We waited patiently for the company that has language courses to call us back about our (frankly ridiculous) offer of paying them for one lesson a month for fourteen months so we could establish a reason for staying in Romania for our visa. We originally talked to them that previous Wednesday and decided that if we heard nothing by Monday afternoon, we would pursue other visa options. Monday afternoon came and went, as did the rest of the week, and still we haven’t heard from them. I’ll take that as a “no.”
Our other visa options included finding a place to volunteer and the less likely possibility of finding someplace that would officially and legally hire us. Finding a place to volunteer isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Unlike America, community service isn’t very common here in Romania. As one of our Romanian friends put it, “Nobody wants to work for free.” Understandable. There are no handy websites with volunteer projects listed by category or date or interest. So we had to work a little harder to find non-profit organizations enlisting volunteers.
Our first stop Monday afternoon was the Projects Abroad office. They organize volunteer opportunities in a bunch of countries including Romania and Moldova. Essentially, it’s a short-term Peace Corps experience, except you have to pay for it. We thought that they might be interested in hiring us, and if not, they’d be able to give us some leads for volunteer opportunities at least. Their office was especially difficult to find and it was snowing like crazy that day. After wandering up and down backstreets all sharing the same name with slightly different spellings (Horia versus Horea) for about 45 minutes, we finally found the unmarked building in a hilly neighborhood. I knocked on the door hoping this was the right place and thankfully it was. We were welcomed in as if we were volunteers ourselves and immediately found ourselves sitting in front of a cup of warm coffee and plates of mamaliga and sweets. Although they weren’t hiring, they were more than happy to talk to us about some volunteer opportunities and gave us some contact info as well. This was a good start.Our next stop was the American Hospitality Academy out at the other end of the city. A former Brasov Peace Corps volunteer suggested this to us a while ago and since we hadn’t met with much luck contacting places by internet, we figured going in person would be a safer bet. Another 45 minutes of travel and wandering ensued and we finally made it to their doorstep weary and cold. We walked in the glass doorway to the entrance and stomped the snow off our boots as we unzipped our coats and shook the snow from our jackets and hats. Beyond another set of glass doors was the large, ostentatious reception desk where three well-dressed young Romanians sat. The building appeared empty except for a lone cleaning woman and the well-dressed Romanians seemed to be watching our every move. We approached the reception desk and the young man wearing a full suit and tie greeted us and asked how he could be of service. We said that we wanted to know if they were hiring. “So you’re looking for jobs?” he asked. We said yes. He looked from one to the other with raised eyebrows and asked, more out of personal curiosity I think, “Do you have any experience with hotels or the hospitality business?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make something up, or just say yes, or simply say no – I didn’t want to be turned away this quickly. Instead, Robert responded, “Well…see... um… we’re American.” Yes. That was our “experience,” that was our qualification – we’re American. Our greeter appeared surprised and then proceeded to call his superior to let her know that there were “two people here who are asking about jobs…they’re American. You’re busy though, right?....Oh, you’re not?...So you want to talk to them now?... Ok, I’ll send them up.” So up we went!
We met with the academic coordinator of the school and she talked about the American Hospitality Academy’s goals and plans for further development. She seemed very enthusiastic and thought we could work something out where we could enroll in a course there (thus satisfying the visa requirements) and also possibly work part- or full-time in some position. My experience with university housing (thanks Norfolk State!) and Robert’s experience with counseling seems to be what they’re interested in. We’ll meet again with them this coming Monday for a more formal kind of interview. I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but this would be perfect – visa stuff would be taken care of AND we’d get an interesting job out of it. ****
Luckily, I’ve been finding paths to great success despite not having a job. I’ve beaten three of my PSP games now. “GTA: Vice City Stories” was somewhat challenging. I had a jackass brother that I had to take care of throughout the duration of the game. “GTA: Liberty City Stories” was a little easier although still a bit of a challenge. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t drive here. After a GTA marathon I went for a walk around the neighborhood fully expecting a drive-by to take place and having an itching desire to snipe a pedestrian and take their money.
a job I think.
d in a “pub quiz”, which if you all aren’t familiar with this, it’s a trivia contest and it’s put on in English at the local Irish bar. I invited all of the Brasov Couchsurfers (http://www.couchsurfing.org/) because it’s better if you have a big team. The guys who came and had participated in the quiz before said that they had never won and it’s pretty tough.
I thought I'd try the comment thing. The ski area looks very nice and quite uncrowded. You guys look like you're having a good time! xomom
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