How to Install a Washing Machine, Romaniamania Style

Since I arrived in Tulgheș, I've been doing my laundry at the local boarding school, a 5-minute walk from my place. This involves not only the walk, but also coordinating with the ladies who work there to make sure I can 1) get a key and 2) have access to the only washing machine there. Clearly, this isn't ideal. (However, I can't really complain, as many people do wash by hand here).

So, when my neighbor Dan, an electrician, informed me that he had an extra one he could lend me for the final 10 months of my service, Dan got an emphatic "DA!" So we headed back to his workshop and loaded 'er up in his red Dacia.

However, upon arriving home and while attempting to install my new old washer, we found, much to our chagrin, that there was simply no way it could fit through the bathroom door.

Ba da.

Cue a handsaw and a little Romanian ingenuity.

Step 1: Measure the height of the washer, then cut out a piece of the doorframe.

Step 2: Squeeze in the washer. Affix in place. (Not pictured. I was actually helping with this.)

Step 3: Fabricate a new piece of doorframe out of scrap wood and attach it where the old one was.

Step 4: Paint the new doorframe to match the old doorframe. (Not pictured, because this will never happen. Clashing is the new matching.)

And voila! This "șmecher" has got himself a fay-ncy new washin' machine, ready to slosh and gyrate its way to clean clothes in 30 minutes.

*Blue coveralls sold separately.