In the final sprint

So I am currently getting ready to celebrate my last major holiday in Romania. As I am sitting in my apartment thinking about this, I find it hard to believe that two Easter's ago I was sitting with my family, anxious to start my Romania adventure. This Easter I will be enjoying Easter dinner with a very good friend and her Peace Corps family, but this year I will be anxiously awaiting my next adventure, which is returning home.
I had so many concerns before I came to Romania, "Will I be able to learn the language?" or "What will it be like teaching a bunch of students who don't know English?" or "Will I like the food?" or more Romania specific "Will I get bit by a dog?!" All of these worries were concerns that I shared with my fellow volunteers and upon arriving in Romania I realized they were silly worries. Granted I did find myself crying in language classes a few times because it was extremely difficult, but here I find myself 2 years later with an Advanced communication level in Romanian. I also was extremely nervous about being in front of students, but as they say practice makes perfect. While I am still nervous from time to time going into a class, most of those nerves have been diminished since I know the kids want me there and they do everything they can to make me feel welcome.

These two years have presented challenges and allowed me to learn important life lessons. I have learned how to speak up for myself, rather than to just let things slide. I have learned how to know when it is time to give up, and that failure and moving on are a part of life. Through moving on I was able to have a unique experience in two different parts of Romania and I was able to change my Peace Corps experience to hold a more positive light. I have never been so proud of my ability to say when, if not I could have denied myself an amazing opportunity.

I have learned how to compromise and work as a team with other cultures. My counterparts and director are some of the most wonderful people I know. Working with them has truly been a blessing and we have been able to provide the students with such a broad education, each day learning something different from each other. It is truly a wonderful experience.
I have learned how to respect other cultures. Learning about Romania's traditions for holidays and their importance on families has been so interesting, but more interesting is the language and their love for the land. Romanian's love having things that are homemade and come from their own garden or farm, to take pride in their ability to produce for themselves is truly a wonderful thing to see.
I have learned how to appreciate familiarity, because being a stranger in a foreign country can be the loneliest places sometimes.
I have learned the importance of family and true friends. I love the fact that even though we are separated by 6000 miles, our relationships have stayed strong and they have continually supported me in everything that I have done.
While life may not always be easy here in Romania for me or for anyone else, it has taught me so much about myself and has made me realize just how lucky I am. I have food and water and a roof over my head and I have always had those things. While in Trusesti I didn't always have water, and to get hot water I had to plug in a hot water heater that took hours to heat up. I didn't have a heater, I had to make a fire in order to stay warm. I also didn't have a washer, everything was washed by hand. Now living in Pucioasa, things are completely different. I always have hot water, I have radiators that I can turn up as high as I want and I have a washing machine. While my time in Trusesti wasn't exactly positive, I learned so much from that experience and it has made me appreciate everything that I have both in my home and in my school and has made this second year absolutely unforgettable.

So now as I sit here, accustomed to life in Romania, I have worries about returning to the US, just like I had before going to Romania. I have become accustomed to being alone, so I worry about being around people constantly. While I am excited to see my family, I am worried about being overwhelmed and not finding personal time.

I worry about driving again. I have not been behind the wheel of a car for almost two years, I worry that I will forget how to drive.

I worry about becoming overwhelmed in the supermarket. I have become very accustomed to having only two or three choices for bread, I don't know what I will do when I see ten or more types of bread to choose from.

I worry about money. I have been provided for for the past two years, not having to worry about insurance or medical and I worry about making the right decisions in these areas.

I worry about school and adjusting to graduate school. I am so excited to be going to Fargo to further my education, but I worry about the move and starting over again. It will be different to be a student again, but my excitement is far superior to my worry.

As I think about my worries, I find comfort in the fact that worry means passion. If I wasn't worried then I might not be passionate about this next step. Worry also means that ti will probably be a difficult step, but it will be one that is worth fighting for. It is odd to say, but the worry is soothing and I am glad to have it around.

So in three short months these posts will come to an end, but I will have the memory forever ingrained in my mind. I will be able to print these out and if my memory every falters, I will be able to revisit this experience. I am sad to see this experience coming to a close, but you can bet that I am going to enjoy every bit of time that I have left in this country and with my wonderful Peace Corps family!

I love you all and I hope you are well. I hope that old man winter has left you alone and that spring has finally sprung.

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

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

St. Patrick's and Birthday adventures!

So this week was an action packed week. I had a lot to do, but it went very quickly so that made it a good week. This week I was teaching alone and covering classes since one of my counterparts was in Poland for a school project. I knew that this was coming so I had fun planning St. Patrick's Day themed lessons. The kids had a good time with that and it was fun to do something different that was not part of the regular curriculum and they love to learn about different things (probably because it isn't related to grammar in any way, shape or form!)

This Wednesday I also help a volunteer training session for students in the student council and for students from several other schools in Pucioasa. It went wonderfully! The kids were so attentive and they participated, and offered ideas and did an absolutely wonderful job. The students all paid attention as well even though there was a lot of talking. I tried to make it personal to them as well though so that helped to keep them interested. Then after I talked about what a volunteer project should encompass, they created their own and they came up with wonderful ideas! I even had a student send me an e-mail later to say that she wanted to put these ideas into action and together we will collaborate with the director and my counterpart and hopefully we can get some of these things up and running before I leave. I was so proud of all of them, they did a wonderful job and I couldn't have been prouder.

Then came Thursday, St. Patrick's Day! It was really fun to teach the students on St. Patrick's day because then they could learn the lesson on the actual day. I had many classes on Thursday and was really tired from the week, but still full of energy because my birthday was on Friday. My counterpart had been acting a little strange that day and had been meeting with students, so I knew she was up to something. One of my students had tipped me off that she was planning something, and I saw that she was meeting with students and they were very adamant to tell my counterpart that I was there so she would stop talking about whatever it was she was talking about. So I knew she was up to something, I just didn't know what. We normally have our last class together on Thursdays because it is an optional class and that is the one class that we teach together every week. She did not come to class and the student on duty came to tell me it was because she was at the high school. I knew that wasn't true, but I just figured that she was off practicing something with the students. I thought she was going to have them put on a little play or sing a song for me on Friday or something. Boy was I wrong!




So I get done with school and go home, like any other day. I go into my apartment and I notice that my kitchen door is closed. I find this very weird because I never close my kitchen door, but I just figured my landlord had been there or something. So I come inside and turn on my hall light, go back to close the door and before I can close it I hear "Happy Birthday Sarah!" I had to grip the wall I was so shocked. I slowly creeped towards my living room, not exactly sure what I was going to find, as the singing continued I looked into the living room to see my director, counterpart and about 20 of my students in my living room singing to me with presents on my coffee table. I turned around and saw a cake coming towards me with 25 candles on it.
This explained the closed door, as one of my student's mothers was hiding in my pantry with the cake and lit candles. I couldn't believe it, I was so surprised and felt so blessed! My counterpart had used the spare key that I gave to her in the case of an emergency and she surely got me good! She is so thoughtful and it was so wonderful to see my director and so many of my students. I adore them and it was so nice that they wanted to do something special for me on my birthday. I was surprised that they were all able to stay so quiet, especially since there were so many of them!
So after that we enjoyed cake and the kids had fun playing with balloons and noisemakers and then they each went around and said a personal birthday wish to me. I felt truly blessed and it was so nice to see the impact that I am making here, I see the impact they make on me every day, but sometimes it is difficult to see the other side. They are truly wonderful and I am so lucky to have them as a part of their lives.



So that was my birthday surprise so the day of my birthday I went to school as usual and enjoyed a nice calm birthday with my colleagues at school. Then I came home from school to talk with my family, which was also really nice. I was glad that I was able to talk to them on my birthday. Next year if my birthday falls along Spring break I might actually be able to spend it with them, which I am sure they will love :) We shall see.

So that was my adventure for the week. I think it is safe to say that this year was one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I have never been so surprised in my entire life and while I was shocked and a little bit scared I felt so loved and that feeling is truly wonderful. I am so thankful for my site, school, conterparts, director and students. They made it an absolutely wonderful day, so to them I say a big THANK YOU!!!!!

I also want to send a Happy Birthday out to my big brother, he will be turning 26 on Wednesday, so as of right now we are both 25. I always like to tease him and during these 5 days I used to tell him that he was not a year older than me anymore, we were the same age. That used to drive him crazy :) It was fun to tease him about it. I love my brother very much and I am very thankful to have him in my life. Though we fight from time to time and we are very different people, I love him with all my heart. He is a wonderful brother and life would not be the same without him. Happy Birthday big brother!

I hope all is well state side. I am looking forward to seeing everyone in 3 1/2 short months. I will only be home for about a month and then I will be starting my next adventure, but it will be a good month, I will make sure of that! I love you all and miss you very much. I hope spring has sprung by you and that you are enjoying wonderful weather. The weather here is teasing us a little bit, but I am sure that it will be lovely out before we know it!

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

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Beginnings and Endings

So this past week and a half has been filled with activities, I hardly know where to begin! Well let's start with last week Monday because that is when my adventure of two weeks really started.

Back in December I completed all of my applications for graduate school, I applied to three schools and was asked to interview at two, which in my opinion is actually pretty good statistics. I was very excited to hear back from just one school, but to hear from two was simply amazing. The first school I heard back from was North Dakota State University (NDSU), and upon further research preparing for the interview I began to like the school more and more. They have a strong emphasis on underserved families and individuals, which would include those from minorities, single parent households, and those from the LGBT community. In essence NDSU has a very diverse program and would prepare me for a wide array of situations and allow me to reach out to more people. So the next part of my experience was the interview,

As you know interviews are never easy, they are anxiety provoking and no matter how prepared you think you are there is always something that goes under your radar, and this question always seems to come up. This is basically how I felt that my interview went. I was so nervous I could not find my words, I stuttered, I stammered and did basically just about everything else you could do that would show signs of nerves. At one point I could not find my words so I said that I sometimes thought in Romanian and had to translate into English, but I think at that point my mind was just blank with nerves. I was able to answer every question however, and they were each really nice and patient and it was an interesting experience. My favorite part of the interview was asking them questions however, I learned a lot about the school and I could see their pride that they have for the program, which was really amazing. I also learned about the research opportunities, which are abundant (which I really like!) and that I can apply for an assistanceship. This assistnaceship would entail 10 hours of work a week with a professor either as a research assistant or a teacher’s assistant, thus resulting in a tuition waiver and some extra money for other living expenses. Essentially I hear tuition waiver and all I think is “AWESOME” and I get to do research, which I love to do! So that was the basic gist of the interview. They told me that they would get back to me in about two weeks, so I was in limbo left with my mind wandering on what I should have said and didn’t and shouldn’t have said and did. Oh fun!

The following Friday morning I went to check my e-mail just like I do every morning and a surprising message was waiting for me, it was from NDSU! My heart stopped! I saw the director’s name, then the program, and opened it faster than I have ever opened anything else before. The first word that greeted me was “Congratulations!” , I had done it! I was accepted into graduate school! This was one of the times I wished that I lived with someone so I could give them a big hug in celebration, but instead I went running around my apartment like a chicken with it’s head cut off trying to find my phone so I could call my friend Carly and tell her the good news. They told me two weeks and accepted me after just four days, and I was the last person interviewed as everyone else was present for the group interview, and being in Romania that made it a little hard for me. Needless to say I was ecstatic. I was accepted into graduate school! This brings me onto my next step, the decision.
Oh who am I kidding, the decision was extremely easy to make. I accepted their offer and I will be studying in Fargo next year at NDSU and I will be getting a great education in the process. I am so thankful for this opportunity and I am very blessed to be accepted into graduate school. This just takes me one step closer to achieving my goal of becoming a therapist. I am so excited to start this journey.
So next year I will be moving to Fargo, studying, hopefully working, studying, researching, studying, and oh did I mention studying. I am sure that I will be very busy and it will be extremely challenging, but I never run away from a challenge. I run at them full speed and conquer them, and that is what I will do in Fargo. I will have great opportunities and will receive a great education. I am sure that it will be hard to get into the swing of things at first, but I know in time that I will be able to do it. I love learning about Psychology and I look forward to studying it again, this time it will be the start of studying it and practicing it for the rest of my life, I can’t wait!

With graduate school lined up for next year, I could focus on my next task, preparing for the Peace Corps visit. Every year Peace Corps makes its rounds and visits volunteers at their school, to check in and see how things are going. Tuesday was my day, our country director and TEFL program coordinator came to visit me. I was very excited to see Mirela, the TEFL coordinator, because she returned mid maternity leave for a bit to help out with site visits. She has been gone for about a year (maternity leave is two years in Romania) so it was an absolute treat to see her since I didn’t think I was going to get the chance to see her again. We visited with my counterparts and director and talked about the things that I have done so far and the things I have yet to do in my four months left in country and just had a nice time chatting with each other. Then we went on to classroom observation. I was able to choose which class we would go to, so I chose the 7th graders, because they are such a wonderful class. They were a little bit nervous, but they did a wonderful job just like I knew they would! I thinking I was just bursting with pride for them, they make teaching such a wonderful experience. Teaching can be so hard, but these kids just make it so easy and I am very blessed to have them as students. I think this is the most quiet I have ever seen them, but they still participated and did a great job. I am going to miss those kids next year!

Which brings me to my next point Close Of Service (COS). In about two weeks I will be traveling to Sinaia for my COS conference. It is hard to believe that it is already almost here! It feels like just yesterday I got to country, and now I will be preparing to leave. It is just crazy, absolutely crazy! I am excited that I will be returning home in just four months but sad at the same time, because I have created so many wonderful memories and friendships here in Romania. I guess I will just have to enjoy them while I can! I have lots to do in my last few months in country so I am sure that I will have lots of things to write about in the coming months.

Speaking of endings, I unfortunately had another loss in my family this week. On Tuesday, March 8th, my great uncle, Ted Thoele, passed away. While it is a sad event, he was 94 years old and lived a good full life. He was a wonderful person and I have many fond memories of him. We did not get to see each other often as he lived in Minnesota, but when we did it was nice. My brother and I thought it was so cool going to visit him in St. Paul because he lived on the 40th floor (I think) of an apartment building and you could see forever. We just thought it was the coolest thing. It was also fun to joke with him about the Vikings, he was a huge Vikings fan, and my parents and I are huge Packers fans, so we would always go back and forth about who was the best. I also thought it was funny when he said he was taking “the kids” to the doctor. He moved to an apartment complex for older individuals when he was in his late 80s and he used to take other residents who were in their 70s to the doctor because they couldn’t drive. He was able to drive up until he was 92 and he still played golf well into his 80s. He was a very good man and he will not be forgotten. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at home (he lived alone) and I know he is now happy and together again with my grandpa (his brother) his wife, and his good friend Liz. We will miss you Uncle Ted but we will never forget you, you are in our hearts forever and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to know you.
That is all that I have for today. I hope you are all doing well, I miss you all very much and I am looking forward to seeing you in four months! Exactly four months from today (July 11th) I will be coming home! I can’t wait and I will be expecting lots of hugs from all of you. Take care and I hope you have a wonderful day! Love you!!

Va pup!
Va iubesc!
Mi-a dor de voi!
Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Hail to Women!

So yesterday was a fun day. In the county that I live in there are five other volunteers, we all live less than an hour away from each other, but with the trials and responsibilities of everyday life we unfortunately to not get to see each other very often. Now I was not to happy with this idea, so I decided it would be fun if we got together once a month or so for a meal. Yesterday was the day and we had 5 of the 6 volunteers present, but one substitute so there were 6 of us in all. We had a delicious meal which included a vegetarian, spinach lasagna, bruschetta, garlic bread, salad and wine. It was so delicious! I made the lasagna, since it was at my house that was the easiest way to do it, it was so delicious if I say so myself! I was very proud of my first lasagna that I made in country and I am going to try it again in the near future because it was just that good! The others brought supplies for bruschetta and garlic bread, which was ridiculously tasty! Another volunteer brought supplies for a salad with mango and feta cheese and it was so delicious! I had never had a salad with mango before, but I was a big fan, it was so tasty and fresh and delicious!
It was so nice to be able to get together with volunteers and chat and simply enjoy one another's company, we hope to be able to do it again in the very near future :)

This upcoming week we are celebrating one of my favorite holidays in Romania. Martisoara and womens day. Well womens day isn't technically until next week Tuesday, but this Tuesday is Martisoara. What this means is all the women will get little pins to pin onto their shirts and some will get flowers and candy or coffee or maybe a small bottle of perfume, but mainly flowers. It is basically just appreciation for women and it is so nice, because I love flowers and I love receiving them! Hopefully my house will be filled with the scent of flowers and my shirt will be covered with martisoara, we shall see!

Not to much to report from this past week, classes went as usual. I am going to start working on a project this week, we will be painting a mural on a wall in school so there is some prep work that I have to do in advance. This prep work includes doing a volunteer training, picking a focus group, working on fundraising, and developing a design for the wall. The mural will have a theme of volunteerism as Peace Corps is celebrating 50 years of service and Peace Corps Romania is celebrating 20 years. There is a pretty cool design that some of our volunteers came up with for the PC Romania celebration logo, so hopefully we will be able to incorporate that somehow...we shall see!

Well that is all that I have for this week. I hope you are all doing well and staying warm! It is 19 weeks and 1 day until I come home...not like I am counting or anything :) I am looking forward to my last 5 months in country, but also to coming home and being among family and friends again. Well I better get to work! I have lesson planning to do! Have a wonderful week and I hope that mother nature is nice to you :)

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

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Snow....oh snow

So today is a snowy day here in Pucioasa. Even though I am used the the changes in weather, 50 degrees one day and snow melting everywhere, and then snow a few days later just to turn everything white again, does not mean I like it! Oh well what are you going to do. Before I know it I am sure that spring will be here and I will be able to enjoy the lovely weather just in time to go home in July. It is hard to believe that I will be home before we know it, just in a few months time!

I wish that I had something interesting to report this week, but I only have school. It was nothing super interesting either just a regular school week, so instead I think I will take a blast to the past and talk about my family as today my dad celebrates his birthday.

An undisclosed number of years ago, my father entered this world and boy am I glad that he did. Even though we fought when I was growing up, and still fight now from time to time, I am still so thankful for him each and every day. My dad has always been nothing but supporting to me. When I was in sports, even if I didn't play much, my dad and mom were always there supporting me. I don't think there was one time that both of them missed a game. From time to time, one had to miss it because Fred had something going on, but they were always there for me. I am so blessed for that. My dad has also always been really helpful to me when I have had problems. Whenever something would break, I would go to dad first to see if he could fix it, even when I was in college! I would have problems at home and before I would call my landlord, on small things, I would call my dad to see if he could help me fix it, or if there was a problem with my car, I would call my dad first to see if he could help me fix it before I paid someone to do it for me. He has taught me to be a do-it-myself girl, because I always try to resolve problems myself, within reason that is, before I waste money. While I don't try to fix things that deal with electricity, I usually try to resolve other, small household problems on my own first, which is how I was able to fix my drain in my old apartment by myself, which I was really proud of myself for! I think that was pretty awesome on my part.

He has also taught me to be kind to others. I think he is a big part of the reason that I wanted to join the Peace Corps. While I wanted the opportunity to experience a different culture, I also wanted the chance to help others. Growing up, we were always volunteering and helping out for things in church and I think that this habit just grew into something bigger. So thank you dad for always encouraging me to do good things for others, I am on the journey of a life time now which has helped me to grow as a person.

I am so thankful for my family every day, and my father is a big part of holding that together. He and my mom are both so passionate about having a close family and they have done a beautiful job of maintaining that. I have a brother whom I love and get along with, and awesome sister-in-law and 2 wonderful nieces and an adorable nephew, all of whom I am crazy about! My family has been so supportive of me in my journey and I am so thankful for that, and thankful for my dad for making our family strong and supportive of one another in all situations. You are awesome dad and I love you, and Happy Birthday to you today and many more to come!

I love and miss you all back home and I hope that you are well and that every day brings you only happiness. I can't wait to see all of you in just a few months time. Take care and don't get to cold with the February freeze that will more than likely inevitably come, and also stay away from the flood waters that might arise from the February thaw! We will see what this next week brings, because both are possible, oh the joys of living in the midwest!

Va iubesc!
Va pup!
Mi-a dor de voi!
Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Last Semester at school....is that really possible!

So this last year has been a little surreal. I have traveled to a total of four countries, Hungary, Italy, France and Turkey,I have traveled all around Romania, I have hosted my parents, I attended many summer camps, I moved and I started at a new school. There has been so much that it is hard to believe that I am now starting my last semester here in Romania. In less than 5 months I will be on a plane headed back to The United States. Sometimes it feels like I have been in Romania for ages, and then other times it feels like I just arrived a few months ago. I can't believe that the time for me to leave is almost here, when it feels like I have just started my work. It will surely be a bittersweet parting when the time comes to leave. Some may ask if it will be so difficult to leave, why not stay for another year? I did think about that, but as much as I love Romania, I miss my family even more. I also do not feel that teaching is the right career path for me and I want to get started on my graduate degree, assuming I get into grad school that is :) I also have missed so much with my nieces and nephew and I want to be there for them. I don't want to be that aunt whom they never see. It will be so wonderful when I finally get to hold them in my arms again.

Enough with the sappy stuff then, so this week I started school and was feeling very nostalgic about the events of the past year, mainly related to school and myself. While in Peace Corps I have learned so much. More than I think I could anticipate and it is difficult for me to see exactly what I have learned unless I actually sit down and analyze it. So here are some things that I have learned.

1.) Language -- I never thought that I would be able to learn how to communicate in a foreign language. When I was in high school I struggled through Spanish, while I understood the vocabulary I had absolutely now speaking abilities and I couldn't apply it in any sort of situation, much less and everyday situation. Within my first year I did learn the language to a rather high level and I was almost always able to get my point across in a variety of situations. In the past year my language has improved even more and I am able to have a minimum of 10 minute conversations and up to several hour conversations with little to no problems in communication. I am so proud of myself for learning this language and for always pushing myself to get better.

2.) Assertiveness -- Sometimes it is very difficult to stick up for yourself. I have always found this something very difficult to do, I would just ignore things and hope the negative feelings would eventually go away, which of course they did not. This option seemed a better one to me, because the idea of confrontation terrified me because I would always freeze up and feel this emotion of tension whenever it would happen, often leaving me at a loss of words and unable to stick up for myself. However asking for a site change was the first step in me sticking up for myself. I was very adamant about my request because I knew that it was the right thing for me. I thought long and hard about even making the request, and once I felt I had no other options left for me I made it. While it was not an easy process I stuck with it and it proved worth it in the end. This year in my school has been wonderful, and I have continued sticking up for myself, even though the occasion comes up so infrequently. I still need improvement but feel I am well on my way to developing a skill that will only benefit me in the future.

3.) Open -minded -- I have become much more open minded since being here in Romania. This is not necessarily due to Romania itself, but more so to the people I have met within my group and the groups before and after me. Every one of my fellow volunteers is different and each one has challenged my opinions in one way or another, but also open my eyes up to different perspectives. While I don't necessarily agree with each perspective, it helps me to further formulate my opinions regarding certain things and to be certain of the opinions I hold, by looking at from various angles. I think this has helped me to become a better person and I think it will make me a better therapist one day.

4.) Patience -- This is something that has developed, but still has a long way to go. I now have no trouble waiting up to an hour for a bus, because I know eventually one will come. Or waiting for someone to come fix something in your apartment, they may have said a half hour, but that is just an estimate, it could be up to two hours or more later. While I will look forward to having my own car again one day and having more control over my schedule, I feel this patience could come in handy in other situations, for example waiting for my nieces and nephew as they decide exactly what toy they want to bring with them or friends when they just can't seem to decide what to wear that day.

These are only a few of the things that I have learned, if I were to type everything I had learned we would be here for a very long time. In essence my experience so far has shaped me into a better person and I can only hope and pray that these will stay with me and I will continue to grow into and even better person as I return home and pursue my future. My Peace Corps experience has been an ongoing learning process and I look forward to what the final months of my service here will teach me. I am sure that I will have many more learning experiences that will continue to help me grow into what I hope to be an excellent person.

Turkey Turkey Turkey

So it has been about 4 weeks since I have updated, and that is because it has been a crazy busy 4 weeks. I don't think I had much time to breathe since school started up. I was constantly on the go getting ready for the end of the semester and the Special English Evening that my students put on. So let's start out with that.

Special English Evening

So on the last day of the semester my school has the tradition of having a Special English Evening, in which the students in the intensive English classes (3-4 classes of English a week) prepare something to present to the parents and other students. This year there were 16 numbers. I helped prepare all but two of them, so it was pretty crazy. The students sang songs such as, "If I Lived Under the Sea" "The Wheels on the Bus", "She's a Lady", "There's a time to laugh", "I'm a Believer" and "People Work". The 5th grade optional drama class prepared two plays, "Twelve Angry Pigs" and "Stone Soup" These plays were a little rough up until right before the actual event, but the kids did wonderfully with them and I was very proud of them. The 6th grade optional drama class wrote their own plays. There were four short skits and each of them did wonderful! I was also very proud. I helped the 7th graders create "the Golden Raspberries" which was their very own version of the Academy Awards. They did such a wonderful job, I shouldn't pick favorites, but their's was my favorite. They each did such a wonderful job, they were so creative and it was hilarious, we had celebrities such Sandra Bullock, Megan Fox, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwaznegger (played by the smallest kid in the class...who also happens to be a big ham), Joe Peschi, Ben Stiller and many more. There was a scene acted out from Charlie and "The Chocolate Factory" in which one of the tiniest boys in the class was dressed as Violet Beauregard, which was hilarious. They were awesome, hopefully I will get a tape so that I can show it to all of you when I get home. I was so proud of each one of my classes and they made the evening wonderful.

Once that was done I was able to relax for a few days until my friend Chelsea came over and we hung out for a few days and then left for Istanbul. Oh what a journey that was. We took a train and when we got on the train we found out there was no heat. The conductor brought us extra blankets to keep warm, but it still was like sitting in a freezer. A few hours later, he came and told us to come with him to the other cabin to warm up for a while. Once we got in there, there was no way we were leaving again, so we asked if we could pay for an upgrade, it was less than we thought it would be, but frankly it didn't matter we were so cold we would have paid just about anything! So we went from second class to first class, which was comfortable and most importantly warm!

It was very nice in there and we were able to sleep and stay toasty, but we did get woken up in the middle of the night because we had to get off of the train to buy our Visas into Hungry and get our passports stamped. The last thing that any of us wanted to do at 2 o'clock in the morning was to get off of the train and go into the freezing cold to have our passports stamped. Oh well, we did so and we got back onto the train where it was toasty warm.

So we finally arrived in Istanbul, 21 hours later. We were very excited to get off the train and start our adventure. I did not have any Turkish Lira however so I went to an ATM to get some money and the ATM ate my debit card. So here I am freaking out in Turkey not even 10 minutes after I have gotten off of the train and I am left without an ATM card, my lifeline. Needless to say I was freaking out, but my friend Chelsea was keeping me grounded. I went to the bank across the street who owned the ATM and they told me quite rudely that they couldn't get me my card back and I told them as firmly and angrily as I could how angry I was, which as you know for me isn't that impressive. So after a little bit I accepted that I wasn't going to get my card back, so we went to change some money because we both had a little bit of American money with us. So we changed that and went to find our hostel. Once at the hostel I was starting to feel a bit better especially once I found out I could pay for it on a credit card without a PIN. I have an emergency credit card that I use very infrequently, but I have it just for occasions such as this, and this time around it saved my life. Since it was so early and the credit union was updating their system my mom couldn't send me money until Tuesday, so that meant that I was without money in Turkey until Wednesday. So for my first 2 days of the trip I had no money, but my friend was helping me out, I would put meals on my card and she would pay me back so I was able to at least get enough money to pay for my train ticket back. Then once the money was Western Unioned to me via my lovely mother I was able to spend just about all of it :)

While in Turkey we were able to see many wonderful things. The first day we walked around the Grand Bazaar which was awesome. The vendors there were crazy though, they wanted you to buy everything and they were a little intense, but as long as you kept walking it was okay. Then we wondered near the Blue Mosque, but it was already closed so we went back to our hostel to relax a little bit. We met some awesome people in the hostel that night and had a lot of fun with them. It was a good end to the to a day that started out really rough.

The next day we walked around some more and stopped by the Blue Mosque, but didn't go in because it was closed for prayer. We then proceeded to do a loop around Istanbul past the Grand Bazaar, to the University, out to a Mosque then looping back to the Spice Market. We stopped for lunch along the way as well and had a lovely meal at a cute little Turkish restaurant, it was a delicious Pita. Then we headed back to the hostel after a very very full day of walking. We went out to dinner that night to another traditional Turkish restaurant which was pretty cool. They had a live band playing Turkish music. I thought it was really neat because the clarinet was a major part of the music, and this guy had mad skills. It made me want to start playing again as it would be awesome to play as well as he did! Then we went back to the hostel and hung out for awhile, but turned in pretty early as we were rather exhausted.

Day 3 my money finally arrived so I was able to start my real vacation. We went to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Both were magnificent buildings and it is amazing home people have been able to create these amazing buildings, and how they think about them. After seeing these building is was time for me to do some much needed shopping and needless to say, I got all my souvenirs in just one day, and I found something for everyone, which was pretty cool. We met some really interesting vendors, and since it was a slow day for them they actually were less annoying. There was a guy selling teas and spices that was just hilarious and he actually gave us a little extra tea for no extra charge, which was pretty awesome and he made it fun to buy from him. We then found a guy selling scarves that were beautiful and a good price and he also gave us a pretty good deal. It was a good day in both the spice market and grand bazaar for us and we had a lot of fun. Before we went mad on shopping however we went to an Archeological Museum that was actually really amazing. It has been a while since I have been to a good museum, so I really enjoyed it and saw lots of really cool things. It was a good time.

So after a 9-7 day we called it a day and headed back to the hostel for some dinner and relaxing as well as to hear about everyone else's day.

Then on our final day there we went on the ferry that took us over to the Asia side of Istanbul. The ferry ride was beautiful, but cold. I can't even imagine how beautiful that trip would be in the summer time on a nice sunny day. It was lovely just to see the city from the Bosphorus Strait and it was fun to climb up to the castle that sat up on a hill and to look out into the Strait on one side and the Black Sea on the other. We also enjoyed a nice lunch over there, and Chelsea was in heaven with the choice of seafood there was and the waiters thought I was funny because all I wanted was anything but fish. It was a good day trip though. Once we got back we dropped some things off at the hostel and then went to experience a traditional Turkish Bath.

This bath was an interesting experience, and I am not so sure how much I liked it. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it like some people do. Many of you know me as a rather modest person, so the fact of someone else bathing you is kind of odd. I mean I was really clean, and it was really warm, and who doesn't like a good massage, so I felt really relaxed afterward, but it was an interesting experience. I also got to sit in a jacuzzi for a while and that was just fantastic. So we were able to get on the train all relaxed and clean for our trip back to Romania. It took us exactly 24 hours to get back but now we are home and I am so glad that I got to sleep in my own bed. I don't sleep well in strange places so I hadn't slept well for a week, but as soon as I got into my own bed after about 5 minutes I fell asleep and I didn't wake up again until I saw the sunlight at about 9 o'clock in the morning, it was a dreamless and fantastic sleep.

I learned many things on this trip

1.) Next time I am flying it is faster :)

2.) Don't put your ATM card into strange ATMs :)

3.) It rocks having a mom that works for the credit union where your money is kept because she can take care of everything in a moments notice

4.) Turkish baths are relaxing but a little awkward

5.) Hostels can be a crazy amount of fun and you meet the most interesting people there.

6.) I enjoy traveling and the world is full of beautiful and interesting places

7.) I am glad I didn't plan this trip to Egypt, or else I would have been evacuated.

So all in all it was a good vacation, I had a ton of fun, we saw beautiful buildings, ate delicious food, met wonderful people, and had experiences that I will never forget. So that was my trip. this will probably be the last one I get to take as my budget will not allow for any others. I will miss traveling, but I hope to be able to travel some more once I get state side, which will be in exactly 5 months and 6 days, not that I am counting or anything :)

I hope all of you are doing well and I miss you all very much each and every day. I can't wait to see in you in just a few months time, it has been too long and I can't wait to give you all hugs!

Va iubesc
Va pup
Mi-a dor de voi

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Happy New Year!

So another year has come and gone, it feels like just yesterday I was with friends in Braila celebrating New Year's and yesterday I was bringing in the New Year's again, but this time in Brasov. While it was significantly colder this year, it was also a lot of fun. There were fireworks, live music and dancing. It makes me wonder what I will be doing next year for New Year's!

So I was thinking a little bit about this past year and I have had my fair share of adventures. I have traveled to 14 cities within Romania, been to Budapest, Rome and Paris, taught at 2 different schools, moved, helped out with 4 different camps over the summer and most recently applied for graduate school. Sometimes it feels like I have not done much because they are spread out, but this has surely been an adventure filled year. I often forget about all the things that I have done because my sense of normalcy has changed. I am glad that I have adjusted, but I still look forward to the normalcy that I will have once I am stateside once again :)

So my winter break is almost over and I have many things to plan for the coming year. In terms of school I will continue teaching all of my classes, but in addition to this we will work on a mural that will be painted at the school, prepare for the special English Evening which involves putting together musical numbers and rehearsing plays and I will be planning a camp for my students. Needless to say I am not running short on things to do. In addition to this I have my final preparations for graduate school applications, planning a trip to Istanbul, and figuring out what I am going to do once I return home. I thought last year was busy I think that this year is going to turn out to be even busier! That is a good thing though because when things are stagnant I have a tendency of getting bored.

Well that is all I have to say for today. I haven't had to many exciting things happen to me in the last few weeks, just vacation and relaxing and not much traveling so no crazy travel stories to share with you :) Hopefully this week at school will bring some interesting experiences but we will just have to wait and see.

Enjoy the Packer's Bear's game today, I will be tuning in and cheering loudly. I am wearing all of my Packer's apparel and I am ready for the game. Have a beer and a brat for me and cheer as loud as you can! Maybe if I am lucky I will get to go to a game next year! That would just make my day!

Take care and I love you all very much. I hope your New Year's was magical and fully of happiness. I miss you all and I think about you everyday and I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life.

Two more days and then vacation here I come!

So I am coming up to my last week of school before vacation starts, Yippee! I have a lot of things that I need to get done over vacation, including but not limited to grad school applications and secondary project work. I have been slacking in both, so I really need to get them accomplished. Keep your fingers crossed on the grad school apps, I sure hope that I get into at least one!

So Christmas is less than a week away, it seems like just yesterday it was Halloween! The good thing is however my school always keeps me busy with things. They do tons of stuff for Christmas. One of the things that they do is individual parties for the little kids, one for each class. So the 3rd and 4th graders with intensive English (English 3 times a week) each put on a short play. The 4th graders did one that was pre-written, and my counterpart and I wrote one for the 3rd graders. I was so proud of them, they learned their lines so well and they really got into it. Then at the end they sang a song and they all did such a good job. I was so proud of them! It was so fun to be a part of it. Also each of the classes gave me a present, which I was not expecting in the least. I was so surprised to receive one, but pleasantly so. The 4th grade class gave me a nice brown purse that can double as a school bag, it feels like it is made out of fake leather and it is super cute and simple, just like I like it! The 3rd graders gave me a box of candy and a candle holder that has butterflies and little glittery balls on it. Again it is super simple and super cute, I have it under my tree now, it feels so nice to have a tree in my apartment and it is super pretty when it is all lit up at night!

So talking about my Christmas tree, I think that serves as a good segway to a story that I want to tell. So on December 15th I put up my tree as this is the day that my family and I always put up the Christmas tree when I was younger. So while I was decorating the tree I started out with the lights, as usual. They were a little tangled so I thought I would plug them in first to make sure they worked and to help me untangle them. When I plugged them in, the began to emit the most horrible sound that I had ever heard. I was convinced they were going to blow up, but just before I unplugged them, I noticed that the sound was changing in pitch and it had a rhythm to it, it was playing Jingle Bells! Well at least it was trying to play Jingle Bells, but the batteries or sound in it was not as good as it used to be so it sounded like a dieing cat squealing Jingle Bells. Thankfully I figured out how to turn the sound off because the lights are very pretty on the tree. This tree is super tiny, but super cute as it is just the right size for my apartment, it is not to big yet not to small, it is a nice addition for the holiday season.

So this week at school we finish up on Tuesday, when some of my students will be performing in the school Christmas extravaganza where there will be at least 15 acts and it will be about a 3 hour long ordeal. I am looking forward to it however and the kids are going to do great, I have every confidence in them. I will post pictures no worries! It is nice that I have so much to do as it makes it a little bit easier to be away from home. I still have been feeling a little sad lately as it has been hard to be away from my family, especially at Christmas. I will get to talk to them tonight however as it is the annual Busse/Sebo Christmas and this year it is being held at my parents house. It will be nice to see some family that I have not talked to in awhile. I am looking forward to being home next year for Christmas, no matter where I am or where I am working or going to school I am going to make sure that I make it home in time for Christmas to spend it with my family and to see Blair perform in church as Josee will not quite be old enough to do the Christmas Eve service. I miss seeing their faces and how they look when they open presents. Josee wasn't old enough to care what she got for Christmas when I left, but now she is, so I can't wait to see her face next year. I will be spending Christmas with my second family that I have made here in Romania, but that will never replace the awesome family that I have back home! Just think we will be together again before you know it! I can't wait!

Alright enough of the sad stuff, I have to figure out what I am going to do with my optional classes this week and plan for the few classes that I have to do this week, only 2 days of classes, most of which are going to be reserved for rehearsal which makes my job a lot easier! Here's hoping that it is a quick and painless week! I love and miss you all every single day and I can't wait to see you in a little over a half years time. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and that the good Lord continues to bless you over this holiday season. Have safe travels and enjoy the company of family, you never know how much you miss it until you do not have it for one or two holiday seasons. Take care and I send my love to you. Merry Christmas!

St. Nick's Day

So I wanted to start out and wish a happy birthday to my friend Sarah. Sarah and I have been friends for about 19 years and I am so thankful that she is a part of my life. On Thursday she welcomed in another bundle of joy, Alyssa Russel, and I wish I could have been there to visit her and meet her. Sarah I miss you like crazy and I am so grateful you are in my life. I also am so happy that you have such a wonderful husband and two beautiful little girls, you deserve every happiness in life. I love you and miss you and can't wait to meet little Alyssa when I come home this summer.

So tomorrow is St. Nick's Day. I am always brought back to my childhood on this day. I always was so anxious to wake up on Dec. 6th to see what St. Nick had brought me the night before. Sometimes he would come early, but Fred and I weren't allowed to look in our stockings until the day of, so we would feel the outside to try and figure out what was in there. I remember one year I got a giga pet. Those were those crazy electronic toys that were supposed to represent pets, you had to feed it and walk it and clean up after it. I was so excited that there was a giga pet in my stocking, that I didn't sleep hardly at all that night. Then when I opened it the next morning I was so excited it was a dalmatian. I started taking care of it right away. I actually remember at one point I had two, because I was "babysitting" one of my friends pets. Oh the things that we get excited about when we are kids is just hilarious.

I also remember that every year, St. Nick would bring us a Christmas movie. We got movies like The Santa Claus 1,2 and 3, Jingle All the Way, Elf and Fred Claus to name a few. We always could guess which one we were going to get that year, but it was still fun to see what was there in the morning. St. Nick even came to me at college. I would get care packages filled with candy and lottery tickets and little trinkets to decorate my room.

Another fond memory I have from St. Nick's Day is from my roommate Sarah (yes I know a lot of Sarahs) She loves Christmas and everything to do with Christmas, so she crocheted a stocking for my roommate and me. I woke up Dec. 6th to find a stocking filled with treats hanging on my bedroom door. It was such a sweet surprise, she has always been such a thoughtful person.

This year I am not doing anything special for St. Nick's Day, just going to tutor and enjoying a walk outside. I can finally get outside because today is the first day in about four days that it hasn't been pouring rain. I am getting a little antsy to get outside and I am grateful that I will be able to do so today. Even though I am not doing anything special, it is sure fun to reminisce about the traditions that I had in my household. I look forward to rejoining those and starting new ones when I have my own family.

With the holiday season fast approaching it is easy to feel a little homesick. I am however very lucky that I have found a second family here within the Peace Corps. We really come together when it is most needed and support each other in every way possible. It is a great experience and I am very blessed. I hope that everyone at home has a Happy st. Nick's Day and that you are able to enjoy the candy that he brings. I think the candy I miss the most would have to be the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, those were always my favorite and are ridiculously tasty! Well enjoy your candies and your families. I miss and love you and look forward to being together again in the future.

Mi-a dor de voi
Va pup
Va iubesc

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B

A Day of Thanks

So with Thanksgiving approaching, I thought I would dedicate this blog to all of the things that I am thankful for starting with the obvious

1.) Family -- I am so blessed to have an extremely supportive and wonderful family. No matter what I do, or what adventure I want to pursue next they are always supportive of me. They have always loved me and always will. I am very lucky to have such a special bond with my parents and brother, and to have a wonderful sister-in-law, two fabulous nieces and an adorable nephew who I cannot wait to meet.

2.) Faith -- My faith in God has helped me so much throughout my life. I am so thankful that it is a part of my life and that it has never left me, even in my darkest hour. I am very lucky to have something so supportive and strong in my life that will always comfort me and provide me with hope for the future.

3.) Education -- I am so grateful that I have been able to have had such a blessed education. Working here in Romania, the school systems are good, but sometimes are not super supportive. Again this depends on the area that you are in. My current school is very supportive, but I have seen schools that just don't have the means to be as supportive as they want. I not only was able to get tutoring outside of school if I wanted to, but my school had books in good condition for everyone, computers for use when necessary, reliable heating in the winter, and special education classrooms for those who needed it. Even though I might feel animosity towards my education at times, it still was good and I am very lucky to have it. I am also very lucky that I was able to pursue a college degree and will soon start my adventure of a masters degree.

4.) Kindness and Support -- I feel these to things are intertwined as one leads to the other. I not only have support from my family, but from my friends, colleagues, the Peace Corps, and my community. People who know nothing about me here in Romania, are willing to support and help me when necessary, that kindness baffles and awes me. I am so grateful that these people are willing to provide me with such kindness without expecting anything in return and without asking. It makes being far away from home and all things so much easier when complete strangers are willing to provide you with such kindness just to make you feel welcome in their community. I also experience a feeling of warmth whenever I am able to spread that kindness to others. To make someone else feel happy just by being kind is a feeling that I cannot express through words it is so wonderful.

5.) Love -- Without love I do not think the world could go round. I have so much love in my heart for my family and friends and I know that that love is extended back to me. Without it I would feel empty, and sad, but I never have to feel that way knowing that there is love out there for me to receive and I have lots of love to give back.


6.) A home -- I am so grateful that every night, I have a roof over my head and heat to keep me warm. There are so many people in this world who do not have this blessing, and I am so grateful to be this fortunate.

7.) Food -- Everyday I am able to go to the store and buy what I need to keep me healthy and well-fed. Again there are so many people who do not have these blessings and I only hope that this blessing will find them soon and remain with them through the help of kind and generous souls.

8.) Clean running water -- As a Peace Corp Volunteer, I never dreamed that I would be living in an apartment or that I would have constant access to clean running water. I always imagined myself in a small village in Africa and having to wash my clothes in the river and sleep on a mat in a small hut. I am so fortunate to have this blessing, and it is not just running water, but hat running water. I am also grateful for this, because I do not have to worry about disease being in my water. I see the poor souls in Haiti, who have already been through so much suffering and yet it continues as they do not have something as basic and necessary as access to clean drinking water.

9.) Electricity -- Without the gift of electricity and Internet here in Romania it would be much more difficult to communicate with my family. While we could do so via letters, I would have not had the opportunity to see pictures of my newborn nephew, or to see how my nieces have grown. In addition to this I would not be able to share all of my pictures of my experiences with my family. I am grateful for this invention and grateful that I can share this experience with my family.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for in my life. Without these things I would not be able to be the person I am, working here in Romania. I am so grateful for this opportunity to give to another country. I hope you all have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving and never forget the things in life that you have to be grateful for. I love you so much and Happy Thanksgiving!

Mi-a dor de voi
Va pup
Va iubesc

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

The Beauty of Fall

Oh it was a beautiful week here in Romania. Today we saw temperatures in the high 60s. Yet if I was still in college I would have been experiencing the first snowfall of the year, and it would have been a doozey of a storm. Ironically however, I am missing the cool weather that typically is experienced during November. I am even anxious for a little bit of snow. I didn't think that was going to be possible, considering the dislike I developed for snow two Decembers ago when we had a snowstorm every other day and had a slight accident involving my parents vehicle. Yeah that's right mom and dad, still never going to drive the truck again :) I am sure the snow will be here soon enough and then I will be praying for the sunshine and beautiful weather again.

This week was a very nice week, I started to watch a new movie with my film club. I decided upon Remember the Titans because I figured that most of them would have never seen the film, and it teaches a lot of great things. For example, acceptance of others regardless of appearance. This is something that I think we all need to learn, because in general we all have some prejudices towards others, even if we don't want it. I do however truly believe that everyone is capable of goodness and we can fight these feelings and discover new and interesting things about people and form new friendships where we least expect it if we just let our guard down and get to know people we wouldn't normally talk to. So far the kids are really into the movie, and I hope they enjoy it as it is one of my favorite movies of all time. No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old and I always enjoy it and discover new things about it.

We also started to write the plays in my 6th grade optional theater class. These kids have an enormous amount of creativity and I think that we are going to have some pretty good plays to present at my towns annual Special English Evening. The kids are working hard, and I love that they are able to express themselves through their creativity, but it is also very interesting at the same time. Watching several of the plays and certain things they have incorporated into them gives me a different idea of what they have seen growing up than what I saw growing up. For example, several of the kids had scenes where they portrayed someone smoking (which we instantly discouraged and would not allow), but this is something that they see everyday. Smoking is extremely prevalent in Romania, and it is likely that a majority of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and maybe even older siblings participate in the habit. While it was something that I saw on the street growing up, it was always something that was avidly discouraged, and that is just not the norm here. Also there were certain students who choose to portray drunk individuals. Granted these were not included in any of the written versions, but were done in some of the impromptu things we asked them to perform. These kids are only 12 or 13 years old and they have been in contact with people who were excessively drunk, when I was that age I don't even think I knew what it meant to be drunk. They are just more exposed to this and it is something that you can see on the streets. Not all the time, but it does happen. I do have to say though that Romania has an excellent policy regarding driving and alcohol, it is one chance and you are done, whether it is 10 drinks or 1 drink, your license is gone. Maybe if we enabled that law in Wisconsin there would be less of a problem. I do want any of these comments to be see as the norm in the entire country, or the norm for Romania. I do not think that this country sets bad examples for its children, it was just an interesting observation that I made. It also shows just how attent children are and how much faster they are growing through each and every generation.

School was great this week as well. My classes went well, the kids paid attention for the most part. I did not need to yell too much, they did their homework. It was a good week. I am looking forward to this week because I feel that I have some pretty interesting lesson plans to offer my students. I hope they like them as I put a great deal of thought into each one of them.

This weekend was also lovely. I started writing my rough draft or my career goals statement for my primary choice for graduate school, UW Stout. They have a great Marriage and Family Therapy Program, and I hope that I will be lucky enough to be accepted into it. I do however have other schools that I am applying too, including Edgewood College in Madison, Kansas State University, and North Dakota State University. I hope that I am lucky enough to be accepted into at least one of them, so I can pursue my desire of becoming a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Only time will tell.

My Sunday was extremely filled as I joined my counterpart in a neighboring village to meet her in-laws and have a nice lunch. We had delicious chicken grilled over a fire, mashed potatoes, and a delicious meatball soup. There were also tasty apple bars to enjoy for desert. After that I went to another neighboring village where I tutor a boy from another school. He has learned so much since I started working with him, and I hope he can continue to learn and catch up in his class. He is still at a beginning stage, but he definitely has improved. For tutoring him they tend to give me homemade things such as zacusca (a stewed vegetable spread that is put on bread and is just about the most delicious thing I have ever had) as a thank you. I can tell you it sure makes me happy because they are tasty and I do not know how to make that deliciousness. I also enjoy going out there because they are an extremely kind and generous family.

Well that is all that I have for this week. I hope that you are all doing well, and if it snowed by you I hope that it did hinder your day at all. If you were snowed in I hope you enjoyed it with a nice mug of hot cocoa and maybe that you made some delicious homemade cookies to warm up the house. I love you all very much and miss you as well. Everyday is a day closer to me coming home, but everyday here is such a wonderful experience so it makes the time go by much quicker. I hope you are all healthy and happy and I look forward to seeing you this summer!! Wish me luck during my application phase, lets hope at least one school is kind enough to take me!! ;)

Va iubesc
Mi-a dor de voi
Va pup

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Happy Fall

The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler....well maybe not yet. In some parts of the world the weather may be getting cooler, but not here where I am. It has been so wonderful at my site all week. I cannot believe that it is November, it feels like September. I remember times when I was growing up and it would be snowing and cold on Halloween. Fred and I would be all bundled up Trick-or-treating and mom and dad would take us door to door in the car so we wouldn't get to cold. That surely is not the case here, I think that if they did trick or treating here, they could go without a jacket!

The trees however are changing, and I love to look out my window at the hills that are across the street. They are covered with trees that are gold, orange and red and are a true beauty to behold. It will be hard when they barren and brown for a few weeks, but then will be a little better once they are white. The only down side will be that it will then be cold. Good thing I live on the 5th floor, heat rises, and I only have a 5 minute walk to school!

Ah school, this week I had an easy week, I was down from my normal 21 hour class load to just 14 hours. I had so much extra time, I did not know what to do with myself! Now why did I have this extra free time you may ask? Well this week the little ones (1-4th grade) had the week off, so that took away 7 of my classes. That however gave me time to go into Targoviste to do some shopping and to pick up my package that had been waiting for me from my parents. I scored big time however in Targoviste as I found Taco seasoning, whole grain pasta, and brown rice! I haven't tried any of these things just yet to see if they are in fact the real deal, but I am looking forward to doing so.

This week did not bring anything out of the ordinary. I taught, I walked around town and enjoyed the weather, I spent some time with my landlord, and I took some time to relax, since I will be back at 21 hours this next week and will be exhausted. Now I know you don't think that 21 hours sounds like a lot, but when you are teaching a language in a foreign language and you have to grade papers and tests and prepare for class, it really turns out to be a lot more than that. I am so exhausted by the time I get home, I now have a completely different respect for teachers and realize that coming up with and executing ideas is extremely difficult and draining.

This weekend I was able to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the weather. I read outside in the park and took a nice long walk to the neighboring town as I tutor a boy in the 6th grade from another school. It was about 2 miles each way, but the weather was so nice I arrived there in no time. The last time I went there it took me 45 minutes and this time it only took me 30 minutes. It is amazing what good health, beautiful weather, and music can do to put some speed in your step. I hope to be able to take many more long walks outside before the weather gets too cold and I can only take short walks. I am hoping since I am further south now, I will have weather that is just a little bit warmer, but who knows we shall see.

Well that is all that I have to say today, just a short little post, but I hope that it is enough :)

I miss and love you all so very much and I think about you every day. Just think 9 more months from now and I will be home, we are less than a year away from it! I have already been in Romania for 18 months! I am 2/3 of the way done, crazy huh!

Va pup
Va iubesc
Mi-a dor de voi!

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Money or Eat! Give me something good to eat! If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear! Oh to be young again, I wish that I could be carefree and go trick-or-treating once again. Hopefully I will be able to go with my nieces and nephew sometime in the near future, if I am not away at grad school that is, which I hope to be at this time next year! We shall see!

So this post is going to be much shorter than last weeks, I don't know if I can ever top that one, but I did have an awful lot to say, as it was an experience filled week! This week was a lot quieter but still busy. I was helping my school prepare for their Halloween party that they had today. It went really well, they made a lot of money and the kids had a lot of fun, so that is the important thing. There were lots of great costumes and lots of great prizes and games. They even had pumpkin bowling, which was slightly adapted. it was more like regular bowling, because there were no pumpkins. Lets hope that next year they can get some pumpkins!

Yesterday proved to be more exhausting than today. While today was long, yesterday I spent 5 hours at school helping the kids set up the haunted house. It was an extremely long process involving a lot of cutting, taping, and some collapsing. It turned out well though in time, and the kids really liked to play in it. It was amazing, something that took 5 hours to build only took 30 minutes to take down. It is funny how things work that way sometimes.

Anyway I treated the kids yesterday since they had worked really hard for several hours, so I decided to make them some goodies. I made them some apple pie bars and lemon poppy seed bars. They went absolutely crazy over them! One of my students actually told me they tasted better than anything their mom ever made! Now that is a high complement! I am just glad that they enjoyed them and it gave them a little bit of energy, because they sure worked hard for them.

Lets see other than that this week was pretty uneventful, this next week will bring more classes, but I will have a few less since the little ones have the week off, so hopefully I will make myself useful during my free mornings! Lets hope!

Alright well that is all for today, I am not super talkative today and want to get back to watching my Packers play! Let's hope they win!! Go Pack Go!!!!

I miss and love you all and can't wait to see you again and give you a big hug!

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

Pana mai tarziu
~Sarah B.

Paris Paris Paris!

So I just had a very exciting week. I was able to go somewhere that I never dreamed I would be able to go and that would be to Paris! I bet you never would have guessed that from the title of this blog ;) I went there with my good friend Carly, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, to celebrate her birthday. Needless to say it was a great trip, in an amazing city with a great friend.

So as they say in the sound of music, let's start at the very beginning as it is a very good place to start.

So we left for Paris on October 18th, early in the morning. We ended up taking a night train into Cluj as we did not see the point in paying for a place to sleep since we would be getting up at 3 AM to leave anyway. It may have been a good idea though, since our flight was delayed for an hour when we arrived. So our trip started with waiting. Good thing we have been living in Romania for a year, we are very accustomed to waiting for transportation ;) Things seemed to be going pretty quickly and I was able to catch a couple of cat naps along the way, nothing substantial, but it was worth a try anyway. So then we took off for our adventure. It was a good smooth flight and we arrived in a timely manor (other than the hour that we were delayed -- side not it was lucky we were not going into England as their flight was delayed for 4 hours! Yikes!). Once we got there we had to catch a bus into the city, as the airport to which we arrived was 80 km outside of the city. We arrived and had to find the subway, once we found it we had to figure out how to buy tickets, but we were unaware that our cards would not work in the machine nor did the machine take bills only coin. Neither of us had the proper coin so we were a little worried, but we found a booth to buy them from, so it was all good.

The subway in Paris was really actually quite easy to figure out, but it was a long ride as we had to go from one side of the city to the other, with one change along the way. Thankfully the subway is much faster than the street traffic, because the streets of Paris are absolutely crammed full with cars at all points of the day. So we finally arrived, got a little bit lost because the street signs were difficult to find, but eventually found the place that we were staying. We made our booking through the website Air B&B which basically is a person who rents out a room in their house and it is cheaper than a hotel and quieter than a hostel. It was kind of far out, but with the metro it was really easy to get around everywhere.

So we put our things down, settled in a little bit and then decided to go and grab something to eat. We saw lots of places along the way so we figured we would find one. Carly loves sushi so I thought I would give it a try, so we tried a Japanese restaurant. I was very intimidated by the sushi and Carly had to teach me how to order, but I eventually decided on dumplings (because they don't contain fish!! :) and it was an excellent choice. They were some of the most delicious things I have ever had! I even tried one of Carly's sushi, I was not crazy about it, but I ate it nonetheless. It was different, but I am glad that I tried it. We actually ended up eating Japanese food 3 times throughout the trip and I can now say that I have tried sushi and don't really like it, but I tried it. I even tried some with raw fish! Granted when I got to the fish part I spit it out because the texture was to much for me, but I can't say that I didn't try it! :)

After that we just went exploring the street that we lived on, walked around some stores, looked at a beautiful view of the city, and saw an old church. It was a nice first day. After that it was back to the apartment as we were both completely exhausted from traveling and little to no sleep. So it was an early bedtime for us, so we could explore Paris the next day.

The second day in Paris, Carly and I split up. There was an art museum that she wanted to go to and I wanted to go to the Palace of Versailles. So I took the train out of the city headed to the palace for what I hoped to be a great day. Needless to say it was not the greatest day that I had in Paris. It was recommended to show up early to beat the crowds, so I arrived about an hour after it opened, and discovered that the opening was delayed due to workers strikes. It did not say how long it was delayed, but I decided to hang around. So I went out back and explore the gardens. While I enjoyed the gardens I think that I would have enjoyed them more if it wasn't raining out. It was so big that I was able to walk around for 3 hours until the palace actually opened and I still did not see anything. It amazes me how someone can envision something that is so big to be so beautiful and creative. Words can't due justice to the talent that is behind this vision. So once I bought my ticket into the palace, I quickly wished that I hadn't. It is not that it was not beautiful, but there were so many people in there pushing and shoving to get into every room that I could not just stand and enjoy the room, as I would have gotten shoved out of the way. Every room was beautiful and was exquisitely decorated, I just wish fewer people would have been filling the rooms so I could have enjoyed it a little bit more.

After that it was back to meet up with Carly at the Arch de Triumph, which was a spectacular creation. I couldn't believe the roundabout that it was in the middle of however, I don't think that the traffic ever stopped there. Cars were coming constantly and I was sitting on one side of the road wondering how I could get across. I saw people in the middle and wondered how they arrived there....hmmm. No I did not run across (but Carly saw some guys who did) but instead took the easy way out and found a passage that led under the street. It was so interesting to stand next to something so magnificent and look out at the traffic going around you.

Then we walked down the Champs Elysees a little bit and looked at a lot of things that we could not afford (including jewelery exceeding 25000 Euros) and made our way closer to the Eiffel Tower. It was approaching sunset so we wanted to hang around there until nightfall. We enjoyed a glass of wine, watched some American football, found an Irish pub and had a Guinness and randomly found the Romanian Embassy on a side street leading to the Tower. Then it was to the tower, at night. Spectacular is the only word I can use to describe it. The way it looks when it is lit up is to beautiful for words, and we even were able to see a light show, as occasionally thousands of lights twinkle on the tower. We did not go up the tower, because we wanted to see the view of Paris from Montmartre, but we did see lots of military men at the base of the tower...which was interesting to say the least. So after enjoying these sights of Paris, it was time to turn in.

Day 3 took us to more new adventures. I wanted to try and find a flea market as I read they were really cool, but it turns out the one did not exist. I was really bummed about this, but things turned brighter quickly, while walking towards the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame, I ran across a shop that contained the perfect present for my mom. It was affordable, and unique, so not a typical souvenir, but that is what made it so perfect. Then we arrived at Notre Dame and I waled around inside. It was a very interesting church, very dark and unlike any other I have ever seen before, but I still liked it. Again I did not go up this one either, because you had to pay, and the very top was closed. So I was not going to pay to go partially up the tower, it just didn't seem worth it to me. Next it was to the Latin Quarter, where I spent yet more money on things, and looked longingly at things that I could not afford and finally found the Pantheon. Yet another magnificent building. The pillars and the openness of the building were my favorite parts. Its size was unbelievable, but I appreciated its beauty so much. This one was probably my favorite, as there were not that many people there, it was open and uncrowded inside, and it had a pendulum on the inside that demonstrated the earth's rotation. I thought this was so cool! The pendulum itself was tied to the very top of the church, at the peak of the dome, and ran all the way down. I was actually able to see it shift just the tiniest bit, during the time that I was in there, which I thought was great. They also had a crypt in there and it was interesting to look at the plainness and the extravagance that existed in the same place.

Then we did some more shopping and walking, stopped for lunch, more shopping and walking, found a couple of parks, and then decided on getting dinner. The place where we went for dinner is something that I would never have imagined that I would have found in Paris or in Europe for that matter. We were having difficulty finding something open, so kept walking and then came across a diner that we spotted across the street. Now when I first saw this, I thought, "Well maybe it will be like an American Diner" but then quickly dismissed this as I thought it was a ridiculous thought and we were in Paris, why would they have a diner like that. I discovered upon arrival that my first intuition was in fact correct. It was like stepping into the Twilight Zone, we went from Paris to the United States just by crossing the threshold. They had American food, American drinks, music, posters, everything. I order a real A&W root beer, had the most amazing mushroom and swiss burger that I have ever had and enjoyed the taste of home. It was so awesome, I loved it! So after that little gemstone, we were exhausted from the long day and extremely filling meal that we had just consumed.

Day 4, we thought it would be good to just relax and enjoy the city. Which it turned out to be the perfect day for as it was beautiful outside. so we walked down by the Louvre, took pictures in front of the glass pyramid, walked through the park in leading to the Louvre and some of the interesting exhibits that were displayed there. Went to the obelisk, which was a really cool monument, and while there we saw someone arrive in a motorcade. Someone near the area said that it was the president of Chile, but we were never able to clarify this fact. Then we enjoyed a hot dog/Panini lunch in the park, Carly nearly got attacked by the birds because of the bread that she was giving to them and caught a metro to Montmartre.

At Montmartre we went up to Sacre Couer to start and saw the most amazing view of Paris. then we entered into the church and saw the beautiful paintings and alter which were truly magnificent. My favorite part about this place were the performers. We were able to sit on the steps in front of Montemarte and look out at Paris, while listening to live music being performed and watch the illegal vendors run from the police from time to time. (It was hilarious as you see these guys running through the crowd of people trying to get their things picked up while trying to be the first one away from the police I couldn't help but laugh.) The guy we stayed to listen to had a great stage presence, a good voice, and he even picked people out of the crowd from around the world to sing songs with him.

After listening to him we watched a soccer player do some tricks, which were unreal. he was standing on this platform about 4x4 or 5x5 feet and doing tricks and dribbling the ball then he decides to really wow us. He gets off of the platform, balances on the fence, jumps down and climbs up the light post that is at least 20 feet high and does not have anyplace to grip on as you are climbing up it, all while balancing the soccer ball on his head! I was astounded! Then he holds the ball on his foot and hangs on the light post with one and and swings around it. The strength and balance that were required for this task were unbelievable.

After this show we enjoyed some wine, went to the Moulin Rouge to take pictures. I was amazed by the line that was already there at least 2 hours before the show, after all these years, they still draw a line on a daily basis for their shows, which just amazes me. We then found an Australian Bar had a drink, then headed back to rest a little before our flight. However we were worried we weren't going to get back, because we didn't think we could fit on the subway! It was so packed there were people in every direction, we could hardly find a bar to hold onto and I swore if there were anymore people on there it wouldn't have mattered if there was a bar or not, because you wouldn't have moved anyway as we were sardines in there! This was a long journey which took me over 30 hours to get home and involved a lot of waiting, but it was okay, it could have been worse that is for sure! I did get to spoil myself when we arrived in Cluj, as I had to wait for my train because the only decent one was an overnight train. I was able to get a sleeper car though and rest, and while in Cluj I treated myself to a Starbucks and went to see a movie, which was really good and I really liked it. It was a good source of time killing. Then I went back to the station to wait and actually ran into someone from my old site who was heading back there. It was so random and I could not believe that I ran into her. So that was a big surprise. Then it was onto the train, and one more switch until I arrived back at my site. It was so good to finely be back here, where I understand the language and can sleep in my own bed. Now it is back to reality though, which is entirely alright, because it was a wonderful. This trip gave me experiences that I will never forget and created lifelong memories. I had so much fun and saw so many things and had so many experiences that can never be taken away from me. I am so thankful I had this opportunity and I look forward to creating more memories in the remainder of my service that I have left with the Peace Corps.

Well that should keep you all busy for a while, it sure took me a good chunk of time to write it!! I hope you are all doing well and having some adventures of your own. I miss you all very much and send you my love each and every day :)

Oh and if you have my current address, that is great but you no longer need to put my landlords name on the letter just my name and the address. It will find me just fine that way

Va pup
Va iubesc
Mi-a dor de voi
Pana mai tarziu

~Sarah B.

Whoops, I forgot to update!

So looks like my goal to get back into the swing of things is not working as well as I had hoped. I almost forgot again today, but remembered, so no worries.

Things have not been too interesting around here, just school mainly. We did have a pretty big project that was going on at school though, I was not a major part of it, but I was able to help out a bit. My school is involved in a bigger project through the European Union in which they are partnered with one school from Portugal, Spain, and Poland. Through this project they talk about implementing and sustaining project at their own respective schools. They check in with one another, and they help each other to succeed. So since they work together, they occasionally get together, which means that 8 representatives from these three schools came to our school. Since English is the common language, our language teachers and others who are proficient in English were busy translating everything. I was able to help with the fine tuning of the translations and to put little corrections to help the flow which was a really nice opportunity. In addition to this I was able to get to know the women that were here. I presented a little bit about the Peace Corps and what we do, the ladies were all very interested in Peace Corps and I think they were a little jealous for my school. Unfortunately for them, Peace Corps is not currently in service in any of the countries and out of the three PC has only been in Poland. From what it sounds like though, there English programs would really benefit from a volunteer, any native speaker not necessarily an American, and they are also open to new ideas. I hope that they can find a program that would allow them to have a volunteer of some sorts.

I was also able to take a trip into the mountains with them. We went to visit Peles castle and Bran, both of which I had been to in the past, but it was still nice to go again. I was actually able to help translate for them, so that was pretty neat. It was difficult as I am not fluent in Romanian but I get my point across so that is all that matters. They also had a goodbye dinner planned for them, which I was invited to, but unfortunately due to my outstanding ability to get colds, I had to stay home sick. So that is why this past week was not very exciting, as I spent most of it asleep or resting and trying to get over a cold. However I was introduced to a Romanian remedy that is very useful in getting rid of colds. My counterpart gave me some tuica (Plum brandy which is distilled and made entirely at home) which I then boiled with pepper and sugar. It was absolutely disgusting, but I slept great after that and my throat felt ten times better the next day. So now I am almost completely healthy, which makes me happy as next week I will be in Paris!

I can't believe that I am finally going to have the opportunity to go to Paris! I am so excited! I have always wanted to go to Paris, my entire life and now I finally have the chance. I will be there for 5 glorious days. I hope the weather is kind to us and I also hope that the leaves will be changing. I think that autumn in Paris would be spectacular to see. The colors of Autumn are truly a beautiful gift of nature. I am so thankful to see such beauty in this world.

Well that is about all that happened this week. There truly were no exciting experiences that happened over the last few weeks. I have just been getting adjusted to school and learning the students. I have some truly amazing students and in general they are really well behaved. Discipline is a big thing in the school and the kids are consistently reminded to adhere to this. The teachers are consistent and they do not let the kids rule them, it is the other way around at this school and I have to say that I like it. It is nice to see kids with respect, because when they respect me I have a great deal of respect for them and for their families as well.

Well I am off to do some projects and work on some information and plan for Paris! I hope you are all doing well and I miss you all very much. Take care and as always I send my love.

Va pup
Va iubesc
Mi-a dor de voi

~Pana mai tarziu
Sarah B.