So life in Trusesti has been interesting so far. Just when I think it is getting dull, something new and interesting comes along. So yesterday I was just taking some time for me...again, as we all know I can be the queen of procrastination and wasting time. I decided that since my garsonera (studio apartment) was clean and the laundry was drying outside, that I would go for a walk. So I left in my oversize T-shirt and shorts to go for a nice walk. I had every intention of being back in about an hour to Skype with a friend...but of course this is Romania and you never know what is going to happen.
As I was walking I ran into my director's son, so he asked if I wanted to go talk with his mother. This was my perfect opportunity to speak in Romanian, so I was going to take it, I had been waiting for the chance to speak with her! I really actually missed speaking in Romanian. So I went up there and she was making lunch, so of course even though I was not hungry because I had already eaten lunch, she made a plate for me. I ate a little bit, but was full very quickly! It was great to have a chance to talk with her, because she is very patient with my limited Romanian skills, and she is very good with simplifying things. We talked about Trusesti, her job, the other saturi (villages) in the communa, a little bit about her family, the American economy (that one was tough!), how to make cheese, how to make bread (I learned the word for yeast (drojdie), which was interesting because since I had never seen yeast before I did not know what it looked like, but her description was great and I got it!) We talked about where to buy vegetables, why the smaller magazines were better than the supermarkets, my counterpart and my visiting her in Botosani, just a lot of little things, but it was really great to have a conversation. Then when we were sitting in the kitchen chatting, we heard music, there was a wedding party going by. She asked if I wanted to go to the church to see the ceremony, so I instantly said yes, because I was curious! I told her I would go home and change, but she said not to worry just to go as I am because she was going to go as she was. Alright I thought, why not, well she drops me off with another Romanian, and she goes home, because she isn't dressed appropriately! As if I am, lol...oh well that is Romania! Well the woman she left me with, (an employee at the school) said the same thing in not to worry, so I didn't even though I felt entirely underdressed, but it was still interesting. The church was beautiful, and the service wasn't too long, but everything is repeated 3 times. Even though I did not understand anything, I still understood the ritual, like when they exchanged the rings, when they took their first walk together, when the priest made a sermon, etc. It was interesting, because unlike in American weddings, their are no actual vows, the bride and groom do not actually say anything during the ceremony, it is only the priest that speaks. The next time I go to a wedding, I will try to take pictures of the various rituals and then post pictures with explanations of them.
So the wedding was beautiful and interesting. After the wedding, they of course gave me tuica (plum brandy), because what is an encounter with a bunch of cool Romanians without tuica! It was strong stuff, and I felt very odd drinking it in a church, but the preist said that it was okay, yes I met the priest in my nice apparel. Oh well what are you going to do. Nobody really seemed to care, so it was all good.
So after that I went to the apartment of the high school math teacher because she is my age and learning English. My motive for going there was to speak in Romanian with someone my own age, and to ask her to be my tutor while I am here. Since she is my neighbor and she wants to learn English it seemed very convienent, especially because in my lessons, we will have to focus on Romanian, and in her lessons, we will have to focus on English, so hopefully each of us will leran better! I offered to pay her as well, because the Peace Corps gives us money for tutoring, but I don't know if she is going to take it. One of the reasons I also thought she would be a good choice is since I will not be able to give her much, maybe I could make up for the lack of that with free lessons in English and we would be about even.
Oh and the reason that Catalina (the math teacher) wants to learn English is because she wants to do a teacher exchange program in the states. So she would go there to teach Math for a few years and a teacher there would come to Romania to teach math for a few years. It would be a really awesome opportunity for her, and she has always wanted to go to the States, so I hope that I can help her learn more English in the next 2 years that I am here so she can obtain this dream!
So after that, I was exhausted, 6 hours of Romanian is a lot, so I decided to go home and relax. I read for a while, putzed around on the Internet, and then noticed that my dear friend Susan from PST was online. So we Skyped for an hour and a half, it was so nice to talk to her. P.S. Lizz if you are reading this we need to make a Skype date! So that was nice and we got to catch up and see each other, and the best thing is is that it is free! I love the Internet when it is free!!!
Let's see I think that is about it for yesterday, I did start up a random conversation with one of my neighbors when I was walking to the store in the morning, that was nice because she understood me, and I understood most of what she was saying. I really need to work on my comprehension, but it is so easy not to listen and to tune things out when you don't understand. I will work harder on listening to everything however :) In time I will learn, that is what everyone here likes to say, and I know that it is true, but we all know how patient I am when I want something, I want it now! LOL :)
Alright, that is all for now, I will be going to Botosani tomorrow, so hopefully I have some fun stories to share about that. I love and miss you all and I hope that all is well. I love getting pictures, so if you want to share any that would be great. I think that I have my address, but I am just waiting on verification, I want to be sure that it is right, it just seems to short right now, before I share it, but I will get that to all of you who want it ASAP.
Va Iubesc si va pup, la revedere si o zi buna! (I love you all and kiss you all, bye and have a great day!)
~pana mai tarziu (until later)
Sarah B.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
My Journey continued
So, to continue on with my story, I was taken on a picnic. So when I heard the word picnic, I assumed an afternoon in the forest, maybe 3 hours at a maximum, well I need to remember that I am not in the US anymore, and I am in Romania now, a picnic here is an entire day in the forest. We left at around noon and arrived home at around 8. I slept well that night at least. It was funny when we were going there, we first turned off of the paved road onto the gravel road, and then off of the gravel road and onto the grass, I had no idea where we were going! It was sure beautiful there though, it was so nice to see the rolling planes of grass and the beautiful trees of the forest! I really liked it there a lot, even though I was tired. It was funny there were a bunch of cows grazing in the pasture and there was a small lake there, when I was walking around with my directors daughter-in-law, we saw a cow just swimming across the lake, it was the funniest thing I haved seen, it was completely submerged in water! I was entertained at least!
So after that we ate lunch, we had mici (a sort of sausage), chicken, french fries, tomatoe salad, soda, sarmale (ground up meat and rice in a cabbage roll) and of course bread, that comes with everything as does potatoes! The food was all really good though, and they make the fire in the ground, which was also really neat. So after lunch we sat around for a little while, and everyone around me was talking very quickly in Romanian, so I did not understand much as I was extremely tired as well, so I actually ended up falling asleep on the blanket. When I woke up, we were surrounded by cows, that's right cows. The cows that were grazing, came to see what we were up to. They weren't there for long, because the boys that were herding them steered them away from us, but it was strange to see them so close to us, especially since I didn't know they were there until I woke up. Then I tried to stay awake for a while, we drank some coffee, and I listened to them talking some more. After that we went fishing for a little bit. There was little luck however because there was too much crud in the water, it was difficult to find a decent place to throw the line. It was fun to go anyway and my director's daughter-in-law caught a fish, she was really excited about that.
After fishing, we went back to eat some supper, then talked some more, they gave me tuica (plum brandy), and then we cleaned up and went home. When I arrived home, I read for a little while and then fell asleep, it was so nice just to relax and sleep in a nice comfortable bed. I actually think that it was still light out when I did get to sleep.
Let's see that was Sunday, then on Monday I wondered around town with my director's son, hung out at their place for a little bit. After dinner, we went to the house of the high school math teacher, she is learning English and is good friends with the high school English teacher, both of who are around my age, so hopefully I can develop a friendship with them, that would be nice and we had a lot of fun talking, so we will see. I still have to find a tutor, so maybe the one who is learning English can teach me Romanian and I can teach her English, that might be cool :)
So then I arrived home late as has been usual since I arrived here, and I was awoken at 6:30 on Tuesday morning by a phone call, my mom and dad! It was so good to hear from them, especially since it was a suprise! I love suprises that are pleasent like that. Well I had not had much sleep, only about 6 hours and since I was so excited, I could not go back to sleep, so I decided to take a walk around town for a little bit, that was nice and I found a really nice place that I will probably go to sit and read sometime. It is a little bank alongside the river and it was just so peaceful, and of course along the path that lead there, cows were grazing, that is a given around here :)
On Tuesday I got the Internet, so I was spending a lot of time on there, trying to catch up with things. It is so nice to finally have unlimited access to the Internet. We had access in Targoviste, but I felt so bad for spending any length of time on the computer, because there were so many people who wanted to use it, and everything that I wanted to do took time. I did go to cafe's from time to time, but it is so much nicer just to sit at home and work, and besides my computer is rather heavy to lug around. We did actually end up getting wireless at school, but we didn't have more than a half and hour at a time to work on things, and seeing as I had a lot of catching up to do, that wasn't much time to work. I made it through however, and these past few days I have sent a lot of e-mails, figured out a lot of thiings, and gotten hopefully reconnected with everyone that I can! So after that I took a nap for a little while, called a friend, and then walked around town with some new friends for a little while.
That brings me to Wednesday, on Wednesday I chilled out at home a lot, did some more work on the Internet and then in the evening I went to Lake Prud. This is the lake that divides Moldova and Romania. We actually camped out there, it was really nice, the sunset was absolutely beautiful and the scenery is beautiful as well (all of these pictures are posted to my facebook page). I simply love it there. So we had a gratar (BBQ) out there that night, I watched all of the crazy kids being crazy fun kids, I tried to speak in Romanian, but did not do so well, and we slept out there. It was cold at night, and not very comfortable, but I made due. On Thursday we went swimming, well I should say I only went swimming on Thursday, some of the others went the night before when it was really cold, but I opted not to! That was fun and we layed out on the beach for a while and relaxed. My back burned a little bit, but not to bad, I am not quite as white as I was before. So when we returned home I took some more time to catch up on the Internet (noticing a pattern here huh) and read and relaxed for a bit.
That brings us to Friday, I walked down to the piata (the local market) as it is held on Fridays, and apparently I only saw half of it, but it was crazy. My little town holds the piata every Friday, so people from the smaller villages in the communa, come to Trusesti for things, there were people and horse caruta everywhere! I have never seen so many people before. I wanted to take a picture, but I was afraid that I would be in the way of people, maybe I will try next week :) The fresh vegetables there are amazing though, and those are available everyday, on Fridays they have clothes, macaroni, rice, cheese, meat, honey, jam, everything that you can think of, so I am going to have to really check it out next week!
After that I went to school for a while, I checked out my classroom, I was going to try to start organizing it, but that didn't work so well because there is so much stuff in there right now, so I am going to wait until later to see what is mine and what is not and what will be there and what can be moved. I was able to talk a little bit in Romanian however, and that felt good, when I have no other option but to speak in Romanian I do a lot better, since I don't have a fall back, but I really do enjoy the language! So after that I returned home to change and then went fishing for a little while. One of the guys I was with caught a fish, but I did not catch anything...oh well that is life! :) Then I returned home to relax and study a bit, and now I am here updating my blog so you all know how I am doing!
Just so you all know, I am doing really well, I truly like it here and I am looking forward to starting work. I think that I will be traveling a bit and I truly want to see the rest of the beautiful country. I do miss my new friends that I have made through PST, but thanks to the technology in Romania it will be easier to keep in touch with not only them, but also all of my great family and friends at home in the States. I hope to see the mountains sometime soon, and also to travel to the Black Sea, maybe next summer, there is just to much going on right now to do so. I also hope to travel outside of the country as well, when in Europe, you might as well travel when and where you can! I am currently working on obtaining my address, items for me will probably be sent to the school, more than likely in my name, but we are working on that and as soon as I get that to those of you who want it I will send it on. Other than that life is good, I have not started working yet, but I am sure once I do I will have some interesting stories to tell you! Thank you all for all of your support, always feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any specific questions that I am not answering, or to tell me what is going on back home because I am really interested in your lives as well. I know you all have great and interesting stories to tell me as well and I want to hear them!
Alright well I hope all is well, I think I have given you all enough to read for now! Se Iubesc si cred despre voi in fiecare zi! I love you all and think about you everyday!
La revedere!
~Until later
Sarah B.
So after that we ate lunch, we had mici (a sort of sausage), chicken, french fries, tomatoe salad, soda, sarmale (ground up meat and rice in a cabbage roll) and of course bread, that comes with everything as does potatoes! The food was all really good though, and they make the fire in the ground, which was also really neat. So after lunch we sat around for a little while, and everyone around me was talking very quickly in Romanian, so I did not understand much as I was extremely tired as well, so I actually ended up falling asleep on the blanket. When I woke up, we were surrounded by cows, that's right cows. The cows that were grazing, came to see what we were up to. They weren't there for long, because the boys that were herding them steered them away from us, but it was strange to see them so close to us, especially since I didn't know they were there until I woke up. Then I tried to stay awake for a while, we drank some coffee, and I listened to them talking some more. After that we went fishing for a little bit. There was little luck however because there was too much crud in the water, it was difficult to find a decent place to throw the line. It was fun to go anyway and my director's daughter-in-law caught a fish, she was really excited about that.
After fishing, we went back to eat some supper, then talked some more, they gave me tuica (plum brandy), and then we cleaned up and went home. When I arrived home, I read for a little while and then fell asleep, it was so nice just to relax and sleep in a nice comfortable bed. I actually think that it was still light out when I did get to sleep.
Let's see that was Sunday, then on Monday I wondered around town with my director's son, hung out at their place for a little bit. After dinner, we went to the house of the high school math teacher, she is learning English and is good friends with the high school English teacher, both of who are around my age, so hopefully I can develop a friendship with them, that would be nice and we had a lot of fun talking, so we will see. I still have to find a tutor, so maybe the one who is learning English can teach me Romanian and I can teach her English, that might be cool :)
So then I arrived home late as has been usual since I arrived here, and I was awoken at 6:30 on Tuesday morning by a phone call, my mom and dad! It was so good to hear from them, especially since it was a suprise! I love suprises that are pleasent like that. Well I had not had much sleep, only about 6 hours and since I was so excited, I could not go back to sleep, so I decided to take a walk around town for a little bit, that was nice and I found a really nice place that I will probably go to sit and read sometime. It is a little bank alongside the river and it was just so peaceful, and of course along the path that lead there, cows were grazing, that is a given around here :)
On Tuesday I got the Internet, so I was spending a lot of time on there, trying to catch up with things. It is so nice to finally have unlimited access to the Internet. We had access in Targoviste, but I felt so bad for spending any length of time on the computer, because there were so many people who wanted to use it, and everything that I wanted to do took time. I did go to cafe's from time to time, but it is so much nicer just to sit at home and work, and besides my computer is rather heavy to lug around. We did actually end up getting wireless at school, but we didn't have more than a half and hour at a time to work on things, and seeing as I had a lot of catching up to do, that wasn't much time to work. I made it through however, and these past few days I have sent a lot of e-mails, figured out a lot of thiings, and gotten hopefully reconnected with everyone that I can! So after that I took a nap for a little while, called a friend, and then walked around town with some new friends for a little while.
That brings me to Wednesday, on Wednesday I chilled out at home a lot, did some more work on the Internet and then in the evening I went to Lake Prud. This is the lake that divides Moldova and Romania. We actually camped out there, it was really nice, the sunset was absolutely beautiful and the scenery is beautiful as well (all of these pictures are posted to my facebook page). I simply love it there. So we had a gratar (BBQ) out there that night, I watched all of the crazy kids being crazy fun kids, I tried to speak in Romanian, but did not do so well, and we slept out there. It was cold at night, and not very comfortable, but I made due. On Thursday we went swimming, well I should say I only went swimming on Thursday, some of the others went the night before when it was really cold, but I opted not to! That was fun and we layed out on the beach for a while and relaxed. My back burned a little bit, but not to bad, I am not quite as white as I was before. So when we returned home I took some more time to catch up on the Internet (noticing a pattern here huh) and read and relaxed for a bit.
That brings us to Friday, I walked down to the piata (the local market) as it is held on Fridays, and apparently I only saw half of it, but it was crazy. My little town holds the piata every Friday, so people from the smaller villages in the communa, come to Trusesti for things, there were people and horse caruta everywhere! I have never seen so many people before. I wanted to take a picture, but I was afraid that I would be in the way of people, maybe I will try next week :) The fresh vegetables there are amazing though, and those are available everyday, on Fridays they have clothes, macaroni, rice, cheese, meat, honey, jam, everything that you can think of, so I am going to have to really check it out next week!
After that I went to school for a while, I checked out my classroom, I was going to try to start organizing it, but that didn't work so well because there is so much stuff in there right now, so I am going to wait until later to see what is mine and what is not and what will be there and what can be moved. I was able to talk a little bit in Romanian however, and that felt good, when I have no other option but to speak in Romanian I do a lot better, since I don't have a fall back, but I really do enjoy the language! So after that I returned home to change and then went fishing for a little while. One of the guys I was with caught a fish, but I did not catch anything...oh well that is life! :) Then I returned home to relax and study a bit, and now I am here updating my blog so you all know how I am doing!
Just so you all know, I am doing really well, I truly like it here and I am looking forward to starting work. I think that I will be traveling a bit and I truly want to see the rest of the beautiful country. I do miss my new friends that I have made through PST, but thanks to the technology in Romania it will be easier to keep in touch with not only them, but also all of my great family and friends at home in the States. I hope to see the mountains sometime soon, and also to travel to the Black Sea, maybe next summer, there is just to much going on right now to do so. I also hope to travel outside of the country as well, when in Europe, you might as well travel when and where you can! I am currently working on obtaining my address, items for me will probably be sent to the school, more than likely in my name, but we are working on that and as soon as I get that to those of you who want it I will send it on. Other than that life is good, I have not started working yet, but I am sure once I do I will have some interesting stories to tell you! Thank you all for all of your support, always feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any specific questions that I am not answering, or to tell me what is going on back home because I am really interested in your lives as well. I know you all have great and interesting stories to tell me as well and I want to hear them!
Alright well I hope all is well, I think I have given you all enough to read for now! Se Iubesc si cred despre voi in fiecare zi! I love you all and think about you everyday!
La revedere!
~Until later
Sarah B.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Just a taste...
So since I do not have access to Internet at exactly this moment (I will obviously when I post this) I am typing this out ahead of time, looking out my window in my garsonera, in my new town, and listening to some fun country music.
Wow so much has happened since the last time I have posted. It has been so busy finishing up with PST. I have been trying to study, and was preparing for my LPI, and on top of all of that I was trying to spend as much time with my new friends as possible before we all went our separate ways. Now that we all have it is crazy to think that we are just starting on our new journey that will hopefully inspire and change us for life.
Well let’s see here…a recap of the last 2 weeks. So, as stated before I have been studying for my LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) which I took last week. I did alright, but I know I could have done better, but it was enough to pass, but that just inspires me to want to do better on the next one, because we will have at least 3 more while we are in country to see how we improve over time J So in the mean time before my Interview I was trying to spend time with friends and prepare to leave for site. After the LPI we all went out to celebrate being finished. We were able to have a party with all of the Peace Corps staff and it was really a good time. We even got into a leg wrestling competition, Chelsea is a champ at it and it was fun to watch her kick everyone’s butt. She owned everyone, including the guys who you would think would be stronger, but Chelsea had it down to a science and was pretty much undefeatable. I did challenge her and needless to say, I failed miserably, but it was all in good fun.
So we all had a good time at the party which was on Thursday. On Friday, we all swore in. It felt so good to finally be out of limbo, because for the past 11 weeks we had all been working so hard, but we technically were not employed by anybody, because we were still just trainees and not volunteers yet. It was pretty emotional, for several reasons. I think first it was moving because it felt that all my hard work was finally paying off in the end. I had tried my hardest to learn the language, to learn about the culture and to learn about the history. We were in school from 8-5 everyday, and we were all exhausted, but in the end it was right. We worked hard for a goal and achieved it. I also think it was emotional because we have all officially become a part of an American organization that is maintained and support by not only the government but our country. I am officially here representing the United States of America and all that we stand for. It is a very intimidating idea, but I am up for the challenge. I am very glad that I have been blessed with such an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the world…no matter how big or small it will be in the end.
Friday night, we all had a goodbye party and just hung out and had a good time. We were lucky enough to have a place to stay overnight and just chill out and have fun together one more time. Then Saturday came. What an interesting day that was for me. It was the start of my newest journey, and thankfully I did not have to take this journey alone. I was with my friend Deborah, and we left Saturday at around 1:30. We took a maxitaxi to Ploiest which was very hot, but we made it fine. When we got to Ploiest, we needed to get to another volunteers place so we needed a taxi to get there because of all of our luggage, well no taxis were down there, so a man in a car volunteered to take us. We were a little leary, so we called the woman we were meeting and she said if he would charge 5 lei total that would be fine. So since we were together we figured it would be safe, so we loaded up and gave him the address, it wasn’t far but he did not know exactly where it was and took a few wrong turns, but in the end we made it there so that is all that matters. So we got there and then had to get all of our stuff up to the 4th floor. Luckily for us, Susie had an elevator, so with a couple of trips we made it up there. Then we just got the chance to chill out and relax for a little while, which was nice because the last couple of days had been intense and we knew that we would have quite the journey ahead of us since we were taking a night train.
That brings us to the train station. We went a little early to buy our tickets and tried to go the cheap way and take the bus to the station, but it was closed, so we had to find a taxi again. That all went fine, then we got to the station and bought the tickets. I however forgot to ask for a sleeper car, and when we went to ask about it, we found out that they did not have any sleeper cars and we were going to be riding in second class on a midnight train…which for a couple of American women is probably not the safest place to be. We would more than likely be fine, but we wanted to make it to our destination without any problems. So Deborah called her counterpart and spoke with the lady at the ticket booth for us and we worked everything out, we were not in a sleeper car because they were full, but we were on first class so that was better for us. One task done, so we went back to Susie’s to eat dinner and relax a little bit more. Then it came time to leave, so we loaded up yet again and were on our merry way.
So we arrived at the train station a little early to find where we were going. I had to ask where the line was (the same lady was at the ticket booth, and she was irritated with us before, so I am sure she was really happy to see me again J ) so we figured out where to go. Lucky for us we got to hall our brick filled luggage down a flight of stairs and then up another one. It was a blast and a good work out. Then we had to find out where our train would come in, Deborah thought that it would be up a ways, so we waited, well when the train came our adventure truly began. So the train got there and we were by car 5 and needed to be by car 10, I was trying to find it and they were ready to leave. Deborah had gotten on the train, they were blowing the whistle, Deborah was yelling at me to get on and I couldn’t find her, I found her and a man helped me throw my stuff onto the train as it started to move. So I barely made it on the train. So we are in car 5 apparently and need to lug all of our stuff to car 10. So we figure it out and Deborah goes to take some of her stuff to the car, while I wait with the rest of the stuff. While I was waiting for her, a drunk man decides that he wants to talk to me, I got rid of him by telling him that I needed to call a friend, it was just too bad that I couldn’t hear anything on the phone because both of the trains were too loud as we were both on a train at that moment, but the drunk man left so that is all that matters. So I waited for about 30 minutes and Deborah finally returned and we took the rest of our belongings to the car, it was such a long walk and with narrow aisles made it even more interesting, but people were very nice and helped when they could. When we arrived in our car, there were 2 women in there, but they were extremely kind and one spoke English. The one who knew English was actually a Biology teacher in Botosani, which is where Deborah (an environmental volunteer) and my counterpart live. What is interesting however is we all need to make contact while we are here and she said she would be interested in doing projects with either of us. We exchanged contact information and may have just made our first new friend here, which it was such a breech of faith, who would have known that we were going to meet someone that we would instantaneously connect with. I hope to talk with here again and as I figure out my place and my ambitions in Trusesti to utilize the resources and knowledge that she has to make the biggest difference that I can. I am glad we were able to speak in English, because my Romanian was failing me as I was tired, in shock because I almost missed the train, and just overwhelmed from leaving everyone. But I do plan on getting in touch with her again sometime soon, hopefully if Deborah and I get together for lunch or dinner we can invite her and get to know each other better.
So then we arrived at the train station and Deborah and I went our separate ways. Thankfully we both had private rides and did not need to worry about lugging our stuff onto a bus or a maxi taxi. So I got to Trusesti, and went to my directors house for some breakfast, we did not stay there for too long, because then they took me to my new home. Now when I first saw this place on my site visit, I was in shock, I did not understand how anyone would be able to live in it. It was messy, it was under construction it was crazy. When I walked in yesterday, I was floored. It was clean, the walls were painted, the furniture was set up nicely, it was amazing. I am very happy with my new home. So they then left me to unpack a bit, and to clean up and relax a little bit, before we left for a picnic. I was going to say no to the picnic, because over the past 48 hours I maybe got 8 hours of sleep, all of which were not sound sleep, but I thought I should go, I need to get acquainted with my surroundings and I should spend time with some of the people in my town. So around noon we left for what I thought would be a short outing….boy was I wrong.
Since that was really long I left a cliffhanger. I am going to spend the night on the beach tonight with some new friends, so hopefully tomorrow I will continue on with my story!
~Until later
Sarah B.
Wow so much has happened since the last time I have posted. It has been so busy finishing up with PST. I have been trying to study, and was preparing for my LPI, and on top of all of that I was trying to spend as much time with my new friends as possible before we all went our separate ways. Now that we all have it is crazy to think that we are just starting on our new journey that will hopefully inspire and change us for life.
Well let’s see here…a recap of the last 2 weeks. So, as stated before I have been studying for my LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) which I took last week. I did alright, but I know I could have done better, but it was enough to pass, but that just inspires me to want to do better on the next one, because we will have at least 3 more while we are in country to see how we improve over time J So in the mean time before my Interview I was trying to spend time with friends and prepare to leave for site. After the LPI we all went out to celebrate being finished. We were able to have a party with all of the Peace Corps staff and it was really a good time. We even got into a leg wrestling competition, Chelsea is a champ at it and it was fun to watch her kick everyone’s butt. She owned everyone, including the guys who you would think would be stronger, but Chelsea had it down to a science and was pretty much undefeatable. I did challenge her and needless to say, I failed miserably, but it was all in good fun.
So we all had a good time at the party which was on Thursday. On Friday, we all swore in. It felt so good to finally be out of limbo, because for the past 11 weeks we had all been working so hard, but we technically were not employed by anybody, because we were still just trainees and not volunteers yet. It was pretty emotional, for several reasons. I think first it was moving because it felt that all my hard work was finally paying off in the end. I had tried my hardest to learn the language, to learn about the culture and to learn about the history. We were in school from 8-5 everyday, and we were all exhausted, but in the end it was right. We worked hard for a goal and achieved it. I also think it was emotional because we have all officially become a part of an American organization that is maintained and support by not only the government but our country. I am officially here representing the United States of America and all that we stand for. It is a very intimidating idea, but I am up for the challenge. I am very glad that I have been blessed with such an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the world…no matter how big or small it will be in the end.
Friday night, we all had a goodbye party and just hung out and had a good time. We were lucky enough to have a place to stay overnight and just chill out and have fun together one more time. Then Saturday came. What an interesting day that was for me. It was the start of my newest journey, and thankfully I did not have to take this journey alone. I was with my friend Deborah, and we left Saturday at around 1:30. We took a maxitaxi to Ploiest which was very hot, but we made it fine. When we got to Ploiest, we needed to get to another volunteers place so we needed a taxi to get there because of all of our luggage, well no taxis were down there, so a man in a car volunteered to take us. We were a little leary, so we called the woman we were meeting and she said if he would charge 5 lei total that would be fine. So since we were together we figured it would be safe, so we loaded up and gave him the address, it wasn’t far but he did not know exactly where it was and took a few wrong turns, but in the end we made it there so that is all that matters. So we got there and then had to get all of our stuff up to the 4th floor. Luckily for us, Susie had an elevator, so with a couple of trips we made it up there. Then we just got the chance to chill out and relax for a little while, which was nice because the last couple of days had been intense and we knew that we would have quite the journey ahead of us since we were taking a night train.
That brings us to the train station. We went a little early to buy our tickets and tried to go the cheap way and take the bus to the station, but it was closed, so we had to find a taxi again. That all went fine, then we got to the station and bought the tickets. I however forgot to ask for a sleeper car, and when we went to ask about it, we found out that they did not have any sleeper cars and we were going to be riding in second class on a midnight train…which for a couple of American women is probably not the safest place to be. We would more than likely be fine, but we wanted to make it to our destination without any problems. So Deborah called her counterpart and spoke with the lady at the ticket booth for us and we worked everything out, we were not in a sleeper car because they were full, but we were on first class so that was better for us. One task done, so we went back to Susie’s to eat dinner and relax a little bit more. Then it came time to leave, so we loaded up yet again and were on our merry way.
So we arrived at the train station a little early to find where we were going. I had to ask where the line was (the same lady was at the ticket booth, and she was irritated with us before, so I am sure she was really happy to see me again J ) so we figured out where to go. Lucky for us we got to hall our brick filled luggage down a flight of stairs and then up another one. It was a blast and a good work out. Then we had to find out where our train would come in, Deborah thought that it would be up a ways, so we waited, well when the train came our adventure truly began. So the train got there and we were by car 5 and needed to be by car 10, I was trying to find it and they were ready to leave. Deborah had gotten on the train, they were blowing the whistle, Deborah was yelling at me to get on and I couldn’t find her, I found her and a man helped me throw my stuff onto the train as it started to move. So I barely made it on the train. So we are in car 5 apparently and need to lug all of our stuff to car 10. So we figure it out and Deborah goes to take some of her stuff to the car, while I wait with the rest of the stuff. While I was waiting for her, a drunk man decides that he wants to talk to me, I got rid of him by telling him that I needed to call a friend, it was just too bad that I couldn’t hear anything on the phone because both of the trains were too loud as we were both on a train at that moment, but the drunk man left so that is all that matters. So I waited for about 30 minutes and Deborah finally returned and we took the rest of our belongings to the car, it was such a long walk and with narrow aisles made it even more interesting, but people were very nice and helped when they could. When we arrived in our car, there were 2 women in there, but they were extremely kind and one spoke English. The one who knew English was actually a Biology teacher in Botosani, which is where Deborah (an environmental volunteer) and my counterpart live. What is interesting however is we all need to make contact while we are here and she said she would be interested in doing projects with either of us. We exchanged contact information and may have just made our first new friend here, which it was such a breech of faith, who would have known that we were going to meet someone that we would instantaneously connect with. I hope to talk with here again and as I figure out my place and my ambitions in Trusesti to utilize the resources and knowledge that she has to make the biggest difference that I can. I am glad we were able to speak in English, because my Romanian was failing me as I was tired, in shock because I almost missed the train, and just overwhelmed from leaving everyone. But I do plan on getting in touch with her again sometime soon, hopefully if Deborah and I get together for lunch or dinner we can invite her and get to know each other better.
So then we arrived at the train station and Deborah and I went our separate ways. Thankfully we both had private rides and did not need to worry about lugging our stuff onto a bus or a maxi taxi. So I got to Trusesti, and went to my directors house for some breakfast, we did not stay there for too long, because then they took me to my new home. Now when I first saw this place on my site visit, I was in shock, I did not understand how anyone would be able to live in it. It was messy, it was under construction it was crazy. When I walked in yesterday, I was floored. It was clean, the walls were painted, the furniture was set up nicely, it was amazing. I am very happy with my new home. So they then left me to unpack a bit, and to clean up and relax a little bit, before we left for a picnic. I was going to say no to the picnic, because over the past 48 hours I maybe got 8 hours of sleep, all of which were not sound sleep, but I thought I should go, I need to get acquainted with my surroundings and I should spend time with some of the people in my town. So around noon we left for what I thought would be a short outing….boy was I wrong.
Since that was really long I left a cliffhanger. I am going to spend the night on the beach tonight with some new friends, so hopefully tomorrow I will continue on with my story!
~Until later
Sarah B.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Oh Targoviste
So life in Romania continues to go well. I am actually at school on a Saturday...you know me I always need to study! It is nice though because I was able to have a conversation with one of the language instructors, since we all awnted tutoring they opened up a weekend session. It was nice just to sit and talk in Romanian and to practice, I am really learning to love the language and I try to use it as much as I can. I have never really studied a foreign language, but I am beginning to wish that I had. I think it would have made it a little easier in the beginning to learn and I think that it would have helped me to develop an appreciation for the Romanian language earlier.
Going along with that note, the difference in language in the schools in Romania is very interesting. Most children start at a very early age, learning at least one foreign language, the most common are French, Spanish and English. Generally children beginning learning somewhere between Kindergarten and fourth grade. It is mandatory for students to take a foreign language here. I think this can be a blessing and a curse at the same time however. I think it is great that students need to learn this because I think that it does create a greater understanding and respect for other parts of the world, which I believe is very important, but I also think it can have a negative effect. Some students may develop a negative view towards the language and cultures because it is something that they are forced to learn and they just will not try because they do not want to, but I am hoping that this is not the case for a majority of the students. The practice of a mandatory second language has been enforced for quite some time and it does seem to be a pretty intrigal part of the culture, and those who take it seriously are farely fluent if not completely fluent within the language.
Oh sorry another sidenote. Yesterday we had our LPI (Language Profeciency Interview) simulation. I was really suprised because it went really well. I know that I am developing the language and I am able to communicate with my gazda, but I was very happy with my rating. I was rated at an Intermediate High, and we need an Intermediate low to pass the final exam. When I was talking with my regualr instructor however she thought that it was a decent rating, but she thought I could have been an Advanced Low, which was really cool to me. My instructor is a tough grader...so coming from her that was a great compliment. I was really excited for that! I also had another instructor say the same thing to me...so I think that I will be passing the final exam if I keep working hard...so that just pushes me to want to do better and better everyday!
Alright, enough about language, even though it controls my life right now :) I am trying to enjoy my last few weeks in Targoviste, in 2 weeks I will be on my way to my site. I am a little nervous to leave everyone, but I am excited about starting to work with the students and my counterpart. I think that it will be a very interesting and fufilling experience. So this weekend I am trying to spend time with my friends, since next weekend I will be training for my peer support position. I am excited for this training because I think that it will be very interesting, but because of this I want to make the most of my final free weekend! Today it is farely warm here, so we might go to the pool! I hope we do, I miss swimming and it will be nice just to lie out and try to attempt to get a tan!
Let's see what else is new. It is diffiuclt to say right now because I generally do the same thing everyday...I go to school and then after school I go home to chill and do homework and then I go to sleep and start over. Once I get to site I will again have a routine, but hopefully I will be having more interesting Romanian experiences because I will be speaking totally in Romanian all the time. I am sure there will be some interesting stories from that and I am sure there will be many miscommunications...but we will see :)
Oh I will be trying to get my address shortly, I will not post it directly onto my blog...but if you want it please either comment on the blog or send me a message on facebook, or send me an e-mail (sm.busse@gmail.com) to let me know that you want it and I will send it to you that way.
Well I think that is all for now...I will try to change things up a little bit to send some interesting stories your way. I hope all is well! I miss and love you all very much!
~Until later
Sarah B.
Going along with that note, the difference in language in the schools in Romania is very interesting. Most children start at a very early age, learning at least one foreign language, the most common are French, Spanish and English. Generally children beginning learning somewhere between Kindergarten and fourth grade. It is mandatory for students to take a foreign language here. I think this can be a blessing and a curse at the same time however. I think it is great that students need to learn this because I think that it does create a greater understanding and respect for other parts of the world, which I believe is very important, but I also think it can have a negative effect. Some students may develop a negative view towards the language and cultures because it is something that they are forced to learn and they just will not try because they do not want to, but I am hoping that this is not the case for a majority of the students. The practice of a mandatory second language has been enforced for quite some time and it does seem to be a pretty intrigal part of the culture, and those who take it seriously are farely fluent if not completely fluent within the language.
Oh sorry another sidenote. Yesterday we had our LPI (Language Profeciency Interview) simulation. I was really suprised because it went really well. I know that I am developing the language and I am able to communicate with my gazda, but I was very happy with my rating. I was rated at an Intermediate High, and we need an Intermediate low to pass the final exam. When I was talking with my regualr instructor however she thought that it was a decent rating, but she thought I could have been an Advanced Low, which was really cool to me. My instructor is a tough grader...so coming from her that was a great compliment. I was really excited for that! I also had another instructor say the same thing to me...so I think that I will be passing the final exam if I keep working hard...so that just pushes me to want to do better and better everyday!
Alright, enough about language, even though it controls my life right now :) I am trying to enjoy my last few weeks in Targoviste, in 2 weeks I will be on my way to my site. I am a little nervous to leave everyone, but I am excited about starting to work with the students and my counterpart. I think that it will be a very interesting and fufilling experience. So this weekend I am trying to spend time with my friends, since next weekend I will be training for my peer support position. I am excited for this training because I think that it will be very interesting, but because of this I want to make the most of my final free weekend! Today it is farely warm here, so we might go to the pool! I hope we do, I miss swimming and it will be nice just to lie out and try to attempt to get a tan!
Let's see what else is new. It is diffiuclt to say right now because I generally do the same thing everyday...I go to school and then after school I go home to chill and do homework and then I go to sleep and start over. Once I get to site I will again have a routine, but hopefully I will be having more interesting Romanian experiences because I will be speaking totally in Romanian all the time. I am sure there will be some interesting stories from that and I am sure there will be many miscommunications...but we will see :)
Oh I will be trying to get my address shortly, I will not post it directly onto my blog...but if you want it please either comment on the blog or send me a message on facebook, or send me an e-mail (sm.busse@gmail.com) to let me know that you want it and I will send it to you that way.
Well I think that is all for now...I will try to change things up a little bit to send some interesting stories your way. I hope all is well! I miss and love you all very much!
~Until later
Sarah B.
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