A rainy cold morning after a warm evening of friendship

Well, last night (Thursday), I met a group of folks at a place called Cafe Krishna on  Boulivardul Kogalniceanu.  Traffic was so heavy on the way there that it took a lot longer than I expected and I was late by about 20 minutes.  The cab driver dropped me at the corner of Kogalniceanu and I walked until I found the cafe.  The theme was like an old harem.  Down dark stairs with small sitting areas on the side.  I had no idea where I was going but asked the bartender who was expecting me and led me down a hallway to another little room where my friends Alexandra and Ludmilla were waiting.  Everyone else was late also.  There was a little niche in the wall of our room with a statue of Lord Ganesh, the ceilings were decorated with multi-colored fabric to look like the inside of a lavish tent.  The music, too loud, was Arabic.  The whole cafe was full of young people - and me.  Our group dribbled in.  Two more women I hadn't met, Florin, and then Adrian.  It was a cozy group and we talked and laughed and drank beer.  I chose a local beer that I liked named Ursus.  It has a picture of a bear on the label.  The only downside was that there were a lot of smokers.  By the time we left at around 10, we were all pleased at the evening's conversations and I, at least, had the beginnings of a sinus headache from all the smoke.   Florin and I walked for while and stopped at Pizza Hut to grab something to eat.  Pizza Hut here is really much nicer than in the States.  I had a thin crust ham and mushroom and olive pizza that didn't have even one drop of grease on it.  After dinner I caught a cab, dropped Florin at his place, and continued on to my neighborhood, Floreasca.  I didn't stay up long and was surprised to see that it was after midnight when I went to bed.   I woke around 3 with a headache and took a couple of ibuprofen.  It was no problem to fall back to sleep.

It got so chilly yesterday afternoon that I called Florin to tell me how to turn on the heat in the apartment.  No problem - it's part of the tankless hot water system that circulates water through radiators.  Very efficient.

Today I will meet Florin and we'll do some business related to an upcoming conference and then sight-see a little - perhaps the Cathedral and Patriarchal residence, have a meal and I'll come home.  Tomorrow is still in the planning stages.

Many folks at home have sent very heart-warming messages.  Everyone agrees that church is going very well but that they miss me.  Also very reassuring and heart-warming.  I heard that there was snow in the forecast at home - all I can say to that is Ugh!