August 25-26, 2008: Airplane!

Dear Friend,

Here's the Romania Study Abroad Roster, for future reference:
Stacey Bernardo
Hollyann Elton
Andrew Engesser
Kailen Fleck (intern)
Chelsea Harberts
Anne Harrison
Solita Hoogendam (Calvin College)

I really hate flying. I don’t fit in the plane, even the big ones, and having to be in one overnight is outrageously uncomfortable. I didn’t appreciate it going over to London and I didn’t appreciate it on my way to Buchureşti. I’ll try, however, to not make this letter all about how much I hate flying.

All seven of us had breakfast with Dave this morning. We were all anxious to finish packing and getting ready to go, so the meeting was somewhat of an inconvenience. I had cafeteria food for the first time this year, though, so that was exciting. Our meeting was actually a final discussion about some articles we read on the tension between the Orthodox Church and the Protestant Church in Romania. It was also a discussion about why we each chose Romania. I tried explaining that I really didn’t choose Romania, it was chosen for me, but that I chose to accept the assignment. Also, I tried explaining that I wasn’t studying abroad with the others, but was doing an internship. I was simply beaming down to the planet with their away team.

Finishing packing was hectic, as it always is when you’re taking all your possessions with you overseas. I think I did alright. All our luggage was then thrown into a trailer, which was smaller compared to the one we used during summer tour. Ben Bees and I made that distinction and laughed about it. I was on edge at this point, getting ready to take the step toward the point of no return. I said goodbye to Ben and Dan Laird, who also showed up to give me a farewell. The two weeks prior to this seemed so inefficient in taking care of goodbyes. There were still people I hadn’t seen, that I wouldn’t see until my return. What a return that will be. I’ll be so possessive after having been away for so long, no one will want to hang out with me (ha!)

I was surprised to find how proactive the group was in getting to know each other. We were to meet Solita Hoogendam (our Calvin College counterpart) in Amsterdam, so it was just we six Northwestern Students. In Sioux Falls we sat together and read C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to each other, each of us taking turns. I did my best British accent as I read, which made the experience more enjoyable for me. I don’t know how anyone else in the group felt about it.

I couldn’t help but think how strange C.S. Lewis’ children’s book truly was. Queer is the word he used in his book, queer how the wardrobe seemed to go on forever, how the fur coats were turning into tree branches the further back Lucy went, and how she finally found herself in a clearing next to a wood that was covered in snow. She had just been in an upstairs room of an ancient house. And it was summer there. Now she was crunching around in snow and meeting a fawn. Now, I’m a major fan of science fiction, fantasy, C.S. Lewis, comic books, and the like, but every so often I’m able to step outside my geekiness and realize how truly bizarre much of this stuff is. I also couldn’t help but draw parallels between Lucy’s situation and our own. Mr. Tumnus even asks her if she had come from the “Wild Woods of the West,” which made me chuckle as I considered our trip to Eastern Europe. Wild West indeed. All this aside, reading this beloved children’s book helped to put many of our nerves at ease.

Our flight to Minneapolis didn’t take that long. I suggested to Andrew Engesser that it may have been more economic to simply aim a giant slingshot in the general direction of the Minneapolis airport and launch all of us there. That’s certainly the trajectory we took with the plane, and it would’ve saved so much gas. Imagine a businessman nervously clutching his briefcase as the flight attendant, with a smile, straps a helmet on his head and helps him into the saddle. Then a flight crew wearing goggles and giving each other indiscernible hand signals, waving the glowing wands, and stretching the giant elastic band our businessman sits in to launch him into the air. I was amused, at least.

In Minneapolis we spent more time getting to know each other. We played a game where we went around a couple times telling each other little factoids about ourselves. I can’t remember most of them, but I think it was the practice that mattered most. We were becoming more comfortable around each other.

The Minneapolis-Amsterdam flight was the killer. All night without the chance to really recline and get some sleep, I attempted to prepare myself for a very rough ride. Our plane was huge, though. Two seats on each side of four seats in the middle, eight seats across. Each seat had its own entertainment screen, from which you could choose movies, television, music, games, and just about whatever. If it had been able to make hot chocolate I would’ve been even happier.

I ended up watching two movies. The first was Kung-fu Panda, a movie I don’t think I would’ve watched otherwise. It turned out to be rather enjoyable. I was thinking of my friend Cody Raak the entire time. I think I even saw him as the panda, because they both share a similar love of kung fu. If it wasn’t for all the Eastern mysticism I would’ve garnered some spiritual insight. That being said, I was able to go the rest of the way, taking myself to where the movie failed to.

The second movie I watched was Iron Man (everyone in the group was surprised to see the airplane had movies in its database that had just recently been in theatres.) This was the third time I had seen Iron Man and I think three times is plenty. I was watching it primarily to distract myself, as it was very late at night and there was no way I was going to get any sleep. I was also dealing with the discomfort of airplane food, which has never agreed much with me.

Amsterdam airport was really sparse, at least the part of the airport we saw. We met up with Solita at the terminal that would take us to Romania. I think we all came together rather well, though I was very tired and out of it by this point, so I really don't know what had happened. I was also thinking about my stomach, making sure I didn’t move in such a way that would upset it more. In an hour or so the terminal opened and we were boarding the plane to Buchureşti. I was so bent out of shape at this point with flying that I put my headphones on and escaped into the music of U2 for most of the flight. When that CD ended I put in the soundtrack to Once. I did some kind of sleeping, or went unconscious for awhile, because I don’t remember listening to every track of the CDs. I managed to avoid whatever they were serving on this flight, too, which was quite alright with me. I had to consciously remind my stomach that it resided in my body and not somewhere outside of it. Wherever it was, it was shaking its fist, or maybe its appendix, at me.

Finally we landed in Bucureşti. Customs was easy. We showed them our passports, they stamped them, and waved us by. We headed straight for baggage claim. We needed four dollies for all our luggage, and a piece of Andrew’s didn’t even arrive. We waited almost a half hour for it, and he ended up having to fill out “missing baggage” paperwork.

After all that, we finally exited baggage claim into a massive throng of expectant people. Some of the girls went ahead while the rest of us waited for Andrew to fill out his paperwork, so our party was already found. We were greeted by Janelle Vandergrift and Daniel Heffner, in charge of organizing the semester study abroad; Dana and Brandi Bates, founders of New Horizons, and their daughter Brianna; Diana Certan, my New Horizons contact; and George, a New Horizons staff member. Everyone was quite happy to see us. I was quite happy to be off the plane.

We loaded all of our stuff into a trailer. Trying to get to the parking lot was not easy, but we managed. All seven of us riding in the van was almost like being on a plane, just without being in the air, so it was somehow more tolerable. Also, with Dana driving there was a lot of conversation going on. All in all, despite my exhaustion, I was happy to be in Romania.

We were taken to Sinaia, where we stayed the night in Peleş Park. The park reminded me very much of Stratford in England, because of the English architecture. We stayed in a “hotel” which was much more rundown compared to the Super 8, but nonetheless livable. The Peleş Castle was just down the road, where we will tour the next morning.

By this point the jetlag was setting in. I was doing all I could to stay awake. I was also very hungry for some real food. We ate at a nice little restaurant farther into the park. When we arrived, there was live accordion music for some party that had been going on. It was evening, and the low light ambiance with the accordion music, people celebrating some occasion we weren’t aware of, all made for an enjoyable atmosphere. People got up and danced to the music. I ignored the cigarette smoke, in a place that had a “no smoking” sign posted by the door. Welcome to Romania. I ordered a meal comprised of game meat, which turned out to be a rather small helping. I didn’t really care. I was too tired.

I conversed with Daniel and Janelle for awhile. They had been in Romania for two years now working with New Horizons. I can’t remember much more of the conversation, except little things about Romanian words and sayings. A short while after we had all finished our meal, we seven students made our way to our rooms. The cobblestone street was really all I could concentrate on. A dog was barking at us. Nothing too terribly unusual. I ignored it in large part because that’s what you’re to do with stray dogs in Romania.

I was in bed when Janelle poked her head in to tell us not to go for an evening stroll. Apparently there was a bear lurking around the restaurant we had just eaten at. We must’ve not seen it. I chuckled a little at the idea of ignorant college students, half asleep from jetlag, lumbering around outside completely unaware there’s a wild animal in their midst. I’m alive now, and that’s really all that matters. I’ll talk to you later, friend.

Blessings.
Kailen