Someone needs to test it first, with something not so important, because I'm not sure how this works.
Send stuff to (letters, cards, packages...) to:
Yeh Cynthia
Centrul de Consultanta Ecologica
Mastacani Comuna
Judet Galati
Romania
I changed this because an organization offered to pick up packages for me. Once I get notice that I've received a package, I have 2 days to pick it up or it's sent back to where it came from.
Bless that organization's soul!
____________________________________________
If you want to know what the above means:
Yeh Cynthia (like their ancient Chinese neighbors, Romanians say and write with their last name and then first name).
comuna Mastacani (Cynthia lives in a comuna which is actually a group of 4 villages, sort of like a "county," like Almaden county, or Contra Costa county, etc...)
sat Chiraftei (is the actual village Cynthia lives in. Sat= village)
judet Galati (that is the nearest large city to my location)
Romania (that's the country for which Cynthia is serving in for Peace Corps, it is located in the eastern region of Europe, and is now part of the EU)
What do I need or want?
At the moment: Mommy! I want the Avon, skin-so-soft mosquito repellent!!
Besides that...letters, postcards, whatever.
As great as my site is here, I do plan on traveling to other European countries too. We will see, maybe I'll stay at my site more for my service here, and travel the world after Peace Corps.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Not going hungry
So....people have been very welcoming here.
I have eaten at Luciana's many meals now. I think they are reimbursed by the mayor, or something because I've stayed there 3 nights and had many meals there.
This is fried crap, one of my favorites, with garlic sauce. It's strong. *That's right I said crap, it's a type of fish*
Chorba with an egg.
Mamaliga - which to me taste like corn mush. Like cornbread without the sugar, and not bread.
People have been giving me fresh veggies and eggs from their yard. Most people have their own vineyard, their own lettuce, green onions, and ...this other plant which I think is parsley.
I went shopping for food because there's no supermarket in this village, so we had to drive to the city to get me food, and....I am not going to be hungry ever.
What's not eaten every night, gets fed to the dogs and cats. I think that mentality is still in the Romanians in the city, because dogs and cats seem to co-exist fine in Ploiesti, and people are always feeding them their left overs.
There's not a mouse or squirrel in sight in Ploiesti.
For my first evening cooking in my apartment (my second night sleeping here) I ate well, and I have been eating well since. My gazda mom's food in Ploiesti was heavy in fats and oils and salt! and it's bland! Here it's not the same at all.
For my first night, I made myself plain rice, stir fried veggies (fresh from the ground), and steak!
I got my steak at the supermarket, it looked very fresh (actually I went shopping with 2 people: the mayor's wife and the librarian and the librarian drove and carried everything and picked out the meat for me).
The thing about being a princess...or just really well cared for; it's nice to get all the attention, and the smiles, and the politeness, and the free food, BUT it's going to be hard to get credibility at the work place, to be taken seriously when it comes to serious matters, and to be able to do things on my own.
This last matter is something I'm thinking about every day. I'm not sure how to handle it. Be myself? What to change, what to work on, what to say, who to talk to....how to dress? *sigh*
I have eaten at Luciana's many meals now. I think they are reimbursed by the mayor, or something because I've stayed there 3 nights and had many meals there.
This is fried crap, one of my favorites, with garlic sauce. It's strong. *That's right I said crap, it's a type of fish*
Chorba with an egg.
Mamaliga - which to me taste like corn mush. Like cornbread without the sugar, and not bread.
People have been giving me fresh veggies and eggs from their yard. Most people have their own vineyard, their own lettuce, green onions, and ...this other plant which I think is parsley.
I went shopping for food because there's no supermarket in this village, so we had to drive to the city to get me food, and....I am not going to be hungry ever.
What's not eaten every night, gets fed to the dogs and cats. I think that mentality is still in the Romanians in the city, because dogs and cats seem to co-exist fine in Ploiesti, and people are always feeding them their left overs.
There's not a mouse or squirrel in sight in Ploiesti.
For my first evening cooking in my apartment (my second night sleeping here) I ate well, and I have been eating well since. My gazda mom's food in Ploiesti was heavy in fats and oils and salt! and it's bland! Here it's not the same at all.
For my first night, I made myself plain rice, stir fried veggies (fresh from the ground), and steak!
I got my steak at the supermarket, it looked very fresh (actually I went shopping with 2 people: the mayor's wife and the librarian and the librarian drove and carried everything and picked out the meat for me).
The thing about being a princess...or just really well cared for; it's nice to get all the attention, and the smiles, and the politeness, and the free food, BUT it's going to be hard to get credibility at the work place, to be taken seriously when it comes to serious matters, and to be able to do things on my own.
This last matter is something I'm thinking about every day. I'm not sure how to handle it. Be myself? What to change, what to work on, what to say, who to talk to....how to dress? *sigh*
My hands are cold - Apartment!!!!!
The moment of anticipation: I was anticipating for a long time, cause it's my home!
You'all ready? To see the living place of Cynthia? Do you want to come visit me, after seeing these picture? Remember this: this place may be free, but I am going to work for it.
Here's my bloc, the yellow one. It's one of 2 in our comuna. This is the main road and my apartment is on this road, which makes it easy to get around and no dark allies.
Here are pictures of the inside of my apartment. Basically me spinning in circles taking pictures.
When I saw it first, it had paint buckets, I saw cement, spider webs, broken glass, and it was dull, and there were loose wires exposed.
I was informed that the mayor's wife lived in my apartment for a week cleaning it. She burned her wrist too, cleaning this place.
This was the mayor's wife's home. She lived here with her first husband, but he was sick and he died. I think her son, who's older than me, lived here after she remarried and moved in a house next to her parents a few miles away. She lives with the mayor in a house now, where I stayed at on my site visit.
I had low PC expectations, so I was very surprised....
Brand new door, with a built in ringer, repainted walls in my hall.
Here is my bedroom:
She washed the sheets, and put stuff animals there too (my gazda dad gave me a stuffed winnie the poo as a fairwell gift).
Here is the living room:
The second picture is the guest room:
Here is the bathroom. Notice how I have a shower and a working toilet.
I get a washing machine too!!
But she did get me a bucket, so I can handwash my clothes when I want to.
There is the amazing water boiler, and my gas stove. People use wood to cook here, but gas stove exist too for most people. I have no idea what to do when it's empty and how to refill the gas tank after....oh well. There is a water filter, and it's hooked up now.
Where I store my pots/pans and food. It's a walk in. There's my crazy fridge. It's my size short, but it's crazy powerfull. I keep trying to make it less cold, but it's freezing Everything! My veggies, my eggs! It's good, just tooo good.
On why the title is called cold hands: My apartment is really nice, but it's big, so it doesn't hold heat well and it's cold at night. It's as cold as camping, and though other people here don't think it's That cold, I'm from central coast California, and I wore 3 pair of socks, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, t-shirt, and my undergarments, and a scarf and gloves to sleep, under 3 blankets (heavy ones) and I was okay.
As my princess treatment goes, when asked how I slept (I get asked "ce faci?" (how are you?/how do you feel?/what are you doing?), "cum ai dormit?" (how did you sleep), just about every morning). I said I was fine, I slept fine, but I was a little cold last night, and the mayor was at my door with a space heater.
Peace Corps = you think Africa, dirt floors, wells, etc...While I have a very rural setting, and I am in a place where people have never seen an American, nor an Asian, I feel like a princess.
I am ...not sure about this. I feel guilty cause I didn't do anything to deserve it, but I understand that my counterpart is the mayor and he's a "very important man" and I'm just going to go with the flow and do the best I can to do what the community wants in terms of projects and in teaching English. *sigh* If only I could learn my Romanian faster.
I don't want to teach English a lot, until my Romanian is better, but....we'll see.
You'all ready? To see the living place of Cynthia? Do you want to come visit me, after seeing these picture? Remember this: this place may be free, but I am going to work for it.
Here's my bloc, the yellow one. It's one of 2 in our comuna. This is the main road and my apartment is on this road, which makes it easy to get around and no dark allies.
Here are pictures of the inside of my apartment. Basically me spinning in circles taking pictures.
When I saw it first, it had paint buckets, I saw cement, spider webs, broken glass, and it was dull, and there were loose wires exposed.
I was informed that the mayor's wife lived in my apartment for a week cleaning it. She burned her wrist too, cleaning this place.
This was the mayor's wife's home. She lived here with her first husband, but he was sick and he died. I think her son, who's older than me, lived here after she remarried and moved in a house next to her parents a few miles away. She lives with the mayor in a house now, where I stayed at on my site visit.
I had low PC expectations, so I was very surprised....
Brand new door, with a built in ringer, repainted walls in my hall.
Here is my bedroom:
She washed the sheets, and put stuff animals there too (my gazda dad gave me a stuffed winnie the poo as a fairwell gift).
Here is the living room:
The second picture is the guest room:
Here is the bathroom. Notice how I have a shower and a working toilet.
I get a washing machine too!!
But she did get me a bucket, so I can handwash my clothes when I want to.
There is the amazing water boiler, and my gas stove. People use wood to cook here, but gas stove exist too for most people. I have no idea what to do when it's empty and how to refill the gas tank after....oh well. There is a water filter, and it's hooked up now.
Where I store my pots/pans and food. It's a walk in. There's my crazy fridge. It's my size short, but it's crazy powerfull. I keep trying to make it less cold, but it's freezing Everything! My veggies, my eggs! It's good, just tooo good.
Here is my garden. I asked on my site visit if I could plant things here (thinking about small carrots and tomatoes), and today, the mayor had people work on loosening the soil in the yard and they're going to plant lots of things there I think. Here is my neighbor Tina's yard. Tina s the dark shirt, red pants lady, the other lady is Sarita [S-ah-r-eee-zah], my landlord, the mayor's wife (my counterpart's wife).
Here is a cherry tree in my..the garden I have. It's weird because none of this stuff is mine, or at least I feel really guilty about calling it mine cause it's so much! and so nice!
Here is how they take care of garbage here I think. Food left overs go to dogs and cats. I'm not sure how it's done though. It's day 3 of living here, and hopefully I'll get an example before my place starts to smell. (kidding, I'll ask tomorrow).
On why the title is called cold hands: My apartment is really nice, but it's big, so it doesn't hold heat well and it's cold at night. It's as cold as camping, and though other people here don't think it's That cold, I'm from central coast California, and I wore 3 pair of socks, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, t-shirt, and my undergarments, and a scarf and gloves to sleep, under 3 blankets (heavy ones) and I was okay.
As my princess treatment goes, when asked how I slept (I get asked "ce faci?" (how are you?/how do you feel?/what are you doing?), "cum ai dormit?" (how did you sleep), just about every morning). I said I was fine, I slept fine, but I was a little cold last night, and the mayor was at my door with a space heater.
Peace Corps = you think Africa, dirt floors, wells, etc...While I have a very rural setting, and I am in a place where people have never seen an American, nor an Asian, I feel like a princess.
I am ...not sure about this. I feel guilty cause I didn't do anything to deserve it, but I understand that my counterpart is the mayor and he's a "very important man" and I'm just going to go with the flow and do the best I can to do what the community wants in terms of projects and in teaching English. *sigh* If only I could learn my Romanian faster.
I don't want to teach English a lot, until my Romanian is better, but....we'll see.
Quick housekeeping advice for RO
Here is how toilet paper looks like here: This is one of the cheaper types. It does NOT absorb. My advice, if you're coming to visit, bring your own roll. If you're moving here, just know that you'll have about 2 uncomfortable weeks to get used to the situation.
I've had these socks for a while now, and I've always walked a lot, but for
some reason...maybe it's the way they're being dried, but I have holes in 4 pairs!! of socks!Fun pictures for the
eyes. There are mosquitoes here! It was a worry of mine, and ha! Oddly
though, these happened in Ploiesti and no one else was bitten in my family or at school.
So far I've been told in Mastacani that they aren't any....tantari
[zah-n-zahhr-eee] (mosquitoes)BUT: look what I saw outside my window today!
I saw a movie in the Cinema in Ploiesti.It was Stardust =D
I saw this movie with Calvy and my cousin and her BF.
I like it, and I got 5 others to go with me too! The theatre was huge! but it smelled like it isn't used often. It was pretty cheap too. 7 ron = a train ticket, a pack of orbit gum, a taxi ride for 4km, or...2 beers.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
At my site - but WF....**
I'm at my site, in the Mayor's office, excited to move into my apartment today, going to the school to plan my teaching schedule with the school director, but yet.... I miss Wildflower.
It was last weekend, and though I'm here using skills I learned from being a volunteer and on committee from WF, and Trical, I do miss the memories, the fun, the stress, and the people.
There are lots of photos on Facebook thankfully, and I called Scott and Charm during the event on Sunday from Skype in Romania, so I got to "be there" for a few minutes. Oh well!!! I'll be back there soon enough...
I won't forget about it, but I'll build crazy fun experiences here too. Not the same, but it will do for now.
Odd how perspectives change throughout life.
De examplu: Before college and into my first 2 years of college - I wanted to save the world!
Part way through college - I realized that "saving the world" really isn't that easy and maybe I can make small changes to help preserve the world and maybe improve the lives of some people. Still in college - I figured out I wanted to join Peace Corps to fufill many of my desires and goals: to travel, to save the world, to meet new people, to understand how it is to not have all the luxeries I've grown up with and to maybe get a perspective on how my parents and grandparents grew up with, and more.
Now that I'm here...- I've been thinking about what I want to do when I get home. My future house, spending time with family and friends, traditions I want to start, events I want to help with: Tricaliforna triathlons (Lol)...
Odd aint it. I want to live my life with no regrets. I am happy I'm here, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I didn't go to Peace Corps (or a very similar program) to try and make the world improved or myself improved.
Though, if someone I cared about were sick, or etc...I would have regretted leaving them for my PC adventure, so in my circumstance Peace Corps was the choice for me.
Okay, enough reflection, time to sit and watch other people in the mayor's office and figure out my niche in this village/organization/etc..
Reflection pictures:
(Escape for Alcatraz, in SF) (Only time in my life I took Advil for muscle pain, 50 boxes of water through sand)
(WF Aid Stations, my committee, and I think the best committee in WF history! in central CA)
(Bag check ladies at Nike Women's Marathon in SF)
(Treasure Island, in SF, my last even before going off with Peace Corps)
Those shirts= amazing. Romanians mostly have washers but no dryers.
It was last weekend, and though I'm here using skills I learned from being a volunteer and on committee from WF, and Trical, I do miss the memories, the fun, the stress, and the people.
There are lots of photos on Facebook thankfully, and I called Scott and Charm during the event on Sunday from Skype in Romania, so I got to "be there" for a few minutes. Oh well!!! I'll be back there soon enough...
I won't forget about it, but I'll build crazy fun experiences here too. Not the same, but it will do for now.
Odd how perspectives change throughout life.
De examplu: Before college and into my first 2 years of college - I wanted to save the world!
Part way through college - I realized that "saving the world" really isn't that easy and maybe I can make small changes to help preserve the world and maybe improve the lives of some people. Still in college - I figured out I wanted to join Peace Corps to fufill many of my desires and goals: to travel, to save the world, to meet new people, to understand how it is to not have all the luxeries I've grown up with and to maybe get a perspective on how my parents and grandparents grew up with, and more.
Now that I'm here...- I've been thinking about what I want to do when I get home. My future house, spending time with family and friends, traditions I want to start, events I want to help with: Tricaliforna triathlons (Lol)...
Odd aint it. I want to live my life with no regrets. I am happy I'm here, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I didn't go to Peace Corps (or a very similar program) to try and make the world improved or myself improved.
Though, if someone I cared about were sick, or etc...I would have regretted leaving them for my PC adventure, so in my circumstance Peace Corps was the choice for me.
Okay, enough reflection, time to sit and watch other people in the mayor's office and figure out my niche in this village/organization/etc..
Reflection pictures:
(Escape for Alcatraz, in SF) (Only time in my life I took Advil for muscle pain, 50 boxes of water through sand)
(WF Aid Stations, my committee, and I think the best committee in WF history! in central CA)
(Bag check ladies at Nike Women's Marathon in SF)
(Treasure Island, in SF, my last even before going off with Peace Corps)
Those shirts= amazing. Romanians mostly have washers but no dryers.
It's also great to have amazing friends, who show that they still care about you, even when you left them and traveled to the other side of the planet. It's good to feel loved and missed. =)
Scott and Charm are AWESOME! (and thanks..dude guy, for holding the plate!)
Scott and Charm are AWESOME! (and thanks..dude guy, for holding the plate!)
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