The End of Ben

The mici was quite good, the chicken part was pretty good, and the third part was fatty and gross. After dinner and trying a number interesting beers we bought at the grocery store (one of them, Lief, was just awesome), we walked back to the main city square to meet up with some of Cameron's Romanian friends for a night of clubbing. The first thing he did upon meeting us, however, was to shake his head in disapproval. It seems that Ben, who walked 25 miles around NY City in 98 degree heat in bluejeans, decided that in Romania (a very style conscious country), it would be a good idea to try and wear shorts to a fancy club. (Yes, I warned him before we left.) Paul, Cameron's friend, didn't think they would let him in, so Cameron took him back to change, and left me to talk to Paul. At first I was a bit pissed, but it turned out to be great for me. Paul went to college in the US and speaks English very well. We had a fantastic conversation about what we both admire and find unfortunate about our two countries. I could write pages about what we talked about while drinking great bear in the wonderfully cool weather (about time), but I must go on.

When they finally returned, we took our first cab ride to the club. This is the type of club rich Romanians and foreigners would go to. Very large, with hundreds of tables, booths, and VIP areas surrounding a massive dance floor. The music was great--high energy--and made you want to dance. Unfortunately, even though it was already past 12:30, the dance floor was dead. We hung out for a while, but Paul insisted that things didn't really pick up until after 1:30, so we walked to this cool college student area and found a place that was crazy with dancing and drinking Romanian students. Enjoying our beers outside, we witnessed what could have been a serious fight. The cops came and everything, and Cameron says that never happens. An hour later we tried Club Heaven again, but it felt more like purgatory. If anything, it had even less going on. Oh well, it could have been awesome, but it was still a fun night.

This morning we woke up late, walked to one of Cameron's favorite swhorma stands, and carried our food to eat at a the side of a river. I had a great time simply eating the exotic food, watching Ben consume his three beverages (which he did again later tonight, which earned him the nickname Three-bev Ben, because both times they were three unique beverages, not just a bunch of beers and a water or something. Trust me, it's funny. And Ben, when you read this, you know we love you, right?), learning more about Romania, and just relaxing. After lunch we toured an Art Museum, hung out at his favorite bar (where he met Paul, and many other friends), when home to change into something a bit nicer, and went to a Romanian Ballet, my first anywhere. Afterward, we ate Romanian pizzas and rushed home, as Ben had to pack up and get on the train by 11:45. About an hour from right now (assuming everything goes according to plan), he will be out of the country, as most of the distance he will have to cover is in Hungary. I dearly hope that he makes it back to Detroit in a less stressful fashion than we left. So many things could go wrong, and his buddy-pass from NY to Detroit flight may or may not work. Although part of me feels like we left home years ago, the other part feels like we just got here, and now he has to leave. It might sound strange, but I'm really going to miss the guy.

We've been going at a pretty hard pace since we left home, and I'm planing on making tomorrow my day to relax. I'm finding a way to make it back to that super-mall on my own, and chilling out there by myself all day. The plan is to see The Happening, The Hulk, and maybe even a third movie. I'll walk around the mall, people watch, and continue to learn what is available to Romanians, and for what price. It will also give Cameron a chance to get some work done in his apartment; basically we will both get much needed alone time.

On a side note, I must comment on some coincidences I find to be amazing when combined with each other. While the three of us where walking around this city of 330,000 inhabitants, Cameron has run into six--count'em, six--, people he knows, but complete chance. A very attractive lady walked by within hours of us getting here and said, "Hi, Cameron." He ran into someone at the super-mall, and we all talked for a while. We ran into someone else buying some food, we talked, and he informed me that the Celtics were up 3 games to 1 over the Lakers, which found to be great news. (Inside joke: Ben Huber, did you do that?) A woman driving a car stopped to say hi. He knew the people who sat next to us at the ballet. And we ran into the mall guy again at the small mall. It takes me a month to run into that many people walking around the neighborhoods I've lived in for 28 years. Oh well, I just found it to be crazy.

Cameron just returned from dropping Ben off, and things didn't go so well. First, the train Ben needed wasn't even on the list, some guy just said which train it should be, so he got on it. Needless to day, Ben will really be in my prayers tonight. I can't wait to check his blog when he writes it from the safety of his home. Worse than that, Cameron got robbed on the way home. The good news is that all they guy got was his cell phone. It's not terrible, and we should be grateful that we are safe, and harder to replace things weren't stolen. Noapte buma (goodnight).