today we took the first train in constanta back to bucharest. unlike our experience with the 1961 train from bucharest to constanta, this train was surprisingly modern! this train was of course called r or rapid. theres a difference in the ticket price for this one obviously as its more expensive. if you've pre-booked your tickets or have an open return ticket, then you're in trouble if you change between trains a and r. you'll need to cough up an extra 40 lei to change your tickets and obtain seats. they are very strict about seating in every train we took so thats another thing to worry about. despite having numbers labelled above seats... finding the right carriage is a problem - so its really best to ask people - i do mean ask, so not just one person.. make sure you know where you're going as some people see foreigners and think that answering 'da' is for everything. :/
the train times is almost the same, but there is significantly less noise and you don't feel like you're squashed with the unfortunate. these trains are more spacious and tickets range between first and second class just like normal trains here in the UK. standards are almost the same too - but do bear in mind that people smoke. even though you're not supposed to smoke on the train there is a tendency to find the odd person having a small wiff. its either that or you're unfortunate to be in a carriage with a heavy smoker(s) that literally lives in smoke. remember, the majority of these people are going to bucharest, smoke central. you've been warned.
with all our luggage (because we're hardcore like that) we took the metro to piata romania and then headed to the ministry of education.
our first order of things to do was to get this 'ready' letter. we went to the second building the ministry had initially referred us to, number 12 (theres no number on the door). we asked for the guy we had spoke to at the posh cafe/restaurant and after wrestling with the security guard, a different lady who spoke absolutely no english we managed to get hold of him. by that time it was 12.10pm. the time for general enquiries at the ministry ranges between 10.00 and 12pm - so this dude was doing over-time. nevertheless i whipped out my phone and started recording. i wasn't taking any chances at him bribing us. to my surprise... he had the letter in the folder he was carrying around. i signed a photocopy version of this letter and i took the original. he had said this was all that i needed to apply to constanta, wished us best of luck, shook hands and off we went. no bribes, no extra tipping, no cash prize. dad felt he had to give the man something, but my logical arrogance convinced him otherwise. i had already attached a postal order cheque along with my documents when i initially sent my application by post, and so we had paid the ministry the handling fee.
dad began to smile. i didn't. he told me, its almost done, you're so close! i honestly did not share his enthusiasm. there was much to be done and after i met that secretary my hopes haven't been so high. in fact i still could not believe that i am indeed this close yet. not yet - not until my name is registered on the medical course, not until i start attending lectures.. i don't think its anywhere close to being done.
the letter was of course in romanian, but some words were french/english-derived which made it possible to get the gist of the letter. it was basically just allowing me to apply to universities in romania for the 2011/12 year. only my secondary education certificates were mentioned and that made me worry. this letter isn't an acceptance letter and i fear for the worst of whats yet to come. i expressed these views to dad as we had lunch at piata romania's burger king restaurant. both his and my expression really changed after this - we both had the look of death in our eyes, theres more things to come. its not over yet.
we opened a bank account with alpha bank and got a sim from vodaphone while waiting for my birth certificate to be translated to romanian. we could not bring ourselves to go shopping anywhere, as we were dragging luggage, and we still need to make our way to the airport for tonight's flight back to the uk.
with little left to do here, we decided to take bus 131 to the airport.
the train times is almost the same, but there is significantly less noise and you don't feel like you're squashed with the unfortunate. these trains are more spacious and tickets range between first and second class just like normal trains here in the UK. standards are almost the same too - but do bear in mind that people smoke. even though you're not supposed to smoke on the train there is a tendency to find the odd person having a small wiff. its either that or you're unfortunate to be in a carriage with a heavy smoker(s) that literally lives in smoke. remember, the majority of these people are going to bucharest, smoke central. you've been warned.
with all our luggage (because we're hardcore like that) we took the metro to piata romania and then headed to the ministry of education.
our first order of things to do was to get this 'ready' letter. we went to the second building the ministry had initially referred us to, number 12 (theres no number on the door). we asked for the guy we had spoke to at the posh cafe/restaurant and after wrestling with the security guard, a different lady who spoke absolutely no english we managed to get hold of him. by that time it was 12.10pm. the time for general enquiries at the ministry ranges between 10.00 and 12pm - so this dude was doing over-time. nevertheless i whipped out my phone and started recording. i wasn't taking any chances at him bribing us. to my surprise... he had the letter in the folder he was carrying around. i signed a photocopy version of this letter and i took the original. he had said this was all that i needed to apply to constanta, wished us best of luck, shook hands and off we went. no bribes, no extra tipping, no cash prize. dad felt he had to give the man something, but my logical arrogance convinced him otherwise. i had already attached a postal order cheque along with my documents when i initially sent my application by post, and so we had paid the ministry the handling fee.
dad began to smile. i didn't. he told me, its almost done, you're so close! i honestly did not share his enthusiasm. there was much to be done and after i met that secretary my hopes haven't been so high. in fact i still could not believe that i am indeed this close yet. not yet - not until my name is registered on the medical course, not until i start attending lectures.. i don't think its anywhere close to being done.
the letter was of course in romanian, but some words were french/english-derived which made it possible to get the gist of the letter. it was basically just allowing me to apply to universities in romania for the 2011/12 year. only my secondary education certificates were mentioned and that made me worry. this letter isn't an acceptance letter and i fear for the worst of whats yet to come. i expressed these views to dad as we had lunch at piata romania's burger king restaurant. both his and my expression really changed after this - we both had the look of death in our eyes, theres more things to come. its not over yet.
we opened a bank account with alpha bank and got a sim from vodaphone while waiting for my birth certificate to be translated to romanian. we could not bring ourselves to go shopping anywhere, as we were dragging luggage, and we still need to make our way to the airport for tonight's flight back to the uk.
with little left to do here, we decided to take bus 131 to the airport.
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