It has been a long, rewarding, exhausting, adventurous, sleep-deprived, celebratory, and migratory three weeks or so. I left my home to participate in numerous projects, adventures, a conference, parties, and more. My wallet is ready to burst open, as it is stuffed with eight train tickets to and from different destinations and numerous bus and maxi taxi receipts. I figured the best thing to do is give you a small taste of my summer time awesomeness. When I catch up on some much-needed sleep, I will elaborate.

Leg 1- Horezu-Hunedoara-Deva-Hunedoara:  The first stop was to visit my best friend, Mike, in Hunedoara. We were joined by Natalie, another volunteer for several days of fun. We visited Corvin Castle and the Citadel of Deva. Natalie and I went second hand shopping in Deva where I scored some t-shirts and a beautiful pink and green table cloth which will be converted into a window curtain. We cooked delicious food. I made Pad Thai, meatloaf, spaghetti, and peanut butter pie. Natalie whipped up a lemon tart and a delicious southern style meal complete with onion rings. Mike’s friend Mihai met us in Deva and took us on a tour of the citadel. Mihai took me on a hike to the cross on the citadel, where we sat on a rock ledge overlooking the city of Deva and discussed his plans of moving to China.

Leg 2: Hunedoara- Sighisoara: Then it was time to say good-bye and head to my next project. I volunteered to help with an Outward Bound English Camp. I boarded my train (an hour and a half late) to the medieval city of Sighisoara. Sighisoara is amazing. It is right out of a fairy tale. I met Ilona from Outward Bound at the train station and she treated me to juice in the citadel.

Leg 3: Sighisoara- Sovata (Szovata): I climbed into Ilona’s car and we sped away from the citadel toward the city of Sovata. The windows were rolled down, the sun was warm, the breeze was cool, and the lush Transylvanian hills rolled by dressed in lush hunter green. We raced toward the Outward Bound headquarters to set up an English Camp for 13 students from the city Botosani.

Leg 4: Sovata- Praid- Sovata: Ilona and I arrived at the picturesque camp grounds of Outward Bound. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and set up from the kids. Sovata was an adventure for me. Sovata is very close to Hargita County, a Hungarian speaking area, so yet again I didn’t understand a thing! But not understanding distresses me no longer. The people of Outward Bound are amazing and the food was delicious. The kids were from Botosani, in North Eastern Romania. They were so much fun. We went hiking, swimming, played games, had a day in the ropes course, sang songs, visited a salt mine in the town of Praid, went to a Hungarian Street Festival in Praid, went on an 8km walk from Praid to Sovata that almost killed the kids. It was an exhausting week with some great people. I’m so glad I went! I really hope to work with Ilona and Outward Bound again.

Leg 5: Sovata- Sighisoara- Medias- Sibiu: I left the camp a day early to trek to Sibiu for our Peace Corps Mid-Service Training. I barely made it to Sighisoara, where I was to catch a connecting train. I ran to Carly, an awesome volunteer from my group. We purchased our tickets for the personal train to Sibiu. Due to a catastrophic misunderstanding on our part, we missed out train. Hey, personal trains are not supposed to look like the nice blue arrow trains, darn it! So anyhow, we missed our train and got our tickets stamped for another train. We ended up changing trains in Medias which allowed us to stop for a beer while we waited for the train from Medias to Sibiu. We got to Sibiu 3 hours later than we had planned. Oh well, it happens!

Leg 6: MST in Sibiu: I went in dreading MST. I had such an awful time at IST back in December, that I expected MST to be the same thing. I was pleasantly surprised. I had a great time at MST. There was a kickball game and ultimate Frisbee. Everyone hung out in Piata Mare together one night. Several of us went out for amazingly delicious Chinese food. Over all, it was a good time. And as for location, Sibiu couldn’t be better.

Leg 7: Sibiu- Fargaras- Brasov- Ormenis: During the last day, several of us went out for lunch. During the lunch, an impromptu “Welcome to Transylvania” party was planned. I decided last minute to crash the party and come along. I sprinted back to the hotel to collect my bags and then sprinted to the bus station to meet up with the group. Unfortunately, the bus we planned to take was too full. So we managed to wrangle a rented car due to Jerod’s wicked negotiation skills. We ran into to really cool German backpackers from Berlin and they shared the ride with us, as they were destined for Brasov and so were we. We made it to Fargaras and hitched a train from there. When we got to Brasov, we bid farewell to the German backpackers and boarded our next train to Jerod’s site, Ormenis. Jerod lives in an idyllic rural Transylvania village about an hour from Brasov.

We spent the next morning preparing for the party. Only one newbie came, Chris. He’s a pretty cool guy. We grilled veggies and mici, had an unsuccessful experiment with a watermelon, and snacked on Valerie’s delicious vegan cookies.  All in all it was a great time. I’m glad I changed my plans and traveled half way across the country to go!

Leg 8: Ormenis- Sighisoara- Sibiu- Deva- Hunedoara:

The morning after the party we all parted ways. Half of us headed to Sighisoara and the other half to Brasov. I took a train to Sighisoara with Sarah, Carly, and Trisha. There was some mass confusion between us and the train conductor when it came time to buy our train tickets. It left Sarah and I epically confused. I can’t quite wrap my head around it. Oh well. I parted ways with the girls in Sighisoara. They were headed to Carly’s site and I was headed back to Hunedoara. The train to Sibiu was the most crowded I have ever seen, but there was a big rock festival in Sibiu. I made it to Sibiu with some time to spare. I bought some snacks and my train ticket. I hopped on the train as soon as it arrived. I grabbed my seat next to a nice elderly couple. We exchanged pleasantries and they asked where I was going. A middle age man approached us and attempted to ask the couple, in Romanian, if he was in the right wagon. I instantly recognized that he didn’t speak Romanian and his accent sounded vaguely American. I interrupted him, “ Do you speak English?” To my surprise, it turned out he was American. I directed him to his seat and then it was time for the train to depart. Half way through my journey, he asked if I wanted to switch seats and sit near him. I said, “Sure.” It’s not often I run across a non-Peace Corps American. He is a waiter from Washington D.C. and he takes two months off a year to travel the developing world. On this trip he was visiting Romania and Bulgaria. We chatted about his trip, why he chose Romania, and what he though about Romania, thus far. He questioned me about Peace Corps and my insights on living and working here. It was a very pleasant conversation. He mentioned that he had wanted to visit Corvin Castle in Hunedoara, but it was too complicated to get there. I told him that I was actually on my way to Hunedoara. We talked about the castle and I had some extra post cards in my bag, so I gave him one. I disembarked in Deva and the American traveler continued on his journey to Timisoara. I always meet the most interesting people on public transportation.

Leg 9: Hunedoara- Farewell to Eny and Mihai- Idiot Chelsea Misses Her Train

As soon as I arrived in Hunedoara (after 12 hours of travel, mind you), Mike informed me that Eny was having a going away party that night and Mihai was coming into town. Eny was getting ready to leave for Ireland and Mihai would soon be departing for China. I quickly fixed some dinner and Mihai, Mike, Loredana, and I headed for the infamous House of Rock for the party. It was so sad to say goodbye to Eny. She’s super cool. The highlight of the evening, I’m sure, was the group of us singing “Born in the USA” in the middle of the bar. Needless to say, I had a little too much fun and didn’t wake up in time the next morning to catch my train home. I had to stay an extra day in Hunedoara. The good thing about it was that I got to spend another day with Mihai. It would be the last time I’d see him before he left for China. It also gave Mihai and Mike some quality time to pick on me. Always appreciated.

Leg 10: Hunedoara- Deva- Ramnicu Valcea- Horezu

The next day, I took the earliest bus from Hunedoara to Deva and the first bus out of Deva to Valcea. I was trying to make it back to Horezu before a meeting. I made it to Valcea, but unfortunately since it’s summer vacation, all the buses to Horezu were full. I had to wait 2 hours of a bus. I tried, but I missed the meeting. Shame on me.

Leg 11: Horezu- Gârda de Sus and the Apuseni Mountains

After a three-day break to do laundry and repack, I headed to the Apuseni Mountains with the Lacrima Muntilor gang. It was an incredible trip. It was almost too much for words. I’ll cover it in a separate entry.

Leg 12:  Home Sweet Horezu (at least for a few days)

I’m finally home. My feet are on the ground. My world has finally slowed to its normal rotational speed. I’ve spent the last few days catching up on laundry and prepping for summer camp. This summer has certainly been an incredible memory making adventure. I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that I have been given to see new places in this spectacular country.

As always, Life Is Beautiful

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