21.5 degrees

I almost forgot how nice it is to be able to play basketball outside in a t-shirt and shorts. Radu, Ovidiu and I were out on the court yesterday (the same one that doubles as a soccer field; refer to photo) and played for about 90 minutes against three high school kids. Man, I felt old, slow and out of shape. Radu was our star and coach, as he played during his college days in Iasi. We held our own despite the fact that they were quicker and had that 17 year-old stamina. They were like rabbits. But, remember this: old men know how to pass the ball. It wound up pretty even in the end, with the kids taking 5 of 9 games from us. I hadn't played that much basketball in years. I need to work on my game and exercise more. What a wake-up call. Even though I'm about 12-15 pounds lighter (since I joined the PC), I was in much better shape last May. Time to go back to work. Oh yeah, by the way, 21.5 degrees is about 70 fahrenheit. Perfect weather.

Today's photo was taken this afternoon in front of Hogas High. As you can see, we don't have a proper soccer field (no high school in town has one), so they play on the blacktop. It's a 6 on 6 game and is pretty fast-paced. Dangerous too. I cringe everytime I see someone fall and hope he has all of his skin when he gets up. Hogas is the team in blue and the team in red is the forestry high school. They wound up in a tie at 2-2. Yesterday Hogas beat the informatics High School 4-0. Informatics has cool jerseys. They're collared and have "INFO" printed across the chest. I wish I could get my hands on one of those.

I'm going to be traveling to Bucharest next week for a medical visit. I've got to get my eyes checked, my teeth cleaned and I'm going to have Dr. Dan take a general look at me. I haven't been feeling all that well the last couple of weeks and have been more fatigued than usual. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the weather? We'll see I guess. What will probably happen is that I'll feel perfectly normal by the time I arrive next Friday. If so, oh well. Friday's going to be a bit brutal, as I have to take a 3am train. I'll arrive at 8:15 and will then have to go to the three appointments. Ouch. PC will put me up in a hotel and then I'll take a 3:00pm train back to Piatra Neamt the following day. This will be my first trip to the PC office and I'm curious to see what it is like there.

It looks like I'm going to help out with the teaching practicum for the new TEFL volunteers from group 21, who arrive on May 18th. They will be in Ploiesti, which is a big industrial city just north of Bucharest. I'll head down there for two weeks after school ends and will then come back to the U.S. for my vacation. Looks like I should be arriving in Texas on or about July 2nd. I should be in Chicago around the 9th. Probably will leave around the 23rd. So, the near future is starting to take shape. Only 10 weeks of school left for me after tomorrow.....

Now I Think It's Spring

The snow is melting as I write this! Yes folks, I do believe that spring is finally upon us here in Piatra Neamt. It was a balmy 10 degrees celcius (50 fahrenheit) and sunny today. Just a week ago today it was snowing hard, the wind was blowing and it was basically like Siberia around here. Most of the snow should be gone by the time I wake up tomorrow. I just hope that it doesn't return. I'm not counting on it though. Being from Chicago, I'm always geared up for a nice April snow shower or two.

Enough of the weather, yeah? I've provided an "action photo" this time. That's me on the right leading a discussion during my "History Nights" club that I mentioned before. It's a joint project with my friend Ovidiu, a history teacher at the economics high school. We meet every Monday for two hours and watch DVD history lectures that I brought here from the U.S. Each 30 minute lecture is followed by a 10 minute discussion period. We get about 10-12 students per session. It's university-level stuff, so their English has to be fluent and they've got to be smart kids. I've got a lot of them. Once again, I'm lucky.

Not much to report here really. I'm going to Codlea this weekend. Sunday will mark 10 months in Romania (feels good to be in double-digits). Spring break is three weeks from this Thursday. Rapid and Steaua made it to the quarter-finals of the UEFA cup and will have to play each other, which guarantees a spot for a Romanian team in the semi-finals. This is a really big deal now and everyone is talking about it. Game one is next Thursday at Rapid's stadium, followed bay game two the following week at Steaua's stadium. The semi-finalist will be determined by aggregate goals. I bought a Rapid scarf this weekend and am going to wear it to class next Thursday. The kids will get a kick out of that. I'm sure I'll get some boos and hisses as well because Steaua is the more popular team. But, Victor taught his boy to be a Rapid fan this summer, so they're my team. It's similar to my Dad breeding me to be a Bears fan. It's in the blood. Forza Rapid!

That's about it I guess. I must admit that I've been feeling a bit homesick lately. I think it has something to do with the weather. I just seem to be a bit off right now. It's got to be the season changing. Sarah told me that I am very sensitive to this. I'll have to take her word for it because she's the boss. :) Anyway, I'm sure that I'll snap out of this funk soon. A weekend in Codlea should do the trick. I think that I just need to get out of town for a few days. It can get quite claustrophobic here sometimes. And with the weather changing for the better, I've got the urge to get out and go. Just gotta keep ridin' the roller coaster I guess. I got some good advice in an e-mail the other day. Simply put, "keep at it". Well folks, that's just what I intend to do. I hope you feel that your tax dollars are being well spent.......I mean with me of course. :)

Scott

The Romanians Think It's Spring

But things are not always as they seem here in Romania. Look at this photo taken just over a week ago. Look like spring to you? Three days later, on March 1st, everyone was running around here giving each other little flowers to celebrate "Martisor", or the beginning of spring. Right now, we're buried in snow with no end in sight for the week. Forgive me if I sound bitter. I'm just sick and tired of this weather here. It was about 50 degrees fahrenheit and sunny in Codlea on Sunday. Monday morning it was like Siberia here in Piatra Neamt. Ok, enough of my whining. The photo is of some houses in the middle of lake Izvorul Muntelui, Romania's largest man-made lake. It's the result of the Bistrita river being dammed up and produces hydropower for the area. It also lies just to the east of Ceahlau Mountain, which is one of Romania's great natural wonders. Looks a little cold out there in those houses yeah? A little early for boating season I think.

I celebrated birthday number 31 in Codlea this weekend. It was a grand 'ol time as usual. We had a little party on Saturday night. Ica's brother Tavi and his wife Vali came, as well as another Vali and one of my Romanian teachers from last summer, Iza. Iza lives in a small village near Codlea called Vulcan. We ate lots of pork and mici, drank our share of beer and tuica and looked at photos on Ica and Victor's brand new TV via the brand new DVD player. Ica and Victor have now gone hi-tech thanks to their daughter Delia. We went to the Metro the night before, strapped that big TV on top of the Dacia and made off slowly (very slowly) into the cold Transylanian night. Their living room is now complete and it's a great place to hang out.

On a sad note (I feel compelled to mention this), a man that I met this summer in Codlea died last week. He drank a bottle of anti-freeze. It may have been a suicide, but no one knows for sure. His wife is a friend of Ica's. I forgot his name, but that's not what's important. What's important is that this guy was a revolutionary. He was part of the anti-communist uprising here in 1987 that was brutally supressed by the state. He protested, marched and voiced his opinion against the Ceaucescu regime. As a result, he was imprisoned and tortured. I won't get into the details, but what he had to endure was horrifying. He suffered quite a bit after that experience, both physically and psychologically. He was never compensated by the state and his family probably never will be compensated for his death, which was most likely caused by the pain inflicted upon him by the security apparatus. Many, if not most, of the people who were responsible for such cruelty suffered no consequences after the revolution in 1989 and are free men. These people just melted back into society and they walk among us here in Romania today.
This guy was a hero and, despite the fact that he may have took his own life, I hope people remember him as such.

You know, when you walk the streets here, it's easy to see the visible scars left from totalitarianism. Communist blocs, bad roads, ugly monolithic industrial parks, even the looks on people's faces. But it's a whole different ballgame when you know that there's this undercurrent of pain and psychological damage that exists in the minds and souls of many Romanians, and that most of the people who are responsible for this are walking the street (or probably driving expensive automobiles). You see, here in Romania many former Securitate (secret police) operatives became quite wealthy after the revolution. They were the only people who had access to information from the outside world. They had the overseas contacts. And they were the ones who got the jump on defrauding the Romanian people of their right to funds from the sale of state assets. It is estimated that 1 in 10 Romanians worked for the Securitate. I've met many wealthy businessmen and some politicians since I've been here. I live in the county seat, right near all of the administration buildings, so I see these guys driving their fancy cars all of the time. I wonder what lurks in their past?

Sometimes I walk the streets, look around and wonder what it must have been like before 1989. It's chilling. I've read a lot about the subject. I've spoken to many people. I've even seen a few film clips or two. But I'll never be able to feel it, and I'm lucky for this. All of us in America are lucky that we've never had to feel it, and hopefully never will. This is why I talk to my students about Romania's past. This is why I have them read Orwell. Because I don't want them to ever feel it either. Don't ever take your human rights for granted and do whatever you can to protect them.

Until next time, take care.

Scott