Update

Okay... I can't seem to figure out the whole picture thing, so I will add my updates with the pics and hope it works...I will continue trying to find out why the heck they aren't staying!  Ugh!!!  So, here are some updates!

Now the work begins!

We spendt A LOT of time in this school.  Peace Corps rented out an entire floor and we have all our language classes and group sessions here.  Since the spring has been unusually cold the rooms are COLD!  But we’re busy working, so the time goes fast.  We have a break room where we all eat lunch together and there is a little store nearby where we can go get a coffee or tea at lunch.

Cinco de’Mayo

Never let it be said that I’ll miss out on a celebration!!  A few of us went out after class to “The English Pub” to drink to Cinco de’Mayo!

Some of the sights on my way to school.

It was a beautiful day and I think these pictures in this weather really show off what a beautiful city and country this is!!!  There are lilac trees everywhere!  They are called liliac and this is also the word for “bat” (as in the flying around bat)...one word, two totally different meanings!

One week down... Nine to go!  Time to celebrate (again!)!

We were all so happy to make it through one full week of language classes that we had to go have pizza and a beer!  It was great!  Our only problem is that we are still too loud as a group and get way too much attention.  We (I) must practice being quieter!  :) 

An outing with my Gazda.

My Gazda family (Carmelia, Cezar and their son Vlad) took me out to lunch and then for a walk at the local park, which is lovely!  There is an area where they have busts of all Romanian kings along the sides.  There’s a zoo here as well, which I will have to get to one of these days.  It was another beautiful day, which made it all that much better!

My room!

To share with you how very hospitable the Romanian people are my Gazda has given me the one and only bedroom in their home.  It is quite cozy with a nice bed, desk (for all my homework!), and I have rigged a little clothes line to dry my towels, scarves, etc.  (Remember...it’s been raining a lot!)

A walk to the Sunday market in my neighborhood.

What an interesting experience this was.  Each Sunday people bring their items to sell to the local market area.  There was about everything you could think of...especially animals.  I saw some of the biggest rabbits and chickens I’ve every seen.  People come to buy live food for weekly meals, or maybe to buy some animals to bring home for eggs, breeding, etc.  There were peacocks, pigeons, rabbits, chickens of every sort, roosters, little chicks...it was something!

Saturday in the country!

My Gazda mother is best friends with the Gazda mother of another PC’er (Grant).  On Saturday Carmelia, Cezar and I went to the country to visit them.  What a day!  We sat outside all day, evening, and night...eating LOTS of meat, drinking tuica, listening and dancing to traditional Romanian music, and enjoying each others company.  It was great!

A visit to Manastirea Dealu 

I did Practicum at a local middle school (grades 1-8) and two of the teachers planned an outing last Sunday to walk to a local Monastery with some Peace Corps volunteers and any students who wanted to participate.  We had about 14 PC’ers and over 30 students!  It was a beautiful (and hot!) day.  We walked a total of about 12km up and down to the Monastery and stopped for a picnic along the way.  In the first picture you can just see the Monastery in the far background.  It was peaceful and beautiful!  The kids were so great...they practiced their English and we practiced our Romanian!  They are MUCH better than we are! 

Woops!

I will fix the pictures as soon as possible!  Sorry for the mix-up!!!  :)

Pictures!!!

Finally, some pictures!  I have a lot, so I'll post some now and more late!  :)

New Friends in Philly:

We spent one day/night in Philly where we had “staging” which was really just an opportunity to meet each other and prepare for the long journey!

Bus trip to NYC:

As mentioned...I was totally car sick on the ride into NYC.  Not a fun way to start a trip!

Finally, we arrive in Bucharest:

After a quick stop in Munich we arrived in Bucharest tired but excited!

Targoviste - My home for the next 10 weeks

The city of Targoviste has a population 90,000+.  It was the royal capital of Walachia from 1418 until 1659 when it was moved to Bucharest - where it remains today.  Targoviste is known for a famous tower ruin (below - I believe only the bottom portion and some surrounding walls are original) of the former royal court.  During the 15th century, the infamous Vlad Tepes held his court there!

In 1989, when dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife tried to flee the country after being charged of genocide they ended up in Targoviste where they were eventually arrested, tried, and executed a mere three days later (on Christmas Day!)

Walking through Targoviste for the first time:

We stayed two nights at a hotel in the center of town.  It was an opportunity to get over our jet lag and prepare to meet our Gazdas on Saturday.  We had time to take a few walks and see the town for the first time.  As mentioned, there are dogs EVERYWHERE!  I find them so cute, but have been reminded to ignore them as they are wild dogs...even if they look like pets!

“I” after “E” except after “C”...

How many of you remember all those grammar lessons you had in grade school??  Seriously...who can possibly remember the rules as to why/how we say what we say?  We just do it automatically, right?!  Well, imagine learning all those rules IN Romanian...when you don’t even speak the language yet!  Yes, this is my new life!  Four hours of language lessons every day!  It’s been fun, but challenging and it’s only day two!  

My days are pretty set in stone now that training has begun!

• Get up at 7am
• Leave house by 8am and walk to school (about 35 minutes)
• Language class from 9am-1pm
• Lunch from 1pm-2pm
• Sessions from 2pm-5pm:  Economy, Government/Politics, Practicum, Diversity, Society/Culture, Teaching English as Foreign Language, etc. 
• Walk home (arrive around 6ish)
• Dinner at 7pm
• Chit-chat with family after dinner
• Homework from 8pm until done
• Bed at 10ish or later

I don't think this schedule will change much, although the afternoons will be in classrooms once our practicum's begin.  It's pretty tiring, to say the least!  

We have 10 weeks to master the language at an Intermediate-Low level and we’ll have to take a verbal test to prove this.  During this time we are also getting training on what we will actually be doing.  We will get our site placements in week 6 so that is pretty exciting!  Then, after we have passed the training, we will be sworn in by the American Ambassador in his home...it's supposedly quite a to-do!  Then, we will be official Peace Corps Volunteers and the fun begins!

Noapte Buna!  (Good night!)

Arrival in Romania!

I am safe and sound in Targoviste, Romania!  I have been up for over 32 HOURS and am so exhausted I can't see straight!  Before I go to bed I wanted to share a quick run down of the last few days:


Our groups of 39 volunteers had orientation in Philly on Tuesday - For those that may remember, it was just being in AFS again...skits and all!  :) After the orientation was over a bunch of us went out for dinner.  We split into a few different groups and I went with the Irish Pub contingent (all in their 20's!)!  We ended up staying out drinking beers and getting to know each other until around midnight - lots of fun!  Like an idiot, I woke up at 5am the next morning and that was that...I was awake.  


We left for JFK around 9:45 a.m. and I was horribly car sick the whole way...I forgot how my body hates being on busses.  This set the stage for feeling horrible for the rest of the travel.  The flight from JFK to Munich was delayed because of weather and the arrival of Obama to NYC, so we sat on the tarmac for over an hour...then the flight took almost 9 hours.  I didn't sleep a wink and spent about one hour downstairs outside the bathrooms trying not to throw up.  Fun!  Plus, the TV's weren't working properly, so we couldn't choose what to watch, had to watch whatever was on...grrrr!  

We flew Lufthansa and they did a horrible job of hydrating us, so by the time we landed we were all dying of thirst.  But no water for us!  Because we were late to Munich we only had about 20 minutes to get to the gate.  Of course Security insisted on opening ALL our bags which was annoying!  We just made it - I literally had to beg them not to close the gate!  After about a 2 hour flight into Bucharest, we had another 2 hour bus ride....seriously?!  Luckily, someone gave me some motion sickness medicine for this leg.  I know, Mom... I bought motion sickness meds, but I had to move my packing around because, of course, I volunteered to be the Document Leader and had stuff to carry in my backpack on the airplane.  

Since all our travel was without a PC official, our group needed four volunteers from Philly to Bucharest to handle all the movement of people, bags, and documents.  I was in charge of everyone's passports and tickets...yikes!  We actually had a girl lose her passport at the last minute prior going.  It was found over in front of China Air on the floor...strange to say the least!  Luckily, there were no big issues - other than 3 people not getting their bags in Bucharest, all went well.  It was great to arrive outside the airport in Bucharest and see a huge Peace Corps banner with about 15 staff/volunteers there to greet us!  It was also nice to no longer be in charge.

The bus ride out to our hotel was interesting as it was through a lot of little towns outside Bucharest.  What a country of contradictions!  You'll see a nice, newer concrete house and next door is a run down little bungalow and in the front yard of that is a lean-to made with what looks like trash and blankets.  Very interesting visually!  And the dogs!  Good grief, the dogs!  There are stray dogs everywhere...it is too much.  And it's not like they are all of a similar breed...they are all different type.  All just roaming around, peeing and pooping anywhere they want to!  I took some pictures and will post them when I can.

So we just finished a good dinner with the Country PC Director and a bunch of staff and now a bunch of us are sitting in the hotel lobby catching up on emails.  Tomorrow we have a day of more training and then on Saturday our Gazda's (host families during the next 11 weeks of training) will pick us up and on Monday the fun begins!

To top my crazy tiredness off, I am experiencing some type of vertigo after all this travel... like when you ride a roller coaster and after you get off you still feel the movement.  That's how I feel right now... I can still feel the plane dipping and the bus moving down the road.  It is VERY unnerving.  I talked to the medical director and he said that after a good shower, meal and rest I should be fine. 

I can't believe I'm actually here, starting this adventure!  It's pretty damn exciting!!!

P.S.

I'm thinking that picture above is pretty much like what I'll be living in...just sayin'

Gratitude!

Over the past few weeks I have had numerous gatherings, parties, dinners, etc.  I've tried to contact all the people I wanted to see before I left - of course, there were some that were left out.  Not because I didn't want to see them, but because it's so darn hard to get calendars in sync.  So frustrating!!  To those I'm referring to...you know I wanted to see you, but time just got away from me!

I did, however, get to do the following:

• Numerous breakfasts, lunches, coffee breaks and dinners with good friends (you know who you are!)
• A long happy hour with my Cinti. friends (from 3pm to midnight...exhausting and fun!)
• One last girls night out dinner...yummm - Thanks Ellen, Maddie & Mary!!!
• A great party given by my mother for friends in Dayton - Thanks Mom!
• Another great party given by my sister for family and friends in Cincinnati - Thanks Meg!

Wow!  It's been a humbling experience to have so many people want to see me and give their good wishes!  And I got TONS of great gifts... who knew!?!

I am so very grateful for all the amazing friends and family I have.  Thank you for giving me such a fabulous send off.  I appreciate all of you!!!!!