1 year ago I began my adventure

Today I realized that exactly 1 year ago I began my adventure here to Romania. We left D.C. on the 28th of May and arrived about 30 hours later, on May 30th in Romania. We had an extremely long trip, full of jigs and jags, but if it would have been easy that would not have been any fun. Well needless to say this week matched and exceeded my difficult and long journey here. I don't like to complain, but I have had one heck of a week.

It all started on Monday, when I went to turn on my computer and it did nothing but beep at me with a black screen. So I took it into Botosani to get it looked at and they said that they could not look at it today, even though they said they were open, they failed to mention that there was no one there who could look at it when I called. So I left it there and then wondered around Botosani for a while. The day did turn out better however as I was able to see 2 of the other volunteers there and was able to spend time and talk with them, which is always something I like to do.

So this is how my week began, and let's just say it did not get better for a while. Tuesday came and I went to school and had 2 very bad classes. I then was finished and was able to go to my adult language class that I teach. I had some free time, so I was sitting on a bench and talking with a friend and a bird pooped on my head. So far not a good day! Now people say that a bird pooping on your head is good luck...well it did not bring good luck my way that day. So then I went inside and got cleaned up and decided to call and ask about my laptop. They told me they could not fix it because it was a problem with the keyboard and it is still under warrantee, so they promptly charged me 25 RON for doing absolutely nothing. So then I was so upset I went and bought minutes to call my family which did help me feel better, as it always does, but I did not end up teaching my class. The ladies that I teach were very understanding however and helped me immensely. I think I became a lot closer to one of them throughout this experience which is a blessing because I really enjoy talking to her. So I am still searching on how to get my computer back to either the US or to England or Turkey as there is a Best Buy store there as well. We shall see what we end up doing, I am sure it will work out it is just frustrating.

So just as you think the day could not get any worse, it finds a way. I came home to try to calm down and relax and figure out what to do exactly and I make myself some supper. About 3 hours later I become extremely sick, oh yes a case of food poisoning. I was up all night long, sick as a dog, and spent a majority of Wednesday lieing in bed and trying to regain some strength. Thankfully I am feeling 100% today, but Tuesday night I felt like I was going to be sick forever, and I hope that nobody ever feels like that. A little rest and water the next day did the trick and now I am back to resolving my problems.

So thus far the week has been better, I was able to borrow a computer from the school and I have connected the Internet as well. It took a while and 2 computers to get the Internet to work, but we got it to work. So now I can at least put up Yahoo messenger or Skype and talk to my family. So I am just glad that the week is over and I am hoping that next week brings more pleasant experiences. We shall see!

Let's see enough with the complaining. I came to an interesting realization today. I was helping some of my students today with an application they are filling out for a camp in Hungary, and was translating everything that they were saying with little difficulties. If someone were to say to me, "Sarah by this time next year, you are going to be advanced in Romanian and you are going to be able to translate simple to average texts from Romanian to English" I would have looked at them and said "You are absolutely crazy. Now, however, it is true. There are times when the language frustrates me, but I have learned how to communicate with indivduals, on a rather high proficiency level, in a year. Now I think that is something to be proud of! I am feeling a little nostalgic today, so we will also revisit the past a little. One year ago at this time I was in a hotel waiting to begin my adventure. I had no idea how close I would become to the people that I was going to spend the next 3 months with. I had no idea how strong and how quickly these relationships would form. I have formed an extremely close relationship with an indivudual whom I never would have befriended in the states, she is a great person, but I am pretty sure we would have never crossed each others paths, because we are both so extremely different. How was I to know that this person, who I did not even talk to in Washington D.C. would become one of my greatest friends. Here we however and I am very thankful to have her as a friend.

I remember when we were in Washington, and we all had a mixture of emotions. It was so great to finally meet people who were feeling the exact same things that I was. We were nervous, excited, anxious, emotional, concerned about communication, worried about the dogs, curious about the culture, and every other emotion you can put in there was most likely experienced by someone. When we finally did leave these emotions intensified, but did not become a reality for several more days as we were still kept together in a hotel. When we were separated however, things became real. Some of us faced problems, others did not, but one thing we had in common is that we all stayed strong and leaned on each other for support. This support was established so quickly, and so strongly and is very difficult to break and that feeling is something that I cannot explain in words. It is a bond that I have never felt before, but I am thankful for that bond and for having the opportunity to develop this unique connection.

Now here we are, 1 year later at our sites, preparing to end our first year of school. We endured the first few months at site, struggling with the language and different cultures. We trudged through the first school, some of us were experienced teachers, others of us (i.e. me) had to learn to teach in addition to learning how to communicate with the children. We endured a cold, cold winter, experienced the different ways of celebrating holidays, created our own Thanksgiving (thanks to the very hard work and hospitality of David and Veronica, and to Veronica's amazing cooking!) We have enjoyed the Romanian transportation system, sometimes it was pleasant, other times not so much. Most importantly we have learned the value of other cultures not by simply reading a book, but by living in the culture, which is an experience that is truly to be valued. This is something I have to tell myself often as it is very difficult to stay. I do love the Peace Corps and Romania, but there are times when I would rather be in the comfort of my parents home, living in a country where I know the language perfectly and can solve any problem at the drop of a hat without having to constantly seek assistance from others. Then again I know that if I left I would be extremely disappointed in myself and I know that some of my students would also be disappointed, so I will stay even though things are sometimes difficult, I know that it will be worth it in the end, because the influence I have and the things I will learn cannot be learned from a book and they will be lost if I do not complete this journey.

Well as you can see I am at the 1 year point when home-sickness is in full swing, I don't think the computer problems or food sickness helped either, but what are you to do. In a few weeks time I will be off traveling and in a few months time I will be seeing my parents and for that I cannot wait! Well I think that is about all for now, and my fingers are extremely tired, so I am going to do some other work that doesn't require so much typing. I hope I didn't bore you and I want to reassure you that I am fine, just had a tough week, but oh well that happens right. I am sure that it will all be resolved and it is not as bad as I think that it is. I hope you all have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and that the end of the school year is good for all of you with kids. I am sending you all love, hugs and kisses!

Mi-a dor de voi!
Va iubesc!
Va pup!

~Pana mai tarziu
Sarah B.