Big Effort for Small Change

Yesterday, Monday, I spent working for the Bucovina Ladies Society (BLS).

My colleagues and I think this is a great name, because it sounds like a bunch of women getting together to drink tea. Of course, this is Romania, not England, so the people drink chai rather than tea and there is no "tea time". More likely, there is "beer and vodka time". :)

Anyway, I went in around 9:30 and we worked on paperwork to get the money for the SPA grant they were awarded. We went to a bank to set up a sub-account for the project. According to Peace Corps, I must be a co-signer on all withdrawals from the account. Then we wanted Paula, my counterpart, and Mihaela, the director also on the account. Mihaela had to sign all the papers. She was expecting an inspection of an EU grant they have, so she was very distracted. She said to me, "No more signings! I'm through with signing for you!" I begged, "Just one more, Miheala. Please. It will be easy and it's the last one. I promise. I promise."

Paula and I finished the paperwork, then I took it with me to mail to the Peace Corps office in Bucareşti. Paula was afraid I would be confused at the Post Office, so she explained in detail how I should ask for a priority post. Also, I needed to return to the bank with papers from Peace Corps and BLS saying that I really am a worker for BLS and that's why it's okay to have my name on one of their accounts.

I returned to my apartment for lunch of leftover musaka -- that Dennis made this weekend -- then I sat down to read. I fell instantly asleep. I woke with a start, wondering what day it was and where I was. Then I managed to get my papers together and leave for the Post Office and bank.

At the Post Office, my mailing cost 5.20 lei. I did not have .20 and the Post Office did not have change -- and they also do not have gum or matches, but that's another story -- so the lady told me to get change and come back. At least I think that's what she told me. At the bank, no problem. The man copied my papers and said, in perfect English, "That's all we need. Have a nice day."

I thought I'd stop at the book store, Alexandria, to buy a couple of pens and get some spare change which I could take to the Post Office. My one marker and two pens cost exactly 5.50 lei. No change there.

I decided to go see Dennis because he works close to this area. I had .10, and if he had another .10 I could go back to the Post Office with the needed .20. Luckily, I found him outside with some colleagues, which meant I would not have to go into his office where they always want to wait on me like a princess (yeah, it sounds great, but it's annoying when you're trying to get stuff done). He said, "I think you should come in for a minute." Dang, no escape.

The office people were amused by something and I wondered what occasion it was -- birthday? saint day? some obscure anniversary? Then Dennis held out a large plastic bottle cut in half. He said, "Here's a new toy for our cats." (We're babysitting a colleague's cat right now.) He dumped the contents of the bottle onto his desk. It was a fist-sized ball of spikes. I recognized that profile right away. "A hedgehog!"

All the office staff laughed and talked. They've grown up with hedgehogs, probably caught them when they were children. They were amused by our excitement. Before we could leave with the hedgehog, someone came in with mici (meech - a kind of sausage that everyone here loves) and bread and beer. Therefore, we MUST sit and eat and chat with everyone. (I kept thinking about when the Post Office closed.)

Eventually, we left with our new hedgehog (arici = ahr-eech). We stopped at the Post Office where I gave the lady the missing .20. Then we went home (back up all those stairs) to show the cats their new playmate. They were curious, but not willing to get poked. Mostly they left it alone.

I thought this would be a quick little post about a few things that happened yesterday, but then it became a long drawn-out story with a lot of small events that intertwined. This is what happens here. We start out on a simple mission or errand, and many small events occur along the way, so that a simple thing becomes long and drawn-out. I told a trainee, that I work for my agencies about 10 hours apiece each week. She asked what I did the rest of the time. I explained that I did laundry, errands, housework. I told her, "Everything here takes twice as long as you're used to." We spend a lot of time just functioning (spending two hours trying to locate small change) and coping with the unexpected (mici and beer in an office).

Another ordinary day in Peace Corps Romania. :)