Word of the day

If I could select a word to describe my emotions lately, it would be volatile. Easily changed. Unsteady and unpredictable. One moment I feel just fine with what I am doing here, what I have done, and what I hope to do, and five minutes later, I want to smack myself for thinking I've actually done anything of use or have any good ideas. My balance between alone time and time with my Romanian friends felt perfect yesterday, while today it's clear that I'm nothing but an anti-social non-integrator. I feel satisfied with my decision to focus on Romanian instead of Hungarian, then I feel like a stubborn dimwit for not trying to learn both. This morning I woke up thinking about how quickly the past year has gone and now as I get ready for bed I question whether this month will ever end. A story I told yesterday sounded witty while today it sounds along the lines of spoken cow manure. I was looking at some pictures of me sledding with friends recently and started to laugh, but my eyes filled up with tears and suddenly I wasn't sure if I was laughing or crying. I couldn't tell and went through a strange, confused moment where I felt both very happy and very sad, which has never happened before over such a simple thing like a picture. I could not decide which of two fairly opposite and strong emotions I was feeling. Why would a picture of me sledding make me cry? Maybe because I look so happy in those pictures and wish I could hold onto that happiness for more than just a few minutes before I'm yet again mentally socking myself in the eye.

LOD

Today I learned that the kids in school think that everyone goes on vacation when they do. This became apparent after every kid in the drama club individually asked me how my vacation went. It was nice that they inquired, but it also made me realize how little they know about what I'm doing here. When I told them it wasn't much of a vacation for me because I had to work all week, they said "Really?" and gave me a bit of a blank stare. As much as I love the drama club, it has unfortunately become a small part of my life and I get the feeling that they think I spend all of my time preparing for the once a week, 1.5 hour session. So when they had their end-of-semester vacation last week, I had my 1.5 hour vacation (plus, it was nice to not have to prepare). I spent my vacation at a former EPA employee's house in a nearby village playing with year old twins.

Twin 1 (Zsofi or Janka):


Twin 2 (Janka or Zsofi):


So I did have a nice vacation pushing tots in swings and watching them eat apple sauce at the same time. It was interesting. The mother had a very good system down for feeding them and keeping one entertained while the other one took a messy bite. Gemeni means twins in Romanian, like the zodiac sign. I can't believe all these twins that are popping up. My good friend back home had twins, I'm playing with twins here, and a lady at the agency is going to the US in May to visit her daughter who is pregnant with, yep, twins. What's going on? Is it the weather? Does climate change also mean fertility change?

Anyways, lessons of the day: when you're a kid in school, it's hard to imagine life as anything else. Twins are a zodiac sign, cute and caused by climate change.

Good night.

Another Language

I recently discovered that not only the people in Romania speak a different language, but the animals do, too. My tutor gave me a lesson last week on the language of the animals here and I found out that the dog does not go "woof, woof", he goes "ham, ham". Birds do not tweet, they "cipcirip" (cheepchereep). When a pig wants to say something, he does not go oink! He goes guitz! Instead of quacking, ducks go macmac-ing and a horse never says "neigh", she says "nihaha". There's this CD that my tutor has been playing over the past 6 months in the background for her son while she's tutoring me and after this lesson, I realized that the CD is loaded with people making animal sounds, which kinda made my day. I think each animal has its own song. I'm going to ask her if I can have a copy of the CD so I can work on my animal communication skills. We shall see.

Here's my list thus far:
dog (câine) = ham ham
cat (pisică) = meow
bird (pasăre) = cipcirip
horse (cal) = nihaha
cow (vacă) = muu
pig (porc) = guitz
sheep (oaie) = meeehehe (mayheyhey)
goose (gâscă) = gagaga
duck (raţă) = macmac
frog (broasca) = oac oac
bear (urs) = mormor
mouse (şoarece) = chitz chitz
snake (şarpe) = ssssss
goat (capră) = beeehehe (bayheyhey)
chicken (pui) = piu piu piu
rooster (cocoş) = cucurigu
hen (găină) = cotcodac
donkey (măgar) = iah iah iah
owl (bufnita) = buhuhu (boohoohoo)

Got any to add?

I have this new loose goal of posting something I learn each day here (loose, loose goal...maybe every other day...to once a week).

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.