lunch at tushi doina's

Tushi Doina (tu-shee doy-nuh) is Catalin's aunt. Tushi translates to 'aunt' in English. I met her briefly on my first day here. Usually Cata goes over to his aunt and uncle's house each Sunday to share a meal and talk. I was excited to finally meet Cata's family (ok and a little bit nervous). The meal she prepared was so beautiful. The table was set with fine crystal and spirits. I felt overwhelmed that she had done all of this work for my visit. It was a very special feeling to be welcomed in such a way. The photo below was taken before we began lunch. It was the first course, followed by the main course (sorry no pictures of that one).

What a meal. Everything I ate was new, different and homemade. As luck would have it the first thing I tried was the most shocking. Ham wrapped around pure horseradish looked innocent enough. One bite and BOOM my eyes began to water, nose began to run and everything in me wanted to spit it out! Luckily the fire in my mouth subsided with a few gulps of mineral water. Whew...I think everyone got a good chuckle and the meal continued. I would say the Romanian meatballs were one of my favorites. They are called chiftele (keef-tele). They are fried meatballs. Yum. Following that we had a main course of Şniţel (shnit-zel) and salad. The snitel is composed of thin slices of chicken or pork breaded and fried. I was surprised to discover these two Romanian dishes consist of fried food.

Prior to this meal Cata and I stopped by an "office warming party" for an up and coming Romanian magazine called Decat O Revista. The founder of this magazine, Cristian Lupsa , is a Mizzou alum. The mafia is stronger than you would think in Bucharest. haha. Try as we might to bring a gift to the party, Cata and I could not find a store that sold just office supplies (and was open on Sunday). That is one big difference compared to America- in the US if you can think it, you can buy it! Here, stores are not as specialized or alternatively do not offer a wide range of products. There is no giant chain that sells just office supplies (Office Depot, Staples, etc). Here it is tougher to find the things you need. Also online store presence is almost non-existent. I suggested to Cata that we buy a phone book. Kickin' it old school over here.

Below, a picture of Cata and I at the park. Yesterday's weather was unusually warm. His uncle told me it is spring-like weather (in the high 40's). The sunshine felt great.