Cool!

I met some cool, influencial European NGO movers and shakers today. One of them works for the Romanian ministry of something or other in Bucharest. He had the clearest, most comprehensible Romanian I've ever heard. We were all sitting together having lunch (where my boss consumed more cheese in one sitting than I've ever seen someone eat) and I understood almost everything being said around me. We went from discussing the recent elections to Balkan minorities in Romania to what actually constitutes a Macedonian (which Bulgarian Rob and I have debated endlessly). I didn't participate very much, but I could still follow along.

Not bad for someone who has only been living in Romania since August!

I can't even have a simple conversation about the weather with our cleaning lady in Romania, but I can follow along to a political debate. Something is wrong here.

My boss asked me to do two things for him, which I am very excited and grateful.

I get to edit a chapter in a book that a colleague of his has written on historicak minorities and immigrants to Romania. I'm also going to translate another article (French to English) for a book on national minorities in Romania. My name will show up in both publications, as an editor and as translator.

If I word these the right way, they'll look kick-ass on my CV.