Shopping in Lupeni

Corrina, Bri and I are making lunch, and we need more cheese. So I quickly slip on a pair of shoes, put on a hat and scarf, and run downstairs and across the street to Euro Riva [it is so handy to have all of these little stores that are just a few minutes jog from the apartment]. I wait in line behind a few other women. They are buying eggs, milk, freshly cut meat and candles [in preparation for Day of the Dead]. I peek around the ladies in front of me to make sure the store has what I need, and to make sure I have brought enough lei with me. I repeat over and over in my head, “joo-ma-ta-tay kilogram day brunza, she una cash-ca-val mi-ca” partly to remember the shopping list, and partly because I really want to say this correctly. [Brunza is a type of salty cheese made from the milk of sheep; cascaval is a somewhat tasteless type of cheese similar in texture to mozzarella cheese.] Finally it is my turn. I step up to the counter, aware that there are several other Romanian women in line behind me. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, and say “jumatate kilogramme de brunza, si una cascaval mica” slowly with a thick American accent, stumbling over the word “brunza.” There are only a few giggles behind me, accompanied [I am sure of this] by all-knowing smiles. Most people here in Lupeni seem quite aware of the presence of Americans. The clerk successfully understands my requests, weighs the cheese and tells me how much I owe [in Romanian, of course]. I hand her a zece lei bill, knowing full well that she probably does not have exact change. I expect to receive a piece of gum or a box of matches for change, but not this time. The lady insists that I have the bani she needs, even though I do not. So wanting to diffuse the situation [I am now thoroughly embarrassed], I point to an orange in a bowl on the counter and ask, “si una portocala?” She weighs the orange and shrugs, then hands me the cheeses, the orange, and 50 bani. Sometimes, I wish that at home we could get oranges instead of change. Oranges taste better than bani anyway...