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.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
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.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
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.
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