Flash to Bang - north by northwest

The last day in Bucharest was a strange swirl of mishaps. During college, I spent my summers in New York City and each August when I packed up and returned to Smith, I'd have a string of nightmares featuring an exaggerated version of the city's landscape and exaggerated struggles to leave the city. Wednesday in Bucharest was a waking version of this struggle, the city pulling us back as we tried to push out.

Michael and I went to the international train travel window at Gara de Nord early Wednesday afternoon. We waited on line for about 15 minutes. We told the woman we wanted to reserve a sleeper cabin on the 6:55 train. She mistook this as the 16:50 train. We didn't realize the error until we left the window. We returned to the end of the line.

The woman was obviously displeased with our problem and it took about 10 minutes for her and her colleague to sort it out. While we were waiting, an old man with leather skin came up to the window and leaned his elbow on the counter. He stood there silently and stared at us. He had a glass eye. I clutched my purse and turned my back to him.

Tickets finally in hand, we headed back to Piata Romana to meet Michael's friend Dizi who was going to help us close up the apartment with our landlord. I walked down the stairs to the metro, tripped on the last step and fell face forward, smacking my right knee on the hard tile. It has now swelled slightly and is bruised.

The landlord arrived at 4 p.m. We expected to get our deposit back, but she began to argue that we hadn't paid the electricity for the first nine days of August and wouldn't give us our deposit until we paid it. Dizi translated for us. After painstaking back and forth through Dizi, we estimated the electricity cost for the first nine days of August. At first the landlord wanted 100 euros, but we talked her down to 30. She gave us our deposit minus 270 euros for August rent and electricity. She took our keys. We carried our bags into the hallway and she complained to Dizi that the light switch was broken. He ignored her. I grabbed our plant from the balcony and asked her if she wanted it. She asked if it was dead. I said no and she took it.

We brought our belongings down to the lobby in several trips on the elevator. With my last bag in hand, I got off the elevator and saw two Romanian men talking to Michael and Dizi. They were waving money in their faces. I didn't understand what was going on, but they later told me the men were saying it was "garbage day" and they collecting the "fee." It was a scam. It was the first time both Michael or I had been approached by scam artists in Bucharest.

Dizi called a cab for us and we loaded our belongings into the trunk. We had some time to kill at Gara de Nord so we drank a round of beers with Dizi. We headed for the platform at 6:30. The train had one sleeper car. We were the only people who had reserved a cabin. We had the whole car to ourselves. Michael left to buy some beers for the trip and I settled into our compartment. I sat on the bottom bed and ate a sandwich. I looked out the window and noticed the train was moving. I assumed it was just slight movement after the release of the brakes, but I checked the time. It was 6:55 and Michael was not on the train. It began to pull out of the station. I ran down the narrow hallway. The porter had just closed the door.

"Wait! Wait! My boyfriend is not on the train!"

He opened the door and I leaned out. I looked down the platform and saw Michael running.

"Michael!"

As he ran, the train's speed picked up. I didn't know if he'd be able to close the gap. It seemed like an eternity before his hand grabbed onto the train. He jumped on and into my arms.

We were sleep deprived and ready for bed. We drank our beers and watched the sun set. Our eyelids were heavy and we slipped into bed, Michael on the top bunk and me on the bottom.

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. We were heading through the Carpathian Mountains. The moon was a few days past full and illuminated the mist lacing through the peaks and valleys. I sat in the dark compartment and inhaled the fresh night air. Michael woke up about a half hour later. We played cards and then read our books as the sun rose.

We ran into more trouble at the border. Both the Romanian and Hungarian border control officials did not like Michael's passport, which is very worn. The Romanians couldn't find his entry stamp. The Hungarians wanted to send us back to the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest. We convinced them to let us proceed. The Hungarian official who spoke limited English pointed to Michael's passport, waved his finger and pointed to his eyes. "I did not see this."

We arrived in Budapest just after 10 a.m. We walked down the platform and saw a man in a suit holding up a sign our names. He was accompanied by a driver. The driver who was Romanian told us his van was named "Snow White."

Snow White whisked us across "Pest," over the Danube River and up into the hills of "Buda." The gates at our new home opened. The house manager greeted us and ushered us to my mom. I gave her a big hug. She hugged Michael. She gave us a tour of the house.

We met mom in the dining room later for lunch prepared by the house chef. A nice salad and vegetable quiche. Mom left for work and Michael and I unpacked. We fell into our new bed and dozed off until dinner.


goodbye plant



sunset, heading west



sleeper car



our compartment



hi





michael reading the worst book known to mankind, "A Stone for Danny Fisher"



michael and unknown man



nuclear sunrise