*** Saturday, 01 Feb 2002 ***
I awoke to see that the snow was 90% gone. Decided to shop, went to the Bucharest Mall but could not find Johnson & Johnson shampoo, baby oil or shaving cream. I did find some dry wine and a cherry liquor I like. I went to the Nic on Titulescu but only found shaving cream. Shopping is not simple here.

The view out my back windows. Can you see the dome that is in the "crotch" of the church roof and the building on the left?

Had lunch at Casa Veche but the pizza was just so-so. The Efes was good. The Sambuca was excellent. Elvis Presley was on the sound track.

*** Sunday, 02 Feb 2003 ***
I awoke to find a thin, fresh coat of snow on the church roof next door. Most of the sidewalks and streets were mostly bare but there was also some fresh little spots of ice.

The key thing was that the temperature had fallen noticeably and it was cold. There was no way to ignore it because the wind blew fiercely in my face and made my eyes tear. I decided that being outside was a mistake and went back to my apartment and continued with the boring task of reorganizing my Bucharest Bugle web site. Boring but necessary.

I left around 5:15 PM for a 5:30 PM dinner at Allen's place with Ella, Robi and Christine. The wind was so strong and the temperature so low that even down on the University station train platform it was windily frigid. Fortunately the dinner made it all worth while. The food was good (Allen is something of a chef) and the conversation was most pleasant.

*** Tuesday, 04 Feb 2002 ***
For a break we had blue skies yesterday and today. Quite a change from the last several weeks.

I had a delicious lunch of chicken Saltimbocca at the Uptown. I must have it again.

*** Thursday, 06 Feb 2003***
I awoke to find an inch of semi-frozen slush on the ground. I am getting tired of winter. The sky was only partly cloudy today. The extra blue was appreciated.

*** Friday, 07 Feb 2003 ***
It was actually sunny! It has even been sunny for parts of several days this week. Only an inch of snow and mild temperatures.

I had volunteered to teach English on Friday night and this was the first session. I left work thirty minutes early but only got to my apartment in that time. Then I caught Bus 69 to Ferdinand I and arrived only minutes early.

On the way I saw my first ticket inspectors. They were two women wearing unstylish blue jackets that didn't seem to have logos on them. I saw one writing down the six digit calatorie (trip) number on a form. They seemed to be selective in who they asked -- they didn't speak to me at all.

The English class consisted of Florin, Cezar, Bogdan and a guy whose name I didn't get (he learned English from the VOA and speaks it perfectly).

I decided that my teaching techniques would be based on seeing, hearing, speaking. Seeing using flipcharts and handouts. Hearing me speaking, playing VOA Special English broadcasts and bits of movies. Speaking by having people read handouts and asking questions. That would be a beginning.

The VOA guy told me that Romanians don't understand argument by example and Cesar seemed to prove him right when I gave the example of the BCS and he objected that that was about computers, missing the point that getting together, analyzing a problem, and cooperatively acting on the analysis was a general procedure. I couldn't quite believe what he said for if they don't understand by example (inductive reasoning) how do they understand?

It was nine when we finished and I took a bus toward University and decided that I would spend an hour at Laptaria Enache. They were selling the seats that night for a band performance and I had to pay 70K cover ($2.30). I had two beers and made some notes and left before the band began to play.

*** Saturday, 08 Feb 2002 ***
Today I took the Metrou to the south end of Tineretului Park and walked through the park to its northern end at Cantemir. I walked up Cantemir to Marashest and caught linea 30 to its end across from Serban Voda Cemetery. I walked through the cemetery and took some pictures and then took several trolleys back to Unirii. I walked from there to the tailor's shop and got his name and number (Florescu, 315 68-65). He doesn't speak a word of English. He showed me out and seemed to be directly me to a phone.

I walked up to La Mamma's restaurant and was impressed at how big it is and how full at 1:30 PM. I sat at the bar and had some mititei and French fries. The mititei were quite good but the fries seemed under done or something for they were oddly chewy. Then I walked home thinking that it had managed to get colder again.

Snow, snow, snow! There is no end of it this winter.

*** Sunday, 09 Feb 2003 ***
I awoke to white skies and a very light but steady snow. It continued all day but didn't amount to much more than slush.

I went out about 5:30 just to go out and also to see if I could get some of my medications (or medicaments, as they say here). I did get one refilled and they told me that if I come back in two days they will have more for me. It is as if they carry one of everything they carry and nothing of anything else. Walking back, a young lady ran up to me from behind and tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my gloves which had fallen out of my pocket. There are a lot of very nice people here.

*** Monday, 10 Feb 2003 ***
Up early but when I got to the office no Internet and no network. Bummer.

Today was Adrian's birthday so Robert and I took him to lunch at Casa Orange on Dorobantzilor. It has real cloth napkins which makes it rather fancy but the prices are pretty good. Adrian enjoyed his Hong Kong chicken and even had desert. He does relish eating. I had a Pui Kiewskaya (Chicken Kiev) and it was quite good.

This afternoon during a management committee meeting the lights in the large conference room suddenly went out all at once. They stayed out for about five minutes and then came back on, not exactly all at once, but in some seemingly random sequence and, as each florescent lamp shown again, it made a small, almost tinkly, sound that came from here and there around the room as the individual lamps lit.

It was the kind of sound that is easily ignored but could be absorbed subconsciously. The effect was quite pleasant and I wondered if it was part of the design of the fixtures. I know that many large building set their ceiling lights to emit a low "white noise" to act as a background and dampener to the noise people make in an office.

*** Tuesday, 11 Feb 2002 ***
At work at 7:35. It is nice to have a quiet time.

***Wednesday, 12 Feb 2003 ***
Cold! And windy! A nasty combination.

*** Friday, 14 Feb 2003 *** (Valentine's Day)
The weather has been extremely cold for the last few days. -15 C this AM but unlike Wednesday there was no wind so it didn't seem very cold.