I’m always out there looking for words in Romanian that you can’t easily find in the dictionary or that the online translation websites aren’t smart enough to handle. Today’s word is purici (poo-reetch), which under ordinary circumstances just means “fleas”, as in the jumping, biting insects that sometimes infest mammals. Etymologically the only related word in English is pruritis, the “fancy” medical term used for … Continue reading WOTD: Purici
A close examination of my life reveals that is fractally weird, meaning that it’s strange and inexplicable on every scale of resolution. I get asked quite often why I choose to live in Romania and the real secret is that this country is just as fractally weird as I am. Case in point is the condition of any given sidewalk in an urban area in … Continue reading Sidewalk Socialism
Here in Romania as we head from autumn to true winter, we reach the gap where cold, freezing rain slowly but surely turns into snow. Just the other day, I heard someone use the word lapovita (lop oh-veet-za) and I knew I had to write about it on the blog. In Romanian, this word specifically refers to when it is simultaneously raining and snowing at … Continue reading Word of the Day: Lapovita
First snowfall of the year in Cluj today :D Continue reading Afara Ninge Linistit
Whew, woke up this morning to find a distinctive chill in the air (13C/55F) and had to wear a jacket for the first time in months to make a quick run (ok, stroll :P) to the neighborhood store. Romania has approximately three large geographic zones (see my post here) but they all have roughly the same weather. Obviously higher elevations (mountains) are going to be … Continue reading Weather Guide to Romania
