Traveling Adventures

After living in Romania for the past three and a half months I can honestly say I have yet to have an uneventful traveling experience, especially when it comes to trips taken in the big, white, semester van. Usually when you think of taking day, weekend, or even week long trips for school it is all about the destination and what you will learn when you get there. But traveling in a foreign culture there are also lessons to be learned during traveling. The following tips come from our latest traveling experience leaving the city of Alba Iulia trying to get back to Lupeni, our homebase.

First thing to realize is that Romanian roads and road systems are not like we have in Iowa. The roads are winding up and down valleys, through small villages, and don’t have very good signs. A quote from Dana Bates while traveling this past weekend “If any of you become mayors in a Romanian village, make sure you put up good signs for directions.” and “we got lost here last year too.”

Second thing to realize is that you need to have full confidence in your driver. Things work best when the van stays optimistic and lets the people up front figure out where we are and how to get to our destination. And, with a little time, we have always made it just fine.

Third thing is to be open to asking for directions. However, asking just one person doesn’t usually cut it. What works best is to ask one person for directions, go in the direction they said and in about 50 meters ask somebody else. One man we asked was more than willing to stand for a few minutes (slightly swaying?) explaining in great detail where we had to go while other cars were flying behind him which didn’t seem to phase him. In this situation, use your best judgment on how reliable they are. To get out of the situation quickly repeatedly say thank you, roll up your window and then find another person to ask.

Fourth thing is to be aware of the condition of the roads. If a Romanian tells you the quality of the road ahead is good you can most likely use it, just don’t go too fast, watch out for potholes and sharp curves. If they tell you that the quality of the road is okay, you can either try it or attempt to find a different path. If, however, they tell you that the road ahead is really bad, don’t even consider it. Upon being told this by the taxi driver we turned around and followed him for a bit, and then he stopped to ask for directions. You know it’s confusing when the taxi driver has to ask directions.

Fifth thing to remember is that the phrase “take the path less traveled” is not a good motto to have while driving. After the taxi driver pointed us in the direction of the “okay” road we found ourselves driving, remember, in a big, white, nine passenger van, down a gravel road bumping up and down over potholes when we came to a fork in the road. We decided to take the path straight ahead instead of going down the other path where there were a few other cars. Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves at a dead end having to turn around on a narrow path which dropped off on one side and a fence for animals on the other. Trust the driver, remember? We made it.

Sixth piece of advice is to expect the unexpected. There we are, in the middle of nowhere on a narrow gravel road, having already met a dump truck, for which we had to move into the field to let him pass and a few other cars when from the middle seat Kate yells “What is he wearing!?” Upon closer examination of the path ahead we see a whole heard of sheep storming down the steep hill onto the path. In front of the heard is what looks like a really large sheep standing on his back legs, but nope, it’s the shepherd, clothed in a long, thick cloak made of sheep skin. It’s at that moment we all burst into laughter at the diversity of what we are seeing and the shock of the unexpected. The shepherd and his sheep make it across to safety and we continue on our path. Shortly after this we finally pop up onto a popular highway which Dana Bates recognizes and we are finally heading home.

Learning and life really are about the journey, not just the destinations. What an adventure, but we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.