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So, as I had mentioned earlier, I have problems when it comes to shopping. I have learned how to say piece, "bucata," so that I can get two apples instead of two kilograms. But I realized that half of the confusion was that most people order by weight, not by individual pieces.
Last night on my way home from work, I decided to try ordering by weight. I went to this little fast-food bakery of sorts called Fornetti. It's one of those places where everyone crowds outside the window to order mass-produced simple carbs in a variety of forms. Nothing too spectacular, but it's on my corner and pretty darn inexpensive. Normally I will order 2 or 3 little pastries, which ends up costing me about 50 bani, or 25 cents. It's a great little unhealthy snack for very little money.
This time, I decide to go with the weight that's on the price tags, for 1.10 lei. I figured I'll have some leftovers and that's ok. So I'm trying to tell them that I want half of it to be apricot filled, the other half cheese-filled. And of course I don't know the word for half, I didn't think that one through very well before I decided to order. So these two girls about my age in line behind me ask if I speak English, and I tell them what I'm trying to order and they translate for me. After I ask them how to say half, "jumatate" (zhoomutahteh...easy enough, right?), and thank them, I look back to the ladies weighing my order, and realize my huge mistake.
For some reason that eludes me still, instead of ordering 100 grams as it says on the price tags, I said I wanted one kilogram. I basically cleaned them out. But by the time I realized what was going on I couldn't very well just tell them to put it all back, that that's not what I meant at all. They thanked me profusely as I handed over 11 lei and I walked away with a grocery bag full of pastries. I can only hope they thought I was sent out to stock up for a party; there's no other excuse for an American girl in Bucharest to buy so much unhealthy cheap food.
I have to say I laughed all the way home. I really have no idea how I managed to get 100 grams and 1 kilogram mixed up. I can't even blame it on America's non-metric system. It was just plain ridiculous of me. I think I was just so flustered that my brain short-circuited for a few seconds. I really have no idea what I'm going to do with all this food. I might start handing it out to the stray dogs and the homeless people on the street, because there's no way I could eat it all, even if I wanted to.
So yea, another little escapade in the life of Kymber in Romania. I suppose they're learning experiences, but after a few more of these I'll be ready to dish out some serious money for real lessons. It might not be as exciting that way, but it might ending up costing me less in the long run!
- comments
matt very fun story! i miss romania a lot!