Anticipation

What I like best about the changing of the seasons is the anticipation. When the sticky heat of late August turns to the crisp chill of autumn, the weather spurs us to look forward, to think of the future. We automatically think of frosty winter days, curled up with a mug of hot cocoa or spinning around with child-like wonder at the first fall of snow. The anticipation of these events is so much better than the reality of them. When we are trapped inside on cold dreary days and the nights are dark and long, the reality falls short of our imaginations. Our actual experiences lack the magic we imbue through our anticipation. But the anticipation makes it worth it. If we revel in the anticipation with eagerness and hope we will enjoy our day to day activities. And that, really, is the best way to experience life.

How Helpful Signs Can Be

Despite all the beautiful scenery, richly historical sites and varied ways of life that Romania has to offer, the one overlying theme of my Dad's visit to Romania was that road signs, or a lack thereof, can be completely confusing and frustrating. Luckily, Dad was patient enough and a great driver, so renting a car and navigating the sometimes epically rough terrain of Romanian roads, didn't end in our terrible demise. I did learn that there are positives and negatives to both public and private transportation in Romania.

After meeting my Dad in Bucuresti on Sunday (and finding our hotel by following McDonald's signs) we headed back to Comanesti for a couple days. Dad got to attend a class and meet my counterparts. It was interesting to see my two worlds meet. After visiting my weekly piata, we ventured to a local dam and decided to go for a scenic drive around the lake. This turned into long, slow trek over the Carpathian Mountains into the Hungarian-speaking Hargita County. It was a beautiful, if not anxiety inducing, drive.


Thursday we began our cross-country expedition, winding our way through Neamt County among the changing leaves of Ceahlau National Park up to Maramures, the northern most region of the country. We spent the night in Sighetu Marmatiei right on the Ukrainian border. Maramures is known for its wooden churches and traditional dress. We read some ironic epitaphs at the Merry Cemetery and were astounded by the story of an imprisoned resistance fighter we met at the Museum and Memorial for Prisoners of Communism in Sighet. His story was very moving and I tried to translate the best I could as he pointed out his parents, sister and himself on the wall of imprisoned resistance fighters. It was a sobering moment in a very historically rich place.

Saturday we ventured to a fellow volunteer's Transylvanian site for a short break from driving before visiting some beautiful towns near Sibiu and even hiking to some Dacian ruins as night was descending faster than we could descend the hill. A late dinner of a shared Peasants' Platter filled us with five different types of pork and enough sodium to make any cholesterol-concerned doctor weep.

The next day we logged many of Transylvania's fortified churches from Sibiu to Brasov. The most impressive one was in the small village of Biertan; the church lending itself to any fairytale princess daydream. We lunched in Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad Tepes and an impressive citadel-city, complete with schools, churches, hotels and restaurants within the walls.

Monday and Tuesday were spent at the Danube Delta. By staying in a pensiune (bed & breakfast) we had a much cozier experience than at a hotel. We were greeted with tuica, though probably not as strong as the palinca in Maramures, and shortly introduced to the woman who would be cooking all our meals and the man who would take us out on that boat to see the Delta and the Black Sea. We got to try some traditional Deltan fish cooking and the scenery during the boat ride was gorgeous.

There are so many varied landscapes in Romania for such a small area. It was wonderful to see and compare them all in such a short amount of time. And it was amazing to share a little of my experience here and some of the Romanian culture with my Dad.

Summer Recap Three

Day Trip to Iasi:

In Early August, Marta and I decided to visit Iasi, which we had been told was the “Crown Jewel” of Moldavia. To summarize, we were a little disappointed with what we found. Iasi is mainly a university city and while we impressed by the beautiful buildings and the number of college-age Romanians we saw, we were disappointed by the promised cultural aspects of the city. Both the famous intricately carved Three Hierarchs Orthodox Church and the Cultural Palace were under construction. We also ventured to the Great Synagogue of Iasi, which the travel guide described as a “sad misnomer.” We returned to Comanesti hours earlier than expected.

Arts Camp in Palanca:

The next week, Marta, three other volunteers and I participated in an arts camp in Mil’s former site of Palanca, about 40 kilometers up the valley from me. We had a wonderful week teaching kids crafts (Marta), theater (Tessy and Candice), and music (me and Ben). We all stayed with gazdas (hosts) for the week and were extremely well fed. We had a few excursions into the hills surrounding the small village and had a presentation at the end of the week for the parents and townspeople. The kids really enjoyed the camp and it was very gratifying to see the fun they were having.

Peace Corps Conference in Sinaia:
The last week of August I spent in Sinaia, a mountain tourist town near Brasov. It is a popular ski destination in winter and home to Peles Castle, which I visited last summer with my counterparts during my site visit. It was nice to spend time with the other volunteers and I got to meet the volunteers from the new group, which will be the last group of Peace Corps Romania, since the post is closing in 2013.

Summer Recap Two

Lara Visits Romania:
One thing that made returning to Romania from my amazing trip to London more bearable was the fact that Lara was coming to visit the next day! We had two wonderful weeks of relaxing in Comanesti and touring some Romanian hot spots. It was so great seeing someone from home and sharing Romania with Lara.

Sighisoara:

We spent a rainy 4th of July at the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (Dracula). Sighisoara is based in Transylvania around an old German citadel on a hill with a gorgeous clock-tower and a few of its old guild towers.

Bran:

The next day we ventured to Brasov and after a few buses and lots of questions and help from a couple old bunicas, we made it to Castelul Bran, the medieval castle that Bram Stoker’s Dracula Castle is based on. Although Vlad Tepes was never actually in Bran, the castle still has a lot of significance in Romanian history.

Constanta:

Lara and I also spent a few days in Constanta, Romania’s main port on the Black Sea. There is another volunteer, Stephani, who lives in Constanta and was kind enough to let us stay at her apartment so we could enjoy the beaches and relax for a few days. There is more diversity in Constanta than in a lot of the country due to its proximity to Turkey and the East.

Summer Recap One

Time here is slippery. It bends and warps in such a way that I can’t grasp it solidly. This is my attempt at a poetic apology for not updating about my truly exciting and absurdly busy summer.

London: I spent six days in London to kick of my summer. Jessica, Jocelyn and I were able to pack in almost every tourist spot imaginable into our trip and still have time to attend the Glee concert on Saturday. It was wonderful to be in a place with so much history and such diversity! I was so excited to speak English and eat Indian food. Traveling to common tourist destinations as a Peace Corps volunteer is interesting because there is such of juxtaposition of wanting to visit regular tourist attractions and experience first world comforts.

Trip highlights:
Westminster Abbey.

I loved the combination of beautiful architecture, religious reverence and deeply rooted history that Westminster Abbey instills in its visitors. Being able to tour the church at your own pace with a head set allowed me to focus on the aspects (history) that interested me most. My favorite place in the Abbey was Poet’s Corner where Shakespeare and many other great authors and composers are buried.

Globe Theater:

I have a great appreciation for Shakespeare’s timeless stories. Touring the Globe Theater offered a magnifying glass to Shakespeare’s London and the Elizabethan period his plays embody. Our tour guide provided many interesting details and seeing the intricately replicated theater house was wonderful.

Tower of London:

Jocelyn and I were lucky enough to have a tour with the Tower’s first and only female Beefeater. She was extremely knowledgeable and hilarious. Of course, the Crown Jewels were breathtaking, and the monument to the executioner’s block and church where Anne Boleyn was beheaded and buried was particularly interesting.

St. James’s Park and Soho Square:

After a busy week and even busier Saturday, Jessica and I spent a relaxing Sunday and a few different parks. St. James’s Park is beautiful and situated centrally between Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace, where Prince Charles and family live. Soho Square was possibly my favorite place in London. There was such an eclectic range of people just sitting and chatting on a Sunday afternoon. It was a great place for relaxing and people watching.

Cultural Differences and Worry

I’ve lived truly alone for over a year now. I still don’t think of myself as an adult. But when I see myself through others’ eyes, I sometimes catch a glimpse of my reflection and am surprised by what I see. Yesterday I spent the day in Onesti and took a mid-afternoon train home. My behavior on public transportation has become almost a ritual these past sixteen months. Don’t make eye contact, watch my baggage and try not to look too American. I mind my own business and try not to draw attention to the fact that I don’t have a complete grasp of the language here. For the most part, I can travel around with relative ease and few incidents.

Yesterday, however, was another story. As chose my seat in the train car yesterday, I began my ritual like usual, putting my bag in the seat across from, my purse at my side and opened up my book. Across the aisle, a girl a few years younger than me sat down and a middle-aged man sat in the seat across from her. I couldn’t tell if they knew each other or not.

As the train pulled away from the station it became apparent that they did not know each other. The man started a conversation with the girl and the girl politely answered his question. As our train moved slowly up my little valley, the man invaded more and more of the girl’s personal space; finally moving to sit on the bench next to her, uncomfortably close. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the man continued pressing closer and the girl said please move and cowered toward the window. No one else in the train car seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary.

When I saw the man’s hand go up the girl’s skirt, I knew I had to act. I stood and turned the man by the shoulder, said excuse me and waved the girl to the seat across from me. The girl, looking greatly relieved, took a book from me and we resolutely ignored the man as he tried to engage both of us in conversation. After a minute he left the car and I introduced myself to the girl as an American volunteer and English teacher. Her English was very good and we chatted until the man came back and tried to figure out what language we were speaking. He tried to sit next to me and I said no loudly and moved so there was not enough room. After that he left the car for good.

All this time, no one else in the packed train car did anything to acknowledge that the girl had been harassed or that I had stepped in. The girl was extremely grateful and I’m very glad to have met her. I hope if she finds herself in a similar situation again she has the courage to stop it and remove herself from it. The whole incident left a bad taste in my mouth and makes me worry about how common an occurrence this is, if no one else was willing to step in.

Time Flies

In the past two months I've been away from my site more than I've been home (which subsequent posts will illustrate). The end of school and lots of traveling this summer have made time fly by. I can't believe I have only one year left of my service. I'm still learning and experiencing new things. Right now I'm relaxing and enjoying a little down time before some more activities before the school year starts up. I'm excited to see all my students again and hear about their summers!

Mini-camp in Agas

I have yet to fully acclimate to the Romanian system of knowing that everything has a way of working out. This mini-camp was a 3-day experimental exercise to test how kids (my students) would react to the types of activities we have planned for some week-long camps in the summer. The camps are being held in a little village, Agas, up the valley from my town. When another volunteer and her Romanian friend contacted me about approaching some of my students about a mini-camp, I immediately agreed, thinking about how fun summer camp seemed when I was a kid. Little did I realize how difficult it would be to encourage kids to attend the activities.


After two afternoons of team-building exercises and self-reflection, five students and I boarded the train early Saturday morning for the half-hour ride up the pretty countryside for a day of work on the farm where the camps will be located. A lovely breakfast spread was late out on our arrival and after enjoying some salata de vinete, snitel and juice (suc), we had a few warm up activities, including a water balloon toss. In keeping with our theme of working together in a rhythm, we worked in a team to paint fences, walls and doors as well as the pagoda that was being built especially for the camp. We were also able to create a dirt and stone path leading to the bridge that crossed the stream in the yard.


Spending a beautiful day out in the sun doing work in which you can see the outcomes of your effort, was almost as enjoyable as spending the day listening to and conversing with some of my teenage students. These kids amaze me every day. They are so full of life and energy and sometimes they have such insight that it reminds me that even from halfway across the world, we are not very different at all. I got to spend the past few days discussing books, music, television, family, self-image, teamwork, aspirations and goals with youth that come from such different life experience than I do. I hope they got as much as I did out of our mini-camp because they are truly what make my service worth every minute.

May Adventures

Excursion to Piatra Neamţ. May 4, 2011.
The first week of May, the high school where I teach hosted a group of students and teachers from all over Europe (Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and France). I was lucky enough to go on a day-trip with the group over to the next county of Neamţ. We visited Cetatea Neamţului, an old citadel, an animal park and three beautiful monasteries. It was so cool to see a new part of Romania as well as watch teenagers from six different countries and cultures interact.


Gabi’s Wedding. May 7, 2011.
My friend and fellow teacher, Gabi, invited me to my first Romanian wedding. It was such an event! First, I went to Gabi’s apartment where everyone had gathered. Gabi looked beautiful and so happy. Then everyone went to the town hall (primaria) where the civil ceremony took place. Immediately following that was the religious ceremony at a church in town. The church ceremony was much more casual than American ceremonies. The priest along with the couple stood at a table at the head of the church and all the attendees stood along the sides of the church. Both the maid of honor and best man (Gabi’s sister and brother-in-law) and the couple’s sponsors (naşi) joined the couple at the table holding very large candles. The reception seemed to be the main wedding event. Starting at 8 pm, three courses of food, hours of dancing (both traditional Romanian dances and modern songs), culminating in cake and removing the veil (the Romanian equivalent of throwing the bouquet) around 4 am. It was such a fun night! Nothing like a Romanian wedding to help me integrate into my community.


Train to Miercurea Ciuc. May 21, 2011.
A fellow volunteers suggested we make the trek over the Carpathian Mountains to the Hungarian town of Miercurea Ciuc. A beautiful early morning train ride later, it was almost like we were in a different world, or at least a different country. We found a cute little tea shop and then wandered around the town’s ethnographic museum; complete with mummy exhibit! Though it was rainy, it was a beautiful spring day. We had a fun time exploring the paiţa (market) and some second hand stores while trying to find locals who spoke Romanian to give us directions. What a fun day!

Easter 2011

My student, Flori’s, family was kind enough to invite me to their house in Apa Asau to celebrate a traditional Romanian Easter (Paste-Pah-shtay). They were extremely generous hosts as the four days I spent in the country with Flori and her family were filled with wonderful food and interesting experiences. On Friday evening I got to see where Flori’s family keeps their sheep in addition to watching the cows milked and chickens fed.
On Saturday, I chopped potatoes to make Salata de beuf and tried a piece of beef heart that was going to be added to the salad. Saturday at midnight is when the Romanian Orthodox church service is attended. Flori, her father and I went to the church and got candles to light for the service. The priest sang some hymns and said what I assume is a benediction while standing outside the church and then the entire congregation walks around the church. It was very interesting and I’m sure I looked a little concerned and very out of place.

Sunday morning, I was greeted with a hot cup of fresh milk and some cozonac (traditional Romanian sweet bread) made by Flori’s grandmother. When Flori and her brother woke up we washed our faces with water from a jug that had a traditional Romanian painted egg (red) and some change (bani) in it. It is for luck. Around 11, we had our big meal of the day, including beef stew, racituri (pieces of chicken in concealed pig jelly from the bones of the head of feet – sounds delicious I know), and grilled lamb.

Easter is a very important holiday in Romania and people also celebrate the two days after Easter Sunday, which led to more days off school! It was so wonderful to compare these traditions to my own and Flori’s family was also very interested in the differences between our two cultures.

Springtime

Spring has finally arrived in the Trotuş Valley. Although it was snowing the week of “Mărţişor,” the Romanian spring holiday, a month later, I am now enjoying birds chirping and flowers blooming. Here in Comaneşti, March really did come in like a lion with the last snow fall of the season. March 1, or Mărţişor, celebrates the beginning of spring. Children bring good luck charms tied with red and white thread to the adults in their lives. As a teacher I received many charms from my students in all different shapes: snowdrops, clovers and chimneysweeps are all traditional symbols of luck. I also received a ladybug (buburuză) pin from the Assistant Director of the high school that I have been wearing on my jacket collar and have collected many compliments about.
A week later on March 8, we celebrated International Women’s Day. Again I received many flowers and small gifts from my students. We had a luncheon at the high school and I was able to practice my Romanian. At the end of the month, I took a weekend trip to Braşov. About three hours from here, Braşov is a popular tourist destination, touting Bran Castle as one of the real Dracula, Vlad Tepeş’, castles. I spent the weekend with two other volunteers at a youth hostel near the old city center. We visited the Black Church and wandered through the shops in this historic square. The days were warm and sunny, perfect for people watching and enjoying each other’s company. The hostel was a pleasant experience and we met some fellow travelers from Australia, Spain and the UK.

This past week has been full of new and exciting experiences. Last Friday, I was introduced to the town’s Habitat for Humanity organization by a fellow volunteer. My counterpart is a volunteer on the Board for the organization and is helping me become more involved. On Monday evening we were invited to have dinner with some Global Village volunteers who were here this week to work on a house. I was able to meet and get to know 11 students and two teachers from the American School of Dubai. They were all very excited to be here and very interested in volunteering. On Wednesday, I was able to meet with them again and even spend some time working on the house that Habitat is building in Moineşti, a neighboring town. I’m looking forward to working more closely with Habitat Comaneşti.

New Year and Semester's End

I had a surprising and eventful New Year. Three of my fellow volunteers descended on my small town for a few days of relaxation, great food and, what else, more Bear Dances. The "Revelion" tradition of the Bear Dance is localized in the Trotus Valley where I live. Only in this little section of Romanian does this reenactment of an ancient struggle between wild bears and the native Dacian population of the area.

Many young men dress in full bear skins, which I'm told are incredible heavy and difficult to maneuver in. Others dress as "gypsies" and others still wear scary masks to ward off evil spirits from entering the New Year. The human half of this dance is lead by a man dressed as a drum major leading the drummer in a distinct rhythm and chanting session. Dances go on for about 10 to 15 minutes, with all the participants constantly moving in an intricate back and forth between the "people" and the "bears." My town had a competition which included dances from many neighboring villages.

For New Year's Eve, my friends and I, went up to Bacau, the capitol of the county I live in. Three other volunteers live there and we had more delicious food (some wonderful curry dish and spanakopita) and a really great time.

Going back to school after having such a great holiday was difficult, but the kids definitely make it worth while. With the start of the New Year, I also started some new projects. After my first foray into assigning my high school students essays, I've decided that I'm going make that a reoccurring project for them. Similarly, I've started a more advanced writing workshop for some of them as well as an English Club that will meet once a week. I've also started an English Club at the middle school and am still trying to decide how large a group can feasibly attend.

These past couple weeks I've also gotten my first taste of Romanian grading. I've worked hard to mesh what I've learned of the Romanian system with what I think works from the American system I'm more familiar with. For example, Romanian students receive grades on a 1 to 10 scale so my students were surprised to receive zeros when they did not turn in their essays (their grades were subsequently changes after they did turn in the essays, though they were deducted for turning them in late.) Another difference is that Romanian grades are all written down in a "Catalogue." Each class of students has all their lessons together and all their grades go in the same book. It is intimidating to write my grades in the Catalogues because if I mess up I have to get my mistake signed and stamped by the Directoara (Principal) of the school.

This week is the end of my first semester as a teacher here in Comanesti. Next week we have our semester break and I'm going to Rome with three of my friends. I'm very excited and plan to eat wonderful food, see amazing things and have a great time with my friends.