What You Can Do When You’ve Overstayed Your Visa in Romania

As you know, I’ve been answering a lot of general interest questions on Quora lately, but I also get some questions that simply can’t be answered in that forum. If you’ve come to Romania and overstayed your visa, I’m going to tell you everything I know, but you must understand two very important things. One, I am not a lawyer. Two, none of what I … Continue reading What You Can Do When You’ve Overstayed Your Visa in Romania

Second Only to Syria

One of the ongoing tragic results of bad governance in Romania is that millions of its citizens have left the country to find a better life elsewhere. According to this well-researched piece, Romania is now second only to Syria in terms of the percentage of citizens who are now living abroad. Considering that Syria is in the midst of a vicious civil war and Romania … Continue reading Second Only to Syria

Stripper

Oh my, this story really made me laugh. Original link in Romanian is here, but the gist of it is that long-time Romanian president Traian Basescu has had his (Republic of) Moldovan citizenship stripped by the new (Moldovan) President Igor Dodon. This truly is hilarious on several levels. After spending literally his entire life in Romania (and president of the country for 10 years), Basescu … Continue reading Stripper

Adventures in Legitimacy

The other day, an attractive young woman in a dress and heels handed me an envelope. When I looked inside, I saw it was stuffed full of euros and (Moldovan) lei. What’s this? Am I being paid by Russian gangsters, the CIA, or some other nefarious group? Nah. The truth is that I now have a “real” job, one that is the most illegitimate bunch … Continue reading Adventures in Legitimacy