Latchkey Kid

Communication:
I was able to talk to Shannon for free, if you load skype (www.skype.com) on your computer, computer to computer talking is free, however the times are usually difficult. The best time I can usually talk is 6:00 pm Romanian Time (takes me some time to get to the internet café and get set-u) 10:00am Chicago (CST), not the most convenient time.

I’m going to try www.voipdiscount.com, which should allow me to call from my computer to anyone in the U.S. for free but we’ll see.

The one nice thing is that I’m not charged for any incoming messages or calls.

Weather:
The weather is slowly but surely getting better, it has been raining the last couple of days and has been around 40’s/50’s but getting warmer.

Little about the food:
Surprisingly enough they have very good pizza, of course not quite Chicago standards but better than the other 49 states (NY doesn’t have squat but a large slice you can fold – big deal, I prefer square pieces anyway). However, it maybe healthier since the food is not soo fattening here. I have found the late night food after going out since I can’t seem to find any burrito or gyro joints here. It is called a sawarma , it is pieces of chicken or lamb (that is on a gyro like spit or set-up) and the chicken/lamb is wrapped around a pita (however not enclosed, opening and flared out on one end) with French fries, cole-slaw and some 3 kinds of sauces (which I have no idea what they are), not bad, getting used to it real quick.

Oh can’t find any buffets, Mongolian bbqs, or brazilian churascaria’s anywhere as well so the gluttony factor has been totally removed as well as no El Milagro or really any Mexican restaurants. As you can imagine there are no such things as refills or ice in drinks for that matter. I have had one cocktail with ice and thank goodness it was Jack Daniels or I probably would’ve gotten diarrhea.

McDonald’s is pretty much the same, however, as stated in Pulp Fiction, there is no quarter pounder, it’s a Royal with cheese (I get a kick out of ordering that all the time). I have gone to KFC once and it’s close, not quite as many items (no chicken bowls, with the mashed potatoes, cheese, corn all in one concoction), however they do have this mayo garlic sauce which is not bad.

The regular diet consists of a lot of chicken, potatoes, some vegetables and bread coming out of my ears, hey I can’t complain, really never hungry.

Chocolate is a huge craze over here, especially any American candy bars which they sell here. I don’t drink coffee but they tend to serve me a little every morning. One Saturday morning I had a big cup of coffee, didn’t eat much, then went to the café to study and had two espressos, well, let me tell you (and for those of you who know me, know that I don’t need coffee at all), my heart starting palpitating so quickly I started to get dizzy and nearly lost it, let’s just say I got up and ate a chicken snitzel sandwich with a mineral water and life was almost back to normal. I really don’t do coffee anymore.

Someone send over some Superdawg and a large coca-cola slurpee from 7-11.

Showering:
Yes, there is hot water, however, it there are no shower curtains, and no shower head holder. Turn water on, when it gets warm, soak up, turn off, shampoo and soap up the body, turn water back on rinse and pray that the whole floor didn’t get wet. I am actually getting pretty good at it.

Do I stick out?
Definitely, however, I always get that second look, and the group of kids (boys give me the hardest times) can’t decide whether they want to make fun of me or not, it is actually quite amusing at time. Yes, I get the Chinese imitations at times but so far it is really not bothering me.

I can only imagine what they are thinking when I go up to them.
Ok, here come an asian, wonder what he is going to speak to me in? And then I have an American accent trying to speak Romanian, I’m sure that throws in some confusion somewhere.

Overall:
I feel like a latchkey kid. Gazda family makes sure I am dressed appropriately before I leave and makes sure I have my key. My gazda (host) mom (everyone refers to as gazda-mom, gazda-dad, gazda-brother, etc) makes breakfast and prepares two sandwiches and a fruit for lunch. They worry and text message me if I’m late especially if I don’t let them know ahead of time. If I go anywhere outside of Ploiesti, I have to let the Peace Corps office know.

Ploiesti Times

As of February 19, 2007 I have left for the Peace Corps. I am currently in training in a town called Ploiesti, 60 miles north of Bucharest. I will be here for language and development training until the 1st week of May and then to my permanent site for two years. I find out my permanent site and assignment on Friday March 30th.

I have been living with a Gazda (host) family since Sunday, February 26th. They are a younger couple (Dana and Cornel Farcas) , in their 40s with an 11 yr old son (Chiprian). When I go to my permanent site, I will live with a Gazda again for one month and then will have my own place after that.

What have I been doing up until now? Here is what my schedule looks like on a daily basis:
Breakfast; cheese, bread, salami, some kind of cheese sometimes pork spread, tea and sometimes coffee.
Transportation: Usually walk to school since it is my only exercise and usually takes me about 1 hr (or I can take two busses). A group of us and specifically myself live the furthest from school, on the South Side.
School; we share a school with a gradeschool and sometimes its havoc, close to anarchy.
8:30 until 12:30 - language training from and it is intense.
10:30 break - Gogosi time! sweet bread with a filling with sugar on it. Tradition with our group.
12:30-1:30 Lunch - 2 sandwhiches; 1 butter and/or cheese and 1 ham. One piece of fruit (apple or bannana or orange).
1:30 - 5:00 usually development training or we go to our practicum group. we are all assigned a temporary project to work on in Ploiesti.
5:00 - 7:00 study cafe, quick bite sometime, start walking home.
7:30 - Dinner: Ciorba (soup) everyday with another meat dish and sometimes the traditional small glass of tsuika (like sake to Japan).
8:30 - ? study, grab a drink, hop online, misc.
11:00 or so - sleep

Practicum Project:
Currently I am working with CDE an NGO (non-government organization) that is a micro-lending house that provides small loans to individuals in agriculture. Usually these people cannot apply for a loan at a bank since they don't have enough collateral or their repayment schedule would need to start after they sell their crops. My partner and I are currently translating a brochure to English as well as creating a powerpoint presentation for them since they have no English material. They needs this since they have non-romanian speaking sponsors at times visiting them and they don't have a common medium that they can use which is most of the time English (which is what they know if they don't know Romanian). This group is really committed to helping the very small businesses. It is very interesting to see how micro-finance works in a developing community.

Some additional notes:

Went hiking in Perdeal which is part of the Carpethian Mountains.

Only been to Bucharest a couple of times.

Weekends we usually have to ourselves.
The weekend of March 30th, I will be in Pitesti with Habitat for Humanity (this is where I will probably be digging ditches).
La Revedere for now !

My Romanian phone number: 0751584850

dial 011-407-515-848-50 from the States to call or text

you can text message me at this address or call if you feel like it.