Breath

I've noticed that the longer I go without posting, the harder it is to do. Partly because things start piling up that I'd like to put on here and it seems like too much to do, and partly because I feel like I have forgotten how to put together a decent sentence. So bear with me. Or is it bare?

Things that have been going on:
1. Thanksgiving. I spent the holiday with other volunteers and a few Romanians in a small city called Campulung Moldovanesc, which is pretty far north and near the Ukrainian border. We ended up going through three turkeys, four pumpkin pies, five loaves of bread, and all the mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and candied yams to match. We spread it out over two days and had Thanksgiving 1 on Thursday and Thanksgiving 1.2 on Saturday. And kinda on Friday. It was excellent and I didn't think about missing home on Thursday until we turned out the lights to go to bed and everyone grew real quiet with sleep and I suddenly realized that Thanksgiving was just beginning back home.

2. Romania's National Day. On the 1st of December in 1918, the three regions that now make up Romania were finally, after centuries of battles, united, and the first of December has since been honored every year. The holiday is kind of like our 4th of July; it's the celebration of being a part of a country. To enjoy the festivities, I traveled from Campulung Moldovanesc to Ploiesti (an eight hour trip) with Suzie, the volunteer placed there. We attended the traditional military parade, featuring lots of armed vehicles and face-masked soldiers, followed by lunch at her counterpart's recently remodeled apartment. If your memory is sharp (and if I ever mentioned it on here), you'll recall that Suzie's counterpart was also my group's counterpart for the practicum and that Ploiesti is the city where we all spent our first 2.5 months of training. It all seems so quaint now.

3. Christmas Craft Market. This past Friday through Sunday (5th-7th), I helped out at a craft fair that was put together by two nearby volunteers. The market was in a tiny village called Nagyaita (Aita Mare in Romania...Big Aita in English) in my very own Covasna County. I was blessed with a front seat maxi taxi ride both on the way there and on the snowy trip back. Just when you begin to not notice how beautiful it is here, you get the front seat. Awe is swift to return. My task for the market was to paint little faces and hands and it was thoroughly enjoyable until all they wanted were scorpions and spiders and something on each cheek and each wrist. Then it started getting a little annoying. I also bought a felt purse for only 25 lei and a bunch of hand made Christmas cards. I'm all about handmade lately and this market was the place to find it. Oh, there was also a pig-sticking, which is a tradition here this time of year and it involves a pig...and a sharp stick and results in lots of meat for everyone to eat. It is actually something illegal according to EU standards because it's considered inhumane, but people still do it for tradition's sake. Luckily I was painting faces when it happened because, as much as I love learning about Romania, I don't think watching an animal die would do me any good right now. I'm a pansy and I feel a bit ashamed to admit that the pork I had for dinner that night was delicious.

4. Drama Club. We're meeting tomorrow (Saturday) to run through the skit three or four times and to hopefully get something presentable ready for the show on Thursday and Friday. It's gonna be good, darn it. And hopefully fun for them as well. It's been a pain in the arse to work on a play with variable actors, but I'm learning. Next time around, it's monologues.

5. Quasi American Corners. I met a librarian here recently who worked with a volunteer in the past on an American Corners project. I say quasi because it's not officially recognized by the embassy and it's really just the current volunteer talking with students about America. The volunteer he worked with left three or four years ago and it was fun watching him pull out all the old materials, brush off the dust, and get excited about restarting the project. Yesterday (Thursday) I gave my first presentations in the quasi American Corners to two classes. I talked with them about Thanksgiving and then we compared and contrasted Christmas traditions, which I'm pretty sure was a learning experience for both sides.

Here are some differences:
1. December 6th. This day is considered Saint Nocholas' day and the children carefully polish their boots and place them by the front door so St. Nick can come around during the night and fill them up with small wrapped presents, fruit, and candy. We don't do this, but I'm willing to bet that the tradition of our Christmas day stockings, which aren't hung here, originated from the boots. Oh, and if a kid is bad, instead of getting candy, he or she'll get a silver painted stick to be beaten with.
2. Christmas music. I have yet to hear a Christmas song in a public establishment. I miss it.
3. Shopping. Nobody died here in shopping stampedes. Nobody goes nuts over the next Wiitendo. No lines outside of Macy's at 5am. All good things.
4. December 25th. Not sure how exactly it will go, but so far I know that Saint Nick does not come on Christmas day because he came on December 6th, so the angel comes instead (not sure what that means). This is the day for exchanging gifts with family members and friends and my landlord has kindly invited me over. It's a day that I'm looking forward to with both curiosity and apprehension. Kinda hoping to skype with family on that day, too. I'd like to see my little brothers open their Christmas presents and maybe share a Christmas hot chocolate with my mom.

K, this is all I can coherently do for right now. Time to sleep.