Home sick (but not actually homesick) -- August 28, 2007

I want to update this blog for August, before I leave to visit my son and his family in Germany this weekend. And I'm so sick! I've been sitting on the throne in the bathroom for nearly three days and even with guts still churning, I'm ready to get out of this place! At least I feel good enough now to update this website. Here are some photos of my trip to the Black Sea, please let me know if you like this album format.

My language tutor, Camelia, has been on holiday, taking a long driving trip with her family to the Danube Delta, and I haven't seen her since we both returned. Now I'm going on vacation, so my language skills are surely deteriorating. But I can usually communicate. For example, I still don't know how to say it correctly, but I can get my point across when necessary, for example: "I'm so sorry, but my underwear fell down onto your drying rack, can I please get them back?" You know, the real essentials for life in a post-communist country. We really can make-do... did you admire my cut-down wine glass and those beer mugs on the train?

Three months at my site! -- August 5, 2007
Good read: World View Magazine article about Romania by Ross Doll

This is anniversary day for me. After three months at our site, Peace Corps Volunteers are allowed to take vacations and can officially travel outside the country on annual leave. I won't be going anywhere until September when I go see Peter and his family in Germany, but it's nice to know that now I can leave if I want. I'm looking forward to traveling to Germany September 1-12, to visit Peter and Judith and their family in Germany, to see Mimi again, and get to know my granddaughter Johanna and new baby grandson Janek. The trip has its complications, with very early morning departure and late night arrival in Bucharest, where the transport to and from the airport is difficult and expensive. Also the train connection between Stuttgart and Munich is confusing, but it's all part of travel and I'll enjoy it.

My daughter Dara went to Alaska the last week of July for her 20th high school reunion, and while they were there, she and her husband Matt used my trusty Dodge truck. My friend Paul said it had a flat tire, but he got it fixed before they arrived. I think they had fun and the truck ran great for them, so I'm glad everything was fine. Paul's daughter Nicole picked them up and took them back to the airport, which was really nice of her, especially since she'd just returned the previous day from a long and tiring journey coming back from her tour in the Peace Corps in Mongolia. It's such a coincidence that just as she was coming home, her Mongolia country director was leaving to come to Romania to be our new country director.

Emilia, the owner of my apartment, and her husband Stefan have returned home to Canada. Stefan unexpectedly arrived from Montreal after her first week visiting Romania, he missed her too much to stay home, so splurged on a no-notice spendy airplane ticket and came to be with her -- how romantic! Here's me with Emilia, and the two of them in my living room. I was so glad that they sorted through more things and took old stuff away, so I can settle in to make this even more my own home. We were able to complete the legal paperwork for the accomodation contract while she was here, so I'm finally officially approved by the immigration office.

Camelia's husband Florin helped me put up mosquito mesh on a couple of my windows, so I can leave them open more often. I seem to have developed an allergy to those bug bites, and often wake up during the night with unbearable hives. I need to take benadryl and use antihistamine cream to go back to sleep. I'll be glad when their season is over. Fortunately it's cooled off now, and has been raining the past few days.

It's been so exciting to receive care packages, the staff at the post office where we can pick up international parcels have gotten to know me (it's only open for two hours, two days a week, and they can come late and leave early, so you patiently stand in a hot, sweaty line). Thank you Grey, for the things you got for me, they arrived just as I needed them. Thanks, Jane, for sending the gorgeous fluffy towels, the extra clothes and cooking supplies, you are such a dear "sister" to me. And I'm glad to know that I haven't been forgotten at the new Rotary Club I got started in Soldotna, that they are officially chartered and put me on extended leave of absence while I'm here. Thanks to my sister Lee in Seattle for sending a surprise box, too, it was so unexpected. We're still holding our breaths to see if Lucy's big box of books gets here through the special Romanian delivery system we used, so far no word about it but things work very slowly here.

I met the (probably) only other American in this county, another Peace Corps volunteer who is located about 20 kms away in a small village. He is a young English teacher, and it's been fun to have him visit. He contributed a (very welcome, and thanks!) dvd player, so I'm all set when I have time and feel like enjoying a movie. Now I need some movies to watch!

In two weeks I'll be heading to the Black Sea for a conference with the other CED volunteers and our program manager. It'll be a good chance to network with others who are doing work along the same lines. And I'll finally get to see the seashore and go to the beach! I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back so you can see what you're missing. I know my friends in Alaska are smoking, canning, packaging and freezing salmon until it's coming out their ears! I can't really say I miss that, but I'd give a lot for some halibut, crab, oysters, shrimp and scallops about now. This is definitely not a place for seafood.

I've been reading books on my cellphone! I'm just delighted it works so well for ebooks, and it's even a good phone. I can barely stand to read on a regular computer screen, so it was a nice surprise to discover that I can read on this little handheld job. I also receive the Christian Science monitor (free) in the mail and the international Newsweek (from the Peace Corps). I saw an article last week about the Chinese sending their own peace corps volunteers to Africa, and later learned they are sending volunteers to Utah and the Dakotas as pilots. Amazing, how the world is changing.

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on the revised website for my organization, if you want you can check it out ARDR. You may have noticed that my site has been moved, please let me know if it's loading faster for you. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Lucy tells me this web blog page had too-big screen problems and required scrolling. I hope it's fixed now.

Please let me hear from you!