Thursday, July 13, 2006

The Romanians and Me

Wow, what a week!

I spent two days buying stuff and getting an apartment lined up for my Romanian friends. (The apartment is better than my own and cheaper-- am I a fool, or what?) Today, they were supposed to catch the bus at the airport, and I would meet them at the downtown station.

Well, by the time they called, exhausted and jet-lagged after more than twelve hours of air travel and two hours clearing customs and going through their final immigration interview, they were beyond being able to figure out how to get to the correct terminal and find the bus. So even though it meant heading outbound at almost precisely 5:00, and even though I was tired, hungry and cross-eyed from spending all day in front of a spreadsheet, Dan and I decided we'd go pick them up.

The trip required both of our vehicles, and it was a hellacious bumper-to-bumper smogfest getting out there. And then I had trouble finding my friends, but we finally figured that out and got them to their apartment.

Lots of unloading and unpacking of stuff ensued. My friends' little girl speaks no English and has enough energy that I'm thinking they could probably just skip looking for jobs and instead hook her up to a few wires and sell the energy to the electric company. She's a sweet little thing, but exhausting. The boy is fourteen, with a subtle sense of humor and a way about him that gives the impression he never says everything he thinks. Thankfully his English is quite good. I had been worried about how he would do in an American school, but I'm not worried at all any more.

We were busy getting them settled in until nearly 9:00. This included a run to the grocery store, where little Anna-Maria was hell on wheels, or rather, hell with wheels. She took charge of the shopping cart, completely oblivious to the fact that other people might be in the aisles. I spent a lot of time hanging onto the cart and getting only a big smile for my efforts to communicate before she was off again. Oh, my. Enough energy in that girl for at least three more just like her.

They're a very nice family and I'm looking forward to doing more with them this weekend. But I sure am tired! Not nearly as tired as if I'd spent over twelve hours on planes today, though. Thank goodness for that!

Recent Workouts
Wednesday: 5 mile run
Thursday: n/a

4 comments:

Rachel said...

I know what you mean about entertaining. It's great seeing friends but when they stay in your place, there's no breathing room. I'm way too much of a prima-donna to be a good roommate.

Ellie Hamilton said...

I love that -- hook her up to a few wires and sell the energy to the electric company! What a hoot! Except I know what it's like to be with a kid like that. Enchanting and amusing though they are, they're exhausting.

Ellie Hamilton said...

Hi again, Bunny, commenting on your comment on my blog -- my mom's "hardware" is a $150 check -- SWEET!!!

goldenlucyd said...

My dear BG,
Thanks so much for the visit. Visiting and listening to the elderly is so admirable!
Actually, I am genuinely thrilled to hear from bloggers outside the elderblogger niche. We all have so much to share.
Loved your recent posts and look forward to hearing more about your novel.

Have a wonderful week m'dear and give Tidbit lots of bunny love!