Drama!

Ok, I've created a blog for the drama club. I have no idea how it will go, but I'm hoping it will prove useful. Find it here: http://sgtheaterclub.blogspot.com/.

Tomorrow and Friday I'll be at a waste management conference in Covasna city, which I'm looking forward to, but also wish I could use that time to write lesson plans for the environmental education committee and research ways to establish animal shelters and write the spa grant for Reci and prepare lesson plans for english class and put together a presentation for the American corners and visit my older lady friend at the craft shop and test out the pond-route for our moor frog study and give that new cookie recipe a whirl and plan for the next drama club. And update this a bit more intelligently and give my flickr some love and clean the apartment for my wonderful friends who will be staying here this weekend. But I can't! Gotta go sleep so I can get up at 6 tomorrow! The month of February is officially the month of panicky stress accompanied by frequent headaches and tired eyes.



Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

Almost a year. Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I am having a good time, though, just in case you were wondering.

Twenty eight

I was born twenty eight years ago, on the day that both Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States and the American diplomats being held hostage in Iran were released to US custody. It's something I know simply because I was born on that day. My mom has told me the story a few times, of how she spent the day watching Reagan's inauguration and the developing story of the hostage situation in Iran, until a certain someone decided it was time and demanded some attention. After my delivery, she passed out and woke up thinking she was a hostage in Iran, luckily not for long. It's an interesting way to start life. I've never really thought about me being born, but I feel this year that things have somehow come full circle. I like that every four or eight years, my birthday coincides with the optimism of a new president's official swear-in ceremony and the inevitably uplifting words. A fresh start and the hope that accompanies the unknown. I listened to Reagan's address yesterday, just out of curiosity, and I know he wasn't always the most awesome president, depending on which camp you fall in, but listening to that speech, or any president's inaugural speech, brings a little swell of proud hope into your heart. I felt it yesterday as I listened to his words and I felt it even more so today as I listened to Obama's. Both then and now, the US was faced with a dark recession and no matter how deep the hole, an eloquently delivered speech temporarily soothes the starkest of fears, especially for those of us who are just trying to live our lives. Perhaps it's silly to think that I was born into a day of hope as Reagan spoke of prosperity and, a short while later, the fifty two hostages who had been held for over a year stepped out into the sun as free people. Maybe they squinted at the brightness of the sun as they emerged for the first time, just as I squinted at the glare of the hospital lamps in my first blinking moments of life. Maybe they struggled to breath in deeply because the air felt so clean and new after months of staleness, just as I stretched out my lungs to deliver my first wail of surprise. Maybe they felt a renewed interest in and love for life, just as I was becoming aware of it. With the hopeful words of a new president playing quietly in the background, we both gained life that day, they having it handed back to them and I having it start anew. I'd like to think that twenty eight years from right now, somewhere out there a birthday girl or boy will take an interest in the day of their birth and discover that there is quite a bit to reflect on and that the world really is a hopeful place.

Call for plays

I must say, I'm a little disappointed. I've been searching for about three hours now for something to do with the drama club in honor of Women's Day (March 8th), but whenever I type into the search engine any combination of the following words: one-act play women history promote strong, the only plays that come up are about eating disorders or abusive relationships. Yes, eating disorders and bad relationships are troubling topics worthy of discussion and dramatic performance, but I think the history and pride of women is a bit richer and hopefully brighter than anorexia or abusive men. I don't want to sound insensitive, but I'm hoping to put on something uplifting about the changes women can make in the world instead of focusing on how the world can beat us down. And I'm having a very difficult time finding a (royalty free) one-act play to do that with. So...I guess I'm asking for your advice, if you know of any plays out there that would fit the ticket. I know it's a long shot, but leave me a comment with your suggestion and if it works out, I'll dedicate the play to you. Thanks.

Look alike

For the first six or so months here, I would occasionally see a person who I would have to look at twice, do a double-take, because they looked like someone back home. It happened alot at first; those moments of "she looks just like...could it be?" followed by "no, no...they're thousands of miles away. Stop being so silly." It's strange how the mind does that. How when you're overwhelmed with newness, your mind searches so desperately for something known that it will take a person you undoubtedly have never seen before in your life and transform them into your mother or your best friend, your old college professor or even the barista from your favorite coffee shop, and for a fleeting second your heart leaps into your throat and you want to run to them and fling yourself into a big hug and jump up and down with them in excitement. But the fleeting second passes and logic takes over and you realize how silly your mind's form of wishful thinking is. These moments almost never happen anymore. I kind of miss them and the little dose of mystery, excitement, and heartache that they would bring. Of course I'm not going to randomly bump into my sister over here, but there's something a little bit mystical in your mind's temporarily successful search for familiar faces in a world that's knowingly unfamiliar. It makes me wonder, too, just how different from eachother are the grubby man who resembles my dad and my dad. Are their personalities at all similar? I saw him three days ago and his face looked so uncannily like my dad's that I'm pretty sure had my dad grown up here, with less nutrients, more air pollution, and the hardship that went with living under communism, he would have been identical twins with the man. Slightly hunched back, five foot six bony frame, gently bowed legs, a cane in hand, missing and badly stained teeth. It's a little scary to think about how much of our appearance and health depends on when and where we grew up. Had my dad's look alike been born in the US, maybe he'd be standing on solid legs, baking bread on Sundays and making guitars in his free time, too, instead of leaning on a cane, sweeping the streets and emptying the trash cans to earn a living. Who knows.

2008 (from my good friend ace)

1. Where did you begin 2008?
On the road between Miami Beach and Reno with my mom and Ozzie. I believe we were staying the night at a hotel in Mobile, Alabama on New Year's eve.

2. What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Invited.

3. Were you in school (anytime this year)?
Informally, you bet.

4. Did you have to go to the hospital?
Yes, I accompanied a friend with diabetes to a Romanian hospital. It's a night I will never forget.

5. Did you have any encounters with the police?
About four months ago, I was putting posters up around town to get the word out about an electronic recycling campaign a friend was organizing. All the posters I had were in Hungarian, but all the police here are Romanian, so when a police man saw me putting up a Hungarian sign, he asked me why I didn't have any posters in Romanian, that way everyone could understand. I tried to explain to him that I was just helping and didn't know why and he immediately recognized me as the foreigner I am and gruffly shook my hand and told me good job, but next time to request Romanian posters, too. I said ok.

6. Where did you go on vacation?
Sighisoara, the Apuseni Mnts, Campalung Moldovanesc, Targu Mures, Okland, Turda, Onesti, Miercurea Ciuc, Brasov.

7. What did you purchase that was over $500?
I sold my car.

8. Did you know anybody who got married?
Uh...not that I know of.

9. Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes.

10. Did you move anywhere?
Yeah. Romania.

11. What sporting events did you attend?
A soccer game in Ploiesti and a hockey game in Miercurea Ciuc. The first had free obnoxiously yellow hats and the second had awesome tasty hot tea.

12. What concerts/shows did you go to?
A few just before I left. My favorite was probably a Holland Project show featuring the Juvinals and Panic Opera. There was also an orchestra concert in Ploiesti during training with a fantastic rendition of the 1812 overture. A couple other little classical concerts here and there. I miss shows alot.

13. Where do you live now?
Sfantu Gheorghe

14. What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
Organize a drama club

15. What has/have been your favorite moment(s)?
Please refer to the past 10 months of entries.

16. What's something you learned about yourself?
I have an embarrassingly horrible memory, but people still seem to like me.

17. Any new additions to your family?
No, but a close friend back home just had twins and I can't wait to meet them!

18. What was your best month?
I guess December. The drama club put on its first production and that felt pretty awesome.

19. What music will you remember 2008 by?
Antelope and Tom Waits.

20. Made new friends?
More than ever before.

21. Favorite Night[s] out?
Each night at In Service Training was pretty fun.

22. Any regrets?
I regret not being naturally talented at learning languages.

23. What do you want to change in 2009?
Enjoy more, stress less

24. Overall, how would you rate this year on a scale of 1-10?
6.5

25. What would you change about 2008?
Losing touch with lots of people back home...but I guess that's inevitable.

26. Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
On a train, bus, or maxi taxi.

27. Have any life changes in 2008?
Whatever changes happen when you move to a foreign country.

28. Change your hairstyle?
Actually, it's back to where it was last year at this time, though it went fairly long and very short in between.

29. Get a new job?
PCV!

30. Do you have a New Year's resolution?
Usually I don't do resolutions, but this year I'm going with reading more, eating healthier, exercising more, traveling more, and stressing less.

31. Did anything embarrassing?
Yes. Lots.

32. Buy anything new from eBay?
I helped a colleague decipher his purchase of golf balls. That was my first and last interaction with the site.

33. What was/were your favorite purchase[s]?
My felt bags, woven scarf, and honey pot from my favorite craft shop. And all the little trinkets I got to send back home.

34. Get married or divorced?
Or neither.

35. Get arrested?
No. But, I did go through the security at Frankfurt airport twice in one day, which felt pretty much the same.

36. Be honest - did you watch American Idol?
No. I did watch one episode of Romanian Idol, though.

37. Did you get sick this year?
More than ever before, except the time that I had the chicken pox. I didn't barf this year though, which is nice. I've just had lots of little tummy troubles. Nothing too severe.

38. Start a new hobby?
Romanian and maybe cooking. Still obsessed with easy crossword puzzles. Please send me some.

39. Been snowboarding?
No.

40. Are you happy to see 2008 go?
Happy and surprised it's already over. How quick a year can go.

41. Drank Starbucks in 2008?
I had one Starbucks in Philadelphia. It was the first day of staging and we had some time before the session started, so we all thought we'd go to the Liberty Bell and along the way, we stopped by Starbucks. I really needed coffee and just let go of my pride and convictions for five seconds in order to wake up and not make everyone wait while I hunted down a local place. So shoot me.

What are you wishing for in 2009?
Peace. In Reno. In Romania. On Earth.

Semafor

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Sfantu Gheorghe has one four-way stop light and I can be found there at least once a day, waiting with my fellow pedestrians for the light to change. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds of waiting, sometimes 2 minutes, but it's always a pause in my walk that I enjoy. The streets are so crowded and everyone is either hurrying by, nearly knocking me out of the way or is teetering along, dependent on a cane and left well behind within a second, that I hardly get the chance to see a face let alone wonder about the mind within. I love to walk, especially quickly. My mind never works better than when I'm swiftly walking alone with no particular destination. It gets lost within itself and tells stories and comes up with bizarre scenarios and gets thoroughly into its own thing, all while deftly maneuvering around slow moving or motionless objects, dodging rapidly approaching obstacles, leaping over man-holes left ajar, and changing directions with such dexterity that contact with the wobbly toddler, the little old lady, and the pile of dog poo were completely avoided. It gets into a hazy zone of surreality, a mixture of walking and mental talking, and doesn't quite emerge from it until the pattern of left-foot-right-foot is broken. And this nearly never happens until arriving at the stop light. It's a relief, almost. A break. From thinking and walking. The obstacles and objects I had been planning my route around morph once again into people and the white background noise returns to conversation, despite the fact that I still can't understand it. Faces appear across the street, awaiting the same signal as myself and I take full advantage of this brief moment where it's ok to stare fixedly at a stranger, to wonder what their life is like and to question why they are buried so deeply in their jacket. And to not mind that they are staring back, wondering why my brow is furrowed and why I'm wearing such strange shoes. It's a moment that can't occur while walking or otherwise doing things - it's a moment that belongs solely to a stop light and to the pedestrians waiting patiently at its side. It's a moment I sometimes wish wouldn't pass. Then the light changes, legs are put back into motion, the faces you were staring at start to blur by and become simple memories. We could stop eachother. In the middle of the intersection, we could introduce ourselves. I could put out my hand to shake and ask them why they look so worried. We could go get coffee and become friends and not be strangers staring at eachother from across the street anymore. But that would take too much effort and would spoil the beauty of a stop light.

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.