In a letter I sent to some friends of mine who lived abroad, I told them about my two left-foot toes that went numb with cold. They immediately phoned me: don?t you know you need good shoes when you go to the mountains? Where have you been? I had a hard time making them believe the truth, that my toes had gone numb in the faculty rooms. My courses started at eight in the morning and finished at 4 PM. I?d mostly stand on one spot, by the blackboard or the desk, my mouth worked, but the body stood still, and freezing. The hand in which I held the piece of chalk was blue with cold. Much later my friends told me that it was only then, when they found out about the numb toes, that they realized at last how cold it was in the Romanian institutions of the ?80s. (V. M., 89)

This was the torture of my life. It was always very cold in winter. We had to gather all in the smallest room because it was easier to warm up, since we were many and would talk, while the older ones smoked, until it became a bit warmer, little by little. (R. D. A., 122)

Winters were a torture. I remember we had (and still do) some synthetic fur lining, which we used to put on. Anyway, we did better, we had an electric stove. We placed it in one of the rooms and stood all around it, mostly in the bedroom. In the kitchen the gas stove was continually turned on ? when there was gas, that is ? and the doors were left open to warm the whole house. (R. D. A., 3)

What can I say? Everyone knows it, in winters it was colder inside than outside, and hot water was only rarely running (if at all). Gas was scarce too, especially in winter. Gas was so weak that you couldn?t even light up the stove burners. In order to be able to cook, people used to get up very early in the morning, between 2 and 5 AM, when gas was a bit stronger. I for one did so. (M. C. J., 96)

I used to work in the State Security Department. I used to come home from work together with two colleagues, and we walked to the Basarab station, where there was a pub. We?d call it ?Milkleg?s? or ?Inhuman conditions?. You had to stand ? I remember something nice? we once had several beers and went off. On our way, we saw a lady opening the windows of her house to refresh the air inside. And we shouted at her: Hey, lady, close the windows! ? Why should I? ? It?s getting cold outside! Indeed, it was colder inside than outside. Really! And that was the joke that went around: don?t open the window cause it?s getting cold outside. Things like that? (I. H., 29)