less expensive apartments with American Realty but after calling after 9 AM and getting a woman whose only help was saying she couldn't speak English, I wondered at how little the "American" seems to have not rubbed off.

The Piatza Universitate apartment Manuel showed me was pretty much on the money: big enough, quiet enough, bright enough. I wanted it. Now how do I get the powers that be to process the paperwork in a timely manner?

*** Tuesday, 03 Dec 2002 ***
I wanted to go to Accept to teach English but Ben scheduled a meeting on GRASP bank account and then invited Allen Stansbury and me out to dinner at Cafe Ole. Over dinner I argued that staff needed some training in meeting management. I have observed that Romanians in group discussions didn't seem to know that repetition was a hint to end discussion or how to shut off discussion (a vote) and reach a conclusion.

Weather continues gray, cold and rainy.

*** Thursday, 05 Dec 2002 ***
I am here for two years during which time I am supposed to work myself out of a job. I find it an interesting concept and look forward to doing it well. The quality of the staff will be vital to success and so far, I am very impressed.

Things have been exciting and interesting. The staff is incredibly self-motivated. A fact-finding team is in Iasi (pronounced Yash) today and I wish I were a fly on the wall. We will debrief tomorrow and I can't wait to hear the team assessment.

The cold, cloudy, drippy rain continues. The weatherman says that it is from a low pressure center that has been vacationing in southern Italy for a week now and just won't go away. The weather was bad all day.

The big hat on the gent above shows that he is influenced by early 19th century Turkish styles.

*** Friday, 06 Dec 2002 ***
The weather continues bleak and depressing. This afternoon the light rain turned to light hail and the wind increased. A slight accumulation whitely spoke of winter.

I had meetings up the whazoo. There was a staff meeting, a facilitator meeting, a meeting with Vladimir and Rodica of "the other DAI program", the meeting with the bank, and a meeting with Ella, just to name a few.

At a staff meeting Dennis described the program's approach as being demand-driven, bottom-up problem analysis; that it works by using a SWOT analysis (evaluating internal Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats). It is an interesting approach.

*** Saturday, 07 Dec 2002 ***
I stayed up late last night writing and sending emails. This morning I awoke at 11:30 AM, really late for me but I felt well rested. When I looked out the window there were flakes of snow in the air and the gray sky (day 8) seemed less gray. That low over Italy just won't go away and continues to spread its gloom all over the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

I have been here less than two weeks and much is the same and much is different but all of it is interesting.

After dressing with three layers under my jacket and an over coat over it, I went to the Belle Epoque for brunch. They were out of the steak with peppercorn sauce, so I settled for a croque madam (a croque monsieur with a fried egg on it). Not bad but the fried egg seemed out of place.

Above is an icon of Christ being baptized.

I walked over to the Metrou at Aviatorilor took the train to Piatza Romana and bought some bus/trolley tickets. Then I walked over to the former Communist Party headquarters which is now the Senate Building and then went to the Art Museum that occupies the palace across Piatza Revolutiona. The 16th - 18th century art is 98% religious while as the 19th century advanced it becomes more secular. They have about a dozen early Brancush sculptures. On the whole it was interesting.

*** Sunday, 08 Dec 2002 ***
The sky is a lighter gray but the temperature is very low. It wasn't fun to be outside.

Went to the National Peasant's Museum. It seemed cleaner and better organized than I remembered it. Entry was 50,000 lei and but a photography permit was 200,000 lei. Go figure.

Worked on my Romanian Register web page and got to the writing when Allen Stansbury called me up around 4:30 and asked me to join him in eating a chicken he was cooking. I did and brought some wine. We had a pleasant meal with pleasant conversation and I walked home around 10 PM.

The evening was bitterly cold but dry. Gray skies with gusty winds.

Menu items from the Chinese restaurant down the street from the office: Soup with "cat ears", Buddha's fingers, and Ants in a tree