The Everyday

I thought to take some "everyday" pictures just to give you all a taste for classes and school. Below is a picture of Emily's teacher of last week Simona (center) [We get new teachers every week. I would include a picture of Nils' teacher, but we attend different classes/schools].


Here is the "HUB" school, Nicolae Iorga, where Emily goes to school. Nils comes to join me a few times a week in the afternoon, and sometimes all day! The school serves for children ages ~7 - ~15 (I think).

Here's what a lot of the blocs look like. This is on Emily's way to school. Nils and I go in different directions, so we don't often get to walk together. :( But when we do... it's so nice!!!

Interview on KJAZZ Cafe

For those of you who may have missed it, and for record purposes, here's the interview we had on the KJAZZ Morning Show. We were on the air the Tuesday before we left for Romania. Sorry it's not captioned, but if you'd like to get the general idea of what was said send me an e-mail. Also if there are consistent problems viewing the video, let me know and we'll post it on YouTube.com and send everyone the link. It is a rather large file so some patience may be required.

From the bus Window

This clip was taken from the window of our bus as we traveled from the airport in Bucuresti to Ploiesti. Since the scenery is still in Winter-mode, it'll be interesting to compare this to future clips and pictures once Spring is in full bloom.

March - Women's Week

I had no idea there was an International Women's day! But, as a matter of fact, it was last Saturday (March 8). Women are so wonderful, it's not enough to celebrate women just one day, let's make it a whole WEEK. And let's start with March 1st, in celebration of Spring and all things new. Here in Romania, it's called Martisor [Martee-shor] "little March". All women are given a gift on the 1st and 8th of March (flowers, candy, and little tokens like the one pictured below). Especially symbolic is the red and white strands of thread, symbolizing/summarizing an ancient tale of the beginning of Spring.

(Pic - A Martisor gift)
The legend goes that the Sun takes human form and comes to earth to celebrate with the people. But a dragon follows him to earth and captures the Sun. The Earth becomes cold, without vegetation, birds singing....total desolation. So a brave man fights the dragon and saves the Sun, but the dragon is so powerful that the brave man has too many wounds and with the last drop of his blood, he dies. But he dies with the knowledge that he has brought back life and Spring. To symbolize this heroic deed, two strands of thread of white and red are wound together. White represents purity and good health. Red represents the blood shed for Life and a love for all that is beautiful. Together this has become a symbol of love in Romania which the men give to women during Martisor, the 1st of March. Neat, huh!
The Gazda men here gave me flowers, a pin, a necklace, and the token above. Yes, I felt quite special! :) Nils also gave me a gift of sweets, which I shared with him.

The Dus Experience

When we first arrived in Romania and took that "Oh So Sweet" shower (dus in Romanian ... sounds like 'doosh'), I loved how small and ecomonical they were at the hotel. The picture below illustrates the shower we had in our hotel bathroom. You close the door and take a quick shower, either leaving the shower head up in the holder, or taking it down and re-directing the spray. It's a wonderful shower design, one Nils and I would like to have in our own home someday. But, it definitely is a little tight on space. Woe to the wide.

In preparation for moving in with our Gazda family, we read through a mini-handbook which included a shower section. It noted that "because Americans tend to splash" the gazda was required to have a shower curtain. I thought, "Americans 'splash'?? What do Romanians do?" I became incredibly curious as to how Romanians got along without a shower curtain. Low and behold, there is an art to showering here. Basically, don't leave the water on the whole time. Once you're wet, turn the water off and then use your soap and shampoo. And when you do have the water on, you hold the shower head and direct it toward the wall, so it doesn't splash all over the place. It's my new way of showering now. Nils has had experience with all of this before, so he's really good at it. I'm not bad, but I do "splash" a little. Luckily, it's all tile. :) This method is a great way to conserve water!!!! Try it sometime.

Below are pictures of our bathroom with our gazda. Cute and efficient. I love it!

(Pic #1 - illustrates the moveable shower head)
(Pic #2 - is the sink right next to the shower)

10 Week Home with our Gazda (Host)

Here are our hosts, Constantin (Constantine) and Maria, in the kitchen/dining room. This is their 6th time hosting a Peace Corps volunteer and are very laid back. It's nice how they accomodate our schedules and needs. The kitchen is efficient with less to clean. The table we move out when it's time to eat, and put it back against the wall when we're done. Good use of space, I think.

Costel and Maria speak a few words of English as they've been to the States a few times. But we're definitely using the Romanian we're learning in school to communicate with them. It's amazing how much more we understand as we progress through our classes. After just 5 days we've learned greetings, asking for directions, asking occupation, describing the house, asking and telling the time, and all kinds of other things. It's AMAZING!