For me, 2006 passed in a flash, and my grand homecoming is rapidly approaching.
During my first weeks/months in Romania, I grappled with the seeming enormity of 27 months. I missed my family, my friends and the familiar (which, being from Kansas City, meant barbeque and Chiefs football). Today, I feel myself battling the brevity of two years. I have much I still want to accomplish. I have yet to be elected mayor or even awarded a ceremonial goat.
Two main endeavors absorb most of my attention. Last Spring, we wrote a successful grant for a project entitled, “Spirit of Democracy.” Partnering with a Polish school, our schools have formed student governments, student electronic newspapers and student volunteer clubs. In March, a group of Polish students will visit our village to participate in a Boys State-style leadership camp. In May, our students will travel to Poland for a weeklong student parliament.
Those student government elections were a spectacle complete with posters, stickers and speeches. I guess you can take the boy out of politics, but you can’t take politics out of the boy.
Mihaela hits the campaign trail.
Secondly, a local NGO and I were awarded a grant from USAID to create adult English video lessons for broadcast on local television stations. Our show, “Hello English!” starring another volunteer and yours truly is still in production, but once we debut, I’ll be sure to post “Hello English!” on YouTube for your consumption.
Last winter, another volunteer came here to experience a village Christmas. We hopped from family to family lavishing in Romanian hospitality and gorging ourselves with Christmas pig. Many families raise two pigs annually – one for Christmas, the other for Easter – and their slaughtering serves as a daylong ritual that includes numerous nuggets of cross-cultural splendor.
Despite the brilliance of last Christmas, I’m escaping this year to a warmer climate, an entirely different continent. A childhood friend joined Peace Corps roughly the same time as I did. Instead of behind the Iron Curtain, Peace Corps sent him to the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Therefore, adventure calls me to East Africa. For New Years, we’re “off to Zanzibar to meet the Zanzibarbarians!” Sorry, I couldn’t resist that obscure Muppet Treasure Island reference.
In October, the Acting Director of the Peace Corps came to Romania for a couple days. She visited five volunteer sites including mine, and these villagers put on quite the show. The Students preformed “Little Red Riding Hood.” A troupe of Romanian folk singers serenaded us. Some mothers prepared a hearty meal of cabbage rolls, cornmeal mush, goat cheese and pumpkin pie. I’ve included a couple photos here.
