The Road Back Home

I'm referring to both of my homes of course, Codlea and the U.S. A few more days and I'll be leaving Piatra Neamt. It's been a long wait. Anyway, the first photo is of me and my 10th grade History class. We had a rough start together, but I really wound up enjoying teaching them, especially when it was U.S. and not British history. The last few weeks were great, as I covered World War II, the Cold War and Vietnam.

Photo number two features Kristen, Ica and Victor. Sarah's friend and former roommate paid me a visit a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time. She was able to see a lot in under a week: Bucharest, Brasov, Codlea, Piatra Neamt, Sighisoara. I especially enjoyed testing my skills as an interpreter. I thought that I did a good job, although Kristen was able to pick up some of the language after a few days. She's got a good knowledge of Italian, which can prove quite useful here in Romania. She left for Turkey last week and will also go to Greece, England and Scotland. Awesome trip!

So I think I'll do something a little different with this blog post. I'm going to add an e-mail I wrote to my Mom this afternoon. This should give you a glimpse into what's going on with me nowadays. T - minus 19 days and counting until I plant my feet on American soil...Here's the letter:

Hi Mom,

I like Antiques Roadshow as well. In fact, Sarah and I went to a taping a few years ago when the Roadshow was at Navy Pier. We got some things appraised. It was really cool. I brought some of the old White Sox stuff that Grandpa Dick gave me and Sarah brought some of her Grandma's old china. My stuff was appraised at about $800.00. Not bad, eh?

What have I been up to? Just biding my time here. I'm very anxious to get out of here once and for all. I'll be leaving on Saturday with my friends Oana and Radu. I think that they are going to stay with us in Codlea on Saturday night. Some of the kids took it pretty hard when they found out I was leaving, so this process hasn't been easy. Go figure, right? I must be some kind of masochist or something to have signed up for this . I just can't wait to be on that plane in about two and a half weeks.

I'll be doing some cleaning of my own come Thursday and Friday. I want the place to be nice and clean when I leave. It won't be too difficult though, as I gave it a thorough cleaning before Sarah's friend Kristen came to visit.

The weather here has been unseasonably cold and it's been raining off and on quite a bit. It's been very unpredictable. It was downright cold this past weekend in Codlea and it rained a lot. I'm sure that it will truly be summer here once I return from my vacation to the US.

I booked my trip to Germany. I'll fly out of Bucharest to Frankfurt on August 5th and return on August 11th. I'll then take a train to Wurzburg where I'll meet up with Brindusa and Ovidiu. Ovidiu is a very good friend and I can't wait to see him. They are both great people. I think that I'll also be visiting Nuremburg and Bamburg (I'm hitting all of the "burgs" I guess). Nuremburg will be especially interesting as there are many museums about the Nazi period. I believe that you can also visit the stadium where Hitler used to have those huge rallies, etc. In sum, there's a lot to see there for history buffs. I studied Nazi Germany pretty extensively in college, so this will be a rewarding experience for me. And don't forget about the beer....

Like I said before, I'm pretty anxious to get out of here. I can't truly say that I'm feeling great. I don't think that feeling will come until I'm on that plane. However, I will say that I'm sure I'll be feeling quite good once I'm on the road to Codlea on Saturday afternoon. No looking back....

So, today I'm going to have dinner with my friend Nicolae and his wife Nina. Nicolae runs the foreign languages library here and we've become pretty good friends. I guess it's a "goodbye" dinner, but I have every intention of coming back to Piatra Neamt to visit. After dinner, I'll watch some more World Cup matches. Brazil plays Croatia tonight at 10:00. I'm a big fan of Brazil. They're unbelieveable to watch!

Well, I guess I'll close for now. You take care and we'll talk soon.

Love,
Scott

One Year in Romania

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary. Amazing. I haven't left this country for one year. The things I have learned. Hard to believe.

Anyway, they lifted the quarantine on Codlea, so I'm here right now. It's Saturday and the weather is quite nice. By the way, I threw out a hint in the first May blog post about something important. Not sure if you may have caught it. I'm moving to Codlea! PC has granted me a site change. I'll be taking the place of the current volunteer here after she leaves in July. I'll live with Victor and Ica and split my time teaching between a junior high and high school. Life in Romania is about to get a whole lot better. I am very lucky and very thankful.

Life in Piatra Neamt just wasn't pleasant. School was fine, but I am very isolated there. Living in the school got to me. Not being able to live in the community hindered my ability to integrate. I don't know many people there and the ones that I do are very busy and or have decided to leave themselves. I'll be sad to leave some of the students, but my life here is more important than my job. Plus, I'm sure I'll have a nice experience at the schools here in Codlea. Bottom line is that I wasn't going to last too much longer in Piatra Neamt and PC knew this. I thank them for giving me "new life".

So, as of right now there are three weeks left at school and five weeks until I come home for vacation. Sarah's old roommate Kristen is coming to Romania next week. I'll pick her up in Bucharest on Friday and take her to Codlea. We'll go to Brasov on Saturday and then head up to Piatra on Sunday afternoon. She's going to be able to experience a lot here in a very short period of time. I'm excited that I'll have a visitor soon! I enjoy playing interpreter and tour guide.

I'll post some new photos next time. Can't do it here at the internet cafe. I'm trying to think of something else to say, but I'm drawing a blank. I feel like my blog was more interesting in the past. Anyway, I'll see what I can do to spice it up a little. Bye!

Down On The Farm

We had a little birthday celebration "down on the farm" this weekend. I was in Bucharest to see Dr. Dan and then I headed up to Codlea. On Saturday Victor, Ica and I went to Ica's brother Tavi's farm. It was Tavi's wife's birthday (Vali) and we had a really nice time. The weather was beautiful and we did a little grilling - Romanian style (Mici, Chicken, mmmm).

That's Tavi in the second photo. The baby horse is about three weeks old. The baby cow in the first photo was born that day; just hours old and already walking! Tavi's farm is really cool. Lots of dogs, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, etc. They even have bees to make honey. Tavi and Vali make awesome cheese as well. Sheep, goat, cow and mixtures. Cascaval and telemea are the names of the cheeses. All natural. I love it. I hope to visit the farm a lot this summer.

Something interesting has developed in the past couple of days. An Avian Flu outbreak was discovered on a chicken farm outside of Codlea. As a result, I cannot go to Codlea for the next three weeks. As of right now, they haven't identified it as the "dreaded" H5N1, it's just H5 (whatever that means). As the bus crossed the border from Brasov County to Covasna County yesterday, we came upon a roadblock. There was a team of people there that were disinfecting all of the vehicles leaving the area. Little did I know that it had anything to do with bird flu, let alone that it was in Codlea. Too bad I didn't get quarantined in Codlea...heh heh.

I'm sure that the situation will be resolved within three weeks. The authorities here are attending to the problem. I heard that they might have to euthanize about 500,000 birds. Apparantly, the company that owns the farm was not attending to their responsibilities and was dumping bags full of dead birds in a local garbage dump during the past month. Nice. There's going to be some heavy, heavy fines coming their way. This company produces chicken and turkey for sale in the Brasov area and other domestic markets. There's a lot of meat being pulled from the shelves right now. There are some other towns and villages in Brasov County that are having some issues at the moment as well. A few of these places have been quarantined. Let's just hope that this doesn't happen in Codlea.

So, looks like I'm not going to be seeing Ica and Victor for awhile. I'm going to try to go to some other places and visit some friends instead. Maybe Bucharest. We'll see. Weekends in Piatra Neamt are pretty lonely and boring. As you all know, I try to get out of here on the weekends as much as possible. I'll be soliciting some people this week for a visit....

We're definitely in countdown mode here at school. Only four weeks to go after this week. I'm pretty much set with what I'm going to be doing, so it should be pretty low-key and low stress. C'mon time and fly for me! U S of A six weeks from Sunday!!!

Signing off from the (as of right now) bird flu free zone of Piatra Neamt....

Scott

6 and 8

Welcome to Ica's Easter table! This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had our Orthodox Easter Sunday meal. An overview of what's presented: Painted hard boiled eggs, Cotnari wine (from Iasi, Moldavia), Salata de Beouf (an awesome potato salad with carrots, peas and pickels...Sarah's a big fan), Drob (a sort of lamb meatloaf made from internal organs with egg in the middle...it tastes better than it sounds), Ica's cheese dip in the shape of a fish (in honor of Jesus), and some sweet cheese bread (special for Easter, with the cross). We also had some baked lamb and other assorted goodies. What a spread!

So, 6 & 8. Six weeks left of school and exactly eight weeks to the day that I'll be coming home for vacation. Man oh man I hope that this time flies. Everybody here is about done with school, the teachers and students. Attendance is bad enough as it is and will continue to decline. I'll be lucky if half of the kids show up by the time June rolls around. Oh well, not my problem.

I'm hangin' in there in terms of how I'm feeling. It's up and down. However, I'm a lot better than I was, let's say, 5 weeks ago. I'm just trying to focus on July. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be headed down to Bucharest on Friday to see Dr. Dan. We'll talk and I want him to take a look at my back. My back has been killing me for some weeks now. I think I may have done something to it while playing basketball a while ago. Maybe I need some chiropractor (spelling?) action? We'll see. I just hope he doesn't keep me overnight until Saturday, as I want to stay in Codlea on Friday and Saturday night before having to go back to Piatra. However, if I have to stay, I have to stay. Health comes first.

I'd like to report a couple of success stories here at school. First, the pen pal project I started between the 5th grade here and Sarah's Mom's 4th grade made the local paper in the SW suburbs of Chicago. It was a nice article with a photo of Barbara's students. Everybody here was excited to see the news article. I'm hoping that I can get a reporter to come to school here and do a similar story. I've got a friend who works in the PR Dept. in the city hall and he may put me in contact with someone from one of the local papers.

The other story is about Animal Farm. My 10th graders finished the book a few weeks ago and are now watching the animated movie on DVD. When I asked some of them what they thought of the book they said that they enjoyed it and it helped them better understand communism, and as a result, created a better understanding of what went on in their country before they were born. Most young people here don't have a very good understanding of the period between 1945 and 1989, nor do they know much about the '89 revolution. The topic is not frequently discussed in school and the information available in print is scarce.

I'm proud that I was able to facilitate a better understanding of things on their part via literature. Also, there are a lot of good non-fiction books available in English about the events in '89, but for some reason they're not printed in Romanian. It's a shame. Many of these kids are curious about the past and should be able to access such information. It would be nice if a publishing house in this country took it upon themselves to make these texts available in English and Romanian. I can think of at least four books I've read about the communist era and the '89 events that I know would sell well here.

So, that's my report for now. It's Sunday afternoon and I'm gearing up for tonight's Rapid match. Rapid has a good chance to win the championship right now and must win tonight to help their chances. It's too bad that I can't watch the game with Victor. However, there's a possibility that I may not have that problem in the near future. More on that later.....

Scott

Doing Better

Photo: Codlea with the Bucegi Mountains looming in the distance.

For those of you that read the last post, I'm doing a lot better. I was down in Bucharest yesterday for another session with Dr. Dan and he was of great help as usual. He said that I looked better and that I've made a lot of progress in a week. Anyway, I'm going to be seeing him on a regular basis for the time being. Not easy stuff, but necessary. However, I really like going to Bucharest, riding the subway, etc. That big city feel reminds me of home and puts me at ease.

We're getting ready for Orthodox Easter tomorrow here in Codlea. The preparations began earlier in the week when we went to Tavi's farm and got the meat for Sunday. Tavi picked out a little lamb from the barn and went to work. I've got pictures and film. I wasn't sure how I'd react to watching the slaughter, skinning, cleaning and preparation of an animal in person, especially considering the fact that I knew that he'd eventually be my meal. However, it didn't really bother me at all. I just rationalized that this is how it goes. If you want to eat the meat, you've got to kill the animal. It's that simple. At the same time, I understand why some people are vegetarians. While witnessing the process I had a few moments there when I asked myself if I should make the switch to being a veggie.

So, it's Saturday afternoon here in Codlea and Ica is busy making preparations for tomorrow's Easter feast. It's going to be quite the spread. Lots of lamb dishes (of course), sarmale, colored eggs, etc. Tonight we're going to go to the church in Dambravita, the nearby village that Ica and Victor are originally from, to check out a little bit of the Easter service. We'll go around midnight, but only stay for a bit because apparently this thing goes all night long. No way I can handle that. I need to get my beauty sleep before I stuff my face tomorrow.

That's about it for now I guess. It's a nice day, so I may go for a walk after the I'm done here at the internet cafe. Rapid is playing tonight, so Victor and I are going to have some tuica and beer and watch the game. Not too much though, as we've got to go to church later. I'll catch the bus back to Piatra Neamt on Monday and get ready to finish the school year. I'm only ten weeks away from my trip back home now.

Spring Break

Sorry there's no photo this time. I also apologize that it's taken me so long to post this new entry. I'm in Codlea right now, so there's no way for me to post a photo. I'll put one up next time. I'm on Spring Break right now until the 25th. I'll be staying with Ica and Victor until the Monday 24th and catch the bus back to Piatra Neamt. Orthodox Easter is this weekend, so it will be nice to be here for that.

What's been going on for the past three weeks? Well, I went with Ovidiu to his mother's village, Butea, in Eastern Moldavia for a weekend. Drank some home brew wine, broke up some rocks (for "landscaping"), hung out with the chickens and loved that outdoor plumbing....this village was very poor. It was quite a shock for me. It's gotta be rough there in the winter without indoor plumbing and running water. However, Monica was a sweet lady, treated me very well and sent me home with a bunch of food. Thanks Monica!

I've been down to Bucharest the past two weekends for medical visits. I caught something nasty a couple Fridays ago. Fever and diareeha again. Not cool. I've lost a lot of weight. Things seem to be back to normal now though. However, the main reason that I made the two visits, and will continue to make more, is because I'm having a bit of a tough time mentally right now. I took some tests and they tell me I've got mild depression and above-normal anxiety. As a result, Dr. Dan, Dr. Ileana and I are engaged in "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy", a fancy way to describe counseling I guess. This is a good thing for two reasons: 1) I know that there's nothing wrong with me physically and 2) They are helping me work on this problem and facilitating understanding of my thoughts and feelings.

It all hit me really fast. I was doing just fine until mid-March. I didn't understand why I was feeling the way I was and was worried that there might be something seriously wrong, physically. After I found out that all of this was mental, I was a bit ashamed at first. I felt like I wasn't a strong person. However, I now know that there is nothing to be ashamed of and that it takes strength to admit that you have a problem, seek help and try to fix the problem. One way or the other, this is what I intend to do. I also believe that PC is going to do their best to help me as well.

I know that all of this is very personal. However, I want to share this because I think that it is very important for people to seek help when they're not feeling well mentally. There's no shame in this. It is also not a sign of weakness. Life is not easy and sometimes we need someone else to help us figure out what's going on "upstairs" so that we can feel normal again. Personally, I don't know how long this will take, but I have to work at it and keep trying. For all of my family and friends who are reading this, please don't worry too much about me. I'm going to be ok. I have good support here.

On a happy note. I've booked my flight home for summer vacation! I'll be arriving in Houston on July 2nd. Sarah will pick me up and take me to Austin for a few days. We're going to drive to Chicago and should be there on the 9th. I'll fly back to Romania on the 22nd. So, for all of you who want to see me, send me an e-mail and we'll try to work something out. I'm hoping that Aaron and Carrie will host a get-together at their place, so stay tuned.....

Until next time, enjoy the springtime and take care. Oh yeah, and if you want to talk, send me an e-mail, Skype me (after the 24th) or get a hold of me on Yahoo messenger (after the 24th).

Scott

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

The Past 20 Days....

THIS POST WAS MADE ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, 2006

Yes folks, I'm back. I regret to report that this has been my longest hiatus thus far and I must apologize to all of you loyal readers. So, on with the program. Interesting photo, huh? I am now armed with a supply of TamiFlu, courtesy of P.C. and the U.S. Govt. The area on the map in the background and to the right is the Danube Delta. More migratory birds find their way to this area than any in Europe. If Romania gets hit with an outbreak it's gonna come from there. In any event, I'm ready! However, P.C. will not evacuate us unless the Bird Flu mutates and begins to be transmitted from human to human. I highly doubt that this will happen, so I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry about me, ok?

So what have I been doing since the last post? Well, I was in Codlea until the 12th and did nothing but eat and drink. I swear that my pants got tighter inside of a week. Things are back to normal now though. I also helped Ica and Victor arrange the new furniture that Delia bought them for the living room. Really nice stuff. I think we may go to buy a new television as well this Friday when I go back to visit for my birthday. Yes folks, I'll be 31 very soon. Time flies. I don't feel old. Although some of you who read this blog may feel differently......just kidding.....It's all in the mind.

Today marks 9 months for me in Romania. Time to have the baby.....
I can tell you that things are pretty normal for me now. I've adjusted and the other day, for a split second, I had this feeling like I was at home. That must be a good sign. At this point, there's only one thing that I feel I need to work on and that's the language. I feel like I've hit a wall. I need to expand my capabilities. The only problem is that I don't have many opportunities to speak Romanian. I'm sure it will all come in time though. Maybe I'll have more time to devote to language study in the coming months and next school year. I guess we'll see.

School is going well. 10th grade is reading Animal Farm and 11th grade is reading 1984. I'm doing an E.U. Intergration unit with 12th grade and I get to teach U.S. history and geography this semester instead of British. Yee Haw! We're talking about gun control in 11th grade U.S. Culture and Civ. I'd like to show them Bowling for Columbine. I'm going to try to get my hands on a copy one way or the Romanian way (Piracy baby). I started a secondary project last week at the economics high school with my teacher friend Ovidiu. We are presenting DVD lectures to a group of bilingual students interested in history. This semester's class is Interpreting the 20th Century: The Struggle For Democracy. I brought these DVDs with me with the intention of doing something like this. These kids are basically going to get a college course for free. We meet on Mondays from 5-7pm. There are three 30 minute lectures, each followed by a 10 minute discussion period that I facilitate. I hook up my laptop to a projector and we let it rip! It's really great. I hope to also show an economics course and a U.S. History course in the fall.

What else? We got a taste of Spring last week. Sunny, mid to upper 40s. It was a welcome reprieve from the frozen tundra. However, the snow came back yesterday and it's business as usual. Being from Chicago, this doesn't surprise me. I'm expecting bad weather into April. Anything other than that I'll consider a bonus.

In the world of football (soccer), two teams from Romania, Rapid and Steaua, have qualified for the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup, which is a big deal. Club teams from all over Europe compete in the UEFA Cup and Rapid and Steaua have proven that they are two of the best teams on the continent. The Romanians are pretty pumped about this. They love their football.....and so do I actually. There's a good Portuguese match on tonight that I'm going to watch, Benfica vs. Porto.

So as I said, things are pretty normal and uneventful right now. We're all just waiting for spring to come. Speaking of which, I may travel west for my spring break in April and visit a friend of mine in Timisoara. From there, we can visit Serbia and Hungary, as Timisoara, Belgrade and Szeged are all within 3 hours of each other. The plan isn't final, but I'll keep you all posted. After spring break it's smooth sailing; 7 weeks and then school's out! I think about my trip home multiple times a day. However, I've been asked to help out with the training for the new group of volunteers and may do a bit of that before I leave. If not, I'll see if I can help out when I get back. Group 21 will be here in late May. Apparently there's 85 of them! We were only 67. They kind of got the shaft though because they're not going to have their PST in Brasov. They will be in Ploiesti, an ugly industrial city north of Bucharest. Our group was lucky.

And speaking of luck, I too have been feeling lucky as of late. I know of many volunteers who aren't having an easy time of it here and are still having problems adjusting for one reason or another. I feel very fortunate to have Ica and Victor and my new friends and colleagues here in Piatra Neamt. I also am very lucky to have been placed in a good school that has provided me with a comfortable place to live. I enjoy important luxuries here that some volunteers don't, i.e. cable TV, washing machine, high-speed internet. I'd like to believe that I earned this, but you never know. So, I guess I can say that life is as good as it possibly can be here, and that's ok.

Well, I guess I should end on that positive note. I'll try to get back on the weekly update track so don't give up on me yet loyal readers!

Winter Break!

THIS POST WAS MADE ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH.

Hello there. Today's photo was taken near "Lacul Ursu", or Bear Lake, in the resort town of Sovata, located in North Central Transylvania. From left to right we have Oana, her husband Radu, the American, Nicoleta, and Catalin. I decided to accompany my friends on a little weekend getaway and had an interesting time.....

We left Piatra Neamt on Saturday afternoon and drove over the top of the Eastern Carpathians into Harghita County, which is a predominatly Hungarian zone. I had my first taste of Hungarian cuisine here at a little restaurant in the country on our way to Sovata. The Goulash was mmmm good and the main course of hard-boiled eggs, sausage and potatoes with paprika was tasty as well. I also sampled the local brew, "Harghita", and drank some hot tuica. Hot tuica is a whole different experience than room temperature or cold tuica. Let's just say that it "warms you up" a bit faster.

We arrived at our small hotel around 5pm. My room was warm and clean, had a shower, TV, and a bed that made you want to sleep on the floor, and neighbors that liked to party. All for only 10 Euros! We then proceeded to walk to the Hotel Danubius and its famous spa. Lacul Ursu is a thermal salt lake that is about 30 to 40 degrees celcius year-round. It is also know to have certain properties that are beneficial to one's health. Hot springs and lakes such as this one are found all over Romania and the Romanians are convinced of their healing powers. I need a little more convincing. Anyway, the hotel pumps water from the lake into an indoor pool so people can enjoy the warm salt water in a spa setting. There's a sauna, steam shower, regular chlorine pool, massage services, etc.

I had known about such places before I came to Romania. I'd seen photos of people sitting around in thermal pools and doing nothing but that. And that's exactly what I did, sit around in a crowded pool of Romanians. I'd take the occasional sauna and steam shower break, but for the most part I just soaked in the salty warm pool. It wasn't that cool. It would have been much cooler if it was outdoors and there was more room move and stretch out. Also, I could have done without the onslaught of Speedos (know what I mean?). However, I must take into account that Romanians' concept of personal space and feelings about skin display are much different than Americans'. I don't think I'll go back. Although, don't get me wrong, I had a good time with the people I was with and it was something new to experience. I'd much rather do such a thing outdoors. However, there's no getting around the Speedo issue.

The next day we had a barbeque and went to Praid, a town with a giant underground salt cave. Apparently this cave has healing properties as well and is supposed to be quite the tourist attraction. Unfortunately, it was closed. We then proceeded to drive to the city of Targu Mures and went shopping at the Selgros Cash and Carry, a Romanian version of Costco. We don't have anything like this in Piatra Neamt, so it was quite a treat to be able to shop there. I bought some new sheets and some presents for Ica's birthday (next month). We drove home and stopped for some soup and a quick look at Bistrita monastery before arriving in Piatra on Sunday night.

I left for Codlea yesterday at 7am via bus and arrived yesterday around 2:30pm. I think that yesterday's ride was the coldest to date and am glad that I had the long underwear and thermal socks on. The gore-tex boots helped as well. It's just damn cold here. Apparently, Europe is experiencing an unseasonalbly cold winter. Lucky me. I'm wearing three jackets, a hat and a scarf right now. I'm also wearing thermal socks and my feet are still cold. And no, this is not an outdoor internet cafe. I think you get the picture. C'mon spring.......

It feels good to be "home". It had been a month since I'd seen Ica and Victor; the longest period of time since I've been in Romania. They're getting some new furniture delivered tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing and sitting on it. I'll be here all week eating and (hopefully) getting work done for school. Must....not....sleep....till....noon....every....day.

End of the Semester

That's me in front of good 'ol Hogas High. The snow's been melting this week, but I'm sure that it will return with a vengence one of these (soon to be) February days. I never thought that 3 degrees celcius would be so balmy. I actually walked around comfortably today without my polartec scarf.

A couple of milestones to mention: Last week was my 8 month anniversary in Romania. I'm about 1/3 done with my service now. Semester one ends this Friday, finally.

As I think I mentioned before, I've got a week break and then it's back to school. I'm going to head to Codlea for the break, as I haven't seen my Mama and Tata for almost a month now. That's much too long. However, I do think that spending all of this uninterrupted time at site has allowed me to adjust to my situation here a bit more. I've also solidified some relationships with my colleagues Oana and Brandusa and their husbands Radu and Ovidiu. The four of us have been hanging out quite a bit, making dinners, having drinks and watching movies. We're all approximately the same age, so it's nice to have people around that you can relate to.

I'm trying to get a project going with Ovidiu at his high school. He's a German and History teacher at the economics high school here in Piatra and has a history club. We thought that we'd do something called "History Nights" one a week for 2-3 hours. I brought 2 sets of DVD lectures with me, complete with outlines. These are complete college courses, one being the History of the United States, while the other is called "Interpreting the 20th Century: The Struggle Over Democracy". The lectures are given by some of the top academics in their fields and should prove to be a valuable resource to all of us. I hope that we can have discussion periods after we watch the lectures. This is an opportunity for interested students to take advantage of U.S. college level instruction at no cost. Brilliant! I'm sure Ovidiu and I will learn a lot as well. We're going to hook up my laptop to a projector and let it rip. I'm pretty excited about this.

What else is going on with me? Not much really. I've been getting my fair share of soccer lately as the Africa Cup of Nations has been on TV for the past week and a half. I do enjoy it. The Romanian season should be starting up soon. Piatra Neamt's team. F.C. Ceahlaul, is the top team in the B division and may get promooted to A next season. This means that the top teams will come to town, which will be cool, even though Ceahlaul will take some massive beatings. I hope that Victor and I can take a train down to Bucharest sometime in the spring and catch a Rapid game. That's our team and the stadium is near the train station. I think that we could go to a game and come home in the same day. Ahhh, c'mon spring!

So I guess I close now. I've got plenty of planning to do while in Codlea this weekend. I've got a whole new semester to prepare for. Oh yeah, my birthday's coming up soon as well.....hint, hint. Anyone need my address? Ha!

Scott

I'm Cold

But not as cold as I was in this photo. Sarah took this pic when we were in Piatra Neamt and my heat was turned off during winter break for school. We both slept in long underwear and winter hats. Sarah even wore a hooded sweatshirt to bed; with the hood over her hat. It's a lot warmer in the apartment these days, but those two electric heaters you see in the photo still get quite a workout.

It's a snowy, blustery gray Sunday here in Piatra Neamt and I'm gearing up for teaching in the cold tomorrow. Last week they told me that I had to leave my classroom for two weeks (probably more like two months) because a 12th grade class was too cold in their room. Of course, the room they moved me to is an icebox. Now, I'm not saying that my original room was a sauna or anything (I still have to wear a coat in there), but this room is ridiculous. I wear a hat, scarf and coat when I teach now and the desks are cold to the touch. What to do? Not a damn thing except wait for it to warm up. I have zero confidence that the 12th grade class will be out of my room in two weeks. The heating system work that was started in October was supposed to be done "in two weeks" two months ago. There's a word in Romania, "imediat", which is kind of like "soon come" in Jamaica, which means whatever it is that you're waiting for could come shortly, take awhile, or not come at all. Cool.

I'd like to lodge another school-related complaint if I may. I got roped into being a "judge" for the English Olympiad last week. Select kids from 7th through 12th grade took exams and the best will move on to regional competition. I was pegged to grade the 8th grade exam. I did my best to be as objective as possible, but apparently this wasn't good enough. The grades were "too low" and needed to be "adjusted" because we need to "send more kids" to the competition. So, I had to "massage" some grades at the request of the English department head. Nevermind that only 3 of them were any good. And this was after they told me that I should grade hard because they wanted to "only send the best". Was I lost in translation? It sounded like English to me. Whatever. I'm not getting involved in this again. I do not agree with their methodology. One good thing, I guess, is that the judging is blind and they won't know who is who until the seal that contains the name is broken.

I've been recovering from my Sarah hangover since the last post. I'll never get over it really, but things are pretty much back to normal in terms of my mental state. I took me a few days to get re-adjusted to school after being away from the classroom for over a month, but everything is pretty much par for the course right now; except for that icebox, I mean classroom, that I'm teaching in at the moment. We've got two weeks of class left before the end of semester one and then a week break. I'll head to Codlea for the break and then resume classes on February 13th, at which point it will only be four months until school ends for the year and I get to come back home for vacation. How do I push the fast-forward button?

I have two interesting and exciting things to report for the new year. First, Skype has come out with a new version of their software that allows users with webcams to see each other while they talk. I was lucky enough to receive a webcam for Christmas from Sarah's family (thanks again David and Barbara) and am now the beneficiary of this outstanding new technology. Sarah, her brother and her parents have webcams as well and it's such a pleasure to see everyone during conversations. I even convinced my Dad to buy a webcam as well, but am still waiting to see if he can get it to work. If he can't, there's always his young friend A.J. that helps him out with computer issues. Many thanks to A.J.! Let's just say that my Dad, bless his heart, is "technologically challenged". However, he's making an effort and I appreciate that. Much love to you Pops.

Secondly, I have begun the slow process of getting involved in a secondary project here in Piatra Neamt. My site mate, Gabby, is working in a new office created by city hall to assist with E.U. integration and sustainable economic development. Such work is very intriguing to me and I hope that I can contribute. I'd like to work with Gabby in the tourism sector and get some kids from school involved as well. Part of me wishes that I could do work like this full time, but alas, that is not what I signed up for way back when. I'll make sure to keep you all updated as things progress (hopefully).

What's on tap for next semester? Well, George Orwell is coming to Hogas High (or has he already been here....). 10th grade is going to be reading Animal Farm and 11th grade will sink their teeth into one of my personal favorites, 1984. I think that these are two very important books for these kids to read given the fact that they live in a former communist state. It will be very interesting to see what they think of these books and if they can offer any unique insight. 12th grade will read articles and participate in a discussion forum that I am calling "Issues 2006". I haven't actually decided what these specific issues will be yet, but I have a general idea. British Geography and History will become American Geography and History (YESSSS!) and God knows what 9th grade English will be doing. Maybe some grammar games? A newspaper project? I haven't decided quite yet. There's still time yet.

That's about it for now. Gabby and I are going to have pizza tonight with our friend Dragos and show him some episodes of Chappelle's Show. I can't wait to hear what a Romanian has to say about the show. I'll close with a comment for all of you Chappelle fans, "I'M RICH BITCH"!

Waiting for 0 celcius,

Scott

Hello, Goodbye

Well, she came and she went and what a time it was. That's a photo of us at "Dracula's Castle" in Bran, which was a lot of fun because we were able to spend the day with Ica and Victor. It's really hard to find the words to describe Sarah's visit. It was a wonderful and emotional time for the both of us, as we experienced bouts of bliss, sadness and all that comes in between. We had to say goodbye again yesterday, but, once again, it's only temporary. God this is hard. We're going to press on though. We've made it through the longest and toughest period of this experience, so I think that all of this will become easier to deal with in the coming months. However, as you can imagine, I'm bummin' a bit right now. Sarah withdrawal.

My last post was made just before Christmas. Still recovering from that nasty virus or whatever the hell it was (I was running 103-104 temps and had massive diahhrea for four days), I left Piatra at 6am on Christmas Eve. Papa Florin was kind enough to arrange for someone to drive me to Codlea, as the bus probably wouldn't have been a good idea given my health at the time. So a guy named George showed up in a brand new Nissan SUV (sweet), picked me up, and we drove for 5 hours through the snow and sleet to Codlea. I was so relieved to arrive there after being concerned all week that I wouldn't make it for Christmas.

Although I still wasn't feeling very well, Christmas Eve was really great because I got to play Mos Craicun (Santa Claus) and gave Ica and Victor all of their presents from my Dad, Mindy and me. Victor got a Hawaiian shirt with beer on it and an Arizona Diamondbacks hat from my Dad and Mindy and a new power saw from me. Needless to say, he was pumped. Excitedly, he plugged in his saw right there in the living room and let it rip! Why wait to take into the garage, right? Ica received a set of decorative signs for her kitchen and a "Christmas Cactus Cowboy" that sings "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" from Dad and Mindy. I bought her a case and speakers for her laptop (her daughter Delia gave Ica her old one when they met in Paris in November) and a new TEFAL frying pan. She was thrilled and couldn't get enough of the Cactus Cowboy. The next few days were uneventful, as I basically lied in wait for the 28th.

I hired a taxi to take me to Bucharest to pick Sarah up on the 28th. After a three-hour drive and an hour wait, we were reunited. I can't describe the emotions I felt when I saw her emerge from the baggage area. I'll never forget that scene or those feelings. She slept most of the way back to Codlea and then arrived into the loving arms of Mama Ica and Tata Victor. It was Christmas number two for the both of them, as Sarah had a bunch of really nice stuff for them. Lots of U. Texas stuff and some souviner Chicago glasses.

For the next three days we pretty much just slept, ate and took walks around Codlea. It was all very low-key and pleasant. We also took a trip to the Metro and bought champagne and vegetables to make zacusca. After Metro, we visited Ica's brother Tavi in the small village of Dambravita near Codlea. On New Years Eve, we ate, drank and watched fireworks in Codlea with Ica, Victor, Tavi and his wife Vali. We relaxed and hung out in Codlea on New Years Day. Ica and Victor were off the next day, Monday, and we went to Bran to see "Dracula's Castle". The place was full of Romanians finishing up their holidays, with traffic to match. It was a clear and relatively warm day and we had pizza after the castle tour and obligatory souviner shopping.

Sarah and I went to Brasov on Tuesday and Wednesday while Victor and Ica were at work, toured the old part of the city, had some good meals, holed up in the "Scottish Pub" for about four hours, saw the sights, and did some shopping. She really enjoyed Brasov and found a wonderful souviner shop at which she did some serious "damage". I'm sure that some of you will be receiving gifts from that place. She bought some really nice stuff, all handmade traditional Romanian craftwork. The weather was crappy, with lots of rain and sleet, but we persevered and had a great time nonetheless. A word to the wise, unless you're a skier, Romania is not a winter tourism destination.

After enjoying some fresh zacusca and more gift-giving (from us) Sarah and Ica had a tearful goodbye (Victor's not one for weeping). They really bonded and Ica now has a second daughter. I got a little misty-eyed myself. We headed to Piatra on Thursday via taxi and arrived at 3pm, only to discover that I had no heat in my apartment. They shut off the heating system in the school for Christmas break. The building administrator brought me a second electric heater, but it was still pretty cold for the two days we spent here. This was Sarah's true taste of Peace Corps Romania.

We didn't really do too much in Piatra. Grocery shopping, coffee shop, laundry, toured the city a bit (it was too cold to stay outside for any extended period of time) and watched DVDs. The highlight of the Piatra stay was our lunch with my colleague Brandusa and her husband Ovidiu. Ovidiu is a teacher as well and we are all around the same age. Unfortunately, my other colleague, Oana, and her husband Radu were out of town while Sarah was here. I would have liked them to meet her and vice versa. They are also around the same age as me.

We left Piatra on Saturday via the dreaded "Personal" train bound for Bacau. It really wasn't that bad, as unlike most Personals, this one had private compartments, some even had heat! Our 90 minute trip to Bacau was relatively comfortable. However, this is where the comfort ends. The Bacau train station is under renovation, thus it was colder inside the station than outside, as whole walls were missing. This, my friends, is the real Romania. We froze out butts off for about an hour and then hopped on a "Rapid" train to Bucharest. We had a compartment to ourselves most of the way and Sarah slept a good amount of the time while I read the Rough Guide to Romania.

We arrived at the Gara de Nord train station around 8:00pm and caught a cab to the Hotel Central in downtown Bucharest. The hotel was clean and did just fine. We had dinner that night at a nice little bistro near the Atheneum, which is the main concert hall in Bucharest. It was slightly upscale Romanian fare and we had a carafe of some good house wine.

The next two days were spent seeing some sights in Bucharest such as the Palace of Parliament (the world's second largest building, behind the Pentagon) and the Museum of the Romanian Peasant. We saw a movie, ate Belgian and Indian food, went to a HUGE mall, and walked around the old historic quarter. There is such a contrast in Bucharest, with its crumbling 19th century French-style architecture juxtaposed against behemoth Orwellian communist blocs. Ceaucescu sure did a number on that place. There's so much potential that exists for development and restoration in Bucharest. I can't wait to see what it looks like in 20 years.

So that brings me to last Tuesday when we had to part ways once again. We had a car take us to the airport and, after another tearful goodbye, she was gone. The driver took me to the train station and I waited around for three hours before catching the train back to Piatra. My phone rang on the train and it was Sarah, who informed me that she missed her connecting flight in Munich due to bad weather. Lufthansa put her up in a hotel that night and she arrived in Chicago yesterday afternoon. She's back to Austin on the 15th. Her second semester begins on the 17th.

As for me, I went back to school on Wednesday after a month away from the classroom. It wasn't a problem really. I'm back in the thick of it right now. We've got three weeks left until the end of the semester, after which we'll have a week off. Semester 2 begins on February 13th. We'll have another week break in mid-April and the school year ends for me on June 15th. After a lengthy discussion with Sarah, I've decided to save all of my vacation days for a trip back to the U.S. when school gets out. I hope that it will be three weeks and that I'll be able to be in Chicago for the 4th of July! I know that it's a long way off, but I need something to look forward to: Sarah, friends, family, baseball, food, the list is just too long.

Well, that's about it for now. I'd like to dedicate this blog post to the woman that I love with all my heart. Our relationship is stronger than ever now and we will continue to work hard alone so that we can have a better future together. I love you Sarah Barr.

Scott

A Sort of Christmas

As promised, I've posted a few pics. Two are from Codlea. One from Piatra Neamt. The shot with people is the teachers' lounge after Thursday's Christmas concert. What a spread they put out! Tons of food, and lost of drinks. Yes folks, there was some drinking going on in school. It's just how they do it here. It's strange for an American like myself because a drop of alcohol anywhere near a school in the US is taboo. The shot with the houses is a street scene from Codlea. Magura mountain looms in the background. The other pic is of the old saxon church and fortress in the center of Codlea. 900 years old.

Well, I'm ready to leave for Codlea tomorrow morning. It's been a tough week as I was very sick with some sort of virus that gave me high fevers and really bad diareeha all week. I started feeling better yesterday and am about 80% today. I should be able to start eating normal food tomorrow. Thank god. If I have to look at another bowl of rice mush and plate of plain toast I'm going to lose it. Oh yeah, and I never want to drink mint tea again.

Let me take this opportunity to wish all of you loyal readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I know many who read this and I also hope that there are many others who do as well. So, for those of you who are loyal readers but haven't yet told me, please drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you!

2005 has probably been the most challenging year of my life thus far for many reasons. I've experienced so much this year and learned a lot about myself in the process. I guess that this is what I wanted. Two things I have learned: 1) I love my country and will cherish the day I return and 2) The most important thing in life is family and friends. I do think I knew this before, but now I really feel it. When this experience is over, I don't think I'll be able to take these two things for granted ever again. I'm very lucky to be an American and am thankful for all of my family and friends. I love you all.

Naroc si Sanatate si Numai Bine
Craicun Ferecit!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trained Again

Photo: That's a 400 year-old Saxon tower in Sibiu, at the base of which is the restaurant "La Turn" (the tower).

I've now completed my second official Peace Corps training. The "IST" (In Service Training) has passed and, according to the Peace Corps, I will now be a more effective volunteer. We'll see. Sometimes you just need to concentrate on getting by day to day here in wonderful Romania.

I hopped on a train from Sibiu to Codlea this morning and am writing from the Codlea internet cafe. It's snowing pretty hard right now, which should make for some good photos later this weekend. I'll be here until Sunday and will then return to PN for the last week of classes before Christmas break. T-minus 13 days and counting for the arrival of Sarah. I wish I could just push the fast-forward button. My mind's not on anything else at the moment.

Sibiu is a great city. I felt like I was in a time-warp while walking the streets of the old Saxon town this week. The architecture is wonderful, the restaurants are good, there's plenty of cafes and bars to choose from and, hold onto your mouse, the service was good. Yes, I said it here folks, I finally found good service in Romania. Sibiu will be the "Cultural Capital" of Europe in 2007 when Romania (hopefully) accedes To the European Union. Good choice I think. Sibiu will also be the E.U. administrative seat in Romania, not Bucharest. This is a wise choice due to the fact that it is centrally located and not east or south of the Carpathian mountains. Due to its Saxon heritage, many Sibiuans speak German, which is good for business.

Some highlights from the Group 20 IST:

- An 8 1/2 hour bus ride from Piatra Neamt
- Receiving an envelope with 4 million lei upon arrival (I'm rich bitch)
- Drinking lots of beer and wine at "La Turn" as all of my fellow group 20ers trickled in as the night went on
- Vin Fiert (Hot Wine) with cinnamon
- Seeing all of my favorite language teachers and brushing up on some grammar
- Best pizza I've had in Romania
- Attending a lecture given by a journalist who runs Romania's only "media watchdog" organization
- Doing a little improv acting at the "Drama Without Tears" session for teachers
- Free food
- A real shower
- A comfortable bed
- Finding a book called Romania Redux: A view from Harvard at a local bookstore
- Last, but not least, spending a week with my fellow volunteers from Group 20 and enjoying every last minute of it (with a few minor exceptions. you can't like everybody, right?)

I'm in a bit of a daze right now after spending a week in a hotel with a bunch of Americans. Not something that I'm used to. I think that this daze will continue indefinitely, or at least until about the third week of January. I'm going to be on the road quite a bit and then will have to come back and prepare to finish the semester. Oh yeah, and then there's that two weeks of bliss stuck in between. Up and down I go and when it ends I will let you know.

Be sure to stay tuned for a pre-Christmas blog entry, complete with photos.......

Scott

6 months down, 19 to go

FYI - THIS POST WAS MADE ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4TH!

So I just ate what you’re seeing here. Ohhh, the food coma is coming on strong right about now, but I’m going to tough it out and give you this long overdue blog update. I’m writing this on the cpu and will cut and paste it when I get home. Yes, I know, it’s been waaay too long since the last post, and I really don’t have a good excuse. So, loyal readers, scuzati-ma va rog.

What we have here is, arguably, the ultimate in Romanian cuisine. Sarmale (the cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and rice), Mamaliga (the yellow corn meal), chifteluta (a sort of meatball), and some pickled tomatoes and cauliflower. Add to that some palinka (the shot glass) and some Tuborg Christmas Beer and you’ve got yourself one hell of a meal. And to top it all off, it was prepared by, in my humble opinion, the number one chef in Romania, Mama Ica.

I believe I left off last time when I was in Codlea. Well, I’m here again and I’ll get you caught up on the past two weeks. Unfortunately, I must begin with some bad news. My camera was stolen at the bus station on my way back to Piatra Neamt. I have no idea how it happened and I didn’t feel a thing. It was only about three minutes from the time I got out of Victor’s car to the time I entered the bus. Unbelievable. These thieves here are very good at what they do. However, it was my fault. I was in a hurry, and wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around me. That made me an automatic mark. I had the camera bag attached to my backpack and thus it was out of my sight. After about 2 hours on the bus, I moved my backpack and noticed that my camera bag was open. They unzipped the bag and took the camera without me noticing. I still can’t believe it happened and am in awe of their skill. So, I learned my lesson and bought a new camera. Asta e viata (that’s life). Although it’s nowhere near the quality of my old one, it will do the job.

Thanksgiving came and went. I decided not to travel, as I had been “on the road” the past 3 weeks. Gabby and I made dinner on T-giving, drank some wine and watched a DVD (thanks Roz). It was low-key and ok. I spent the remainder of the weekend catching up on schoolwork and talking to people on Skype. My six month anniversary here came and went as well. Hard to believe.

The teachers’ strike finally ended here in Romania last week. I think that I was the only volunteer that didn’t have at least one day off due to the strike. I’ll find out for sure this week when I go to Sibiu for the In Service Training Conference. I think the teachers got an 11 or 12 percent salary increase and got paid for the time they were striking. The bad thing, at least for volunteers, is that the schools have to find a way to make up for lost time. I think some people are either going to be working longer hours during the week or will be working on Saturdays (ouch). In retrospect, I lucked out because my program was not disrupted and my colleagues at least got something out of the deal. However, settlement is only temporary at best. Romania’s education system is in serious need of reform in all areas and I can’t imagine that things are going to get better any time soon. Sorry for the gloomy outlook, but it’s going to take a couple of generations to rid this system of its old commie ways. All theory and no practice makes for an unproductive workforce. Trust me. Even my students know this. They’re fed up with the system.

Last Wednesday, I went to a Rotary event in Piatra. They put on a benefit concert to raise money for a music school for kids in some village in Neamt county. The performers were all kids and they put on a great show. The solo piano performances were particularly good, as these kids exhibited great skill. Classical, Jazz, some ragtime, it was excellent. I went with a couple of my students so they could introduce me to the head of Rotary in Piatra Neamt. I’m going to try to start a Rotary Interact club at school. It’s a good way to get the students involved in volunteer projects and hopefully give some of them an opportunity to apply for scholarships. Many of them want to go to university in the States. We’ll see what happens. Thanks to Sarah’s dad, David, for giving me the idea.

Ica and Victor finished remodeling the front bedroom before I arrived last Thursday. They put in a beautiful fireplace and parquet floor. Ica really wanted to get the room finished before Sarah comes. I really appreciate that. We’re all going to have a great time. It’s so nice to sit in the room and relax and read with a nice fire going. Good stuff. Thanks to their daughter Delia for making it all possible.

I’ve got three days of school this week and will head to Sibiu on Thursday morning. I’m estimating a 7 hour bus ride (depending on the weather). I’ll be in Sibiu for a week with my fellow Group 20ers and we’ll have language and technical training seminars all week. I’m sure there will be plenty of partying going on, as this will be a reunion of sorts. It will be four months since we were all together the last time. I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody, including the staff and language teachers. Sibiu is an old Saxon city with a heavy German influence and will be the cultural capital of Europe in 2007. It will also be the EU administrative center once Romania accedes in a couple of years. I’ve always wanted to visit this city and should have ample opportunity to check it out.

After Sibiu I’ll travel to Codlea for the weekend on my way back to Piatra. Then, four days of school and back to Codlea for Christmas! I’ll be sure to document my Romanian Christmas thoroughly for the benefit of you loyal blog readers, ok? So, that’s the agenda as of right now. I hope that this blog post finds you all in good health and spirits. I also hope that you are all looking forward to Christmas as much as I am. Until next time, Sanatate si Numai Bine.

Scott

Blue Arrow?

This post's photo was taken waaay back in early August on the front steps of Scoala General Nr. 3 in good 'ol Codlea. These are the people, along with our language teachers, that I lived with in Codlea this summer. Many of them are good friends of mine. As it happens, I was fortunate enough to see a few of them this past weekend. Let's get to that now shall we?

I woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday to catch a train to Focsani,.......ok, I started this post last night but was too tired to finish. Tonight, I have no time. Tomorrow I'm going to Codlea directly after class, so I'll have no time tomorrow. I will go to the internet cafe in Codlea on Friday and continue. Just wanted to let all you loyal readers that I'm still bloggin'. So, until Friday then, ok? Bye.

It's a snowy Saturday here in Codlea and I'm a day late. I didn't feel very well yesterday. Around 2pm I felt very fatigued and had some nausea. Ica came home from work and, of course, she was very worried. I had a feeling that I was just overtired, but she wasn't taking any chances. She proceeded to: take my blood pressure, take my pulse, rub vinegar all over my hands and forehead (a bit of traditional medicine I guess), place a cold compress on my head and give me mint tea with lemon. After about a 3 hour nap I was ok. We then drove through the snow in the Dacia for a trip to Metro and I was able to buy some sweaters and a scarf. It's starting to get really cold here in Romania, especially since I'm always in a mountainous zone.

So, let's go back in time a bit. As I said before, I went to Focsani last weekend. My friend Jonathon was hosting a birthday get together for another volunteer. His name is Bridger and he also lives in Moldavia in a city called Onesti. You may be wondering at this point what a Blue Arrow is, right? Well, that's the name of the train I took. Romania unveiled these brand new trains this summer and they are the pride of the CFR (Romanian rail system). They were manufactured by Siemens (Germany) this year and are very different from the rest of the fleet, as everything else is a communist era relic. Modern, clean, but not very fast (as the name might lead you to believe). I think this has less to do with the train itself and more to do with the tracks and system as a whole. I'll explain.

I was about an hour late going to Focsani and three hours late going home. Moldavia experienced massive flooding this summer, and, as a result, the tracks are still really messed up. What is frustrating is that CFR won't update their train schedules to account for the delays. They've known that these trains have been running behind schedule for months now, but do nothing to accomodate passengers. That's that good 'ol Romanian customer service for 'ya. As Jonathon and I froze our asses off on the platform last Sunday, an update for the Blue Arrow to Bucharest was announced over the PA system. About a hundred people let out a collective groan after they were told the train would be an hour late. I'm sure there was some cursing as well, but my Romanian is not that polished yet. Maybe next year I'll understand all of the dirty words....

The party in Focsani was really fun. There were about ten of us packed into Jonathon's apartment. We watched a lot of DVD's, drank many litres of homemade white wine (less than a dollar a litre) and caught up on each other's lives. It's really interesting how people can feel so close to one another in a situation like this. In the grand scheme of things we hardly know each other, but many of us have formed a bond and have become fast friends. I guess this experience naturally brings people together. I think that I've made some friendships that will last for a long time. Anyway, Jonathon and I cooked (for 10), everyone had his/her fair share of wine, and we all parted ways on Sunday.

I had mixed results at school this week. Wednesday was good, as I was able to have my first session of "office hours". Florin gave me the keys to the "Modern Languages Lab" (which is simply a nicer classroom for the kids with advanced foreign language abilities. It has a proper heater as well) and I met with four students. I'm writing a letter of recommendation for a girl who wants to attend university in the US and I'm helping three other students prepare for an oral English exam. The conversation I had with the three students was excellent. They are very sophisticated and well-informed for their age and the topics we covered were wide-ranging and complex. The fact that they can have such conversations in English is even more impressive. There's no way I could have such a conversation with three 17 year-old American students. These kids have a thirst for knowledge and information and are willing to work very hard to improve their situation in life. They're hungry and are determined to make something of themselves. Not surprisingly, they're all female. No offense, but males here are a bit lazy and complacent. I hate to stereotype, but that's just my opinion. Girls make better students anyway.

Thursday's bus ride was interesting. The driver decided to blast "Musica Popular" the whole way down to Brasov. It was as if he was piping the Favorit and Etno channels through his PA system, and loud. So much for chilling out with my headphones. Ahhhhhh! For my fellow PCVs, you know what I'm talking about. For everybody else, you'd have to experience this yourself to understand. Luckily, I took a little video (with audio) on the bus, so all you people back home will get a taste when I come back.

Jonathon is here with his lady friend from Sibiu and I think that they're going to come over tonight for dinner. They're staying with Jonathon's gazda here in Codlea. We're gonna eat some Mici and drink some Palinka from Zalau. Palinka is a stronger version of Tuica. Apparently, the best Palinka comes from Zalau, so we've got the good stuff. I had one last night and I enjoyed it. Dangerous though, because it has a lot more alcohol than Tuica and goes down smoother. Limit 2 shots.

I was able to stroll around a bit today and take some pics of Codlea. The snowmakes for some picturesque conditions and I will be sure to post a pic when I get back to Piatra. There's a great soccer game on tonight, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. Victor and I are pumped. These are two of the best teams in the world and our man Ronaldinho will be in action. Go Barcelona! I'll catch the 3:30 bus tomorrow afternoon. I hope that the weather conditions won't impede my journey. The last thing I want is to get in really late tomorrow evening, as I've got 5 classes in a row on Monday. Well, that's about it for now. I'm actually enjoying the snow because it made me realize how close Christmas is. It also means that Sarah will be here soon! Until next time, Numai Bine.

Greva

First, you may be wondering what a "greva" is? It means strike, as in labor strike. We'll get to that in a moment. Let's talk about the photo, shall we?

Codlea: I was sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast a couple of weeks ago and the doorbell rang. Ica went to answer. I heard "clip-clop, clip-clop", turned to look out the window and saw a horse's head! Of course I immediately went outside and you're now seeing what I saw. Firewood delivery, Romania style. The car is Joel's rental, and Ica is in the foreground. Tavica the dog is with us here as well and, if you look really closely or click to blow up the pic, you'll see that one of the horseys left us a "present". The firewood delivery guys were really nice and Ica treated them to a round of coffee and, that's right folks, Tuica. Nothing like a little plum brandy to get the blood pumping for a hard days' work of wood delivery on the 'ol carutza.

They unloaded all of the trees and Victor then proceeded to chainsaw and chop the hell out of them. The garage was filled with chopped wood for the winter when I went back last weekend. He wields a mean axe. Fuel for the "soba" or wood-burning stove is very important for many Romanians. Gas is expensive and the soba, if built well, is very efficient and will keep a room warm for many hours. It's nice to walk the streets of Codlea on a cold, crisp day and smell the wood smoke coming from the chimneys.

Anyway, back to the Greva. As of this writing, approximately 85% of the public schools in Romania are on strike. However, Hogas is not. We do not have a union representative and are thus not on strike. We are one of only two schools in Neamt County that is not on strike. We made the news. People are not happy. Students, of course, are not happy, but for obviously different reasons (some of them "went on strike" after watching the Monday morning news). Many of the TEFL volunteers are not working right now and nobody knows when all of this will end. Let's hope that President Basescu helps out and gives these people a raise. Union reps are meeting with him in Bucharest this week.

I understand fully why these teachers are on strike. Their salaries are paltry (a colleague of mine, 29 years old, makes the equivalent of about $175 a month), they have to buy their own books, and the system is generally a mess. There was a revolution in Romania, but not in the schools. The system is antiquated, top-heavy and still has one foot stuck in the past. Unfortunately, the kids know this too and the resulting apathy and malaise can be challenging to overcome for a teacher, especially when he/she has to live paycheck to paycheck. Some of my colleagues are upset because they may reap the benefits that may be gained as a result of the sacrifices of the striking teachers, who are not being paid right now. Difficult situation all around.

So, that's the current state of affairs. I'll be heading to a city called Focsani on Saturday to hook up with some fellow group 20 PCVs. There's a birthday to celebrate and apparently some good, cheap wine to drink (Moldavia is known for its wine). It'll be about a 2 hour and 45 minute train ride south. I'll arrive at about 11:30am and leave around 4:30pm on Sunday. That should put me back in Piatra Neamt at about 7:15. Tomorrow and Friday will be devoted to ironing, lesson planning, homework grading and hopefully some reading and DVD watching (thanks again Roz and Joel!). Pa (bye)!

Scott (reporting from the Greva-free zone at Hogas High)

Cold Feet

Words of wisdom for those traveling by bus this time of year in Romania...bring warm socks. I hopped on the bus yesterday at the autogara in Piatra around 1pm for the trip to Brasov. Normally, one would think that if air blows from the floor it would be warm air, right? Also, one would also assume that if the bus was incapable of providing its passengers with heat, there would be no blowing of air at all, just closed vents, right? Wrong folks. This is Romania and the curent can come at you just when you least expect it. "Moldotours" from Targu Neamt provided me with a constant stream of cold air up my left pant leg for 6 hours last night. I can bet you that this bus was running long before Nadia Comaneci won the gold medal in '76. Thank you Moldotours! Luckily, the bus that I will take back to Piatra on Sunday is a lot newer, is quite nice and has heat. Ironically, this company, Patru Trans Plus, charges 100,000 lei less than Transmoldavia for the trip. I don't get it. Really, I don't.

So, I'm back in Codlea for the weekend. Ica and I are going to make a batch of zacusca and I hope to write down some more recipies as well. I made a Romanian omelette this morning with ardei (light green peppers), ciuperci (mushrooms) and fresh telemea cheese. Toast with homemade boysenberry jam was scarfed down as well. Yum. I hope that there will be some mici in my future as well. I'm going to try to get some school work done today and hope to just read and relax for the rest of my time here. I'm not sure if I'll be able to come back again this month, as Ica and Victor will be having a soba (wood burning fireplace/heater) installed in my bedroom. They are also putting in a parquet floor. This should take at least two weeks. Also, Ica will be in Paris the following week with her daughter Delia. So, I might just have to wait until December 1, as I'll have a long weekend due to a holiday.

That's about it for now. La revedere.