In like a lion, out like a....

Hopefully the old saying about the month of March is true! My last run was on Tues Feb 27. It wasn't a great day with at 42 F with some wind, but I'm glad I got the run in. The following afternoon, Feb 28, we had a blizzard! My coworker, Neil, flew in when the fun started, and had a fun ride in for his first day. My 30 min commute home that day turned into 90 min, and many folks who live towards the city center had 2 hr ordeals. We ended up with around 8" of snow (the final tally was tough to call with the wind) by Wednesday morning March 1.

The temps stayed chilly after the storm leaving a slippery, icy mess all week. Finally, the temp shot up to the low 40's yesterday and the sun came out. I was determined to run this moring, Saturday, since the winds were forcast to slack up a bit.

27 F, Good to go...huh?

Yeah, with the sun coming up, clear skies, and no wind, the 27 degree temp actually looked good to me this morning. Since we had a museum visit scheduled for later this morning, I decided to get 'er done. I threw on my tights, 2 layers up top, gloves and cap and headed for Parcul Titan. I decided it would be better to run on the frozen tundra instead of the muddy wet mess that would occur later today when the temp rose to the low 50's and some serious snow melt started happening. It turned out to be a good call, and I managed 2 full laps around the lake and a 5.7 miler in the books.

Strangely, for once, I wasn't the only one who was thinking this. There were about 5-6 other joggers out there today. The other joggers, of course, were bundled up much more than I was. I realized today there may be a reason why they are wearing more clothes than me beside the fact that most folks here are cold-natured. The running gear I had on today (a mixture of name brand and Wal-mart brand technical fabrics) would cost the average Romanian about half of their monthly salaries (around $250 American dollars per month).

I want to know, what you're thinking...

Morning runs in Titan are nice. The smooching teenagers are largely absent and the people walking the park are pretty much the older age groups. As Dana noted in the family blog, it is rare for someone to return a smile or a "good morning" when you pass them, even when you make eye contact (For more you can check out our family blog at http://romanianadventure.blogspot.com/, and yes I get paid for this plug, heh heh.)

I tried my best this morning, since I now know most of the common Romanian greetings. Every now and then I did get a couple surprised and/or mumbled responses to my "Buna Diminata" or "Salut" (Good Morning and Hello). I wonder what the poeple are thinking as I pass? Do they recognize me right away as a westerner (a virtual millionare by their standards of poverty) or what?

Communist hangover....

You would think after finally breaking free of 40 years of godless communist rule, that the people would be ecstatitc, jubilant and looking forward to the future, but that is not the case. Especially among the older set, the reaction to the 1989 revolution is mixed. Although they like the freedom to be able to travel and they enjoy buying things like gas without worrying about exceeding the government imposed limits; the potential for economic success is too distant for them. Many feel the chances of owning a home and a car are very small. In America, a good example is professional sports that kids dream of playing. Sure its possible, but its a long shot. Some of the older folks here miss the days when the communist government took care of them and paid all the factory workers a decent wage.

Hopefully, one day, many of these people will find that there is Someone that they can count on. That Someone is much more dependable than any government or economic ideology.