Counting Sheep

Although I lay beneath the protection of the Iron Curtain (my 92 pound comforter that I like to think was made 92 pounds for cold winters but is actually 92 pounds because it is in fact 92 years old), I still lay awake at 5am. At this point, I just don’t think sleep is meant to be. Perhaps it’s the warmth of the room that keeps me awake, or perhaps the strangeness of being in only a t-shirt and a single pair of pants. It’s been 3 days since I’ve worn a pair of long underwear. Furs are dwindling. Yesterday the temperature of the bathroom was tolerable enough to shave my legs. My fac’ing foc (making fire) efforts are slowly diminishing. Bunica’s are beating their rugs. Vin fiert is hard to find. The dogs are getting friskier. I think…just maybe…that spring has finally decided to grace us with her presence.

Traveling Beyond Barriers

Two years ago when I was assigned to be a volunteer for both Fundatia Orizonturi and Centrul Scolar, I truly had no idea what was in store for me. Little did I know, I would get to work with the best of both worlds; adults and children, nongovernmental and state entities, small and large work environments, volunteer and paid employees, and the list could go on forever. Not only have I gotten to experience these aspects individually but I also got to see them come together through various collaborations.

Our project, Traveling Beyond Barriers, created a unique experience in that rarely do the groups described above get to work together, let alone successfully. I consider myself fortunate for I believe that I am among few, not just in Romania but throughout the world, who get to participate in such an opportunity.

However, through all these differences and observations, not just in this project but also from my work experience prior to Romania, there is one significant similarity; the successful impact of social integration. Anywhere you go, people are labeled, categorized and treated accordingly. Inevitably the mind applies labels in order to file information but it us, as individuals and as a society, that choose to exclude someone. Regardless of our own label, we all simply want the opportunity to be a part of the world that surrounds us... and when social inclusion presents itself, we flourish. The following link leads to the project magazine that was developed to demonstrate how the project participants thrived in their own community but fails to entirely illustrate the illumination of their souls!

A Case of the COS Blues

I’m not sure what it is… Life has entered the state of continuous evaluation; evaluations of projects, of my service, of my time spent, of the people I’ve met and the memories I’ve made.

Yet life is in limbo… A period of transition, where it’s difficult to not live preparing for the future…difficult to not dwell on the gloriousness of the past two years…and difficult but so very important to live in the moment.

I remember the feeling all too well… A constant state of anxiety and excitement for what’s to come and sadness for what’s about to end, wondering each time I do something, go somewhere, or see someone if it will be the last.

Closing Time

When I joined the Peace Corps, I expected to spend the next 27 months with the Tree Hugging Granola types but I was instantly proven wrong when we all met for the first time in Philadelphia two days before departing for Romania. There were people from all walks of life; from 21 to 70 years old, recent college grads to retired lawyers, as well as liberals and conservatives. It was a grand mixture of characters, each of us a misfit in our own way. I mean how could we not be...you gotta be a little quirky in the head to do something like this! So there we were, on our own little Misfit Island…all searching for new red lights to guide the way. It was strange how fast we all gelled and got to know each other; it was and has been like no other experience. Truthfully, I’ve become friends with people that I would have never been friends with at home. Strange situations bring strange people together, and I’m so very grateful for such an opportunity to see into the minds of so many unique people. Akin to my situation at site, not having many people my age in Cȃmpulung, I have generally befriended mostly much older and even some younger Romanians. However, I wouldn’t trade them or the opportunity for anything else! I fancy that the majority of the social norms that I grew up developing were so easily pitched out the window. There is an indescribable greatness that comes from the unexpected…even if it is simply for the pure ridiculousness that the expected cannot foresee.

Ironically, during the last two months I wanted to go home more than any other time since I’ve been here. So needless to say, I was really looking forward to going to the COS (Close of Overseas Service) Conference; and even more so for the opportunity to take a long hot shower and finally shave my legs in a heated bathroom (much to our surprise the ritzy hotel had swanky bathrooms with frosted glass walls and showers that didn’t exactly “frost” your unmentionables.) Any who…we all (minus the 10 fallen ones, and by “fallen ones” I mean they’re still alive they just went home early) met again one last time for our COS Conference. All of us changed by our own experiences here; some physically and some mentally (including maturely, intellectually & emotionally), most for the better but even some for the worse. We had our final language test, sang a little Kumbaya, celebrated making it to the end and said goodbye one last time.

However, now that it’s over and I’m in the homestretch, I don’t want it to end. As difficult as it may be, I love how many people can come in and out of your life, leaving irreversible impacts along the way. It seems like the good ones always get away but I know that’s not always true for I suppose the good ones are the ones who have stuck with you through it all. Nevertheless, it just seems that there is always a new beginning that never flourishes because it comes at an end. For the time being, I’m riding the train back to Camp Mo and I can only hope that life continues to be as bright as the hot pink Hello Kitty T-shirt being sported by a fellow passenger.

Connecting

Last week I had the opportunity to help translate the thoughts of one of our blogging participants in an interview for Rising Voices, who funded our Blogging The Dream project. I feel as if I’m often walking through a fog of confusion because I’m never confident that I really know what my Romanian friends and co-workers are saying. In sitting down and directly translating Geta’s words to English, I was able to see so clearly. After working with her for 2 years, I felt like I finally understood and could connect on a new level, a level that you generally share with only a few. Her words moved me and her strength inspired me.

Geta explained that she titled her blog Singuratate (Loneliness), “because loneliness is the most profound feeling in which I have. I’m convinced that there are many people in the world with this feeling, people who live alone, isolated, without friends, without people nearby to open a door or to say an encouraging word.”

As we hoped to achieve through Blogging The Dream, blogging has become an outlet for Geta; “I would like readers to know that it’s hard to fight with a shyness that prevents you many times from externalizing. It’s hard to keep inside your concerns, thoughts, fears, joys and even enthusiasm. And when I manage to get this all out, I feel more free.”

See Geta’s interview article here.