Wow, it has been awhile!

I have to again apologize for my delay. Things around here have been busy with IST, and the end of the school semester before vacation and now with the holiday season! I couldn't believe how fast time has gone!

Well I believe I left you right before I left for IST. Well IST was fantastic, it was so great to see everyone again, I really did truly miss a lot of people and it was so nice to see their faces and to talk with them again. There were some people that I had not seen or even spoken to since PST, so it was wonderful to catch up again. While IST was fantastic...the ride there was less than satisfactory. While I had taken this route before and had an excellent experience as it was a nice big bus that was not crowded at all I was convinced that that would be my experience again. Well I was wrong, it was a crowded maxi taxi which was hot and uncomfortable. This time I at least was not alone and my colleague and I could complain together. Oh well it is just something we can go on to laugh about :D

When we did arrive in Predeal however, it was lovely and since I talked to the driver ahead of time he dropped us off right at the driveway to the hotel so we did not have to wonder around Predeal. I probably wouldn't have minded though because it was absolutely beautiful there. We were right in the middle of the mountains, and I was able to see just a glimpse of the beauty that Romania has to offer, it was absolutely fantastic and if I have time and money I would love to return!

While I was in Predeal we were able to take some language classes, and I actually took a LPI (Language Proficiency Exam) as well, and thankfully my language has improved! I still have a long way to go, but my conversation skills are a lot better, but with time and practice I can only get better! That is what I like to think anyway!

So then it was time to go home and finish up the semester, which was nice and just ended up being us singing Christmas carols with the kids. It was fun. I know I probably should have updated then...but I forgot! Sorry everyone! I did however get a chance to run into town because I had a package. It was from my former Kwik Trip co-workers! I was so excited, it was an awesome package as well! So heavy though, I cannot imagine how they got it to the Post Office! The man at the customs office handed it to me and it had broken open in transit, but was always in a big ole post office bag and was kind of like "Here ya go" and I am thinking "How!". Thankfully however he allowed me to borrow the bag since I could barely lift this package and actually ended up dragging it most of the way home in the fresh snow. Thankfully it was there!

Oh the trip home is another story! The maxi taxi driver decided that he was going to pick up every person along the way, who had the most baggage in the world. I thankfully had a seat right in front, but I just wanted to teach this driver the word no! We were squished in there like sardines, I am glad that I was not one of the people standing or sitting in the back, that must have been extremely uncomfortable. Oh well what are you going to do that is just life and in the end I made it to my destination safely :)

Let's see after that I ended up spending some time with some of my students. It was actually really fun and nice to get to know some more people in town. I learned some new card games and taught some new card games, went sledding and went on a sleigh ride, it was fun and I am glad that I did the snow activities while the snow was around because starting on Christmas it began to rain! I could not believe how warm it was, but the snow stayed around for Christmas, so it was still white :)

After that I traveled to Botosani to pick up my friend Carly and do some shopping as well. It was fun and interesting. It was interesting because we went to this traditional dancing event and waited outside in the freezing cold for at least an hour, until our other colleague Deborah spotted the woman how runs the shows at the cultural center so we were able to wait inside for a while. Yet when the parade finally arrived it was less than satisfactory and long, and we couldn't see a whole lot because we were inside so we stayed for a while but then decided to leave. However we could not leave out front because that is where the show was, so we decided to leave out the back, but when we got back there, there were a lot of dancers in the back room and we were again locked in by people. However Deborah being the persuasive person that she is somehow convinced the people to put on a show and start dancing, so we basically got our own private show of traditional Romanian dancing. It was crazy but very interesting!

So I spent some time in Botosani and then returned home with Carly where we relaxed, watched movies, I made cookies, ate some good food, hung out with some friends, waited for Joslyn to get into town, then ate some more food, met with some more local families in my town, and just spent some time talking and hanging out. It was really nice. We only stayed in Trusesti until the 26th and then Joslyn and I made our way down to Bucuresti, which is where I am now. I am currently visiting an old friend from who I met in college. She is a native Romanian who was studying abroad at UWEC. So it has been very nice to see her again and to catch up and to see what her life is like (which is absolutely fascinating to hear about!) and just to see Bucarest from the eyes of a someone who grew up here. She knows all of the interesting places to go and how to get around, so it has been a really interesting and worthwhile experience.

Then tomorrow Carly will arrive in Bucureti and we will spend the day in Bucurest and then leave for Braila where we will spend New Years with another volunteer. After that it is back to reality and I will begin my second semester of school. I am looking forward to this semester and hoping to make it better and to learn more this semester, so we shall see :) Well that is all for this post. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and enjoyed your time with family and friends. I missed you all very much and just thing in 2 Christmases I will be home for it! I also hope that you have a Happy New Year and that you bring it in with a bang! Just think I will be there to bring in 2012 with you, which really isn't that far away. I love and miss you all and hope and pray that only the best comes your way. May all your hopes and dreams come true and may your New Year be full of only the best. You will hear from me again in 2010!

Voi iubesc si va pup!

Mi-adore de toate lume!

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Sorry for the Delay

Hey all I know it has been ages since I have updated, and I apologize for that, things have been crazy and it just got behind me. I promise I will have a heck of an update for you when I get back to the site after the New Year, I will have a month to make up for! Maybe I will break them up just a little bit, but I promise I will do better next month with the updating and they will be more regulated :D

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year. You have no need to worry about me I have been spending all of my holidays over here with friends, the Peace Corps is great for forming new friendships and support networks that help you out when you need it the most so I am never alone on the holidays. Eat lots of yummy Christmas treats for me and I hope you enjoyed your turkey, ham and stuffing! For the Busses, Sebos, and Millers I am sorry I missed you last week at Christmas, that would have been nice to see everyone, but we will figure out a time to get together no worries! Love you all like crazy and Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!

IST here I come

So I figured I would try to get a jump on some things and do my blog early, so I don't forget :) Tomorrow evening I will be in Botosani and then early early early Monday morning I will be on my way to Predeal for our In Service Training. So I am in for a week of language classes, and other cultural/specific classes for teaching, and I get to see all of the members from my group again! I am excited for that, I miss all of them. It is crazy by the end of our training this summer, I was very ready to leave and get away from my group for a while, just because we were in such close corners with each other for such a long time, but now I can't wait to see them again, it will be a nice visit I think.

I can't believe that it is already December! It seems like just yesterday it was May and I was boarding a plane to take me to Romania, and now I have been here for 6 months already! Six months! Before you all know it I will be home and you will be saying, "You were gone, no kidding, time went by so fast!"

I wish I had some interesting story to post for this week, but I really don't. It was a short week, I only had 2 days of school this week. There is a lot going on with the government and the economic crisis here in Romania, so the teachers are basically told that they have to take a mandatory 8 days without pay. So they took 3 of those days this past week, and then I am gone for a week, then I will teach 2 more days then it is off to Christmas vacation for us. So needless to say, my month of December is crazy busy...or not. I am planning on having a day where my kids can come in and sing some Christmas carols with me, and it seems like lots of them are interested, so I am going to try it and see if it works out. If so great, if not...well at least I tried :)

Today I actually had some of my kids come over and we listened to some Romanian Christmas Carols. I had hoped to learn them, but I think my kids were just tickled pink that I wanted to hang out with them and spend some time with them. It was fun though, and I like hanging out with them, because they think I am super cool :) Which of course I am ;) The coolest actually. They are good kids and I liked hearing them sing in Romanian and they liked it when I tried, so that is all that truly matters.

Tomorrow I have to prepare myself to get going to Predeal, packing, and getting some stuff from Tory's old gazda. Tory was the volunteer that was at my site before I was, so I am playing postman for her since she is going to be at IST as well, that way it is easier.

Well I think that is about all for today. Hopefully next week I will have more interesting things to say and more stories to tell. Just a boring uneventful week here, but you have to have those once in a while.

Te iubesc!
Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.