Saturday 10/15 1001am Bucharest, Romania I guess I have to write about all the bad in this blog and the good, but I don't really want to. Yesterday was awful and I decided that as much as I don't want to "quit" a workaway, I want to be where I am happy and not stressed about anything... and that would be back at the Mogli. I've spent the last few days cleaning, and while the work wasn't a lot or difficult, I felt like I was doing something wrong. Well, yesterday, when the mother got home, she told me my work was ugly and that she didn't like it. Then she watched me as I did it again. It was cleaning the outside of a wardrobe and the oven... so I spent a good hour cleaning the wardrobe that morning. And she got home and just tore it apart, saying when she wanted stuff done, she wanted it to be perfect. Well, guess what missie, I'm not sure what program you thought I was coming from, but last I checked it was a volunteer travel program, not a maid service. It actually made me miss the first Maria, because while she wasn't exactly nice, she never told me what I did was ugly and then embarress me by watching me do it again.
But it wouldn't be a European adventure if I didn't spend all my money and get lost in foreign cities and not do what I planned to do, right? What I do know is that if I stay here, I will go crazy. I know they think I'm anti-social because since I'm been here, I've only left the apartment a few times and spend time on my computer, but there isn't anything to do around the house except walk to the "mall" and at least I can read my books on my computer. And I swear, if she yells at me again, I'm going to go crazy on her ass. So, I'm leaving and returning back to the Mogli. I've already talked to Antonello (I never told him I didn't really like him, which is good) and he said I'm welcome to come back, but he warned me that it will be cold. But lucky for me, there is a camping store in town, so if I need anything to keep me warmer, then it is only a 45 minute walk away (which will warm me up!). I should be fine during the day, but I will probably just want a blanket at night, along with my sleeping bag. It is something we will look into, but I'd rather be worrying about a blanket than if some crazy Romanian lady is going to yell at me about her floors not being spotless.
While I was writing this, three things happened that kind of confirmed my thoughts on returning... First, I found my Toms in my compartment they gave me in the wardrobe. I had put them there last night when I got back from walking to the mall. What I didn't do was wrap them in plastic wrap... YOU'RE KIDDING ME?! Who wraps their guests' shoes in plastic wrap?! Second, I'm pretty sure she is OCD. She keeps running around the house saying that there is too much hair and she hates hair and I'm just thinking "girl, you have four daughters... get used to it". Last, she made me put on socks because she thinks my feet are dirty and she is cleaning the floors right now. I did put on socks, but I wanted to tell her my feet are the cleanest feet she will ever see. I also didn't tell her I put on the socks I haven't washed in a month... the month I was camping. Lets see how clean her floors are now.
For some strange reason, Italy feels way more comfortable than Romania ever will. There seems to be this idea in the house that Romanians are perfect and it keeps coming up in conversations, and I don't feel comfortable with it because I'm from Texas. And while I love being Texas, I know we aren't perfect and it bothers me when people think they are perfect. Because you aren't perfect. Lady, you wrapped my shoes in plastic wrap... there is no way you can call yourself perfect because that's just weird. In Italy, I never felt like I was trying to be one-upped. Plus, Sora may not be the tourist destination of Italy, but I liked it because I knew my way around and could go off on my own and feel safe. And I had friends there and I also didn't feel like a problem. I did my work in the morning and then it was done and I had time to do whatever I wanted.
So, I will be returning to Sora in the next few days. I'm not sure what I'm going to tell the Ivan family yet, but it will be a mixture of how this is jsut not the right fit for me and that I feel more comfortable returning to Italy. And since it is volunteer, there is nothing they can do about it. I wish it had worked out because I really like the daughters, but this is supposed to be my trip and I'm not spending it in crazy-lady-land.
