Month: December 2010
How Romanians Got Cheated Out of a Revolution
I’ve already confessed to exactly where I was and what I was doing in December 1989 when Romania had their revolution. I was drunk, surly and in a foul mood and when my friend ran to me, breathless, saying they had just shot Nicolae Ceausescu on television, my reply was “Who? Never heard of him.” In the intervening years, I’ve spoken to lots of people … Continue reading How Romanians Got Cheated Out of a Revolution
Any Given Taxi
Literally every single time I have ever phoned a taxi service to order a cab, this is exactly how the dialogue went: Me: O masina la adresa X, va rog. Dispatcher: *grumpy snorts into phone, says nothing, keys clacking for 30 seconds* Pe ce nume? Me: Sam Dispatcher: Ce? Me: Sâm ca sîmbata Dispatcher: Ah. *keys clacking, garbled radio traffic in the background for a … Continue reading Any Given Taxi
Book News
Ok folks, more good news on the book front. The “regular” Amazon page for the paperback version is working now. It is here. PLEASE, please, if you have an account on Amazon, please log in there and write a review, even if you haven’t read the book. Just a few words mentioning that you like what I write (which hopefully you do, else why do … Continue reading Book News
Moş Nicolae
Today is a big day in Romania – “Saint Nicholas’ Day”, known colloquially as Moş Nicolae, literally meaning “Old Man Nicholas”. In both Catholicism and (Romanian) Orthodox, today is a religious holiday to celebrate the acts of Saint Nicholas. In Romania, Moş Nicolae is roughly equivalent to Santa Claus (Brit: Father Christmas). Last night, little children all over Romania put boots (sometimes shoes) out for … Continue reading Moş Nicolae
All Things Romania 