Kristin Current Weblog

Losing track of time, but Thanksgiving is soon! -- November 15, 2007

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I wrote! I apologize to those who emailed to say they were worried about me, and I hope to be more responsible in the future. It's funny to be in a place without Halloween or Thanksgiving, somehow it makes it more confusing to keep track of the year. We had a skiff of snow earlier this week, but it's all gone and was back to rain yesterday. It's sunny and crisp today. At least we do have seasons, though, so it's not still hot.

It's been really busy, I've had many travels to Gorj county rural communities. With my colleague Ileana I've talked with many mayors and local officials, seen much of the countryside, and been impressed with the positive attitudes of the people we've met. We've often traveled to two communities in one day, once we even managed three of them. It wouldn't have been possible using public transportation, as we did in the beginning, so we were glad to be able to travel with our project partner Maria in her car. One of the hardest things for me in the Peace Corps is not being able to drive a car! If you know me, you know that I love to drive and take long road trips, so my promise not to drive in any country where the Peace Corps has a presence is a killer for me.

About what we do: Ileana and I represent two of the four areas of service for our agency's "Strategic Partnership for Local Active Citizenship ". The other two are for local government "capacity building" and technical assistance. Ileana and I work on setting up the Euro House community network agreements: she is the coordinator for Lifelong Learning, for Adult and Youth Programs, while I am developing a Rural Entrepreneurship Program, and looking for a capable Romanian to take it over. Maria is coordinator of County Network for Extra-curricular Education, working on a training program for teachers who will assist with community outreach. We work closely with the 15 European youth who are with us for a nine month volunteer program.

What a great group of kids! Well, maybe I should call them young adults, since they are 20-30 years old. They are from all over Eastern Europe and the European Union. I am very impressed with their energy and willingness to pitch in to work and help each other. I accompanied them on a three-day training retreat to Rânca (pronounced "Runka"), an under-construction ski resort in the nearby mountains, October 25-28. I did presentations on Intercultural Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Appreciative Inquiry, and enjoyed their hilarious (and continual) antics. These volunteers are wonderful, and are creating a network with each other that will last for many years. They are training in Târgu Jiu (pronounced Tirgoo Jhoo) for two months, and then will be assigned in pairs to rural villages where they will live with host families (gazdas) for the next seven months. In those communities, they will work with school children on community projects, and will periodically come back together for more training. These exchanges are part of a huge EU program to provide cross-culture experiences for young people, developing a basis for EU citizenship and understanding.

Last week all 35 of my PC group traveled northeast to meet in the coldest city in Romania, Miercurea Ciuc, for our in-service training conference that happens after our first six months at our sites. It was great to spend time with American friends again, especially since I almost never get to see another American! But it was a very long journey for most of us, with 15-25 hour train rides across the country. Our agency colleagues were able to come for the last two days, so Ileana was able to meet me there. The city has a great hockey team, and we were able to go to a national game. It was fun, especially since many of our Romanian coworkers had never seen a hockey game.

I thought I would be here for Thanksgiving, helping with another weeklong international workshop on "Participatory Planning and Youth Development", but I will leave in the middle of it to travel to Bucharest for the holiday. For the first time, Peace Corps volunteers have been invited to have Thanksgiving dinner with the American Ambassador, and I was happy to accept. Although there are 52 volunteers attending, there will be only four of us from my group.

I have a new friend, a volunteer who works at a Nature Park about five hours by train to the northwest, and he says they have canoes and also a kayak that I can use! They have a nice river with lots of camping areas, a small hotel with great prices, and a couple of old monasteries. A very old nun lives alone at one of the monasteries, has been there by herself for sixteen years! I'll bet she's an interesting character. I can't wait to go visit, probably early in the spring. He says we can bring all our European volunteers for a long weekend, and will exchange ropes team training and the use of the park for having them work on building trails. I'm sure by then the kids will be dying for an energetic getaway.

I'm up to my neck in busy: I'm developing a presentation for next week's workshop, writing an action plan for developing rural tourism in the foothills communities (caving! rafting! skiing! fishing! farmstays! hiking!), and have agreed to work on the website for PC Romania, but I'm already behind on work for the cookbook committee and for our ARDR website (http://www.ardr.ro). Our agency staff agreed to sponsor a new program of fundraising to collect Christmas money for isolated elderly people in the countyside who are in desperate need of firewood for winter heat, food and things for the holidays. I am continually amazed how much can get done here on such short notice. We plan to find company sponsors, have collection boxes at the big stores, put on a media campaign, and host an entertainment night with a small entry fee, along with an auction. Thank heaven we have the 15 European volunteers who will be working with rural school children by then, so they can perform and make things to sell. Hopefully all their parents will want to come. In the U.S. we are used to such things, but this is the first time it has ever been done here. It is a huge mindset change from the communist mentality to get people to think in terms of "community service" to others, and I hope to enlist the help of my local Rotary Club membership.

I finally received the care package that my friend Jane sent me weeks ago, and although the corn tortillas were a little aged, I just cut off the moldy parts and fried them up for chips (thanks, Jane, and I have already used the muffin tins!). Sometimes it takes weeks for things to get here, and now they only give us two hours on one day each week to pick up international packages, so unfortunately it can be a couple more weeks for me to be able to actually open them.

I have had some interesting emails lately, one from a friend of a friend in Homer who accepted an invitation for the Peace Corps to come to Romania in February 2008. I'm sure we'll somehow manage to meet in person so we can visit. It already feels good to know there will be someone else from the Kenai Peninsula here in Romania!

Thanks again to everyone who wrote and sent me birthday wishes last month! It feels great to be remembered, even though I'm halfway around the world. Oh, and my daughter Dara had very successful hunts for both goat in Alaska and elk in Oregon (she was all by herself) this year. Of course I have pictures if you want to see them. My son Grey, who works with wildfire crews all over Nevada, got sent to help with those huge fires in California. And Peter in Germany is doing fine, but is very busy caring for his three young children. All my kids are busy, but I know they are okay so I try not to worry about them. I'd love to hear from my eight grandkids, and can't wait to get the pictures that granddaughter Lorin promised to send me! She says my dog Cheyenne is doing fine, but is shedding hair everywhere and is getting chubbier. I am so grateful for Skype, so we can talk to each other on the computer.

Here are some pictures from the past month, of colleagues, European volunteers and village visits: