I was born in Bucharest at #105 Calea(Avenue) Vitan.
Sometime before the events available to my conscious memory, we moved to #2 Intrarea(Entry) Argilei. This used to be a tiny little dead-end about 500 meters in total length. I lived at that address for about 14 years. I have very fond memories of that period, even though by school age I had become some kind of nerdy brainiac with my head in the clouds and my nose in a book even when I was walking down the street - that made me an obvious target for the bullies and they would rough me up once in a while. The same bullies ended up coming to me for some free tutoring, so eventually we reached some sort of cease-fire.

     My little alley was located in an excellent strategic location, within walking distance of a neighborhood park with a play-ground and some game booths (my favorite was the target shooting booth) - a huge farmers market and some 5 bars. One time when I was seven my friend Flaviu, who was eight, took me to the bar and bought me a liter of beer. We could barely see over the bar but the bartender took his money without any kind of hesitation. I did not like the beer and did not try another one until I turned 25, but Flaviu forced me to drink it - after that we walked back to our alley where he produced a knife and tried to get me into a knife fight, because that is what drunks did a lot of times. Like all the other kids, I too had a little pocket-knife but I was a bit intimidated as well as being by nature an extremely laid-back and unaggressive person. Luckily, I was rescued by an older neighbor.

     My school was also within walking distance, I can't remember at what age I started going there by myself, but it must have been quite early - all of these places where on Calea Vitan except the school which was a couple of blocks off of it.

     Anyway, when walking to and from school, I used to pass by this place that the gypsies