Three weeks now living in my new home has been a welcome relief and an opposite experience to the firmly structure life of a trainee. There has been time to just soak in my surroundings, go out to meet whomever I can find, and become good friends with my gazda, Maria. My daily routine includes a walk through the village (total perhaps a mile and a half round trip), saying "Buna ziua!" to all I pass and engaging in conversation anyone who will talk with me, buying something in a little magazin (store that sells sausages, canned items and bread) Now, after three weeks, the "looks" no longer say who are you?? but many are welcoming but some are shy and probably some are simply not interested nor give a hoot. I count as friends the storekeepers by name, relatives and friends and neighbors of my gazda and counterpart, as well as my tutor and her friends. All are so very gracious and hospitable!
My room in Maria's home is huge and quite beautiful. We share the kitchen which is small but adequate. There is a sitting room, so to speak, where I'm sure we'll spend many hours in the darkness of winter. We cook with propane which one turns on and off as needed. When one wants/needs hot water you fire up the heater in my bathroom with wood. The original heat was by firing up the sobas in each room (furnace with wood) but we now have central heat...which source is still wood. I'm curious to see how that works. One of Romania's ecological problems is the devastation of forests for fuel and the detrimental by-products by burning it.
I have a young woman who is tutoring me and I work on my language every day, with others and by myself. I quite enjoy trying to be understood and to understand but it is very frustrating at times. My two-way dictionary is always at arm's reach. Yesterday she took me to what used to be a Jewish neighborhood and we visited a Jewish cemetery. We talked with an old man by the road who told stories of what happened there in 1944. We are very close to a Hungarian population in Transylvania and went to a restaurant where I had my first Hungarian gulas! (goulash) Absolutely wonderful, served with jalapena peppers and sour cream and heavy, heavy potato bread!
Peace Corps friends have visited this week, all longing for a taste of country atmosphere, they being "city" folks. They loved the peacefulness of this too. One day we had a picnic in the shade along the river. Another we visited a castle ruin where we had a 360 degree view of the valley. I suppose some day I shall tire of taking photos but certainly not yet! We tried to hitchhike home..no luck...we walked probably a total of 6 kilometres that day and I was b
The transportation to elsewhere is by maxitaxi every couple hours or by train once or twice a day. It's a challenge to learn the schedules since the maxitaxi schedule is not written anywhere or at least no one can tell me where to find it. The train schedule is online however and trains do run on time. I managed to take both and found my way out and back without incident. Our little train up the valley stops at every village and I hung out the window the whole way taking photo after photo.
My gazda's married children live nearby and her grandchildren are just a delight. One family lives six houses down the road and the other lives 30 kilometres nearby. Yesterday was little Maria's eighth birthday and what a feast we had. Her mother had spent the entire day in our kitchen preparing the dinner as well as cooking up six roosters that saw the end of light that morning, courtesy of Addy's axe. (They are now in the freezer ready to be eaten this winter.)
I helped skewer pork, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes for eight long kebabs. Bread is always a staple at every meal. I thought that was it but then they brought on the grilled meat...probably 5-6 pounds of mici (a sausage), more pork, links of another kind of pork. Meanwhile Addy had carved a small pumpkin into a jack -o-lantern...such a boy at heart he is! Then the piece de resistance...a torte made with at least five kinds of fruit and simply beautiful! Much conversation and enjoying each other. The "cousins" are 10, 9, 8 and 2 1/2. The boys (10 and 9) entertained us with their "performances" singing with air guitars, judo and being "boys" while the two girls were their audience on little chairs. Then the 2 year old entertained too. We laughed until we cried. So reminiscent of my own grandchildren!!!
School begins for the teachers September 1; the children start on September 13. I haven't a clue what will happen next; I'll go to school and someone will fill me in. Because I don't know much about the level of English of the pupils or how Anca and I will share teaching responsibilites, it hasn't been possible to prepare. My best preparation has been to relax, enjoy getting acquainted and take in everything I can.
I think I'm ready...but for what?
