Beauty & "The Beast"

Despite my original beliefs that my new gazda’s name was Beast (which much to my dismay is not), she is actually yet another kind and hospitable Romanian. I have been in my new town for 2 weeks now and have already grown quite fond of this little diamond in the rough. Technically, it’s probably the rough in the diamond, for the Bucovina area is absolutely gorgeous. Any direction you look, mountains can be seen. However, I’ve yet to figure out how to get up into those mountains. That I agree is a strange statement but I have succeeded in getting passed by more horse drawn carts then cars on my runs. The small/rural town life will definitely take some getting used to but one I’m definitely looking forward to. Not only do I have to be on the look out for stray dogs and cats, I must be attentive to cows, horses, goats, sheep and the ole cocker-doodlers. Due to this recent development, I’ve reconsidered getting my own goat, which of course I’d name Stella, and waiting until I can be assured that she will not attack me. On the plus side, I have yet to see a squirrel, so I’m foreseeing a grand decrease in my personal blood pressure. During my first week in Campulung Moldovenesc, I got to experience my first glass of milk in almost three months. Unfortunately, I cannot tell a lie, it tasted like straight up cow teat. The milk did come directly from the source, so I suppose that is a taste that is to be expected. Nevertheless, I yearn for a large glass of skim milk. Okay, enough animal talk, I’m starting to bore myself and I realize you didn’t sign up for the 4H newsletter.

I’m slowly learning not to freak out when strangers start talking Romanian to me, and actually attempting to speak with them. Although both parties are probably leaving thinking the “conversation” was about two entirely different topics, I feel a warmth in my heart, which I now realize is probably the beginning of an anxiety induced heart attack. Either way, I survived, shared a laugh with an old bunica, and befriended Maria, who gave me a kilo of evergreens to make syrup to cure my potential sore throat and back.

My first Saturday here I got to go to someone’s cabin in Pojorita for the night. We had a nice cultural exchange via a pancake contest, Romanian vs. American. It was a tough call since Romanian pancakes are actually crepes. Once again, no men down, just two pancakes that I failed to flip back into the pan.

The following weekend I went to visit another volunteer in Vatra Dornei, an hour train ride away. There I got to experience my first Afinata, booze made with real live blueberries, a deliciously delightful experience. Additionally, I climbed my first mountain, which proved to be far more difficult then I expected but definitely worth the wheezing. Next on tap, the thrill-seeking adventure to the hometown of Nadia!

I Swear

We have officially been sworn-in as actual Peace Corps Volunteers. After 10 weeks of training and holding up our right hands stating a quite stern (and frankly kind of intense) oath, we have morphed into genuine white doves. Thus far, our group, the 24^th group of volunteers in Romania since 1992, has maintained all individuals – no men down. Our ceremony was held in Bucharest at the US Ambassador’s residence, and was surprisingly, kind of a big deal. There was strangely a handful of press, please check out the following link to see an article about the event. http://bucharest.usembassy.gov/US_Policy/Press_Releases/Peace_Corps_04052008.html

Even Ethan Hawke’s mother came to wish me well. Her son wanted to come in person and express his gratitude/love for me but was caught on-site filming his new movie in Mozambique. FACT: That is entirely all falsified information. However, his mother was in fact in attendance. Mrs. Hawke previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania and currently now has her own NGO in Bucharest. Just another fun factoid for my friends.

During the ceremony, I realized this was the first important event, or even unimportant event for that matter, that my family has not attended. It did sadden me a bit to think how great of a family I have and if it was silly to be separated from them by choice. Perhaps, but at that very moment, I heard the ambassador say, “Well shit Sue, somebody’s gotta solve world peace.” Whether that was a figment of my imagination or the first truthful statement I’ve heard in the last 8 years, I accepted this as FACT #2, counted my lucky stars and was grateful my gazda family was able to make it to the ceremony.

There's A Nip In The Air

And frankly, it’s been quite warm. This just must be the time of year for all mother dogs to bear more friendly vagabonds for if Gaylord Focker were here…he would not only be milking the cats.

Additionally, this past weekend was the Romanian Orthodox Easter, Paste, which is their most important holiday and they go all out. Ladies of the household spent all last week preparing and cooking food for the weekend, which included butchering baby lambs (on the kitchen table) and creating a delicious pig organ meatloaf. I unfortunately did not get to experience either but we still ate past the point of consciousness on Sunday.

According to my Gazda, these are the typical order of events. On Thursday, if you hadn’t already, you better have dyed your eggs red. However, in recent years it has become more common to decorate them more radically. On Friday, people went to church with flowers to mourn the body of Christ. It was actually quite interesting because each biserica (church) had a large table set up to represent the coffin of Jesus. At the big church at the center of town there was a crazy long line around the block of individuals waiting to put their flowers on the “coffin” and then go under the table to the other side. We did not attend that service but I was able to observe the process on my way home from school. Saturday evening at midnight was when the big church service was. We went to the big church in the center because they had a big outdoor service with several speakers and even a big screen. I couldn’t believe how many people were out and about. Usually the streets of Ploiesti are empty by 9pm but here it was 12am and the entire population was out and about. Everyone brought a candle to the service and afterwards would walk home with their lighted candles. It was actually a pretty neat to see the streets illuminated by several candles. We only stayed for about 45 minutes or so but the service went to 4 or 5am, which I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to experience. Yes, that’s a straight up lie. Sunday was pretty low key for my Gazda family with just the 3 of us. We ate, drank, played games and were merry. Everyone got Monday off as well; even we didn’t have to go to school. I’m not sure if there is any special meaning to Monday’s holiday or if it’s simply a recovery holiday. Nevertheless, many Romanians spent the day relaxing or out at the park. We walked around at the park and went to the outdoor Zoo. Now I’m not much of an animal lover but that was the saddest zoo I have ever been to. The lions and bears were in fairly small cages on pavement. It didn’t appear that they had any food or water, except for some occasional loafs of bread. I was positive the lions were dead but my Gazda sister assured me they were just sleeping. Now, they didn’t really have the barriers between animals and visitors that we are used to. I swear it was the largest petting zoo I’ve ever seen. I’m surprised I did not witness an attack from the beavers, ostriches or red-ass monkeys. Either way it was quite disturbing, and I wish never to return.

On Tuesday I had my final language competency test, which consisted of a 30 minute conversation in Romanian with an Instructor. I have been ill about this since before I even left home, especially because we had to reach a particular competency level or they threatened to send us home. I don’t know the actual results yet but I did for sure at least get the minimal level required, so I will not be packing my bags. Well, not for home any ways. On Monday May 5th we have our swearing in Ceremony at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Bucharest, and our transformation from trainees to actual Peace Corps Volunteers will take place. Then on Tuesday I’m off to my new home in Campulung Moldovenesc!

P.S. Last night for dinner I thought I was given raw ground beef. However when I took a bite it tasted vaguely like liverwurst, so I just kept on making my way through this dish. It was not until half way through that it occurred to me that this indeed was the pig organ meatloaf my fellow volunteers have been discussing. That second half of the loaf for some reason did not go down quite as well.