Government offices in Romania

I didn't get the best impression of Romania through its government offices. Here are just a couple issues I had.

• Not being open
• Closing early
• Only open to the public 2 hours a week (the Social Security Office)
• No information available
• People not wanting to help you
• People sending you to other offices even though those offices had sent you here
• No AC
• No elevator
• No organisation
• No numbers
• Standing in line for hours
• Pushing and shoving

I know that a month isn't enough time to get a feel for government offices, but first impressions are very strong and my first impressions were horrible. Here are some more examples of issues I had at government offices and the post office.


http://romaniancitizenship.blogspot.com/search/label/government%20offices

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Romanian post offices

I had heard stories about the Romanian postal service growing up. Though the stories I heard were of parcels and packages going in, of letters being opened, and goodies taken out of packages.

I never thought that sending items out, 22 years after Communism had fallen, would be an issue. Little did I know. I had sent some post cards to my family with no issue whatsoever, but sending a package was a whole different ballgame. You can read about my experience with sending a package visa Romanian post at Day 21.

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Romania's solidly second world

Having lived and worked in third world countries, I wouldn't say that Romania is third world; however, I wouldn't say that Romania's first world either. I believe that Romania is solidly second world.

They have issues that have carried over since communism, like lack of caring for public facilities, passing the buck and not wanting to do any work, and not paying the bus fare. Museums lack AC and benches, and toilets are in desperate need of toilet paper, soap, and water. However, there are also good things.

When I went to Romania, it was the height of summer and I was about 6 months pregnant. The good thing was that the city of Bucharest has erected tents that had AC, a cot, and free water. There were a couple people manning the tents as well in case you needed medical attention due to the heat. I think that was my favourite thing; it showed that Romania is slowly moving towards first world status.

The parks are also great and safe as well. Although Romania has a bad rep for its stray dogs, people really care for them and give them food and water. They're also a heck of a lot cleaner than the ones I've seen in Peru.

Romanians, especially the younger generation, are very smart and speak a smattering of languages. They're quick to help you out as well. So while now Romania is second world, I hope in the future, it moves towards first world status.

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Day 21 in Romania: how to mail a package in Bucharest

← Day 20 in Romania

I was supposed to meet up with two friends today, but they both cancelled and I'm really running out of things to do in Bucharest. I tried to send my mom the Gerovitals. It was a nightmare. For anyone who thinks that Communism fell in Romania, they should try to send a package overseas.

First post office: The smallest box they had could fit a computer monitor, so I left.

Second post office: Got completely lost trying to find it as everyone kept sending me the wrong way. I ended up in a parking lot at one point. Again, no boxes, but they told me to go to the supermarket and get one. Who'd have thought that post offices would actually stock boxes?!

Supermarket: Got a small box.

Back to the second post office: They don't send packages overseas, but gave me the address of a post office that did.

Third post office: Nope, they don't send packages overseas either. They sent me to another one.

Fourth post office: Went to one line, the sent me to another, which sent me to another. Yea! They send packages overseas. It cost $20 usd to send 3 dinky 50ml jars of Gerovital. I hope my mom gets them, because they took away the package to stuff newspaper in it. Once I signed everything I realised that I have absolutely no idea if the jars are in the box or not.

It only took 4 hours to send a package overseas. Must be a record or something. If you ever go to a post office in Romania, don't expect them to have: envelopes, boxes, tape, glue, scissors, or pens.

For those of you who are interested, here's the address of the post office that will send packages overseas. Good luck finding it, that's the extent of the address on the receipt, though if you ask someone, they should know since it's a big post office. The phone number (I think) is 0800806806
Posta Romana
Bucuresti, Dacia 140, sec 2
Retea Postala CRRP Bucuresti
Bucuresti 3 of Jud B

As a reward I went to McDonald's. I asked for ketchup and they wanted me to pay. Needless to say I didn't. Ketchup should be free.

My husband's passport copy and our marriage cert arrived, but it's the wrong marriage cert. It's the one from before Peru entered the Hague Agreement, so has no apostillise. I'll have to show him where the docs are when I get home. Though I'm estatic that he sent the stuff so fast. We also need him to sign a document saying that I can change my name and giving me permission to register our marriage. Why simplify things when you can make them more complicated? I was told that before Romania was giving Moldovians passports easily and the EU told them to stop. So now they're complicating everything.

→ Day 22 in Romania

Be sure to read about what has happened so far. You can find everything in the quick summary of dates.

Disclaimer:

• Please join my Patreon page
• University of Toronto's Online TEFL Course