Diary of a Spanish guy in Romania

By Juan Sepulveda Sanchis

In this chapter of the diary of a Spanish guy traveling around the world we find ourselves within a program designed for young Europeans to cooperate and take an active role in the society. But on this trip, nothing can be more far away from the reality. With a sarcastic and entertaining style we discover Romania through the eyes of a group of young Europeans, more concerned about the culture shock and the search for love than about taking the leadership of the society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Nov 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781547554768

Book preview

2007, Bucharest

The participants of the Travel Summer University 2007 - Subject: History and local culture, we come from different European countries, as westerners spat out by the post mix of a franchise. Different flavors, the same poison. Of course, without having read Ionesco and leaving aside the teachings of Cioran. Yes, theater of the absurd by the ton.

NOTE:

A Summer University is an academic activity with leisure events organized by AEGEE (Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe). According to wikipedia, AEGEE is a student organization with no political affiliation, non-denominational and non-profit, that promotes the European spirit and favors the image of a united Europe, open and without borders, through projects, trips, working groups, cultural exchanges and activities in which they collaborate with university students from all over Europe.

THE END OF THE NOTE.

I arrive alone to the Henri Coandă international airport, and my idea is to spend a few hours to visit Bucharest on my own, then to meet with the rest of the participants on the train station. From there, we take a train to Craiova, where is the kick off of the event and we are welcomed by the organizers of the Summer University, a students meeting to get to know the culture of the country. After Craiova, we have scheduled field trips on the way to Brasov.

Bucharest is a city with an eclectic architecture. A mixture of 'brutalism', neoclassicism and communism. However, I only have time to admire some of the large government buildings that can be found, such as the People's House, the arc of triumph or the Ateneo. The sun falls leaden over the asphalt and the newspapers announce that we are facing one of the worst heat waves of the last decades.

I spend a few hours on the streets. The right opportunity to buy a pair of sneakers at a good price and go to the station. There I meet with a small group of young people quite easily recognizable as Spanish and Italians. After some brief greetings, we head towards the platform.

On the train, I am together with those who are going to be my travel companions, two Spanish. Carlos is a young man of Logroño, non-stop laughing, and seems to have a lot of confidence with the girl that we would later baptize as the Marquise. A platinum blonde of six and a quarter feet, not known how many pounds, who wears a generous neckline and goes around squeezed into a pink tracksuit with embroidered Playboy bunny. She treats everyone as if they were her servants and keeps calling her father telling him that she can't stand this or that.

The Summer is quite unbalanced considering nationalities. The Spanish and Italians are the majority. Only the Marquise and Carlos are not of Spain. Also Rebecca, a teacher who is a bit alternative; and a very peculiar pair of Alicante: Mercedes is fond of horses and her boyfriend, Francisco, is completely overshadowed by her. She almost doesn't t let him talk. Then there are the Italians Nicco, Vito and