Janek's haircut! -- April 17, 2008

I forgot to put in these pictures of my 10-month-old grandson Janek's first haircut! What a difference! And check out his four teeth, too.

Good News and Springtime -- April 15, 2008

I must share these new photos of my granddaughter Zarah who is beginning to recover from the devastating attack of bacterial meningitis B (the most deadly kind, for which there is no protection) that she suffered the end of February. She is still having several surgeries each week and no longer has her right foot, but the other day she could go outdoors in a wheelchair with her father, my son Peter, after all this time. They went to a park with her sister Mimi. I couldn't help but cry when I saw these pictures. We are so grateful that she survived and her mind is fine, she can see and hear and we are sure she will live a full and productive life! I find that now I worry about everyone, everywhere, now, and just can't stop fretting about my loved ones.

This week I can begin attending Rotary here in Constanta, I hope I will find a new home club and make good Rotarian friends. I have inserted some Rotary peace videos to the bottom of this page, and added others on water harvesting, you can find the link below. I am so proud to be a Rotarian, and I will enjoy being involved in their community service work again.

I now have established regular office hours at Ovidius University, even have a sign on the door, and have begun meeting with the Natural Sciences faculty to create projects that will involve some of the students. At the request of the Natural Sciences Museum complex, I will try to facilitate a 4th of July event there, so if anyone has ideas about how to obtain Independence Day supplies (flags, banners, posters, and even speakers), please let me know. So far I haven't had much luck here. Of course, the shipping costs from the U.S. are expensive, so that would be problematic. The Peace Corps has no budget for such things and they are hard to find in this country. I still hope to hear from the embassy, but I realize they will be having their own celebration in Bucharest. So far, the best written information on the holiday that I received was from my friend Vladimir in Russia! (...and thanks for that!) Ideas are certainly welcome.

Here is Zarah now! (they use the skin from her scalp for the skin grafts) Doesn't she look absolutely gorgeous? We know how lucky we are...

Constanta - A "New Chapter" for me in Romania -- April 7, 2008

Heartfelt thanks to all those who sent good wishes and prayers for my granddaughter Zarah Johanna in Munich, Germany, after her horrible battle with bacterial meningitis B, and please keep her in your thoughts during her long rehabilitation for the next months. She lost her right foot and part of her leg, and is undergoing many skin graft surgeries, but she is alive. We learned from the specialists that the survival rate from this particularly virulent meningitis is less than 20%, so we are very grateful.

I am embarking on my second year of Peace Corps service, and am now working in the city of Constanta on the Black Sea. After a long search for an apartment, I have finally have my own place again and am loving it! In addition to the apartment pictures below, there is a photo gallery here. I like my neighborhood and feel close to everything, but my view is an open field where the Romanian border police conduct their training. I've discovered that they also land helicopters here, especially during President George W. Bush's visit this month for the NATO Summit. I stood on the sidewalk with the local Romanians to see his calvacade of big black SUVs drive by, on the way to meet with Russian President Putin.

I will be working here with Ovidius University Natural Sciences Department faculty and students, and with the Delfinariu and Natural Sciences Museum Complex. I will help develop projects of all kinds for public education and research. The University faculty with whom I work include Agriculture, Biology, Ecology, and Geography, and many project areas are covered, from farming and drought to environmental protection and erosion to rural development and sustainable tourism. Special projects are conducted in the Danube Delta and along the Black Sea coast. I am excited and expect I will have an interesting and productive year. Hopefully we can develop a strong network of program partners in the U.S., Europe and in Romania, so the work will continue after I'm gone.

One thing we want to do is establish a job-matching program for master's and phD graduates so they can have meaningful work after they finish their studies. This link between education and jobs is taken for granted in the United States, but doesn't exist here, and is important in order to keep educated and capable young people in the country. We have much the same problem in Alaska, where many of the bright young hopes for tomorrow move out of the State for work (for example, my own grown children!).

Constanta is a lovely and interesting city, just north of the seaside resort areas and south of the Danube Delta. It is where the ships leave south to Istanbul and north to Odessa. Constanta is the fourth largest city in Romania, it's a bit bigger than Anchorage. It'll be the largest city I've ever lived in, over 300,000 people, with restaurants, theaters, concerts and things to do! Even walks along the seashore! It was the old Greek and Roman city of Tomis. The Roman poet Ovid was banished there by Augustus until he died (and he apparently loved it!). Check it out: http://www.romaniatourism.com/constanta.html

Late last month some of the "older" PC volunteers got together for a couple of days in Brasov, so we could make new friends and talk about common issues. I was able to meet the other volunteer from the Kenai Peninsula, Kimberlee.

The beautiful Basilica of Wood near the Delfinariu, and with my counterpart Lucica.

My new apartment --

Here is your bed when you visit, and the rug on the floor was handmade in the Oltenia region, one of my souvenirs from the last year of working in Targu Jiu.

The rooftops of Brasov from my room, and the "older" volunteer group.

Me in Brasov and with Kimberlee who is from Homer.