Unexpected Adventures

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.