Back 2 School

Oh my, I haven't posted in over a month.  In all fairness, I did just get internet in my apartment today. 

So the last month I've: read, read, and read.  I'm going on book #20.  No joke.  Haha its true that it has been a little boring, but overall its been a good month!  I still can't get over the gorgeous view I have and the sunsets I get to see everyday from behind the mountains.  Last week school started for teachers...that's where I've gotten most of my reading done.  The week before that I brought home a new friend!  Her name is Boo because she's orange and black like Halloween.  She's a crazy little cat...I have many battle wounds that can testify to that.  Besides, starting school, last week turned out to be rather productive.  I FINALLY got a haircut!  It's very European, but I'm managing it.  And I started horse-riding lessons!  I was the most anxious for those.  I was really excited when my counterpart told me there were a lot of opportunities to ride in the area.  We found a horse farm where somebody speaks English, so once a week I'll go there.  I'm starting with the basics, doing lots of exercises on the horse to find my balance and get used to the horse.  It must be funny to anyone watching a grown woman learning riding basics and then looking around and seeing 10 year olds that are more advanced.

Next week we start teaching classes!  I'm a little nervous, but more excited to have something to do!  Although, now that I have internet, maybe I won't be so excited to work!

Not much else to report...I do know my address now!  If you would like it send me an email!

If You Are Looking for My Heart, I'll Tell You Where to Find it...

As I promised....post 2! So the counterpart conference was last weekend. Preparation for the conference was a little strained. Too many leaders were stuck in an extremely hot room together and tempers were flaring! The conference itself went well. It was a bit redundant for us volunteers because we had heard much of the information before, but it was necessary for our counterparts' understanding.

I was very very excited to meet my counterpart Zsuzsa. She's 27 years old, really nice, and extremely excited to have me at school. We had a great time getting to know each other over the weekend. I must say, those of us with Hungarian counterparts...plus Sara's Romanian counterpart...had the best time of all. After a beer, mine and Brittany's Hungarian was perfect...or so said one of the Hungarian counterparts...we are still unsure...haha.

Peles Castle

Last Tuesday, Zsuzsa and I left in her car for Judetul Harghita! It was about a 4-5 hour drive. On the way up, we stopped at a city called Sinaia to visit Peles Castle. Three other volunteers and their counterparts stopped with us as well. We took a tour of the elaborately decorated castle, but unfortunately were not able to take pictures. In Romania, you usually have to pay more to take pictures, and even more to film a video. This particular castle was really strict about this policy. The walls and ceilings were covered in carved wooden panels depicting all sorts of scenes from mythology, history, and art. This castle definitely had a Saxon vibe...I love it! When we finished at the castle we continued on our way to site. We arrived at site around 4:30 and met with Zsuzsa's husband and son, then we all headed to the next village to meet my colleagues at my school. I about cried as we drove into my village and walked into my school to meet all of the teachers. I was so excited to meet them, but also honored to be there for them. I instantly felt welcomed and loved by all. The school “lunch lady” made us a delicious meal...I guess that's one cultural difference between America and Romania...lunch food is actually delicious here!. Zsuzsa's son is two years old and such a little stinker...an adorable stinker of course. Funny story, we were eating this amazing dessert made with cake, apricots, and a marshmallow-like topping; I was sitting next to Zsuzsa who had her son on her lap and he was eating cake too, only he was just eating the marshmallow topping off of the top; he would take a bit and then put it back on the table; one time, I guess he couldn't reach the table because the next thing I knew, there was something sticky on my arm...he threw his cake in my lap! It was hilarious and had all of us at the table laughing hysterically. After dinner, I was taken to my apartment to settle in! My apartment is on the 3^rd floor of the only bloc in town. It is across the street from the church...can you guess what happened the next morning???

The Catholic Church in my village

Wednesday I was woken up bright and early by 1. ringing church bells at 5 am and 2. the rising sun at 6 am...and my gazda sister wondered why I was so tired when I got back to training site. Oh well waking up at the break of dawn every once in a while does a person good...unless it happens everyday for two years, in which case we might have a problem. I will say I did get to see some amazing sunrises behind the mountains. Oh yeah, I'm surrounded by mountains...my village lies in a large mountain valley. I have always had this dream of hiking up a mountain and lying in one of the meadows you see up high...we'll see how much stamina I have to fulfill this dream. Yeah so, Wednesday I spent the day with my school's director and his family. It was quite interesting because they don't speak English, and I really don't speak enough Hungarian to converse yet. Together we spoke lots of RomHunGlish...mine and Brittany's creation. First, we ate a hearty breakfast full of meet and salad and toast with jam...I'm lucky my stomach didn't give out on me. After that we went into the bigger city that isn't far from my village, Miercurea-Ciuc. I left my cellphone back at my gazda's which had my counterpart freaking out more than me, and we decided it was best to get another phone with a different provider. So the director took me to Vodafone to get a new phone...which the school paid for!!!! Its a pretty awesome phone if I say so myself...the nicest one I've ever had in my life.  Mom, you wouldn't know what to do with it! Before going to get the phone, the director's 20 year old daughter and I went to a restaurant to get ice cream. It is quite the interesting experience when you can't really communicate. We were sitting down and Imola went to get the waitress to come ask me what kind of ice cream I wanted...in English. We ran into problems when I asked what flavors they had. I watched the waitress splutter and try to find words for a minute or two and then told her I could speak Romanian if that helped. It did. I was soon enjoying a bowl of piersici si vanilie inghetata...peach and vanilla ice cream for you non-Romanian speakers. After all of that excitement we went back to the village to have a late lunch...REALLY late lunch...at the “lunch lady's” house. Man is she an amazing cook. Chicken broth and noodles never tasted so good. Nor have I ever eaten so much paprika, but its a nice change from the “naturally” flavored food of the south...or bland if you prefer. Haha, no really I have loved just about everything I've eaten in Romania...its just a little different in Szekely land. After “lunch” we went back to the director's house and rested before dinner. We ate dinner at another colleague's house and it was quite fun. The older gentlemen were more willing to speak Romanian with me, so the conversation was more lively. Eventually someone pulled out an atlas and we looked at a map of the United States...and the map of Canada which included a more detailed map of Michigan...I think Europe might be confused on the subject of where the US ends and where Canada begins...I know we are too...haha. And of course the conversation turned to politics...but they were very understanding of my reluctance to give my opinion of American politics. Mostly they were curious about the economic crisis. Economics. Totally not my strong point. I tried to explain that Michigan's economy has sucked for a few years, so the crisis wasn't really a surprise.

Sunrise over my mountains

Thursday I spent the day with Zsuzsa. Again I was awakened by the bells and Easterly sun streaming in my bedroom window. We ate another hearty breakfast and went back into Ciuc to have vodafone activate my number...which they apparently overlooked the day before. It was a pretty chill day and I went back to my apartment to rest before heading to a Hungarian music festival with Zsuzsa and her husband. It was a lot of fun. We saw a fairly popular Hungarian rock band...I didn't understand much...ok, any...of it, but I still liked it. While at the festival, I was bought a kurtoskalacs. It is the most amazingly deliciously heavenly scrumptious Hungarian dessert-ish bread thing. That's about the best description I can give. You'll just have to come visit me in Szekely land to find out for yourself! We didn't get back until 2 am...which for me is like not sleeping for 48 hours.

First night at the music festival

Friday morning I didn't not hear the church bells! Hooray! I was so tired I slept right through them...or maybe it was the fact that I closed my bedroom window. Again, Friday was a pretty chill day. We didn't eat breakfast because Zsuzsa spent the morning trying to figure out how to get me back to training site. So we just had a light snack at the village pool...quite the experience. It started pouring and we barely made it without getting soaked. I don't know what is going on, but everybody in all of Romania seems surprised at the amount of rain we have had this summer. Stupid me for never investing in those rainboots I had my eye on all Spring. For lunch we went to a pensiune...bed & breakfast/hotel...in a nearby village. Zsuzsa treated me to Pepsi, pizza, coffee...yes I am starting to drink cups of coffee...with lots of milk and sugar of course, but not from Starbucks...AND dessert. Amazing. It also helped that we saw some other Americans there, I didn't say anything because they were a large group, but after over two months in a foreign country where most other Americans are Peace Corps Volunteers...you get starstruck. Again I was dropped off at my apartment before going back to the music festival. This festival is put on for students and is a Hungarian Romanian version of Woodstock. People camp out in nearby fields and then head over to a nearby mountain valley to listen to some great music...if only Woodstock were so cool. This night we saw a lady who won Hungary's Megastar competition a few years ago. She had an amazing voice and actually sang about half of her songs in English. From “Black Hose and a Cherry Tree” to “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Pink's “Sober” to “Highway to Hell”, she really performs for everyone! This night wasn't such a late night...we were back by midnight, which was a good thing because...

Saturday I was up at 5! But on purpose this time. We had to leave that early for her to drive about a hour and a half to get picked up by a maxi-taxi en route to my training site. When I got on the maxi-taxi there was actually a volunteer from last year's group, so it was nice to have somebody else on board. It was a hot and bumpy ride, but I eventually made it back to my gazda's in dire need of a shower and rest. I was nicely reminded that “you live only once and you shouldn't spend all of your time sleeping” by my host sister. I kindly reminded her that I wasn't sleeping the whole afternoon, I also read and watched TV and played solitaire, but she didn't see that did she...things are just different for the young'uns.

Next week is our last week of training!!!!!!!!! We have a review session and then our Language Proficiency Interviews...I'm only freaking out a little bit about sitting down with an interviewer and speaking my 4^th language for 30 minutes...only a little bit. After that we have our swearing in ceremony in Bucharest!!! That is when we OFFICIALLY become Peace Corps Volunteers!

Alright, next time something interesting happens I promise I'll blog about it. Now just when that blog comes, I give no guarantees.

Well, its Been About a Month...

I fully apologize for being lousy at this whole blog thing. I promise to work on it...right after I finish saving the world and all...haha.

So, last blog post was at the end of the first week of Practicum...which was about a month ago.

Well let's see. For the second week of Practicum, Sara and I taught 8^th graders. Once again, our students were fabulous. We focused on a different topic each day and really tried to get them to discuss and practice speaking. I think we did a good job of it. All of our observations went great. Well ok, not ALL, but we had a pissy observer that day...sooooo not our fault ;) The week went great...minus one little hiccup. On Friday, the last day of Practicum, I came down with a serious case of food poisoning. I still have yet to figure out what it was from, but all the symptoms were there. I haven't eaten popcorn or chocolate in two weeks. I was on a rice, crackers, and banana diet for two days. Yuck. Sara visited me after school on Friday and came bearing gifts...5 bouquets of flowers and two gifts from our students! So sweet! Saturday was much of the same, but luckily I was all better for Sunday, July 4^th!

Sunday morning I was up at 5 because I went with Sara to Bucharest. She had to get stitches out from having her mole removed and didn't want to find the way alone so being the good friend that I am, I agreed to go with her. We took a maxi-taxi at 6:15, and it arrived in Bucharest around 8. First, we got off the maxi-taxi at the wrong stop, thankfully it was not too big of a deal because we got on the same metro line. Then we took the metro to the University stop. We came out the wrong side of the metro and were greeted by torrential rain. We decided the 15 trek to the PC Office was not cool, so we ran across the street and hopped in a taxi. When we got to the office we hung out in the lounge and raided the clothing/random stuff left by departing PCVs. We came out with some good stuff! Although, at this point, the last thing we need is more stuff to drag with us to site. Sara's stitches came out in five minutes and we napped for a while before Sheila came to bring us back to the training site for the gazda barbecue. As we left the office, Sheila asked us if we were fans of coffee...yes, we were stopping at Starbucks. I ordered a venti caramel macchiato and a blueberry muffin. Mind you, this was the first “real” food I had eaten in two days, and it was glorious. I can't wait to get more, although a cup of coffee is around an 8^th of our bi-weekly allowance, yikes. We made it back for the barbecue, and boy did we have some interesting times...but in the spirit of cultural sensitivity I will refrain from divulging too much. It was a smashing success, for the most part. Afterwards most of the volunteers went to one person's house for a party...and more craziness ensued. All in all, it was the best 4^th of July one could hope for while living abroad!

Now for the big news! Last week we had our Site Announcement Ceremony! I now know where I will soon be departing (3 ½ weeks!!!!) to spend the next two years! Monday and Tuesday were basically full of anxiety and speculation...it was a good thing though. None of us could sit still through language class or the PC sessions in the afternoon. We all had site announcements on the brain! So Wednesday morning we had a session on diversity...and it was painful. Only because I was fidgety and couldn't concentrate...I felt like a 5 year old all over again. 11:00 rolled around and we all headed to the designated area for the ceremony. The Ambassador and his family arrived promptly at 11. After a short speech from the Sheila and the Ambassador, the ceremony began. The language instructors conducted the ceremony like the Academy Awards with the sites as categories and variations of our names as nominees. They always make things interesting. I was so happy to finally get my site! Now, I cannot post the town name, but it was exactly what I wanted...mountains and Hungarian! It is located near the center of the country, which makes it simultaneously easier and more difficult to get around to all of my other PC buddies.

This past weekend, was the first weekend we were officially allowed outside of the Dambovita county. Sara and I had made plans to go to Slanic, but it was her turn to get sick. I still went with my host sisters and another volunteer, Aron. Slanic is in the mountains and it is famous for salt. We visited the salt mine that is 270 m below ground. It was amazing inside. There was a playground, a soccer field, pictures from mythology, and famous Romanians carved out of salt. After the mine we walked up the mountain to the salt lake. We didn't swim because it had been raining, so the water was gross. Afterwards we grabbed an ice cream cone and drove back. The drive was beautiful once we were near the mountains.

Two weeks ago I started Hungarian class! It has been awesome. Everything is completely different, so it is taking more practice and studying to get the hang of things, but I'll pick it up. Last weekend our counterparts came to town and we had a three day conference. Then Tuesday we all left with our counterparts to visit our sites! We were back the following Friday.  I was incredibly excited for this, and I will write all about it in the next blog post...hopefully tomorrow!

Week One Practicum...Check!

Wow, here we are finishing week 5 of PST! Sorry for the lapse in updates.  My computer was not working for a while, but last weekend my host sister took me to a computer repair shop.  Tuesday I got it back good as new...I just have had to reinstall all the programs I had on it before it crashed.  Oh well, its getting back to normal now, so I'm happy.

June 12-15, we finally were allowed on supervised visits outside the county boundaries!!  We went on an IFV (Integrated Field Visit) to see the site of a current PCV.  We traveled with our language groups and our language instructor.  My group, and another language group left together to visit two volunteers with sites in the southwest part of Transylvania.  We had quite the adventure.  My group took a train that left at 9:30 in the morning for Bucharest.  We wanted to walk around the city before we left for our site.  Unfortunately, that weekend happened to be the hottest string of days we've had in Romania.  We were walking around with our heavy backpacks, sweating bullets...rather unpleasant.  However, we did see some neat things in Bucharest.  We left the train station and took the metro to the University.   There, we saw the building that still has bullet marks from the Revolution that began the end of the communist regime.  There was a plaque to memorialize it.  Next we got burgers and sandwiches from a fast food place that all of the PCVLs told us about.  We took the sandwiches to go and ate in the large park.  It was beautiful, but I would have been more into it if I wasn't so tired and hot and gross in general.  After that we sat on the lawn in front of the People's Palace, the building Ceausescu began during his regime, and now houses the Romanian Parliament.  After a rest, we began the journey back to the train station where we met with the other language group and together we found the maxi-taxi station.

We lasted about an hour on that maxi-taxi before it overheated.  It had to stop and wait for another bus to come pick us up.  We were very happy about that because the bus was big and new and had real air conditioning!  A few hours later, we transferred to another maxi-taxi to take us the rest of the way to our site.  Towards the end of the journey, we traveled through a mountain gorge, it was fantastic.  Mountains rose around us as we followed a winding river.  At 10 pm we finally arrived at the city and were greeted by our volunteers and some of their friends.  They took us to the hotel, we checked in, then we went to an outdoor bar to eat and watch some World Cup soccer.  That completed Saturday of the journey.

And I think I'll finish the rest of the trip in another post :)  Here are some pictures for you all...the first is the building in Bucharest with bullet holes, the second is the People's Palace, and the third is the view from my hotel room on my IFV.

Week Two, Here We Come!

We've begun our second week of training!  It feels like forever ago that we all said goodbye to our friends and family.  I can't believe it has only been two weeks!  I have been blessed with a fantastic host family...which after the disastrous start to my semester in France I feel I deserved...hahaha.  There is my gazda mom, dad, and two sisters.  The older of the two girls speaks English very well and we have been having a great time.  I call her my personal social planner because she is always planning stuff for us to do, new people to meet, and places to see.  While it can be tiring at times, I appreciate the effort the entire family has put in to acclimate me into Romanian society.

Language classes are going well.  This week we were placed into our more specialized groups.  In my group we all seem to be at the same level, which is nice.  Today we learned vocabulary to get us through a visit to the "posta," or post office.  We would have gone a field trip to the "posta" to mail a letter, but it was raining.  Instead our language instructors set up shop in their office and it was rather amusing.  By now I know some basic verbs, possession, common phrases and greetings, numbers (yes, I can count to one hundred!).  Some things we haven't learned yet are food, clothing, and colors....the basics that we usually learn right away in a language...but PC does things a little differently :) .

Sunday afternoon, my host sisters took me, and another volunteer, to their grandmother's house in the country.  It was a fun time...despite the crazy country driving!  They had a very hyper dog named Jack...AAAANNNND a litter of kittens!!!  They pulled out two for us to hold and I fell in love.  I told my gazda sister that I want to take the kitten with me when I go to site...we'll see if it happens.  Apparently it is not too difficult to bring cats back into the States, unlike dogs.  So mom, don't be surprised if we have a new addition to our family :) .  But if its any comfort to you, I won't be at home too long after I return...haha.

Well I have to go catch up with my Tigers in the remaining time I have before sessions resume!

Freya

P.S. I posted new pictures on my facebook page....check them out!!!

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.

Good-Bye for Now

Saying goodbye has never been a strong point, but I guess that would be a bad thing if you were good at it. Although, I have had a lot of practice. Mom said it seems as if we keep having goodbye parties and hello parties for me, I'm always in transition. Somehow, I still think its easier for me to say goodbye to all of you...so props!!

Thanks to my Walgreens buddies for throwing me...and some others, but really just me ;)...a fantastic party. Its always easier to say adieu when alcohol is involved...haha. I really will miss you guys!

Thanks to my Whitecaps crew for putting up with my blondeness the past few weeks. It was so strange...haha.

Last night I had a great barbecue with the family. I love all of my little (and the not-so-little) cousins to death and don't know what my life would be without them. I got lots of hugs, the ones I cherish the most were from the most unexpected sources.

So far the hardest goodbyes have been my little Italian girls. I have had a blast the past few months teaching my girls English. Priscilla is eight and I have worked with her longer that I have worked with her sister Patrizia, who is six. Both of the girls are absolutely adorable and I have looked forward to spending time each week to work with them. Today was my last day tutoring them and I usually spend an hour or so alone with each girl, but today I took both of them together. They spent the hours fighting for my attention. Priscilla needed me to find her repeat subtraction problems so she didn’t have to do each problem in her head, and Patrizia needed my help deciphering Curious George :). After finishing the “homework” we looked through my travel guide on Romania. It is really something to take a look at a new culture through the eyes of a child. Priscilla found the little dictionary at the back of the book and kept reciting new phrases to me. I couldn’t help but giggle listening to her read me Romanian phrases in her Italian accent…precious.

Well tomorrow is the big day. I made sure to pack some extra Kleenex in the carry-on...but its exciting too! Here's the itinerary for the next few days, I wouldn't want Grams to have to start praying for a safe flight a day early or anything...haha.

Tuesday, May 18th
10:25 Depart Grand Rapids to Chicago
10:20 Arrive at Chicago O'Hare...meet up with my new Peace Corps buddies and find our way to the hotel.
12:30-Basically the rest of the day: Staging stuff

Wednesday, May 19th
10:30 am Check-out of the hotel
3:40 pm Flight leaves Chicago O'Hare

Thursday, May 20th
6:50 am Flight arrives in Frankfurt, Germany
10:30 am Flight leaves Frankfurt, Germany
1:45 pm Flight arrives in Bucharest, Romania

Once again, thanks for all your help and support during the past few weeks!!! Without all of you I probably wouldn't be nearly as prepared, emotionally or physically, as I am. I love you all and I'll see you in August 2012!!!