When in Romania...

Spring Riding

2012-05-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Four hours of almost continuous riding can tire you out on a nice spring day. Sunday presented me with the opportunity to get back out on the town discovering. First off, I was finally in town for an entire weekend and secondly the weather turned out for me. What more was there to discover? After looking at the Bucharest map I noticed that even after living here for several months there are still large sections of the city that I have yet to wander around. Sunday’s main goal was to see what Lacul Morii is all about.

Getting out the door took a while as there were things to do around the house. Regardless, the continuously changing sky of the morning began calling from the first wake up call at 6 am continuing until it was shedding its light equally on each street. It was then when the bike and I took our first steps of the day down the stairs of the block and out the door. After making a couple of quick notes in my journal we were off to the sun overhead rather than behind us like I would have preferred.

Part one of the ride took me through parts of town both familiar and unfamiliar. Following the mighty Dambovita River from Piata Unirii I passed some of the nice downtown architecture and main boulevards. Pedestrians and fishermen accompanied me along the route. I temporarily veered off course when I saw the College of Foreign Language, Engineering and a few other things. It looked almost like a park but one whose grounds keepers had taken a 5 year vacation. People were running through the green, tree-lined lane which opened up to a large courtyard where students were resting and reading on benches surrounded by graffiti painted campus buildings and signs falling off their posts. After making it back to the main route I continued up the river in search of the lake. Before finding the lake I was caught in a dead end at one point and on the other side of the tracks at another point. These hold ups added some time to the trip but not a single bit of frustration. It was one of those Sunday drives in which getting lost and finding your way is not only permitted but welcomed. After riding slowly through a packed park and up a dike I arrived at the lake, Lacul Morii, with its winds nearly blowing me over.

Lacul Morii looks large on a map and looks large in real life but it only takes about an hour to ride around slowly on a bike. There is a small island just off the coast of the lake with a bridge leading to it. The island features a gazebo, a non-functioning fountain, an over-grown landscape and several picnickers. Just beyond the north edge of the lake there is a landfill while the western edge includes a residential area, a small wooden church and many fishermen. The western edge is the only part in which the road tracing the perimeter of the lake is broken and I was forced to ride into the residential area twice before completing my tour of the lake.

From Lacul Morii the traffic, honking, asphalt, traffic lights, shops and crowdedness led me astray on my course to arrive at Herestrau park. After ending up in Victoria square I could get back on track with hopes that eventually the largest park in Bucharest would act as a refuge from the overwhelming city elements closing in on me. So it turned out, entering the large park was more like entering a mall on black Friday.

The lanes were loaded with people walking, couples walking, and groups of people walking. They were walking alone, walking their dogs, or walking their toddlers. Meanwhile there were bikes weaving in and out of the people in what appeared to be a somewhat dangerous fashion even though miraculously I did not see any accidents. It is Bucharest’s largest park with decently wide walkways but with the traffic it received on one of the first Sundays of spring you would hardly notice. The main walkways feature a bright green lane lined in yellow with a white bicycle painted in the middle every 10 meters or so. The bright green color of the bike lanes in Herestrau set it apart from bike lanes in other parts of the city. Being that the park houses 2 bike-sharing programs and the popularity of riding in the park has been rising over the years, the realization and respect for the bike lanes are all the more important for the safety of all park users. With the walking traffic that I saw in the park on Sunday the bike lanes might as well not be there. They were not respected and they couldn’t have been respected with so many people in the park.

As I was riding along I heard someone yell out “Maggie”. Immediately, knowing who it must have been I stopped, turned around, and saw the country director of Peace Corps Romania. Right, we both live in the same city but I was still quite surprised that with all of the people out that day I ran into someone that I knew. After slowly creeping along having to get off and walk my bike in some parts I stopped and sat down in the grass next to the lake. Despite their being so many people around you can stop, sit down in the grass, and when you see the view of the lake on a nice day it is actually quite easy to forget about the crowds of people passing along the asphalt walkway behind you. For a short moment I admired a boat passing by and in the background an impressive example of communist architecture, in free press square.

My time was winding down and for various reasons I had start heading back to my place. A 30-45 minute ride across the center of town awaited me. I imaged the small streets that I would soon be riding on, Ioanei, Tamnei, Austriei, Carol 1, Dacia, Mihai Eminescu, ect. After living here for just 8 months I know certain parts of the city like the back of my hand. During that ride back I reflected on the newly discovered parts of the city and realized that my last few months in Bucharest are looking to be full of similar bike rides over previously unknown streets.

Discover Transylvania 2012

2012-04-22T00:37:00.002-07:00

Transylvania is a true gem in Europe. The word means “the land across the forest” and this could refer to its geographical location as a plateau nestled in the backwards “L” shape that the Carpathians make. The highest range of the Carpathian Mountains (Fagaras Range) makes up much of Transylvanian’s southern border but the region’s eastern, northern and western borders are all defined by high peaks. It may be that Transylvania’s folklore and its popularity in Bram Stroker’s Dracula are what bring tourists to the area, but what those tourists find there is much more. They find beautiful villages nestled in valleys between hills or mountains, old cities with medieval architecture, fortified churches and friendly, easy-going people. When I was presented with the task of showing Romania to one of my best friends, Transylvania was, hands-down, the region I wanted to display and at the same time, revisit.

Day 1

The early morning train wasn’t all that early. The plan was to catch the 6:30 Regio to Sinaia but in the morning the later 11:50 InterRegio seemed like a more attractive option. The train slowly crept out of the city past the long lines of identical blocks and walls decorated in the same graffiti that was there 3 years ago. The country-side quickly swallowed us whole as we passed by villages with their houses, courtyards, dogs, dirt roads and villagers. Poverty is easy to see when just leaving the city. Houses nearly falling over situated a stones-throw away from the brightly colored walls surrounding a large home and a Mercedes. These scenes display poverty not only in the lack of material wealth but also in the lack of class. Somehow we barely noticed passing by our first stop, the large city of Ploiesti with its oil refineries situated to the south and east of the city while the north of the city looks toward the foothills of the Carpathians. This city was once the target of a major bombing campaign by the Allied forces in WWII called Operation Tidal Wave. Suddenly our faces were glued to the window as faces tend to be when you’re in a train and the mountains begin to rise up around you. Soon we were at our stop, Sinaia. With our large packs we made our way off the train into a chilling mountain air.

Sinaia, though a beautiful location, was a bonehead decision by the trip’s planner (myself). Sinaia was chosen over it’s neighbor Busteni because it features one of the nicest museums in Romania at the best preserved castle in Romania, Peles. Busteni, on the other hand, features some great hiking with incredible views. The bonehead decision was that the trip’s planner deciding Sinaia because of the museum, disregarded the fact that Day 1 fell on a Monday when all museums in Romania are closed. Either way the short hike up to the castle allowed for some nice views of the town’s architecture and monastery. We were able to hang out in the courtyard of the castle for a while and walk around its grounds before retreating back down the hill with a bar of nuga and a beer waiting for us at the bottom. Following the beer we made our way back to the train station for the day’s second leg to Brasov.

After passing by the beautiful Busteni the mountains the train began to descend until finally we entered the city of Brasov. Hungry and with heavy packs we hustled around town searching for hostels. The two hostels we had written down on paper were disappointments. Both hostels were located in the center and both offering not much other than a number on the door. Finally after doing some more searching I looked in my pocket to find a flier that one man at the train station shoved into Wes’s hand as we quickly passed him. It was the flier for the hostel Kesmet Dau. We were in luck as the hostel had cheep beds and one free drink included.

Day 2

The second day began with a nice conversation about traveling and being in foreign places with our fellow hostel goers. A couple of Canadians, Americans, a Brit and a lone Swedish gal made for good morning conversation before heading out. The days discoveries began with a hike to Tampa, the peak that rises sharply out of old town Brasov that takes you up to the cities very own version of the Holleywood sign. Views from the peak reveal Brasov and beyond on one side and the snow covered Carpathian peaks on the other. The hiked looped back down the hill through the forest ending at one end of Brasov’s southern wall were our old city walk began. That walk took us to the major sites of the city gates, rope street, the square of advice, the black church, the northern wall and finally lunch at a basement restaurant. From there we returned to the hostel to grab our bags and move on to the next point of interest, Sibiu.

Day 3

Our host gave us some great advice the night before which led to my favorite part of the trip. It was the second to last nice day of the trip and we spent it walking from village to village over beautiful Transylvanian landscapes. Starting in the nearby city of Cisnadie we perused a couple second-hand stores and made our way to the center of town where we circled the beautiful fortified church. An old local man led us to the edge of town showing us the old dirt road to our next destination. Passing a flock of sheep through an orchard we spotted the next fortified church in the distance. The fortress at Cisnadioara is situated high up on a steep hill at the edge of a small village. On our way up the hill we spotted some deer and at the top of the hill we spotted an amazing landscape viewing Cisnadie in the distance and the mountains to the south.

After asking the locals for directions to our next destination we were sent up an old wagon road that was hard to follow at times. Just after crossing the hill’s peak we could see Rasinari, the dream site of a fellow volunteer. On our way down the hill we spotted some donkeys grazing and a hawk swooping down by the forest. The town was pleasant to walk through with its dirt road splitting the bright colors of the houses lining it. We met with the volunteer in the center of town were we picked up some lunch supplies. After a good chat and some grub we decided to take off back to Sibiu where we hung out with our great hosts at restaurant in the beautiful small square.

Day 3

Tour of Sibiu. It’s high walls, old churches, squares large and small and rich history we filled our day which included a trip through the Birkenthaul museum where our host was working. What’s Europe without visiting at least one museum? The day was pleasant but you could feel it getting colder and cloudier. The next day we would be back on the road after three nights in Sibiu and we were hoping for some decent travel/hiking weather.

Day 4

Decent weather we did not get as we woke up to snow and then heavy rain. The weather stalled our departure from Sibiu but eventually we got out the door and on the road to Deva where you can see the fortress on the hill shooting up out of town. The fortress was nice but the burrito at Pizza Grande was better. I was quite familiar with Deva already being that it was my transportation hub for traveling in the northern and western parts of Romania for the two years of staying in Petrosani. The maxi-taxi ride that I’ve become so familiar with put me to sleep and suddenly we were surrounded by mountains again descending switchbacks, back home in Petrosani. My good buddy Dragos picked us up at the bus station and we spent that evening first getting some food with some of my best friends in Petrosani, Leddy and Dan, and then returning to Dragos’s for a good evening’s conversation. Unfortunately, visiting was the extent of our trip to Petrosani. The weather hindered our main purpose for visiting my second home, hiking in Parang. Due to the weather we cut our Transylvanian adventure short a half day by taking the day train back, but not before we took some time to visit with Ernest. Six hours of train and we were back in Buc to meet some friends out for a nice night in Lipscani.

Conclusions:

Transylvania is a pretty face of Romania but not the only face of Romania. Traveling through Transylvania was a good idea and it showed my buddy a great/beautiful part of Romania. We hung out with some friends, met some interesting people and talked to quite a few Romanians that had some interesting things to tell us about the history of the country. Despite all of this, it was great that Transylvania is not the only part of Romania that I was able to show my friend. Spending a couple days at the beginning and end of the trip allowed us to do some discovering in Bucharest as well. I’m sure that Wes learned a bunch about Romania and saw many new things but I also learned quite a bit as this was the first time I took a look at both parts of my Peace Corps service: service as a PCV in Petrosani and service at a PCVL in Bucharest.

St. Patricks Day 2012

2012-04-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

“Everyone’s Irish on St. Paddy’s Day”. Some people love this saying and some people hate it. Some of the not so Irish or partly Irish like myself love it because it gives them an opportunity to celebrate, whether it be by gathering together with family at grandma’s or with friends at the pub. It may be that the one’s that despise the phrase aren’t Irish and therefore they don’t find that they have a reason to celebrate it. I’ve heard people in this bracket complain that people say they’re Irish on St. Patrick’s Day just for another reason to get drunk. The others that I could see disliking the above mentioned expression are the actual 100% Irish who might see the current and sometimes belligerent interpretation of their national holiday as an attack on their culture. While perusing facebook on the greenest day of the year I noticed that a friend of mine, whom I respect, posted a comment that showed his discontent of the holiday. His comment made me think and examine why it is that I celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Eventually I’ve determined that the answer to this question more about where I come from than where my great great great grandparents came from.

Corning NY is a small town in upstate New York where workers once immigrated to the area to work in the glass-factory. Now scientist, engineers and business-men come as all the laborers are now in China. There is undoubtedly an Irish presence in Corning weather it be in the names of my classmates and friends (O’hare, Stack, O’Laughlin ) but maybe more evident when you see the names of some of the older bars in town (Maleys, Murphys, McKlintock). When listening to the attendance called out in school you hear some Irish names but it by no means dominates the list like the Italian names do. Either way, one of the neat things about Corning is that today, like many years ago, you find people from many different backgrounds. For being a small conservative town a stone’s throw away from the middle of nowhere it does have some surprising diversity. I suppose a lot of small towns in America is like that.

I first learned about St. Patrick’s Day at home, secondly in the church and lastly in school. There are two things that I remember most about St. Patrick’s Day celebrations long ago and they have both been present in my last couple of celebrations, the color green and the film Darby O’Gill and the Little People. That’s right, I didn’t say green beer. I’m talking long ago when someone, maybe at school, introduced me to one of my all time favorite Disney films. Check it out if you haven’t yet. I can’t go on reminiscing about St. Patrick’s Days without mentioning my Great Grandma Mertson who when you walk into her house on the special day it’s like a new green starburst, flavor explosion for your eyes. On top of that, the traditional corned beef and cabbage is served at her place and it really makes you feel Irish, whether you are or you’re not.

Finally we get to the part where booze is involved. I will admit that green beer, Jamison and Irish car bombs took a pretty central role in my St. Patty’s day celebrations of my 20’s but looking back, those were relatively few up until I came to Romania. In Romania they don’t really celebrate St. Patrick’s Day so the last couple holidays I spent explaining who St. Patrick was to my students then going home to watch Darby O’Gill. Things are a bit different in Bucharest and this year I was able to have a much more thorough celebration of the Irish holiday.

First off, there are Irish in Bucharest and one of them happens to be my boss. The Peace Corps Romania St. Patrick’s Day party kicked off the holiday with some old-school Irish tunes playing on the radio, learning to sing one and of course, pin the shamrock on the leprechaun. Though this last part is probably not traditionally Irish, it was fun and it got people in the spirit of celebrating. The following day the Irish Embassy scheduled a music event in center of old town featuring an Irish people-pleaser band called the Amazing Apples and a couple of other Flogging-Molly style Romanian bands (literally covering Flogging Molly songs). After the show, traditionally dressed bagpipers toured old town with a drummer, guitar player and mandolin player. They played their instruments, sang and danced on the floors of bars throughout old town. This part of the evening was surely a treat. Later on my friend Mihaela and I went to an Irish pub we haven’t been to yet to pack into the crowd for an extended evening with the Amazing Apples playing not only Irish tunes but also crowd pleasers like their Lady Gaga/MGMT mash-up. Even though it wasn’t much like my old-time favorite Corning celebrations of St. Patrick it was still a great time and it did include that good traditional Irish music that you usually hear playing on my computer and ipod during the 5 days leading up to the holiday.

To those who can’t stand the saying “Everybody’s Irish on St. Patty’s Day” my advice to you is to live and let live. Right, people do use it for an excuse to get drunk sometimes but lets be honest, if St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t an excuse to get drunk something else would be (Friday, happy hour, over the hump, ect.). Secondly, I believe I read somewhere recently that the Irish are the second largest immigrant group in the United States to the Germans. Maybe all those people saying that they’re Irish actually are, at least a bit. What makes the US so unique is that it is a country of immigrants. Here in Romania we celebrate Romanian holidays where we eat Romanian food dance the traditional Romanian dances and partake in some, at times strange, but interesting Romanian customs that go back centuries. In the states you find people from all different backgrounds who celebrate in the way their parents taught them which is where they come from and may be quite different from how you were taught to celebrate. This is one of the beauties of the US.

One World Romania

2012-03-22T14:20:00.002-07:00

Put on by the Czech Center, this international human rights documentary film festival reminded me of one of the positive aspects about living in a capital city, the cultural events. In its fifth edition in Romania, the festival displayed a number of films addressing a large variety of topics related to human rights throughout the world. The nine films I saw addressed topics from hip hop music to escaping communism, to genocide. The topics for the most part were hard to deal with and for that reasons the films main image was made to be one hard to deal with. It was an image of a women and a man wearing expressionless faces with an old-style shaving razor being held up to their manually opened eyes as if they were drones being forced to watch something that would painfully change the way the see the world around them.

The festival opening featured a band performing various styles of music interpreted by a diverse group of youth criminals who had to be police escorted to and from the stage. The feature film was rather uplifting as it documented the beginning of hip hop music as the form of political protest that it once was and its disbursement in this form around the globe. The Furious Force of Rhymes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnNGO_MOkUg

The following evening hosted a number of films but I chose to attend the free one, not only because it was free but also because it was the most relevant film of the festival in the context in which I worked for two years in Romania and in which many of my colleagues work at the moment. That context is the Romanian educational system and the documentary entitled “Our School” documented the attempt for the EU to desegregate Romanian schools by integrating Roma into classes with Romanians, the attempt for the teachers to handle the changes in their classrooms and the attempt for the kids to go to school. It was a very sad film but one that should probably be watched by teachers all over the world. Our School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiujVekWkuQ

“Our School” was shown in the New Cinema of Romanian Directors located at the Peasants museum. Two major aspects about this cinema set it apart from the other three main festival cinemas; it is located quite far from the very center of town and entrance was free. Once again, Thursday evening I went for the free choice. O the life of a PC volunteer in Bucharest. Even though I didn’t see all of the other films airing that evening I would say that I made a good choice catching the only showing of “Albanian Special”. Albanian Special was a series of three short documentaries made by students of an Albanian film school that has faced its own struggle with oppressive authorities over the years. After the films the director of the school came out to answer “questions” about the films and the struggles that his school has had to go through over the years. I put “questions” in quotes because there may have been only one. The talked through the entire discussion time only answering one question. Either way I give him credit for being the only Albanian that I’ve heard of that can speak decent Romanian.

Friday offered up a two-for-one special at Cinema Union with “A Murder Revisited” about a male homosexual killed in Serbia followed by the light hearted story of an old Czech man traveling through Russia. It was an odd mix but the discussion following the second film was almost as entertaining as the movie itself. The film followed the helmet and track suit wearing Mr. Triska around Russia following his father’s old war tracks to Siberia while actually probing the Russian public he interviewed for thoughts on politics, life in Russia and the recent disappearances of journalists. I enjoyed the feature so much I decided to stay for the double feature that followed. Mr. Triska Epoch Making Trip to Russia: http://vimeo.com/21815503

I went on to see two more films that week wishing that I had the chance to see the rest. (http://www.realsocialnetworkfilm.com/, http://skylightpictures.com/film/site/about/). Like the festival posters suggested they were truly eye-opening films and in some ways, like the posters suggest, their subject matter cut like a knife. After last weeks film festival I was happily reminded of one of the positivies about living in a large city.

One World Romania- http://oneworld.ro/2012/l/ro/

Martisor 2012

2012-03-05T23:10:00.002-08:00

On the first of March each year Romanians celebrate Martisor. My first Martisor came as a surprise. I was not forewarned of the customs until about a week ahead of time when I asked my colleagues why there are stands up throughout the city selling decorations and flowers. My second Martisor was spent presenting on the topics of Peace Corps and volunteerism to a small group of bright young individuals at a library in Craiova. This past martisor was spent at yet another Peace Corps event hosted by the Gender and Development Committee helping with set up and looking on while art projects where displayed and awarded in their portrayal of this year’s theme, “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”. March first has turned out to be a very important day in my Peace Corps service but what exactly does Martisor mean and why is it celebrated?

In trying to steer clear of the textbook/Wikipedia answer I’ll try to give a PCV perspective on the local holiday. A week or two before March first, stands go up around town and the people standing behind the table are selling small gifts or flowers. You walk down the street seeing table after table filled with little white boxes that say “1 MARTIE” in red at the top of the box. Each little box has a small window revealing its contents which may be a 4-leaf clover, a chimney sweeper, a flower, or a number of other symbols. A friend of mine even found a martisor that looked like a salted pretzel. The one thing that each martisor does have in common is the red and white string attached to it. There are various explanations for what each color represents but one explanation is that the white represents winter while the red represents spring, and the fact that the colors are woven together represents the transitions from winter to spring. Looking back over the three different Martisor celebrations that I have had, though I’ve participated in 3 different activities in 3 different locations, there has been this one constant of season change. Now when I think of the first of March, like most Romanians, I consider it the beginning of spring.

Martisor 2012 presented an opportunity for me to get together with good people and get crafty. My host country organizations MaiMultVerde (MMV) decided that it would be nice to gather some materials from around the office (materials that would have probably been otherwise thrown away or recycled) and make something nice out of them. This year, instead of spending money on cheap, plastic gifts probably made in China, I spent hours with fellow MMV volunteers cutting paper, gluing various things together, and tying red and white strings around them. I even learned some origami which is something that I wouldn’t mind learning more of if I have time. The result was great. Some of the gifts were sold to the GAD committee for their event while others were sold to MMV supporters. The money that was raised will be used to support a tree planting activity that will take place in April.

One quick fact that must be mentioned about March 1st is its intimate connection with Peace Corps. Like all things super important there is a day dedicated to them. Mothers are super important so there is a mother’s day. Human Rights are super important so there is a Human Rights day. Fooling people is super important so there is a Fool's Day. Well Peace Corps is pretty important too, and so on March first we celebrate Peace Corps Day. Though, in Romania, Peace Corps Day is usually overshadowed by the local Martisor celebrations it is no small matter. March first is the day that President Kennedy officially established the Peace Corps. Happy Birthday Peace Corps!

Cod Portocaliu

2012-02-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

Bucharest, and all of Romania, got hit with a hard winter so far this year. It all started in late January with snow blanketing the city. There was so much snow actually, that all US Embassy and Peace Corps employees had a day and a half off while in some Romanian counties students had the better half of the week off... “SNOW DAY”! It didn’t stop there. The first storm of pretty steady snowfall lasted three or four days and was followed by georgeus days if you’re seeing them from a warm place with a hot cocoa. The sun was shining bright and the air could freeze your lungs. That period was followed by another two or three days of snow, and another period of nice, then the last major snow came again at the beginning of this week. The weather ahead looks sunny for quite a few days and people are beginning to recover from the storms.

If you’re reading this and you’re not Romanian then you are probably wondering what “Cod Portocaliu”, the title of this post means. In Romania, and I believe throughout all of Europe, there is a color code describing the severity of weather conditions and "Cod Portocaliu" meands "Code Orange" in English. Its kind of like the terror threat scale in the US. News flashes of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security would flash across the screen and you would hear the anchorman/woman spouting code yellow or code orange meaning that we should all be oneshade darker frightened. The Terror Threat (TT)advisory code (which was phased out in 2011) is actually very similar to the weather advisory code in Romania. Today is code green and no one seems to know or care. Code green is not spouted over the news because code green means that you don’t have to be alert for any weather-related hardships today. Code green is also the TT level that you never really heard of because it actually meant that there is no threat. In the TT code there is also a blue (guarded) but after blue the threats follow the same succession as the weather threats in Romania, yellow (watch out), orange (you’re already buried in snow), red (I don’t want to know).

My personal experience through a good chunk of the 2012 snow extravaganza of Bucharest took place in my small studio apartment as I was sick for all of last week. Luckily, before getting sick I had the chance to get out and to “dau cu punga”. “Dau cu punga” translates word for word to “give with a bag” and while all you language learners out there know that you usually can’t translate word for word you can probably figure this one out by the context; sled riding with a plastic bag instead of a sled. Now, if you have ever been to Bucharest you may be a bit confused. Many fellow volunteers have asked me “You can sled ride in Bucharest, isn’t it flat there?”. Well Buc is pretty flat but there is a perfect sled riding hill in Parcul Tineretului, large enough and steep enough to catch some speed but still easy to climb up, allowing the maximum number of quality runs in an evening.

Now that my cold has passed I have gotten a chance to get out in the city, walk to work, and view the destruction. The main streets are in good shape for cars but walking is a workout regardless of how far you have to go. Some sidewalks are clean but most are not and walking means trudging through soft wet snow. Its a similar feeling to walking through sand and personally I prefer running through it. Its on the smaller streets that the negative effects of the snowfall resist. By this time, a few days after the last snowfall, there are paths or some clean sidewalks on the side, but in classic Bucharest style usually you’ll find a car parked on the sidewalk forcing you to walk in the road. This is where it gets tricky. On the small streets, the normally narrow two lane road becomes a one lane road after a snow storm. Even though its a one lane road many people still use it as a two way road and you often see two stubborn drivers facing each other honking there horns refusing to give way. If one driver decides to let the other driver pass how does that driver do so? They either must back all the way up to the last intersection they crossed or risk getting stuck trying to turn around. Lets say you’re forced to walk in this area where the cars go. You must walk in the middle of the road through snow that once again, give you the feeling that you are walking through sand. Its enticing to walk through the car tracks where the snow isn’t as deep but if you dare put two feet down in that area then you are falling. The tracks consist of a thin layer of snow covering several inches of thick uneven ice. I’ve gone down twice so far, once in then middle of an intersection.

Day one of walking to the Peace Corps office this week I took a new, beautiful route to mix things up. Along my route I saw many picture worthy moments of buried cars, cars on sidewalks, nice winter city scenes. I also ended up helping to push three cars that got stuck on the small streets. Day two of walking to the PC office I decided to bring my camera and here are some of the shots.

Happy Valentine's Day

The frustrated walker

Piata Alba Iulia

Podcasting course

2012-02-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

When in Romania I'm continuing to learn new things. Over the past five weeks I have been periodically tuning into an online course that I decided to join. My program manager at Peace Corps found out about it somewhere and sent out a mass email to all PCRo volunteers about it. I happened to be the only one of us that decided to sign up and it ended up being a pretty good decision.

The course was entitled "Podcasting for the ESL-EFL classroom" and though our moderators were based in Venezuela, participants tuned in from all over the world. The course covered the basics of podcasting from the free audio-editing software to the publishing online. The course also covered useful ways to use the podcasting in an ESL-EFL classroom. Participants had to draw up a project outline that they can use in a classroom setting. That is, a hooked up classroom setting with computers, headphones, internet and freedom to download the necessary software. Finally the participants had to present all of there work on a blog that they themselves designed with the guidance of the moderators.

Below is a list of the tools we used and learned about:

yahoogroups
WIZIQ
Glogster
Podbean
Podomatic
Audacity
Blogger
Free Music Archive
Audioboo
Vocaroo
Chirbit
Pixlr
VoiceThread
Virtual Presents

and many more mentioned in the required readings.

Many of these tools offer great ways to integrate technology into the classroom.

My final product is a blog named AndyCasting which includes all of the podcasts that I recorded for the session as well as the project that I came up with. Click here to check it out.

NYE- Krakow

2012-01-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

In classic New Years Eve fashion I found myself in yet another new place. My past five New Years Eve celebrations have popped off in classic all-night party fashion, all in different parts of the world. The latest of the five celebrations rang in the year 2012 in a country that, until this past summer, I never really saw myself visiting. It ended up being a great decision with all the fun and interesting travel experiences included.

Krakow, Poland is pretty interesting old city. At one time it was the capital of Poland but it is now better known in as their beautiful old medieval city; a place you want to go if you’re into the history and want to see the sights. Little did I know before taking the old town tour, it is also pretty well known throughout Europe for its particularly rowdy soccer fans as the city includes two rivalry teams. So rowdy I’m told, that Poland decided to exclude Krakow from hosting any Euro 2012 matches. The clean, pristine old town with the Wowel castle at its head looking out over the Visla River is surrounded by a band of parks. Crossing that band will take you out of the medieval city and onto streets lined with 18^th century buildings including some traces communist architecture popping its head out from time to time. Certainly walking the old town is a pleasurable experience with its churches, large square, and small intimate store fronts, but even outside of the old town roaming can be a pleasurable experience.

Welcome to the Goodbye Lenin!

The New Years Eve celebration was in itself a pretty great time. The first face I saw when entering the hostel was that of my brother Nate. Just before entering I figured that he had probably showed up and left the hostel already, getting out on the town to see what the next few nights have in store, but to my surprise I caught him just before going out to pick up some beers so I had him pick up a couple for me. The Goodbye Lenin Hostel rocked from the people working there to its convenient location next to the Jewish quarter. Peace Corps Ukraine represented about half of the guests at the hostel. That is a slight exaggeration but there was a very large group of volunteers from Ukraine present for the NYE celebration. I was lucky to have had the chance to meet, hangout, and have extended chats with many of them. Once again I’ve realized that the really great times that you have when traveling happen when you’re around like-minded people, open to new experiences. You’re all just having a good time.

A trip to Krakow isn’t complete without getting out of the city for one of those days and checking out Auschwitz. A good part of the 2^nd of January was spent bussing it to the camp and roaming around the grounds with a tour guide. There’s an informative museum at Auschwitz I with some pretty intense displays and the sheer size of Auschwitz II was imposing. Images from Schindler List flashed through my head.

The following day was Nate’s last day in the Krack. We spent the day seeing more of the city including the National Museum where we pretended to be WWII soldiers and an English book store where I finally acquired some reading material for the trip (I had left my apartment to travel alone to Krakow without a book!). I had decided to stay in Krakow until the 5^thinstead of heading right back to Warsaw. After seeing Nate off at the bus station on the 3^rd I had a couple more days of roaming around on my own seeing more of Krakow and then a bit of Warsaw.

It poured those last couple of days dampening the mood that was already dampened when Nate and the rest of the PCU volunteers left to go back to their sites. Every time this happens; the first couple of days following a nice long get-together you feel more alone than you’ve ever felt. Even though it rained, I took the chance to put a good sized dent in the rather large book I had just purchased (The Shock Doctrine-Naomi Klein, you should read it if you haven’t already) while enjoying coffees or food in small cafés. I also took the time to go through the museum of Nazi Occupation in Krakow which was located in Schindler’s factory. While walking through that museum I realized that in the 2.5 years I’ve been in Europe I have only been to a few museums. The 5^th was a long day of walking around the amazingly rebuilt old town of Warsaw to conclude my Polish NYE adventure.

UNESCO Site, the Old Town Square in Warsaw rebuilt after being destroyed by the Nazis at the end of WWII

After three NYE celebrations, in three different European countries I’ve realized that they’ve all followed a pattern. Each time I have seen new places, met new people, hung out with good friends, enjoyed the travel, but all centered around a big, all-night party. On our tour through the old town I actually chatted with some people who recognized me from the hostel in Budapest for last year’s NYE celebration. Not bad, the only question is, where to ring in the year 2013?

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Christmas this year I decided to prepare some traditional Romanian food, salata de boeuf and sarmale. While chopping vegetables on Christmas eve I heard some loud noises coming from the street behind my block. I quickly grabbed my camera and headed to my balcony to film the scene below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Merry Christmas!

Ignat

2011-12-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of the year again. The city is lit up, the nighttime air is spiced with cinnamon and cloves as the steam rises out of the warm glasses of wine, venders all around town are pushing goods of all shapes and sizes into the faces of eager consumers, and in the thousands of small villages peppering the countryside of Romania, pigs are dying. “Ignat” takes place on the 20^th of December. The word “Ignat” is actually the Romanian version of the name Ignatius and like most things Romanian, the 20^thof December has religious significance. Even though the 20^th is the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Antioch the word is synonymous with the annual pig slaughter because of its convenient timing, 5 days before Christmas. There’s just enough timing in between Ignat and Christmas to get the meat checked and ready to feast on after the long Christmas fast. Due to the busy week schedule, the onrush of capitalism and the slow fading of tradition, the annual event of “Ignat” no longer actually takes place on the feast day of Ignatius, unless of course that day falls on the weekend. This past weekend was the weekend before Ignat, and even though blood was spilled the courtyards of many country homes, good food and drink were offered in remembrance of the pig freshly slaughtered.

It was about 9:30am on a Sunday morning in a small Romanian village that bears the name “Valley of the Monks” when three PCVs stumbled into Nico’s courtyard awaiting the feast day’s events. The PCV’s were late and they had missed the actual killing of the pig. They halted shortly after entering the gate with eyes fixed upon the scene. There was an older man and a younger man each with torches in one hand and a knife in the other, burn scrape, burn scrape. Despite their seemingly carelessness of where they set down their torches, it was clear that this wasn’t their first hot dance. They were pros, and this was just one of their many pig slaughters of the season. Soon after arriving, our host, busy with preparations of sorts, came out of the house with a large welcoming smile across his face. In one hand he was holding a steaming pot and in the other he had a large tray with mugs. After clearing off a spot on the nearby table he began to pour the not so clear liquid into the mugs and handed them out. A morning cheers quickly followed and then we drank. It had been two years since I had tasted tuica fierta and I had forgotten how much I had actually liked it. My last taste of the drink took place at the same time of the year, while watching another pro clean a recently butchered pig, several hundred kilometers to the west. Meanwhile, looking around the group I noticed that the one of the men working on the pig put his scraper down for his glass of tuica. Tuica in one hand and a torch in the other, drink, burn, drink burn.

Grandma cleaning out the intestines.

After burning the hair off and cleaning and salting its skin, the men methodically began taking the pig apart starting with the head. The first cut was the traditional cross cut in the head of the pig, reminding those present that they are thankful to God for the large healthy pig on the table. The pig started as a 200+ kg mass on a table and in about a half hour all that was left on the table was one last flat slab of flesh. I watched them pull the different parts of the pig off while standing next to my friend Jeremy who has a passion for food. As they pulled off each part he explained what it was and what it is used for in the culinary world. For him, knowing his way around food, it was obvious that seeing the slaughter was an interesting experience. Meanwhile my other friend Aron was carefully documenting the activity by taking pictures, and our host Nico was lending a helpful hand to the professionals cutting the pig. After all, it was all his meat. Aside from the group, we were accompanied by some entertaining animals. Between watching the butchers and chatting with Jeremy I was noticing the cats roaming around the scene slopping blood up off of the cold concrete. Despite how domesticated an animal can be there are still instincts that kick in.

Pomana porcului was the culmination of the day’s activities. Pomana porcului is the meal that the host offers those present who helped out with the slaughter. Even though we didn’t help out very much we were guests and therefore we became direct beneficiaries of the delicious food served. The meal consisted of some of the meat taken from the pig recently killed fried in fat from the pig. There was also mamaliga, tuica and wine served, all products produced by the host. Despite the cold, the meal was served at a table in the courtyard. After enjoying the meal we continued to sit and enjoy the day and our great host Nico who brought out a pair gloves that he used to box with. Back in the day Nico was one of Romania’s star boxers.

For me, the event acted as a reminder of the beauty of the countryside. After spending so much time in the city sometimes I forget how much I enjoy the fresh air, traditions, and hospitality that can be found not far beyond the limits of the city. In some cases these traditions can also be found within city limits. I remember walking to school on a cold morning before the winter break began last year and seeing torches lit in between city blocks at my old site. Even though last weekend may have marked my final pomana porcului, it will not be the last time I make the trip to spend the day in the beautiful Romanian countryside. In so many places in Romania the beauty of the countryside means incredible mountain scenery, rivers and lakes, but in so many more places in Romania the beauty of the countryside means much more than that. It is the tradition, stories, and hospitality of the people who reside there.

Romania, te iubesc!

Planting Season

2011-12-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Planting season has come and gone! Over the past several weeks I have been assisting in the planning and implementation of the fall series of tree planting projects that my host country organization puts on each year. Before the tree plantings started, my host country organization MaiMultVerde (MMV) organized a course to train volunteer coordinators in planting projects. The course gave its 40 participants the skills needed to plan and implement a tree planting on their own. It also expanded the pool of coordinators that MMV utilizes to assist in their own plantings. The planting projects offered by MMV give those coordinators some practical experience in conducting a tree planting activity. The season started with a bang.

Three tree plantings were scheduled for the last weekend of October. There was a small one in Bucharest on Friday, a larger one in Ploiesti on Saturday, and the largest was held on Saturday in a small village called Lesmir in Bihor County.

Panorama from the top of the hill at the planting in Lesmir

The Lesmir planting was set up on a bare hillside for the purpose of helping to prevent future landslides. The MMV team along with the coordinators made the 10-12 hour trip by van to Marghita where they stayed and commuted to Lesmir. It was a beautiful area of Romania, but as you looked out from atop the steep hill where the planting was to take place, you saw a number of towers in the distance poking up out of the foggy haze which had settled in the valley. We were in oil country. Those towers were oil drills and our tree planting activity was one of the many projects funded by “Tara lui Andrei” the CSR branch of Romania’s largest oil company, Petrom. On Friday the Petrom coordinators set up the location to receive volunteers while the MMV team and coordinators set up the planting area so that when the volunteers arrived the next day it would be easy for them to know where and how to plant the “puieti” (young trees). The hard work setting up the terrain and early morning wake-up time the following morning, put the MMV team and coordinators to bed at a decent hour, eagerly awaiting the next day’s events.

The team was up and out the door into the cold morning by 6:30am. The sun had not yet risen and the sharp sting of the cold northern air was enough to wake up each member of the team as they all piled into the vans. The warm air circulating through the vans discouraged them from exiting once at the planting site. Minor morning preparations had to be made in order to be ready for the four hundred volunteers who were about to show up ready to work. The volunteers consisted of children from the local schools with their teachers, nearby community leaders, and Petrom employees with their families. They were split into four teams with two of MMV’s coordinators helping each team. As with all of the season’s plantings, the first several minutes are the most hectic and crucial. Volunteers come ready to start and tend to rush into things rather than patiently and attentively listening to directions. In the first half hour of planting the coordinators must make sure that the volunteers are doing it correctly and in an organized fashion. After that first hour things seem to go rather smoothly.

Unfortunately, for the coordinators of the two blue teams, things didn’t go so swimmingly that day. The day before, we identified one of the yellow sections to be the most difficult because if it’s steep grade and tricky terrain, but the blue section ended up being by far the most difficult because of its hard soil. The soil in the yellow teams’ section was much more sandy and easy to dig, but the soil in the blue teams’ section was difficult to break and volunteers lost their patients. After giving some instruction, handing out some water, and getting dirty a bit, the blue team coordinators got through the lengthened first half of the day which ended in an awards ceremony for the hard working volunteers. The second half of the day consisted of cleaning up the planting terrain after the volunteers left and then heading down to the small village of Lesmir to eat and drink with the locals. Certainly that evening the volunteers and some of the coordinators continued celebrating back at the old hotel in their host city of Marghita. The next day came early but much less taxing as the group only had to pile back into the vans to embark on another 12 our trip back to the capital.

The Lesmir trip was only the start of the planting season and it created a team that would come back together as a whole for the final planting in Marsani. Many of the Lesmir coordinators were involved in the plantings in between the first and the last as well. All in all, MMV organized seven tree planting activities in the fall of 2011 addressing one of their goals of the reforesting Romania. At the final and largest planting of the season an impressive 37,000+ trees were planted in an area that you could play beach volleyball on. We were not planting in soil, it was sand. Riding the bus away from the planting site you could see large plots of trees planted in the same ground a few years earlier taking nicely to the soil. Plus, the trees planted were one of my favorites found in Romania, the acacia tree. Seeing the before and after, and the realization that a forest was just planted was a very rewarding aspect of the project, but certainly not the most rewarding aspect. Meeting, working with, and getting to know the coordinators was by far the most valuable reward that I gained in this project. For that I thank MaiMultVerde. For the coordinators themselves, maybe it was the trees and realizing the positive impact that they can make, maybe it was the smiling faces and the interesting stories of the volunteers they coordinated, or maybe it was getting to know the other coordinators a bit better. If one of the coordinators happens to read this I kindly ask them to leave their perspectives in the comment section below.

If you wish to donate to future tree plantings you can donate here. Ten RON ($3) plants 1 small tree.

Capturing Fall

2011-11-22T12:22:00.001-08:00

The above video was prodused by Totoran Bogdan, a student in the the school where I worked in Petrosani, Colegiul Tehnic "Dimitrie Leonida". The pictures used in the film were taken by a former colleague and great friend Ioan Ilea Ernest.

It used to be done by raking leaves into a big pile next to a tree, climbing up in the tree, letting yourself go and enjoying that feeling of being in a cloud. Evidently we grow and that pile will no longer support our weight but we still manage to capture the magnificence of fall. Whether it be the bright colors popping out in the landscape, the crumbling of leaves under your feet (or rake), the taste in the air when the first cold separates the seasons, or one of the early games of the highly anticipated football season, fall is a season highly anticipated by many and at times seems all too short.

The Romanian fall of 2011 came like a slap in the face. Rain had totally held off in the two months leading up to the abrupt changing of the seasons, making a difficult living for the buretar (mushroom picker). Suddenly the weather changed from t-shirt to hoodie and beanie, and a couple days later clouds rolled and the rain began to fall. Unfortunately for the runners of Bucharest, the Bucharest International Marathon was scheduled for that first day of cold rain. Despite the gloomy weather I had to leave the apartment early that morning to catch the start of the race as it took place in the closest square, a two minute walk away. Seeing the runners warming up in their spandex get-ups and their skimpy shorts took me back to that one year, in eighth grade, when I captured the fall by running cross-country. The air in Bucharest had the same bite to it, the same taste as those cross-country meets. I remembered the warm-up exercises, the black Lifa beanie handed down from my older brother, and the skimpy shorts that we had to wear. Since those first few days of the 2011 fall I’ve been taking any chance that I can to appreciate the season, knowing that the leaves fall in the blink of an eye and that a cold, dark, but beautiful winter will soon descend on Romania.

In the past three years capturing fall for me has taken place through a camera lens. I’m no pro at taking pictures but I like to do it and it gives me one more excuse to get out and appreciate my surroundings regardless of the season. I was recently looking through the only pictures that were ever on my ipod, which consisted of pictures taken during my last fall in the states. They include some pretty rockin Halloween pictures of Jay and Silent Bob but also some fall shots of the finger-lakes region of New York. The colors on the surrounding hills created a scene that I thought I might have to give up for a couple of years while I’m abroad. It turns out that those beautiful fall colors were very present and even more vibrant in the region of Romania where I was placed. Walking through the Jiet Canyon or the Jiu Gorge the bright colors of fall surround you on all sides and at times seem to cover you. The best time to take shots is when you see those great colors with the perfect blue background of the sky on a clear sunny day. As that cool wind blows by your cheek you’re reminded of the beauty in the changing of the seasons, a feeling that can’t be captured by even the greatest camera lenses.

Living in the big city now, I knew that I would experience a different kind of fall season. Rather than beautiful rolling hills surrounding me every day, I have concrete blocks, streets, cars, and too many people to appreciate. Luckily for me I live in a pretty green city. There are still trees in between the blocks, beautiful parks, nice architecture and opportunities to get out and see the countryside. For a couple nice sunny weeks October and November the wind would blow leaves into my path while riding my bike to work in the morning. The major highlight of this fall was having the opportunity to join a dedicated group of environmental volunteers in planting more trees so that future generations can experience the joys that I have experienced in the past and will continue to experience in years to come.

November Riding

2011-11-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

After one of my later days spent at the office I headed home to find a number of hazards on my way.

Hazard number 1, my confidence: During the past couple of rides home I have chosen to pick up my cell phone and return calls that were missed earlier in the day. Not the safest thing to do while cruising down somewhat busy streets with parked cars lining both sides at night.
Hazard number 2, the door opening: This evening was my first experience of this but I have heard some horror stories. You’re riding down the street, following the rules, maybe going a little fast when… the driver’s side door of the car on your right opens, you hit it, and you go flying.
Hazard number 3, pedestrians: We’re all just trying to get where we need to go and with the hap-hazard parking of the wonderful drivers of Bucharest we just have to come out of nowhere at times skirting our way between vehicles.
Hazard number 4 and by far the most dangerous in my mind, dogs: Night has fallen and that normally peaceful street with the school on the corner turns into a hunting ground with packs of dogs searching for food or maybe just some excitement to pass the time, something to chase before it gets so late that they have to chase themselves.

Well soon after successfully dodging hazards number 2 and 3 as they came within seconds of each other, I chose to give up on talking on the phone, putting a temporary end to hazard number 1. Since I tend to ride rather slowly around town it was easy enough to dodge 2 and 3, but being my first “opening door” experience I was a bit shocked.

The slow riding ends when approached with hazard number 4. Ever since bike riding began in Bucharest hazard number 4 has haunted nearly anyone who dares to take to the small streets on two wheels. There came a point when I finally found my perfect route to work. The route took a relatively straight path, it stuck to the small streets, and it kept me out of high traffic areas, both foot and vehicle traffic. The one thing that caused me to change that perfect course was that one dog, near that one block, always waiting there to chase me down the street. Luckily I found a decent detour that allows me to avoid the dog without significantly changing my course.

A lesson learned almost two years ago in Petrosani was that at night time in Romania those peaceful streets can turn ugly with the barking beasts hot on your trail. After slowly passing the general school I began to hear barking that I thought was safely contained behind a fence. From 5 to 7 angry barking dogs ran out from under the barrier and come after me nearly surrounding my bike as I began to speed up down the street. Such moments are the most dangerous on a bike here because when you are thinking about the angry barking dogs inching closer and closer to your ankles you’re not thinking about cars pulling out or the intersection up ahead. I guess you don’t really have to worry about dodging other pedestrians though. I got away.

After getting through a ride home like the one I had this evening, many cyclist would be proud of themselves. They just managed to skirt disaster coming at them from a number of angles without really even trying. No sweat, “floare la ureche” as the Romanians say. For me it was quite a humbling experience. My slow cruising of the small streets method has been reinforced as well as the need to have a heightened sense of awareness after darkness falls. Now that the clocks have changed, these new lessons will come in handy on a daily (nightly) basis either until springtime comes or until the snow drives me off the roads.

Scorota

2011-10-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

My return to the mountains has come. Remembering late last winter, there had been a three week period away from the mountain and I was itching to get back up for a hike in Parang. Last Friday it had already been almost two months since my last mountain excursion. It had to happen and it seemed to be my last chance before the cold moves in. So I made my return Petrosani but not really. I was in Petrosani to drop my bags off and sleep. The rest of the time I spent like many of the weekends I spent when I lived in Petrosani, outside of Petrosani. Excited to here about the weekend's activities, I committed to making the trip on Friday afternoon when the plan was to hike to cabana Buta. I had only been there once and though I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed one year before to do the hike there were no regrets. It was a great hike and it ended in a delicious meal made primarily of wild mushrooms. Knowing what kind of scenery was in store I psyched myself up for the hike, but we never made it to Buta.

On one hour of dirty train sleep the night before, I found myself yet again struggling to fully doze off on public transportation next to my hiking buddies and a group of young mountain enthusiasts heading uphill. We exited the minibus but only for a minute as we discovered that on demand of the large group of student customers it was heading even further up Basescu's road. Suddenly plans changed from Buta to Scorota, from familiar and exciting to unfamiliar and even more exciting. What is more exciting, adrenaline-pumping, fearful, extreme, than the unknown? To me it was unknown; to my hiking buddies it was a bit more familiar. I was in good hands.

We quickly left the group, so we thought. Thirty minutes of hiking and we were out of woods with cliffs rising up on our left. Thinking it was a good time for a first break we allowed the students to catch up to us and we ended up even with them until the early snack break at Stana Scorota. It was there that we split, my group to the right and straight up the wall while the students took their time snacking. By the time we reached the top of the first climb (not even close to our highest altitude) the group of students was still packed together at the table outside of the stana. They looked smaller than a group of ants crowded around a small piece of lollipop. We continued on, finding bright fall colors surrounded in evergreen, endangered wild-flowers (edelweiss), more climbing, and more students. A large group of students were coming down as we were heading up. They were students from the same Petrosani high school as the students we met on the way up. Imagine having monthly mountain trips in a high school club. Do these kids have a clue how lucky they are? Does anybody?

Eventually we reached the highest point of the day at Varful Puiule but not until we saw an amazing view of the Retezat high peaks. The descent consisted first of beautiful views of a lake in the distance, vibrant clouds, and steep rocks rising on our right. Unfortunately the trail was poorly marked and there was a section where the attentiveness of three hikers was necessary to keep it, until it was lost. After it was lost we bushwhacked down a steep, fairly dangerous slope through the woods to some water and eventually a forestry road. The bushwhack descent at the end of the hike sucked. Mental note... don't expect people to "leave no trace" if you can't manage to mark a trail. The wonders of the hike as a whole farley outweighed that last miserable hour.

The combination of a sleepless night followed by a 10 hour hike led to a great nights sleep only to lead into yet another amazing day of hiking in the Parang Mountains.

Festival Balkanik

2011-09-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

From what people have told me, living in Bucharest has its positives and its negatives. They told me that it would seem really crowded, and it does. They told me that it would be harder to get to know people, and it is. They told me that it’s much hotter in the summer time, and so it is. They also told me that there are fun things to do, and I found that one out this past weekend. As a PCV in a new and strange place I try to keep my eye out for any possible sign that could lead to something positive. One of those signs in my first week here happened to be advertising a Balkan music festival.

Ever since hearing Shatel in Zeynep’s car during my first trip to Turkey I’ve been a fan of the style. Since then I have gotten into a couple other bands including the Hungarian band Ternipe. When I saw them on the band list for Saturday I had to tell Courtney who is also a big fan. From then on there was no question of whether we would go or not, just when we would get there.

The festival opened at two and the music began at six. Various cultural elements were promoted on the festivals website so we decided that arriving at two and getting the full feel of the atmosphere before the music started would be the best idea. Ternipe’s day on stage happened to be the same day of “Let's do it Romania” another activity that was a must do for the 24^thof September. The plan was to get to the clean-up activity in the morning and finish it with enough time to make it to the festival by 2. Of course rarely do things ever go exactly as planned. Dragging ourselves out of the house late in the morning and the unexpectedly long transportation process left us with a re-worked plan to get picked up at the cleaning at 2. This meant that we (Aran and I) wouldn’t end up getting back to the house to get ready for the show until 4. Yes, I guess it takes that long to get into the center of Bucharest by two buses and walking. Aran and I ended up arriving at the festival to meet Courtney, Dave, and Veronica with minimal time to check out the venders before the music started. I did finally find out how much one of those awesome Roma skirts cost, 400 lei, yikes.

Festival Highlights:

Ternipe with their quick footed dancing man, charismatic style, and background: “hop hop” “diggi do diggi diggi do” throughout many of their songs.

The long haired dancing man in the crowd that we swore was American by the 1960’s hippy style dance he was showing off but ended up being Romanian.

Getting spotted by a TV camera while holding a cup in my mouth so I could take my own video of the performance.

Mahala Rai Banda with their 14 band members packed on the stage, large horn section, and feet-moving music. By that time the crowed had swelled to the perfect amount of people, packing the venue but you were still able to move around easily.

Finding Nick there and hanging out with him and his gazda from Targoviste.

Aran’s continuous come and go as he met a group of fun people up in the front of the crowd.

Baba Zula the mysterious headliner of the festival wearing a beanie, aviators, and a cape while playing the saz. This music probably could have put me into a hypnotic trans if I was paying better attention to it.

"Lets do it Romania!" Round II

2011-09-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

The second annual “Lets do it Romania!” popped off this weekend engaging thousands of volunteers all around Romania. "Let’s do it" started out as a national clean-up project in Estonia and it has spread to several other countries in the world including the United States. The need to clean up a country is a simple one to identify. Estonia saw its forest more and more covered in trash as some people there believed the forest to be an acceptable location for waste disposal. In Romania you may go on beautiful hikes in the forest, a pleasant drive on the Transfagarasan, or out to a nice quiet spot in nature to have a barbeque, and you'll probably see some trash.

http://www.letsdoitworld.org/

Some people are the type of people that throw that trash on the ground but all people are the type of people that don't like to see it. Whether you’re one that picks it up or one that throws it down, one thing you can agree on is that it’s not pretty. Critics of "Lets do it" will ask you why anyone would go pick up trash in nature, "go back in a month and it will be covered in trash again", they'll say. This mentality discourages the idea of cleaning up, claiming that it won't make a lasting impact. Many may also use this mentality to justify throwing their own trash down. "It's not a big deal if I just put a couple more plastic bags down on this huge pile of trash." Interestingly the critics I've met tend to be older people (over 40) while the volunteers I've seen and worked with cleaning up Romania tend to be younger (under 30). Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the people out there organizing teams and participating in this activity are older experienced volunteers.

Let’s talk about impact. Those critics may be right when they say that there will just be trash there next year anyway. Some people are going to continue throwing trash down regardless but others may not. Those volunteer who were out picking up other peoples garbage are probably less likely to throw their own down, or at least they'll think twice about it. The fact that the volunteers are typically younger makes that impact stretch into the future. This year, being the second annual “Let’s do it Romania!” proved that the project isn’t just a one time event, but it will continue each with increased participation and increased impact until the need is met. The corps of young volunteers in Romania is growing as well as the awareness to keep your environment free from trash. The more immediate impact is easier to see being that it was a well promoted national campaign. On Saturday September 24th people driving to the next town over, going to the mall, or watching TV in their living rooms knew about the project whether they were involved or not. Those involved worked in teams seeing actually how much garbage can be cleaned up over the course of 2 hours by a team of 15 people. They saw their impact both in the before-and-after shots of the area, as well as in the heap of garbage bags piled up on the side of the road waiting to be picked up. Finally statistics will come out about the total number of bags collected in how many counties by how many volunteers and those numbers, blowing people away, will be used to support and promote the project next year.

Last year I was invited into a team by one of my colleagues, this year I tried last minute to make a team. That attempt failed as it was last minute, and I didn't really know how the system of gathering people and choosing a location worked. Plus, having just moved to Bucharest, I don't know enough people to gather into a large enough team to take on any of the trash piles. The evening before the event the team consisted of two colleagues at MaiMultVerde, two colleagues from the Peace Corps and myself, which was not enough according to the “Let’s do it” site. Just because we couldn't choose a trash pile from the site didn't mean that we couldn't try joining another team and go with them to a pile. The night before the cleanup Courtney, Aran and I found the list of registration points and decided to head out to the IKEA spot to see if we could sign up to go pick up trash with whoever else was there at the time. Part of my support in going to the IKEA spot was that I thought that if we couldn't get into a group at least we could check out IKEA. When I was home I heard so much about it from my cousins in NC, plus I needed towels.

The "Lets do it Romania!" volunteers standing outside of IKEA were young, high-energy, and insisting that they could find us a team to go with. Sure enough, within 20 minutes Courtney, Aran, and I were on a bus with eight other individuals. With "Lets do it Romania!" across the screen in the front of the bus we were dropped off at a garbage-filled ditch sandwiched between the road and a corn field. It was there that we spent the next couple of hours filling bags with everything from broken tiles to plastic bottles, to diapers... yuck. During that time other volunteers stopped to help and several passing cars slowed down to see what we were doing. My colleagues at MaiMultVerde kept in contact with me and were able to come out and continue the clean-up, showing up right as we were about to leave. One of them told me later that as he went further down the road most of the garbage consisted of McDonald's bags that had probably been thrown out of car windows as people finished their quick meal. It was a hot and pretty exhausting clean-up without much shade to rest under but seeing the pile of bags by the side of the road as we pulled off in the bus was a good indication of our success.

Since the activity I have seen some pictures of the event and how it turned out at my old site in Petrosani.
"Let's do it Romania! Colegiul Tehnic "Dimitie Leonida"
The above link will take you to Ernest's pictures from the event in Petrosani that he attended.

The Floral Calendar

2011-06-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Spring was welcomed with open arms in the Jiu Valley this year. Months of cold darkness had taken their toll, dragging out much longer than the year before. Though it came late, the spring’s beauty was anticipated. It was only one year earlier when I had “stopped to smell the flowers” rather, “stopped to know the flowers”. All those weekends spent outside of my close quarters helped me realize just how beautiful spring is. At this point, if someone was to ask me what my favorite season is it would be an easy answer.

The late coming of spring didn’t throw off its regularity. Nature doesn’t follow a calendar of days but rather a climate calendar and even though the warmer weather may come a couple weeks later it still comes in the same way it came last year. You can observe this phenomenon by watching the flowers. I am a beginner but even my second year into it I could see the constants. My hiking partner has been observing this area year after year since the seventies when he first set foot in the Jiu Valley. This weekend you’ll see flower “A” and next weekend flower “B”, he would say. For the most part he was right.

The first to pop its head up out of the soil is the ghiocei (snow drops). Ghiocei are used as a symbol of the coming of spring and given to ladies on March 1^st. The second flower to appear is the brandusa (crocus) and in my experiences it is found at higher elevations. A couple weeks after the brandusi first appear a trip to Oltenia is in session to find a flower native to few places in the world, lalele pastrite (dotted tulip). Lalele Pastrite is a tulip which droops its heavy purple head down toward the swampy land that it grows on. The narcise (narcissus) are next to appear. Fortunately in Petrosani we have access to narcise both in the low lands of Oltenia and also narcise in the Vulcan mountains which appear a couple weeks later. This allows us to enjoy the beauty of the flower in both sight and scent, for a prolonged period of time. It seems like the salcam (acacia) appears at around the same time as the narcise but sticks around longer. If you’re walking on the side of a country road and the flower hangs down within reaching distance I advise you to break off some of the flowers to give their sweet pedals a taste. The large dark blue/purple flowers of the liliac (lilac) bloom out of the country yards for a couple of weeks in mid-spring gracing travelers on the other side of the gate with their soothing scent. Finally as spring turns to summer the large white soc (elder) flowers bloom. You can’t get within 15 feet of these plants without knowing they are there. Socata (elder juice) is a popular drink in the area and it is made from the flowers of the soc, lemon, and sugar. Last year I brewed up about 5 liters of this delicious juice and for a first try I’d say it was a success.

The flowers found in the Jiu Valley are not limited to those I have mentioned. Those that I have mentioned are the flowers most sought out, but on any given day you can enter the beautiful mountain massifs of Parang, Retezat and Vulcan to find a rich variety of flowers and other plants. If you enter some of the high peak regions of the Carpathians in the summer time you may even see the protected floare de colt (edelweiss) growing on the side of the steep rock faces.

The lowlands offer some beauties as well in the summertime. Last year outside of Timisoara I remember seeing large fields of sunflowers. That explains the towers of shells that you will see from time to time on the personel trains. Last but not least the mac (poppy) is definitely worth mentioning. Cruising from Targoviste to Bucharest you see the red gem’s lining the roads and dotting the fields. Their pedals look like smooth silk being blown by the hard flat plane winds.

Wherever you are in Romania the springtime is sure to brighten your life. The sights, scents, and even tastes will abruptly break you out of that winter depression. Just be careful not to miss it. Many of these small beauties only stick around for a couple of weeks before going to sleep until next year. As springtime rolls around next year don’t waste a moment in that small living room apartment watching TV, or checking email and surfing the net. A field of narcise is just kilometers away waiting for you to breath in its miracle.

A proper send-off

2011-06-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

A little over two years ago I landed in Romania with a group of 37 other Americans. Eleven weeks of training later I officially became a Peace Corps volunteer(PCV) and traveled with two great PCV friends to my site. That site has since become a home away from home. Seeing the seasons change in the Jiu Valley over the past two years has been an experience like no other. Every day has its beauties and an evening rarely passes that I don't look back on the day realizing how lucky I am to have been sent here. It's been 664 days since my arrival here and this past weekend it all came around full circle to make for a slightly early but very sweet goodbye.

Day two of site visit and Parang hike #1 was a great indicator of how I would be spending my free time in the Jiu Valley. Back then, communication between Ernest and I was slow going. We both had dictionaries in hand and by the time I returned to Targoviste after the visit only one word really stuck... stana (meaning sheepfold). At that point in the language learning experience so much information was trying to enter my head all at once, therefore not much actually stayed. It was however, my first full day of communicating verbally only in Romanian. That specific hike was to Lacul Mija, a place that I have returned to several times during my stay here. This past weekend was my last weekend in the area before moving out. With a guest coming to visit on Sunday I knew that Saturday would be the last major hike as a resident of Petrosani. I found it fitting when the text message appeared on my phone suggesting Saturday's hike be Lacul Mija, ending where I started.

The forecast said rain all day in Parang. I was there and I can tell you that it didn't rain at all. Sometimes the forecast can scare people off the mountain. A colleague of mine insisted that she wanted to come but she didn't want to spend all day in the rain. Admittedly I was a bit worried about the rain, but rain alone is no good reason to stay off the mountain. It ended up being a somewhat cloudy but mostly sunny day. The best part of the Lacul Mija hike is when you round the corner to the back side of Carja peak. In that small valley the city, the pollution, the people, and the ski area all disappear. Nature’s stereo pumps the greatest hits of the spring below whose rushing waters come from nowhere it seems. Mija peak forms a bowl with just a bit of water in its center. That bowl can be seen when looking at Parang from Petrila. What can't be seen from that part of the hike are the Dacias, the maxi-taxi's, and the train, the second-hand stores, the restaurants, and the blocks, the buna ziua, ceau, and la revedere. These are all things that I've come to love in Romania but an occasional escape is a necessary part of any relationship. Like the first time on that open trail between peaks, Ernest was the guide. Unlike the first time I decided not to enter the near freezing temperatures of the lake.

The day continued. Peace Corps has been an incredible exercise in meeting people and even though I will be leaving the area soon I am still meeting new people. I recently met some great Moldovan students in town with whom I attended Petrosani Days after hanging in their dorm for a bit. Dragos came out with us for the concert and there we were, one American, one Romanian, and a bunch of Moldavians eagerly awaiting the evening’s musical entertainment. That entertainment consisted of a lot of dj, dancing, lip sinking music before the headliner Zdob si Zdub came on. I first saw Zdob si Zdub at Peninsula in August and the music instantly took me back to my punk rock fan days. The high energy rock mixed with cultural music reminded me of the ska and irish punk rock bands that I used to catch at the Vans Warped Tour. Most people I know in Petrosani are more into the dj kind of music so it was nice to be there jumping up and down to some good rock music with the Moldavians who were appreciating one of their own bands far from home. Like the students I was hanging with, Zdob si Zdub are from the Republic of Moldova.

Zdob si Zdub in Petrosani, 04 June 2011

Finally at almost one in the morning I left the concert during the encore to meet a friend at the train station who was coming in on an hour late train from Bucharest. There on the catwalk above the train tracks I watched the final fireworks show as the exploding lights rose above the largest of Petrosani's blocks in front of me. Standing there admiring the fireworks I noted how the days activities and current situation acted as a fitting send-off. So much of this experience has been an individual discovery of who I am, what is possible, and there I was alone watching the fireworks. It has been an experience in travel, seeing the world, becoming part of a new place, and there I was yet again with the tracks below me waiting for the next train to come in. It has been an experience of developing new friendships, and there I was waiting for one of my best Romanian friends to arrive. There I was with city blocks in front of me, the fireworks above, and a million memories of the past two years to smile upon.

Lacul Burtan

2011-05-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ernest: "You're not going to find it; it could be on the other side of that ridge up there."
Dom Pecut: "It must be close. Look how the mountain is shaped right here. We have to be close."
Ernest: "Let it go. We've got a good place to rest, eat, and then we'll turn back."

It was late in the day to finally stop and eat lunch. It was almost 4:00pm when usually lunch time is at 1:00ish. The group had threatened to turn back a few times already but there was always one person that persisted. I was never that person. Those who know me know that I'm not really a decision maker when I'm in a group. When Doamna G or Domn P persisted I quietly followed thinking that we would not end up finding what we were looking for.

What were we looking for? Hours earlier after an easy 45 minute hike on a gently sloping forestry road the veteran hikers of the group (everyone except myself) opened up the map. We could continue following the road to the shelter where we would break and push on up the mountain until we reached Tomato Lake. I had been to Tomato Lake only once on my way down from Parangul Mare. The other option was to turn up the hill to the right following a dry stream a few kilometers where we would hopefully find a lake. It was a new hike for all of those involved and Ernest went first blazing the trail up the steep slope.

It didn't take long to arrive at a small dam. Where there's a damn there must be a trail that transported all of the equipment. We didn't find that trail but continued on up the hill. The next major find was a large waterfall. Domnul P called it the Niagara Falls of the Jiu Valley because it was the largest waterfall that he had yet seen in the area. The beauty in both the sight and sound of the waterfall was reason enough to take a long break. On my right there was a multi-level waterfall with large rock walls on its right side, and the view to my left was a ridge across the valley that climbed up to a saddle eventually leading to Romania's fifth highest peak. You could look across and see where the pine forests ended opening up to an alpine meadow. Lying back on that grassy wall I could feel the warm morning sun on my face. There aren’t many better places to be at 11:00am on a Saturday morning.

Soon after reaching the top of the waterfall the forest opened up to meadow. The view took me back to the first day in Retezat on our way to Lacul Gales exiting the forest and looking up to see high mountain peaks ahead in the distance. Up ahead in the distance we saw a waterfall surrounded by dark green. The dark green was the color of a thick juniper forest and after a half hour of following the stream it stopped us dead in our tracks. We entered the juniper and after about 15 minutes of walking branch to branch pulling ourselves through the thick forest I had already had enough. Looking up over the trees I could see only the dark green forest surrounding the waterfall and no sign of a lake. Looking up at the mountains I thought that the lake could be up above that waterfall, but it could also be much higher. There was no guarantee that crawling through the mess of thick branches would result in reaching our destination, plus I was getting hungry. I wasn't the only one who wanted to turn back. Both Domnul E and Domnul P were showing signs of doubt but Domna G decided for the group to keep going. She wanted to get up above that waterfall to see what was there.

Another 20 minutes of hard hiking and we exited the juniper on the right of the waterfall in a small open spot in the forest. Doamna G went ahead and we witnessed her from far away as she searched for a trail and eventually climbed up a rock face disappearing back into the Juniper forest above the waterfall. We decided to follow. The rock face was fun to climb. Even though the juniper was hard to climb through even the smallest of branches will bend without breaking. You can count on them to resist as you pull up through them at the top of a steep rock wall. Unfortunately the rock led straight into an even thicker section of juniper. Eventually we found an open spot were we could sit, rest, and declare defeat before turning back.

While the rest of us were resting in the sun Domnul P insisted that the lake must be close. The rest of us doubtfully watched as he left his bag behind and entered the thick woods continuing to search. Sure enough it wasn't 10 minutes later when we heard the next word from Domnul P. "I found the lake" he yelled. The voice didn't seem like it was too far away. I looked over at Domnul E and the statement hadn't fazed him. He didn't believe what he had heard but Doamna G and I were much more trusting of Domnul P. I was next to enter the woods in search for the lake in the direction of Domnul's voice and sure enough I arrived at it. After hours of hard, slow hiking, finally the lake abruptly opened out of the dark green juniper. Back at the lunch spot I asked Domnul P what made him so sure that the lake was there. "I noticed by the shape of the mountains here, the sound of the stream, the location of the waterfall, it had to be here." Maybe after years of doing what I love, wandering in the mountains, I too will be so sure about such things.

Like most hikes the way down seemed so much shorter than the way up. We decided to ride the hill a little further away from the stream before descending. It was a steep, fast descent and we passed a viper on the way down. We were able to get close to the viper and take pictures. Apparently they don't bite if it’s cold. Walking that last 45 minutes of an easy downward slope, the rubbery sensation of muscles used all day long kicked in. It wasn't so hard to fall asleep later that night.

The word of the day was the verb "a chinui" meaning, to torture. Before moving on to the rock wall Doamna G mentioned that she didn't want to end the hike without finding the lake after we tortured ourselves up until that point.

Walkin' in the Balkans

2011-04-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

With some annual leave days left and the end of service nearing, an out-of-country excursion made perfect sense for the long Easter week off this year. Romania is the place to be for Easter celebrations so we had to be back in country by Holy Thursday. A six-day leave was in session starting on Friday with our early morning train departing from Timisoara into Serbia and ending with a leisurely walk across the border back into Romania the following Thursday.

Yes, I know that after my last venture into Serbia I swore never to return. I lied. Since the last trip there for NYE 2009 my curiosity in the region has been growing. My wonderful experiences in Turkey have helped to peak my interest in Sarajevo, another city where east meets west. Serbia was the necessary stopping point on the way to and from Sarajevo, and under much more ideal conditions my visit to the country that US and NATO planes bombed in the semi-recent past ended up shedding a positive light on the country. Successfully finding our hostel is just one of a few more positive conditions this time around.

Less than ideal was the transportation situation. Train connections left my travel buddy and me sitting in a gas station for hours missing some much needed sleep before even leaving Romania. If one was to look at the distance from Belgrade to Sarajevo on a map they would certainly not say that it takes 10 hours to get from one to the other by train. Unfortunately that is what the man selling the tickets says as you're handing over your money. At least it didn't cost much. Though a collective 20 hours of daylight lost in transportation leaves a sour taste in the mouth of just about any traveler, it didn't seem all that bad. The compartments were surprisingly spacious and the train was not at all crowded leaving us time and space to catch up on sleep and admire the passing countryside. There really wasn't all that much to see until we entered Bosnia-Herzegovina where hills began to rise up giving us a slightly more entertaining country-side to look at and exposing some small villages to our view. I noticed that the country houses in Bosnia were much larger than those in Romania but they didn't appear to be entirely finished. They were surely livable but the bricks and cement in-between were left uncovered. The poverty visible from the train while leaving Belgrade was unseen as we pulled into Sarajevo, though the destruction caused by the war was already visible.

Sarajevo is a small European capital made famous by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which helped to kick off the First World War. My original draw to the Bosnia-Herzegovina capital actually came after visiting Turkey. While talking up Istanbul I remember somebody mentioning that I can get a bit of that Ottoman feel in another European city where it mixes in with some other cultural elements. Originally built by the Ottomans, the oldest part of the city has that bazaar feel with the occasional Mosque. Moving west through the town's center you quickly find yourself surrounded by the architectural influences of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Finally as you continue on into newer parts of town you see the communist influences in the architecture. Though the city appears to be predominately Muslim the old center holds both Catholic and Serbian Orthodox cathedrals along with several smaller mosques and a large synagogue. Our apartment was about half a kilometer up the hill from the Latin Bridge, the sight were the Archduke was shot.

We spent most of our Sarajevo time wandering. The first morning we headed up the hill at the end of town where we found some great views, the city gate, some ruins of a fortress, and a large bombed out building. From that hill we could see in one direction roads pointing through a beautiful mountain pass and in the other direction, the city. The city was in a valley with houses crowding the hill-sides. I could picture Serbian artillery perched on the high ridges above the city. From 1992 to 1995 the city was under siege by Serb forces. Visible signs of the siege can be seen in the large bombed out building at the top of the hill, bullet holes peppering the sides of many of the downtown buildings, the memorial to the children who were killed, and the Sarajevo rose. After lunch our wanderings continued past the souvenir vendors into the crowded walking streets with the occasional terasa where Italian coffee was the drink of choice. We passed both the Catholic and the Serbian Orthodox cathedrals. There was a group of older men playing chess in the park just in front of the Serbian Orthodox church. The chess pieces had to be three feet tall. That evening we returned to the old Ottoman section of town where we entered a bar to get something light to eat and a drink. The owner of the bar insisted that we share a table with some others downstairs rather than stay alone on the second floor. It ended up being a great idea as some local musicians drinking at the end of the room picked up instruments and began playing and singing.

During one of the days we took a two and a half hour morning bus ride to Mostar. Mostar is the largest city in the region of Herzegovina and I had no clue it existed until about two months ago when I asked some fellow volunteers about their trip to Sarajevo. They told me that I had to check out Mostar. The bus ride took us past some mountain villages and into a long beautiful gorge where we followed a turquoise river under rocky walls and jagged peaks. It was significantly warmer in Mostar than in Sarajevo. The sun was shining as we strolled over old stone streets through a courtyard of a mosque and a bazaar. Finally the view opened up to show the famous bridge (stari most) in the center of the old city. It was a stunning sight connecting two rock fortresses hanging high above the fast flowing water of the Neretva River. In a couple of locations I found stones with the phrase "Don't Forget" painted on them referring to the 1993 destruction of the bridge by the Croatian Defense Counsel. I wonder why I only saw it painted in English and not say... Croatian, Bosnian, or Serbian. After some Cevapi for lunch we went down to the water where we found a rock to relax on, dip our feet in, and admire the bridge from below. After more roaming, a drink, and watching a man jump from the high bridge we made our way back to the bus station to conclude our day trip to Mostar.

The final evening in Sarajevo was my favorite. After a traditional coffee we grabbed a couple beers at a supermarket and headed up the hill to check out the sunset. Though it was quite chilly, the city looked really nice as night fell down over the minarets, church steeples, and skyscrapers in the distance. After descending back into town we entered a hookah bar where we sat and chatted with some Bosnians and Turks for the last couple of hours before concluding our final evening in Sarajevo.

Back to Belgrade we went, another day lost to a 10 hour train ride. Such a train ride isn't so bad with good company and a good book handy. I had started a book about environmental conservation given to me by a fellow volunteer. That evening in Belgrade we hung out at the hostel again. The first time through we had stayed there in the common room chatting with three Americans, a few Slovenians, and an Israeli. We were surprised to see that the Israeli was still there when we came back through. I stayed up late into the night with him and the hostel night guy discussing the region and its history.

The final day of our Balkan excursion was dedicated to getting back to Romania. We made a last day decision to try hitching back. Admittedly the highway ramp hitching point was a bit sketchy but with a destination sign and a few pointers from locals we picked up our first ride for about 12kms. The man was very kind. He attempted to communicate with us showing us a map with where we needed to go, and dropping us off at the right spot without accepting any money. From there we found a Romanian driver to the border, walked across the border, and caught another Romanian driver to Timisoara. It was kind of an adventure getting back but I am happy that we decided to come back by car if just to have a break from train travel.

This latest trip has helped peak my interest in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia. Last time leaving Serbia I vowed never to return and this time I left discussing the next trip to the region. Maybe next time we'll make it to Montenegro, Kosovo, or Croatia.

Remembering the Great Finger Lakes region of New York State

2011-04-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 23 months since I left New York state bound for Romania. They say that you don't know what you have until it's gone. That idea brings back memories of sitting around the skate park, the lunch table, or the classroom during my high school years. "First chance I get, I'm out of here," so many of my friends would say. "What does Corning have to offer me? Its too small. Everybody knows your business. There's nothing to do here." There arguments were pretty convincing. Their dreams of bigger and better places would get to me at times, especially on those rainy days that we saw so much of in upstate. For me it didn't take leaving to realize what I had, just a bit of growing up. By the time I left for California in the fall of 2008, my first real move out of the region, I was fully aware of all the great things that my part of the world had to offer.

It was during the college years that I got out and learned to love the great Finger Lakes region of New York. In the summers I held various jobs. My last two summers in town were spent working in museums where I had the chance to speak with outsiders and promote the beauties of my small little town. Friends and I would eagerly await the weekend when we would go to some of the great bars on market street or take evening bike rides. Some of the best times were when we had a common day off to trip it to Ithaca where we would discover one of the state parks, sit by the lake, or walk slowly through the commons. I can't give enough credit to the grad student at Cortland that offered me my first backpacking trip to the Adirondacks nearby. My finger lakes places were Ithaca, Cortland, Watkins Glen, and Keuka College where I visited Colin on a number of occasions.

During my time in Romania memories of those beautiful state parks have come frequently to put a smile on my face. I live in a part of Romania that has much of its own natural beauty. When I moved in with my host in Targoviste I was prepared with a picture book of the Finger Lakes region to give to them as a gift. As my parents were putting together a box of things to send me and they mentioned giving something to Ernest, that Finger Lakes picture book was the first thing that popped into my head. He loves being in nature and taking pictures of nature. "Rain or shine it's a sin to stay in the house all day," claims Ernest from time to time. As the region I live in now sits at a higher elevation than the one I left in New York, my outdoor adventures typically yield different views and a different feel. This past weekend Ernest took me on a new hike. (After a year and a half of going on hikes whenever I get the chance, there are still new trails to discover here.) This latest hike reminded me most of those gorge trails that I saw so much of in my college years.

It started out like a lot of other hikes that we've done. Really the first half of the hike I've probably done 8 or 9 times. There was a bus to Lupeni, a quick spin through the piata (market) and a 3-4 hours of walking up hill to Straja. The hike up actually follows stations of the cross. The first station is right outside of Lupeni and the final one is at the small church up at the ski area. With a number of switch-backs along the way we would periodically enter in the woods to take a shortcut. Along the way we stopped at a spring that was covered in leaves from the previous fall. I brushed the knee-high pile of leaves out of the way to fill up my bottle. Like every other trip to Straja we entered the first cabana on the right where we sat, rested, and chatted over a drink. Up until that strawberry banana juice things had seemed just like they always had, aside from the strong wind gusts. This area of Romania is pretty well protected by the mountains and therefore we do not get a whole lot of wind. During this particular hike the wind was the strongest that I have seen it in the Jiu Vally.

After our drinks the adventure began for me. We entered the forest on a new trail, going in a new direction, and I was excited to see some new things. It wasn't long before I noticed that that particular trail was quite steep. Not many people know about that trail which it is evident, as it was not always easy to find our way even though it was marked quite well. It took about 45 minutes to get to our lunch spot. Just before the lunch area we climbed down a steep part of the trail where I was forced to use both arms and legs to ensure my stability. Those are the parts of the trail that I like the most. The lunch spot was marked by a wooden table and bench that, despite their weight, had both been blown over due to the strong wind gusts that day. We sat there bundled up, our plastic bags weighed down, eating our slanina, onion, and bread as the wind beat against our backs.

The couple of hours of hiking after lunch led us through the forest and back to Lupeni as we came out near the chair lift. During those couple of hours I was reminded of the Finger Lakes region more than I have been yet in Romania. There were no large lakes nearby but the trail ran along a steep slope parallel to the stream below. The steep rocky slopes running along-side the stream with its waters cutting through rocks and tumbling down into open pools all reminded me of the gorge trails of Rock stream, Truman, and Buttermilk. After our lunch break the trail continued down a steep slope and across a small bridge over a stream. A little further down the trail we stopped and looked back to view a waterfall. Looking back upstream there were two more waterfalls in the distance that we had already passed without realizing. Following that stream a little further we came upon a larger stream with an even larger waterfall standing at about five meters in height. The next resting stop was about 45 minutes of slow hiking away. The red point trail followed the stream but we were forced to move at a slow pace due to the leaf coverage on the trail. There were parts where the leaves were several feet deep with rocks and branches hidden underneath. Eventually we arrived at a spot where the red point trail turned uphill circling back to Straja.

After a short break of eating delicious kiwis we continued on as the trail followed along-side the stream high up on the slope. We climbed over rocks, under branches, along steep slopes and finally we passed through a tunnel to the finish. Periodically we looked back to see the stream with its pools and waterfalls each time taking me back to the great Finger Lakes region of New York State.

Close of Overseas Service

2011-03-28T05:59:00.001-07:00

Wow, COS has finally arrived.

Learning about all of the different PC events that we would have to attend in our service, COS was always so far off in the distance. Even after our last event, MST (mid-service training) COS still seemed a long many months away. As I write, all of the conferences have come and gone. From now until the end of my service I am a single volunteer. Even though everybody's Peace Corps service is largely an individual or community accomplishment, for me the group mentality has always been at least a bit present until late Saturday afternoon. By group, I am referring to my swear-in group, group 26.

Unlike at other Peace Corps posts, PCRo volunteers conduct all of their required PC training events as a whole group. We staged together, trained in Targoviste together, swore-in together, and we just conducted our last in-service training event together, the COS conference. Immediately after leaving PST and each of the in-service training events, I have on every occasion felt a strong bit of loneliness. After spending at least a couple of days with a large group of people that I call friends, I am once again alone on a train reflecting upon those days. I have learned that such a feeling will only last a day or two maximum, but at the time, sitting on that train and looking out into night, the feeling's strength is at it's peak. This last conference was a bit different in that some final goodbyes had to be spoken. We will not meet again as group 26.

On a lighter note, the COS conference signifies the fast approaching completion to our Peace Corps service. When someone signs up for the Peace Corps they know that it won't be easy and that they have the option to back out at any point in the process. Many people do decide to go home early and they always have good reason to do so, but looking at fellow group members at the COS conference I couldn't help but say to some of my closest friends "wow, we made it". If you've graduated college or highschool then you know about the bittersweet feeling that I felt as I said some goodbye's to fellow 26ers. I'm sure that that feeling will resurface as I prepare to leave my site.

The conference was a very busy event held at a nice 4 star hotel in Sinaia. Sinaia is one of the most well known tourist towns in Romania. It is a small town in Prahova Valley at the base of the eastern edge of the Bucegi Mountains. The Prahova Valley is one of the most beautiful mountain regions of Romania and by far the most visited as it is the closest to the nations capital. Sinaia offers good skiing, hiking, and great views from it's gondola. It is also home to the Sinaia Monastery and Peles Castel, residence of King Carol the first. Highlights of the conference include but are not limited to: PC service timeline, cutting Ted's hair, interviews, discovering beautiful Sinaia, birthdays in the lobby, Manuela and Ben painting, Chels's poem and superlatives at the COS dinner party. Of course there were also some really informative sessions put on by staff to help prepare us for the next few months of ending our service in Romania the coming months of readjustment back in the states.

View from my hotel room

Ben showing off his painting skills

Group 26 and PCRo staff shaking it at the COS party!

Peles Castel

Peace Corps Invades Cluj

2011-03-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

With the insider help of veteran volunteer Doug, Peace Corps Romania descended on Cluj in full force on the weekend of 12 March 2011. The American forces started to move in on the western Romanian city on the evening of the 11th. That evening PCRo's rookie committee, the Multicultural Awareness Committee(MAC) held their inaugural meeting bringing together volunteers from both groups 26 and 27 to discuss the committee's mission and future involvement in the upcoming PST. Meanwhile volunteers were filing in from all parts of Romania to attend the following days' events. Those events included the spring GAD and VAC meetings on Saturday, and Sunday's annual Warden training.

Arriving by train late on the evening of the 11th, I attempted to find my way to the hotel in the city center on foot. I had been through Cluj before but only in transit. On a couple of occasions Cluj has acted as a stopping point for me connecting one leg of a trip to another. My last encounter with the Transylvanian capital was a four hour stop between a return flight from Venice and my train back to site. During that four hours I wandered through the city center snapping photos, drinking coffee, and reading my book next to the city's impressive St. Michael's Cathedral. I arrived in the city center cutting down taxi costs but eventually had to find a ride to the hotel that I was not familiar with. Still feeling ill from a cold that I caught earlier that week I decided to stay in and rest up for Saturday's meeting.

After a nice breakfast at the hotel and some miner last-minute preparations for the meeting the group of PCRo staff and volunteers made their way to Cosul Verde, a small organic food shop with a coffee shop upstairs which would be the VAC meeting room for the day. With increased participation due to other meetings that same weekend, Cosul Verde was the perfect location, just large enough to comfortably fit all participants. In classic VAC meeting style the scheduled 6 hour meeting lasted 7. The morning cruised by on schedule with a large variety of agenda topics leading straight into lunch at 1:00 on the dot. Two of the staff members present were experiencing their first VAC meeting in Romania. One was the PTO who recently came on board in November and the other was the Peace Corps Security Officer for the region stationed in Albania. Their presence added great value to the discussions as well as important information on the direction of PCRo and PC worldwide. An added bonus to the group of participants was veteran PCVL Chris. The Lunch Box was the perfect spot to get all of the VAC, MAC, and GAD members sufficiently fed and rested for the joint afternoon hour to come.

While VAC and GAD held their meetings at the same time but in different locations, GAD and MAC representatives were able to join the VAC meeting in the afternoon to present their committee updates. After the joint committee hour GAD reps returned to their meeting location and VAC continued on with survey presentations. This part of the agenda took longer than expected as the results of both the VAC annual survey and the group 27 site integration survey came under heavy, but necessary discussion. Finally the end of the meeting came one hour past its scheduled timing.

The beautiful spring day allowed me some time after the meeting to snap some pictures of the large statue outside of the cathedral. The statue is of Matia Corvin a former king of Hungary. Though I had visited Cluj on previous occasions this was my first sighting of the statue as it had been under construction during my earlier visits.

The evening began with a satisfying dinner at 360 where I ordered a plate of delicious fries, a cheeseburger and some cole slaw. It was the most American meal I had had since my cheeseburger meal at the small Irish pub, McGowen's, a year earlier in Medias. From there we wandered through the old Romanian-Hungarian streets hopping full bars until finally arriving at an artistic 2nd floor joint called insomnia. It was an interesting bar with several rooms that get redecorated every six months. It was there where we chatted over Stejars until heading back to the hotel.

Luckily the next day's warden training was pushed back from 9am to 10:30 allowing us all some time to rest a bit more and eat a nice breakfast before getting starting. For many, the warden training was a refresher in case there is an emergency in Romania. As for myself, I was receiving the information for the first time since I have only recently become a warden. Basically a warden simply relays information between staff and volunteers, and keeps things under control if there is an emergency in the country. The training didn't last too long but it was thorough and helpful. It was also the last meeting, closing out the weekend in Cluj.

Even though the last meeting had ended, my Cluj time continued. My next best travel option was at 9:30 the following morning. That evening after the warden training I wandered around with my colleague Cbrown and we found the less-than-impressive cock church. Instead of a cross at the top it has a rooster. Next we ate some really good Indian food where I said goodbye to her and a couple of other colleagues venturing south to Turda. A bit later on that evening, wandering through the downtown walking streets with Chris and Ted, we heard some music that would turn out to be a major highlight of our Cluj trip. In a second-floor bar we found a young group of musicians playing some great sounding jazz music. Sitting there in the corner with our Silva's we admired the music and introduced applause to the room after each song. The band was made up of a keyboardist, bass player, drummer, and a violinist, student musicians jamming out with each tune they played. We stayed there until the band finished and even found one other bar to have our last drink of the night. It was a proper ending to the weekend of PC meetings in Cluj.

Mărţişor

2011-03-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

Being an English teacher in a foreign country you get to celebrate a lot of holidays. Of course you get to celebrate or at least recognize the host country holidays, but you are also charged with the responsibility of appropriately representing your own holidays and how they are celebrated. Here in Romania, English teachers are well into the spring holiday run even though spring hasn't really come yet. This run seems to start with St. Valentines Day which is followed by its Romanian counterpart ten days later, Dragobete. Fast-forward just five days and it's Martisor already which is followed by 8 Martie, or Mothers Day, one week later. The first week of March begins and ends with a celebration focused on women so I simply consider it woman's week. During that week I am more consciously polite to any women that I may encounter. Finally, ten days after 8 martie we arrive at one of my personal favorites, St Patty's Day. At the moment we are in the midst of woman's week so I'd like to say a few words about my favorite Romanian holiday, Mărţişor.

Mărţişor is a celebration of the beginning of spring. The first flower that brings in the season is the snow drop and it is given as a small gift on the first of March. Leading up to Martisor you begin to see stands pop up throughout town offering small gifts. The basic, cheap, Martisor gift is a small ornament in a box with a red and white string tied to it. This ornament can be pinned to ones shirt. There are also more complex Martisor gifts ranging from bouquets of flowers to various display ornaments. Whatever the gift is, cheap or more elaborate, it is always well appreciated. Martisor gifts are always given to women. Sorry guys. Many students will bring them to their women teachers, or male colleagues will give them to their women colleagues. Martisor technically means "little March" or "Dear March".

Last year, when I first saw Martisoare, they actually did seem to signify spring. I remember it being a nice spring day when I was looking through the piles of brightly colored ornaments, picking out some for my colleagues. The snow drops were a welcomed sight and I remember that I started seeing Crocuses on the Parang footpath only a week or two later. After the Crocuses came the Narcissus, my favorite springtime flower. Spring evolved and became, by far, my favorite time of the year here in the Jiu Valley. This year has already turned out to be a bit different. It was a colder, longer winter already and an end is not yet in sight. I can't complain too much as this type of weather is expected here and still, in the cold, I manage to have some pretty great outdoor adventures. Last year we were lucky to have an easy, mild, short-lived winter. Either way, I am eagerly waiting spring. During this year's Martisor I spent a little less time scanning the tables of gifts. There was a warm fruit tea calling my name nearby.

March 1st

2011-03-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

Once again Peace Corps's birthday is the subject of the post. Fifty years ago on March 1st, Executive order 10924 established Peace Corps, though it was not authorized by congress until September. To commemorate Peace Corps's official 50th anniversary Peace Corps Romania held informational sessions promoting volunteerism at every "American Corner" around Romania. I was fortunate to be able to be a part of this project.

An "American Corner" is a section of a library that offers books in English and reference books on the United States of America. It may also include films and recordings from the United States. American Corners support local English instruction offering a variety of language learning materials. It may also include informational sessions about the United States or given by a citizen of the US. There are currently 8 American Corners in Romania. American corners exist in libraries all over the world.

My colleague Chelsea and I were assigned to give a presentation at the American Corner in Craiova. When I first signed up to help for this project I originally offered to help in either Craiova or Cluj. Cluj is a great city that I have been to a few times in passing but never to stay very long. I have not yet been in Craiova but I pass by it sleeping whenever I take the night train to Bucharest. Since there are not many volunteers near Craiova, and quite a bit of volunteers up by Cluj, I figured that I would end up doing the session in Craiova. Craiova is the largest city in the region of Oltenia. Oltenia is known for it's fast speakers, perfectul simplu tense, and flat landscape, though the northern part of Oltenia is mountainous. I frequently visit Oltenia because it borders my town, but I have not yet had a chance to wonder around Craiova.

Chelsea came up to visit the Sunday before Tuesday's presentation to hang out, plan the presentation, and get a slightly better travel option to Craiova. That travel option happened to be a 4:00am Personel train that got us into Craiova's beautiful train station at about 10:00am. Craiova's gara is the nicest train station that I have passed through in Romania. It is even heated. From there we took a 6 lei taxi to the center of town where the library is located. On the phone the American Corner director emphisized taking a Romnicon taxi. Romnicon is a taxi company in Craiova that appears to be a trustful one.

When taking a taxi in Romania the customer must be attentive, especially if they are foreign. One trick that the driver might pull is the broken meter. They will claim to have a broken meter and then when you reach your destination the driver can charge what he wants. Just looking in to see if there is a meter or not isn't enough. I either ask him to turn the meter on or I ask him roughly how much it will cost to get to my destination before even entering the cab. Negotiating the price before entering the cab works well because then he doesn't have the option of taking you all around the city before finally arriving at your destination.

I was impressed with Romnicon's service. Every time we took a taxi we went with Romnicon and every time it appeared as if we went directly to our destination with the meter running.

At the American Corner we were greeted by friendly staff, a coffee and some great cake that the AC director made for us. We had a bit of time to freshen up after the long train ride and then we were brought in to speak quickly with the library director. The library director seemed concerned about receiving a new volunteer. They had had a great Peace Corps volunteer working there for two years and I could tell that they really loved and appreciated her. They would like another volunteer but unfortunately they can no longer apply for one. Only teachers in nearby schools can receive volunteers now as PCRo has moved to an entirely TEFL post. If a volunteer from the next group ends up in Craiova they have a great contact with the library there that will provide them with dedicated counterparts and a rewarding secondary activity. After meeting the people at the AC I really hope a volunteer ends up there to help them out.

It was almost time for the presentation when Chels and I were called to the back to talk to the media. Speaking Romanian in front of a camera was not an easy task but I hope that the obvious mistakes were edited out before the footage made it to air, if it ever did. I have refused to search and find out if it was ever actually played on air.

The presentation went smoothly. Members of the audience were no strangers to volunteering. When I told them to "stand up if you have ever volunteered" everybody in the room was standing. They were high school students and I was quite impressed. With them we discussed volunteering, told them about Peace Corps, and shared stories about volunteering. Many of them were volunteers for "Salvati Copiii" a volunteer organization that some of my students are involved in. After Chels and I presented a couple of other organizations spoke shortly about what they do and how the young people in the audience can get involved. After the meeting ended Chels and I were surrounded by young volunteers interested in what we do, why we are here, and our impressions about Romania.

The day had only just begun. Madalina, an assistant at the American Corner was charged with the responsibility of showing us around Craiova. We wandered around the center seeing the Museum of Oltenia where we learned about the traditional costumes, beautiful rugs, farming, pottery, and puppets. A delicous lunch split up our museum visits and we wandered through another three story museum about the diverse plan and animal life in Oltenia. We took a long walk through an impressive park where we saw a small zoo and a nice suspension bridge over the park's lake. Finally we stopped in a nice corner restaurant for a tea to warm up after being in the cold for a while.

After meeting the friendly staff and students at the American Corner and taking the nice tour around Craiova, it is easy to understand how a volunteer had a rewarding two year experience there. It was so rewarding that she continued serving in Peace Corps by transferring to Nicaragua to start another two year service.

The trip ended with a three hour train ride back to Petro, sleeping just about the entire way. An appropriate celebration for Peace Corps 50th birthday I'd say.

http://amcorner-craiova.blogspot.com/2011/03/sesiunea-informativa-pe-tema.html