Visit with my friend Carol Day
I worked at Procter & Gamble with Carol for over 10 years. When she heard I was headed to Romania she said, "Hey...I'll come visit you!" And she did! How cool is that?! She was here for a week and we visited București, Brașov, Sighișoara and Sibiu. It was so good to see a friend from home, visit a few cities I had not yet been to, eat good food, and speak in English all the time!! (Carol was not overly impressed with my Romanian! Ha!) She got to meet some of my PC friends. A big thank you to Carol for the wonderful visit...it was great!!
Mom comes to Romania!
Wow...what a great time we had! We met in Budapeșt and had fun walking and riding a tour bus throughout the city. We saw the sights and had some great food. Very fun town! Then we headed into Romania, visited some friends of mine in Timișoara, and took the late (and very crowded) train into Drobeta Turnu Severin. We spent a nice quiet time in my city: did some walking around, had a great meal with my friends and even had a wonderful day cruising on the Danube! It was fun to have Mom meet the people I hang out with here and they LOVED meeting her! After leaving my site it was another train into București. More walking, more touring, more meals!! We took a tour of the Parliament Building - the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon. It was huge with lots of marble and chandeliers...what a lot of overkill! A quick plane ride and we were in Istanbul! What an amazing city! The sights were beautiful. We stayed in a lovely little hotel which had fabulous breakfasts...Stephen picked it out for us! We also met up with Mom's good friends, Bob and Tiraje. They showed us the sights of the city...mosques, palaces, boat trips on the Bosphorus River...all beautiful! The weather was HOT and by mid afternoon Mom and I were always ready for a nice siesta. Then it was off for some fabulous Turkish food...yummmmmmm!!! Mom and I had a wonderful time with each other...we traveled well together! Probably because we both like to take things slow, stop at cafes and just go with the flow! It was hard to say goodbye, but we have amazing memories of out trip together! Thanks, Mom, for making such a special trip to visit me!
My friend Michelle visits from France
A friend of a friend is living in France and decided to head over my way. We had never really spent more than a few days, in a group, together. But, boy did we have a great time! After spending a few days in București and Brașov we headed to the Black Sea in Conștanța! Our hotel was just a block from the beach and we loved it! Swimming in the Black Sea now takes the spot of the best swimming ever! It was like walking into a huge bath tub! And when you got out, your skin felt soft and silky! Amazing! We had lots of laughs and lots of beers! One night we met some other Americans, a Spaniard, and a Puerto Rican and ended up heading to the infamous bar, "La Cucaracha" where we watched the sun rise over the sea. The best part was that everyone there just walks right into the water (clothes and all) to watch! It was too much fun! Thanks, Michelle, for the wild ride! (fyi...since Michelle never sent me her photos (hint, hint!) I don't have a lot from this trip!)
Phew...I'm tired just remembering all these great trips!
School starts
Ater being pushed back one week school officially started on 17 Sept. This year I am teaching grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 at the same two schools I worked at last year. I am also teaching a new class 0 which is somewhat like our Kindergarten. I get to team teach this class with my good friend Claudia. We're a little nervous about it, but it should be fun! A new friend, Calina, asked me to team teach her 12th grade class at a nearby high school...really looking forward to that. Also, I will be starting an Adult Class in November for "false beginners." This is for people who have not necessarily taken English before, but do know some...mainly from TV. A lot of Romanians understand English, but don't speak it. I will also be continuing English Clubs at both schools. So...my plate is full, but I am looking forward to getting into the thick of things. Just one more school year to make my mark!
Peace Corps Romania Legacy Gala
After playing around all summer I had to get back to reality and help prepare for a big event, which happened last week. My PCV friend Grant and I were asked to be on the planning committee for the official 'closing of post' celebration at the US Ambassador's home. Grant and I were in charge of putting together a volunteer 'festival' in which the different regions of Romania were showcased by their art, music, dance, food, etc. We ended up with 15 booths which were amazing! I won't go into detail of all the work this took, both by the planners and the participants. The venue for the event could not have been more perfect, the weather was great (a little hot!), the food and drinks were plentiful and everyone had a great time. There was a LOT of media present and some volunteers made the national news. The Ambassador and his lovely wife, Libby made sure to have a visit and photo opportunity at each booth with the community participants the volunteers brought to help. The cool part was that almost all of our 35 volunteers were personally involved in the event. Truly a group effort! (photos below)
A visit to Targoviște
After the Gala, I went for a quick visit back to Targoviște, the city where I spent my first 10 week in training. I stayed with my Gazda family: Cami, Cesar and Vlad. It was great to see them!! After a great evening with food, drink and friends, Vlad and I spent a fun day together, walking through the town and visiting the nearby park. I finally made it to the top of tower...something I never got to do while there. (photos below)
Meg and Stephen will arrive soon
Oh, no...the fun is not over yet! Meg and Stephen arrive next week on 8 October!!! We will travel through Transylvania, visit my town (the school kids are overly excited about this!!) and then drive into Bulgaria. I can't wait to see them! If only Julie could have come along, that would have made it perfect!
What's next?
Some of you may be wondering what my plans are for after Peace Corps. It's only 10 months away and I'm certainly beginning to think about that myself! I have given it a lot of thought and have decided that I would like to either work for the Peace Corps...preferably as a Director of Training and Programming - which would take me somewhere else in the world...or, find a job teaching in an International School, preferably here in Romania or in a nearby country. Those are the two jobs I will focus on and hopefully one or the other will happen. I will definitely come home after PC for, hopefully, a long visit, but it looks like my time away from home may not be over yet. This just means that more of you will have to come visit me, wherever I may end up! Life is short and I've decided to smush as much into mine as I can! Who knew that losing that darn job at P&G would lead me here??!!
Thank you!!
As always...thanks for your support - especially to the wonderful people at The Living Beatitudes Community who sent me a box full of school supplies! What a wonderful treat for my students - and the other teachers who have already absconded with lots of the stickers!! As I continue this journey it's nice to know that so many of you are keeping me in your thoughts!
Slideshow of summer fun (Click link below)
YouTube video
Photos of "PCRo Legacy Gala" (Click on first photo to scroll through)
Photos from Targoviște (Click on first photo to scroll through)
