Thursday, January 27, 2011

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.