Here in Romania...

Well we all arrived safe and sound!  No problems with our flights, and all of my baggage made it through safely (although my carry on was eyed suspiciously by the Lufthansa flight attendants while boarding the flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest).

The bus ride from Bucharest to the town we train in, was beautiful (well I fell asleep halfway through, so I liked what little I saw).  We really got a taste for Romania on that ride.  I kept hearing about the economic disparity, and it really was true.  There were large beautiful homes being built next to tiny homes with rusting corrugated roofs.  I am so excited to explore more of the beautiful country and to learn more about its people.

We also kept hearing about the stray dogs.  Romania has a large stray dog population and it really is a problem.  This morning one of my fellow PCTs was out for a jog and 5 or 6 dogs circled around him as he ran two blocks.  The staff keep telling us that you need three things to succeed as a PCV: patience, flexibility, and a sense of humor.  Trust me, we all have the humor thing down.  We've spent the last day and a half in session hearing more policy and procedures and meeting more staff members.  Tomorrow morning we have a brief, basic lesson in Romanian and then our host families (gazda) pick us up.  We spend the rest of the weekend with them and then we start our training on Monday!  I can't wait for all of this to start happening, I'm really really ready!

Here's the view from my hotel room

More to come...when I find internet again.