Olá Craiova

If I want to do an accurate report of my first impressions about Craiova, this experience and Romania, this story has to start in Portugal. When I first told my family and my friends that I was coming here the response was always the same: why Romania?

I arrived one week ago and I feel like little by little this city is starting to answer this question in the kindest way. What I am experiencing is a city full of life, much bigger than my hometown where people are always available to help you and to help each other.

I share a house with my Kromatikon colleagues, six other people from Macedonia, Portugal, Chile, Estonia and Turkey and although I was already used to living with roommates (in Portugal I shared a house with four girls) this experience has been very good and challenging since we are all from different places and have our own habits. I try not to annoy them a lot but this feeling inside me of wanting to know and understand everything often leads me to ask a lot of questions and to talk a lot. I think the biggest victims of my compulsive asking behavior are Elina, mysterious blonde Estonian and my roommate Aleksandra, who is stuck with me. She’s trying to teach me Macedonian but I’m so bad that it’s actually a good time for her seeing me fail miserable.

Our house is a five minute walk away from best place in Craiova, the Parcul Nicolae Romanescu, which is this awesome green area with a lake, where you can buy happiness for 3 lei in the shape of vanilla ice cream.

So for those of you could still be wondering like me friends and family “why Romania?”, you can’t imagine what you are missing until you let go of these pre conceptions and come visit us.