by Last weekend was great for all of us. There were so many interesting little things along the way, like the animals we met, the old (and not so old) ladies in headscarves who congregated on benches, the villagers who gave us surprisingly accurate directions, the big places on the map that turned out to be tiny, the tiny places on the map that turned out to be substantial, the significant places that were missing from the map altogether, the ramshackle cafés we visited, the lady at one of the cafés who politely commented on my overly aspirated pronunciation of the letter T, the slabs of meat we ate despite our best efforts to avoid them, and the crazy road surfaces I drove on (a skating rink for ten miles, the surface of the moon for the next ten, then a signposted main road would turn into an equally signposted muddy farm track). Unlike my parents who are basically the same age, my travelling companions never entirely left the sixties behind, so they had fairly relaxed attitudes to a lot of things. They enjoyed their trip and their time in Timișoara. I hope they come back.
I gained some valuable experience of driving on this side of the road, facilitated by a very competent navigator and the absence of anybody related to me. I drove 700 km in all. Returning the hire car on Monday in rush-hour traffic was a challenge, especially because my phone was going like billio, but we managed it and got back our deposit.
I’m getting quite a lot of work now. Yesterday I started with a ten-year-old boy called Octavian who obviously comes from a well-heeled family. On Tuesday I had my first session at the lollipop-stick factory; only two employees, both senior managers, showed up. Tomorrow I should be having my third lesson with the shy 4½-year-old girl. After a trial run on Tuesday, I should also be doing short (15-minute) phone-based language assessments which could be a useful money-spinner because they require little preparation.
My life is interesting and varied; it feels good to be alive. I won’t be leaving Romania any time in the near future if I can possibly help it. I wouldn’t mind having a fuller social life, and I hope that will come in time.
I’m just about to watch at least some of Game 1 of the series between the Red Sox and the Astros. I like Baseball because it kind of makes sense. Very little else in America seems to right now.
