Living in Romania: unwrapped

Obviously, I cannot unwrap the gift that living in Romania is in just one post.

Hopefully, I've done part of that unwrapping in other posts.

Here today, though, I'd like to highlight a few of the lighter moments of living in Romania.

First, the darker side of Romanian living.

Okay, it really isn't that dark, I just couldn't think of a better word.

So, last Thursday evening my husband told me that beginning at 8am the next morning and for the next 20 hours, we would have no water in our apartment. He explained something about new pipes, but all I heard was: no water from 8am until 4am the next morning.

My brain couldn't even fathom that kind of time without water. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant...

So, before bed, I filled every receptacle I could but the bathtub so we'd have water to at least wash our hands and flush the toilet (all I could think of was the sanitary issues).

Turns out that we were never fully without water. The hot water was gone, but there was always a small stream to at least wash hands or put through the Brita filter.

Yay!

However, prior to that good news, I had a pretty rotten attitude about the whole thing. If it wasn't the dark side of living in Romania, then it was the dark side of me living in Romania.

And then I began to think about the little things that make me laugh while living here...usually it's packaging on some product that to my english speaking ears just sounds awkward and funny.

The way I'm sure some American slang or expression sounds silly in the ear of those from other countries.

Here's the gift as I see it: the way we express ourselves, the way we say things, the idioms we use, the languages we speak eventually all cross over into this great myriad of meaning where we can forever dig deep into the laughter or the tears or the memories that they evoke until I find that the darker side of me living in Romania, the harder parts about living here, pale in comparison to the great light of joy that living here has created.



This is shower gel and the name "Happy Time" just made me smile...sounds like it should be for a kid's bath rather than an adults. My husband bought this for me when I was in the throes of morning sickness...it did make a few moments of those day a little more happy.



And then there's this one which reads: Irresistable Price! Dandruff shampoo at an irresistable price??? Yes, please!

Who can forget the 'pithy grabbers' on the boxes of chocolate?









I'm linking up with Chatting at the Sky and Tuesdays Unwrapped