Adventuers of an American Vagabond

Leaving LJ

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:03:28 GMT

Alright everyone;

In an attempt to streamline my life, I'm getting rid of a lot of excess things in my life. I cleaned my closet, thrown out moldy food from the fridge and even gave away some candy that I've been hording. This shedding of unused stuff also extends into my digital life. I've gotten rid of a few email addresses, my My Space account and now it's time to say goodbye to LJ. I've got another blog that I update more frequently, so you're more than welcome to check that out.

http://kateinromania.blogspot.com/

Pa, I'm out.

Kate

Kate likes to read?!?!

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:56:53 GMT

My life in the Peace Corps is, to be perfectly honest, is kind of boring. Really. On some weekends I go visit a friend in a different city, or have a friend come visit me. But that leaves my weekdays, and some weekends, wide open. For my first year here in Romania, I didn’t have a television. Now I do, but I’m never really interested in watching Romanian talk shows or Spanish soap operas. So, the TV is normally turned off.

I was always an avid reader before, but it’s as though I had a “turbo” switch that was turned on when I moved here. I read, on average, a book a week. Also every week, the PC office sends all of us volunteers a Newsweek. But, giving a PCV one magazine a week is like giving a pro football player a piece of bread for dinner. It doesn’t last long, nor is it very filling. Most PCVs have also amped up their reading, and we’re all very good at sharing books among us. In the Peace Corps office, in Bucharest, they have two shelves filled up with books. Whenever you go to the office, always make sure to bring a bag of books that you’ve already read and are ready to pass on. Then you can re-fill that bag with books you haven’t read yet. There are some books that are so good, there’s a waiting list to get a hold of it.

Jonathan Sanfran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated is one of those. It’s about a young American Jew who travels to his grandfather’s native country, Ukraine. He hopes to find the woman who helped his grandfather escape during the holocaust. I think it’s been such a hit among us PCVs because Ukraine is one of Romanian’s bordering countries and so some of the situations this American finds himself in are similar to the things happening around, and to, us. Such as trying to explain what a vegetarian is and trying to find something to eat on a meat-leaden menu. A 2005 movie, staring Elijah Wood, does a good job of re-creating the story on the big screen. Also an interesting fact, Elijah Wood’s mother was a PCV here in Romania. She still works and lives here.

Another book I’ve really come to enjoy is Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson. Greg is an American climber who, after trying to summit K2, finds himself lost in a Pakistani village. He falls in love with the land, the people and the culture he finds there. He promises the village chief to return and build a school for the children. While trying to keep his promise, Greg discovers a true need for schools throughout the whole area. To date, Greg and his associates have built 52 schools in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. It’s a very inspiring book, especially for me as I’m trying to stay motivated in my teaching position here in Romania.

I’ve also read and enjoyed T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. Now, at 688 pages this book can seam a little overwhelming. But don’t worry; it’s actually four books in one. The Sword in the Stone tells the story of how a boy named Wart became the king of England, with the help of a wizard named Marlin (yes, very similar to the old Disney cartoon.). Next The Queen of Air and Darkness talks about the same king, now called by this proper name of Author, and how he rose to be a legend. The Ill-Made Knight discusses King Author’s right-hand man, Sir Lancelot. It also talks about the other knights of the round table. Finally, the last book, The Candle in the Wind, talks about the last few weeks of Author’s reign.

So, as you can see, I read a lot! While this might not be the most interesting blog, it does talk a lot about what I spend a good chunk of my time doing.

Other good books I’ve read here are:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; The Aquitaine Progression by Robert Ludlum; Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein; Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet; Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon; Centennial by James Mitchner; The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow; Dracula by Bram Stroker; The Giver by Lois Lowery; The Godfather by Mario Puzo; Harry Potter (all 7) by J.K. Rowling; Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amor; Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards; The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto “Che” Guevara; On the Road by Jack Kerouak; The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Shogun by James Clavell; A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas; Wicked by Gregory Maguire; and The Wild Girl by Jim Fergus.

P.S. This blog was edited for American school kids. I have even more books to suggest, but they're not meant for school children. Out is one of them, as is A Painted Bird. Read them!!!

MLK day in Romo

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:49:44 GMT

Coming from a different culture with different beliefs and traditions often means I celebrate different holidays than my co-workers and students. I always like to try and teach something about home to the kids. This past Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I thought that was a perfect topic for a cross-cultural lesson plan.

Tuesday morning at 8:00 AM, I walk into my seventh grade class ready to talk about Civil Rights and MLK. I have vocabulary words to teach, a cross-word puzzle to do and I even brushed up on my history in case the students had any questions. I write the vocab words on the board and start to explain them. “Segregation” is one of the words. I get about half way through an explanation when I realized I was talking to a segregated class. In my school the Hungarian students and the Romanian students are separated. Each group has their own building, own teachers even own principals. Mr. Babylon is the Hungarian principal while Ms. Ana is the Romanian one.

In parts of Transylvania there is still a lot of hostility between the two groups of people. I have a group of Hungarian friends that I hang out with, and a group of Romanian friends who I hang out with; the two groups rarely interact. Last Spring Break I went to Egypt with a group of teachers and students-all of them were Hungarian. I do not speak Hungarian at all beyond the very basic phrases. “Szia” means hello and goodbye; “igen” means yes; “nem” is no, etc. Even though everyone on the trip speaks Romanian fluently, I was asked not to. They would rather speak to me in broken English than Romanian; it was less insulting I was told.

On the same trip I asked a friend about this phenomenon. Attila is a history teacher and gave me a lecture about the history of Transylvania and the historical hostility between the various different peoples. I asked him what his family would say if he dated a Romanian girl and he said his mother would probably disown him.

So, this is one lesson that taught me more than it did the students.

Graphic pig killing...warning

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:28:37 GMT

Hey all, sorry for the long delay in updating. Things have been really busy here in Zalau. I went to a Halloween party, celebrated Thanksgiving, hosted a Special Olympics event, moved apartments and got a new roommate. Things have just been moving at lightening speed, and before I knew it, it was December first.

About a week ago I went to a party with a bunch of friends. Through a mutual friend, I met this girl named Ramona. She invited me, and about 8 other people to her parents’ house to help with the traditional pig slaughter. I was very excited and accepted this invitation quickly, as going to a pig slaughter was one of the things I wanted to see/participate in but hadn’t had a chance to yet.

About twice a year, usually in September and again in December, families here will kill a pig that they had been feeding all year. The meat from the pig will feed the family for about six months. Usually pigs are killed on or around December 20th, as to have fresh meat and sausages for Christmas. It’s a hard job, both physically and mentally (especially for people who have never done it before). You need about ten people to do it. Ramona’s family did theirs early this year because it was the only weekend the whole family could be there to help. And, they were really happy to have the help of 8 Americans even though we were all inexperienced.

Ok, if you’re squeamish at all, stop reading here. I’m going to describe the pig slaughter. I won’t go into too many details, but it’s still upsetting. So, stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens.

About 8 in the morning, we dragged the pig out from his pen. He weighed about 440 pounds and couldn’t even walk on its own. This meant there was a lot of good meat for the family. The pig didn’t want to leave his warm, safe pen so we needed five or six strong men to drag him out. My friend Dave compared the noise he made to the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park.

Once we got the pig out into the courtyard, Ramona’s father took a knife and cut this throat. Then we waited for it to bleed out. A lot of families collect the blood in tins to make blood sausage with, but Ramona’s family didn’t. The courtyard was built with a drain in the middle just for occasions like this.

After the pig was dead, we took a blowtorch and burned off all the hair and skin. Back in the days before blowtorches, families would wrap the pig in straw and start a big bonfire to burn all this off. It would take a really long time and smelled horrible, so most families now own their own blowtorch. Once one side was clean, we flipped the pig over and burned the hair off the other side. Then, still using the blowtorch, we blackened all the skin, loosening it from the body. Ramona’s dad let us draw on the blackened skin with our fingertips. Then, using really sharp knives, we scraped the skin off the carcass. The pig was a yellowish-pink color.

After that, my part was pretty much done. The Romanian men, who were experienced in butchering, cut the pig apart and separated the meat/intestines/other parts by what they would be used for. The intestines were emptied and cleaned out and the shells of the intestines were used as the casing of sausages. The liver and kidneys were cut out to be cooked separately. They pulled off some skin and, after dipping it in salt, chewed on it like gum. Large chunks of fat were deep fried and eaten as a snack (very tasty). Even the ears and tail were used.

At first I was very upset by the killing. The noise of the pig being dragged out was sickening. But as the day wore on and I saw how every part of the pig was being put to use, and I tasted the fresh pork that we ate for dinner, I began to appreciate the whole process. The whole thing was very fast, clean and professional. And, as an end result, Ramona’s family gets meat for the winter. And, as a further bonus, they saved a lot of money by killing their own pig. They bought the pig for 25 lei (about $10) a year ago, fed it scraps and lost cost meal and in the end have food for the whole winter. In comparison, 1 kilo of pork at the butcher would be about 25 lei on its own.

Well, that’s all for this update. I’ve got a lot more stories to tell, but I’ll save them for another time. I promise my next one won’t be so grisly and graphic. Everyone enjoy the upcoming holidays! I know I will, I’ll be going home to Michigan for two weeks to spend Christmas with my family. I’m VERY excited. I haven’t been home in 18 months, and I haven’t seen most of my family in that time either. Enjoy the snow, if you’re lucky enough to have some!

If you want to know more about the killing, I've posted pics here. But, again, I warn you that they're graphic.

German AuPair needs help

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:46:45 GMT

It's about Nina, the daughter of my aunts friend, she is in the US right now as an Au Pair but had real trouble with her family. Because of all the psyche stress and everything she lost a lot of weight and was just not doing well at all in that family. Now she is looking for a new family, who is either looking for an Au Pair or could just help her out for some time until she finds another family, as she has to move out the latest next sunday (Oct 28th) and otherwise has to return to Germany... She really wants to stay and turn this year into a good one, so if you know anybody or pass this on to someone else, that'd be great.
It's best to contact Nina directly - her email is nina_zulka@web.de and her phonenumber: 0017818017170

Thanks for reading :)
(and here's the original German version:

Nina, eine meiner Töchter ist Mitte Juli für ein Jahr in die USA als AuPair

gereist. In ihrer Family ist ihr ziemlich übel mitgespielt

worden, doch haben wir mittlerweile erreicht, dass Nina die Familie

wechseln kann. Auf Grund des ganzen Psychostresses

hat Nina an Gewicht verloren und wiegt jetzt noch 41 kg. Immerhin kann Sie

jetzt wieder essen. Sie muss aber bis Sonntag

28.10.2007 eine neue Familie gefunden haben, bei der sie als AuPair

arbeiten kann, weil sie dann aus ihrer jetzigen Familie

heraus muss. Hat sie bis dahin keine neue Familie gefunden, muss sie die

USA verlassen, es sei denn sie findet irgendwo

eine Unterkunft und kann von da aus weiter nach einer Familie suchen, die

ein AuPair braucht.

Nina möchte Amerika nicht verlassen, weil sie trotz allem gerne dort ist

und eine neue Chance haben möchte, sich als

AuPair zu beweisen. Ich suche also jetzt dringend Menschen in den USA, die

Nina aufnehmen könnten bis sie eine

AuPairstelle gefunden hat. Deswegen möchte ich alle bitten, die über

Kontakte in den USA verfügen, diese spielen zu lassen,

damit Nina geholfen werden kann, damit sie wenigstens aus diesem seelischen

Tief heraus kommt.

Mag sein, dass sie keine Stelle finden wird, aber dann kann sie wenigstens

sicher sein, dass sie alles versucht hat.

In dieser einen Woche ist es nicht möglich, so ein Gefühl zu entwickeln.

Ich hoffe, wir finden eine Lösung!

Hier Ninas Mail und Telefon: nina_zulka@web.de; Telefon: 0017818017170 - dann kann sie direkt

kontaktiert werden

Herzliche Grüße!

A few things:

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:17:10 GMT

Something happened to me today that is just too surreal not to share.

I went to school tonight to meet with class VG's parents. As I walked onto the school grounds a parent was walking beside me. The main building was locked (that was ok for me, I was going to building B) and she just went off about stupid people who work in schools. She then asked me what I did. I said I was a teacher. She looked taken aback and then asked me something else-I think about my age because I look way younger than the other teachers. I didn't really understand her so I said so. She then realized I was "that American teacher" and went off about how she loves me and America and how God has surely blessed me. Then, for some reason, she told me about her mother who she had just committed to a mental institution because she "went crazy due to my husband." I must have looked confused, because she said it again and then said her husband had hit her mother in the head very hard. I still must have looked lost because she then took both her hands, but her thumbs lightly on my temples and head butted me. Yes, she did. Then she told me exactly where she lives and asked me to come visit right then. I politely declined, saying I had to go meet with the parents of my students. She nodded, gave me the directions again and told me that I was going to stay with her all weekend. "It will be ok." She informed me. "My mother will stay at the home and I will make my husband sleep with the animals. We have pigs! 15 of them!" I thanked her, pointedly looked at my watch and said I had to go. She gave me a giant hug and two very wet kisses on each cheek (side note: she smelled like onions and B.O.) and let me go.

Romo fests

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:47:17 GMT

I love fall in Romania. The leaves change color, the air turns colder (hey, I’m from Michigan; I love the cold!), but most importantly, autumn means harvest festivals! I really love harvest festivals. Each farming community has their own, and they are spread all throughout the end of August, all of September and the beginning of October.

A few weekends ago I went to a nearby village called Pericei with my PCV friend Lauren and our Hungarian friend Timi. Timi’s family is from Pericei, so we just stayed at her parents’ house for the weekend. We hung out with her many cousins; the only names I remembered were Attila, Chuba, Zoli, István, Balázs, Ella and Sanyi. Pericei is a Hungarian village, so 90% of the people there only speak Hungarian. And, since I don’t, it made talking to people a little difficult. But luckily for me, Lauren speaks English and Hungarian and Timi speaks Romanian and Hungarian. So as long as I was with one of them, I was fine.

The whole festival started off with the conjoining together of a giant onion rope. Each family had their basket full of onions straight from the gardens, still with the long rope-like ropes attached. Then they just braided them all together, like a French braid, and made one giant rope out of it. I was told that the whole thing was over 5 K long. That’s over 3 miles of onions tied together!

Then we went to the un-veiling of a new statue for the village; it was a giant bronze onion. It looked kind of like a giant tear-drop, but the people were very proud of it. They had the statue placed in one of the few public spaces in the village, which turned out to be the school playground. After showing off the statue, we went to the city hall for a feast. There’s a traditional stew called bogracsos. It is soooo good. I’m not sure what’s in it, but I know there were potatoes, beef and paprika for sure. Traditionally it’s one dish that only men are allowed to make. They cook it outside in a giant pot over a roaring fire. It’s something like goulash, but I’m told they’re not the same. After eating there was traditional dancing and songs-also on the playground. Around midnight, the traditional music stopped and we danced the rest of the night away to a rock band.

The next weekend was another festival in a different village called Crasna. One of my PCV friends, Ed, lives in Crasna, so again Lauren, Timi and I, together this time with our friend Dave, went and crashed at Ed’s host family’s house. We arrived in Crasna just in time to see the parade. It consisted of horse-drawn chariots, traditional dancing, non-traditional dancing, a marching band and the county’s K-9 unit. Not a typical parade for us Americans, but a lot of fun. After the parade was more bogracsos (Crasna also being a Hungarian village), then dancing and music.

The next day we went to a chariot racing event. It’s kind of like an obstacle course for old fashioned chariots pulled by two horses. The horses were beautiful; most of them were dressed up for the occasion with tassels, ear-muffs and bells. The drivers were also dressed up in traditional costumes, top hats and ties. My friend Atti knew one of the drivers and got us a ride in one of the chariots. It was so much fun! Dave, Lauren and I were all in the back seat and we were so squished we couldn’t move. But it helped whenever we rode over ruts or bumps or else somebody would have fallen off.

Ed’s host family, or gazda in Romanian, owns a small house up in the hills just outside of town where they grow their own fruits and vegetables to eat. They also have a grape vineyard and make their own wine. We met with the neighbors and sat around and talked for about an hour, eating grapes right off the vine and apples off the trees. One of the neighbors invited me to marry one of his sons, but I politely declined. Dave got an invitation to go skiing, once snow falls, which he did not decline.

After that we walked back into town where we got to ride on what is called a “dragon” in Hungarian. It’s more like a motorized hand glider. I had to wear a giant helmet and winter coat. The coat was way too big on me, and I must have looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. It was totally worth it. From the sky I could see not only Crasna, but the neighboring village of Vârşolţ as well. And I could just make out Zalău in the distance. The pilot of the dragon only spoke Hungarian, so I think he was explaining the landscape to me but I couldn’t understand him. I felt like I was only up in the air for about five mintues, but when we landed Timi told me I was up in the air for about twenty. Either way, it was way too short.

In two weeks from now, the weekend of September 29th, there are two more festivals. One in Şimleu Silvaniei and one in Turda. I have friends in both places, so I just have to decide what I want to do/see. Either way, I’m excited!

Time to say goodbye

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:14:23 GMT

I have been in Romania now for about 1 year and 3 months, or about 63 weeks, or 442 days now (wow, that was some quick mental math!). For all but the first ten of those weeks I had the awesome chance to have wonderful sitemates, Allan and Autumn Henderson.

A & A COS today. (COS means Close Of Service. They finished their two years and are free to go home.) I’m really happy for them, because they both had fantastic experiences here in Romania and are leaving with positive attitudes and glowing reviews. But they’re leaving. It amazes me that 53 weeks ago I didn’t even know them, and couldn’t even fathom how much they would encourage, support and inspire me.

I just keep thinking of all the stuff we had planned to do, but ran out of time to do it. Allan and I were going to watch all the James Bond movies in chronological order; we’re three short. Autumn was going to teach me how to cook something editable. There simply just wasn’t enough time. And this was just my first year; they say the second year goes even faster than the first!

It amazes me how close I’ve become with some of the other PCVs here. And it makes me sad to think of the time after Romania when we all move back to the States. I live in Michigan-Gogoaşa lives in Texas; Steve lives in Connecticut; Scott lives in Hawaii; Dave in Nebraska; David Bruce in North Carolina; Lauren in Oregon; Doug in Colorado; Hollywood in Mississippi. The list goes on and on. And that’s just the Americans, what about all these great HCN friends I’ve made? Romona, Eti, Bogdan, Attila, Timi… (HCN means Host Country National. I can’t say they’re all Romanians, because most of them are actually ethnically Hungarian.)

As sad as this makes me, it also makes me really excited for the future. If I didn’t know these people 63 weeks ago, who am I going to meet in the next 63 weeks? The possibilities are endless. Plus, look at all the cool places I get to go to now to visit my friends.

The best part is, A & A and Ed live in Indiana-fairly close to the Michigan boarder. In fact, A & A live less than two hours away from my sister (I MapQuested it). Just because they left Romania doesn’t mean they got rid of me by any means.

Ethan Mitchell

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:21:56 GMT

Gone

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:54:51 GMT

So, I know I've been not-posting for a REALLY long time now. It's not that I have nothing to say, it's just that I don't know how to express myself to people back home. So, in short: life is good. School ended in June, the next week I worked a Prader Willi conference in Cluj; two days later my parents came to visit and we went to Turkey, where my older sister also joined us. In a few days I'll go to Buc to see the Rolling Stones. Then in August my German host sisters will visit me, then I'll go to the Black Sea for a PC conference. Then my twin and friend Bekah will come visit. Then school will start again.

Umm...yeah, that's about it. I doubt I'll be posting much this summer, I'm just slightly busy. Plus, now PC monitors our blogs and, as much as I love the office, I don't really want them inside my brain via my blog. So when I do post, it'll be less and less informative. If you want, let me know and I'll add you to my e-mail list. I send updates very sparatically.

On a much happier note: WELCOME TO THE WORLD ETHAN MITCHELL McQUEEN!! The fourth of July is a great birtday, and when I get home you and I are going to have a blast! Remember, I'm the cool Aunt Kate. Your biological Aunt Kate is...well, not as cool. I send really weird presents from really random places! Who got you that 3-headed dragon from Prague? Bretta or Ryan, read this to him; I'm sure a nine-day-old baby can't read yet.

Lauren tells it like it is...

Wed, 02 May 2007 14:42:50 GMT

Kate: Well, I'm off to make dinner.
Lauren: you're making dinner again??
Kate: Yeah, I have to.
Lauren: is kim not feeding you anymore?
Kate: A & A are in Egypt and Kim fed me the past two nights.
Lauren: i see
Lauren: lol
Kate: And Emily's in Canada...
Kate: My friend's all can't take off at the same time. I'll starve.
Lauren: lol
Kate: You'd better watch out. Give me a few more days of cooking for myself then I'll show up at your door.

Bored quizes

Tue, 01 May 2007 11:55:46 GMT

You Are 12% Republican

If you have anything in common with the Republican party, it's by sheer chance.
You're a staunch liberal, and nothing is going to change that!

How Republican Are You?

Amen to that!

You Are Not Messy

You're so clean, people have accused you of being a clean freak!
You like things tidy, organized, and smelling fresh.
Messes drive you crazy, especially when you didn't make them.
It's hard for you to live with a slob - or someone who leaves their dishes in the sink.

Are You Messy?

Not exactly true, ask anyone who's ever lived with me.

You Are Spider-Man

Quick and agile, you have killer instincts (literally).
And that kind of makes up for the whole creepy spider thing.

What Superhero Are You?

I like it!

Your Life is 75% Perfect

Your life is pretty darn perfect. You don't have much to complain about.
Of course, your life is occasionally less than perfect. But you're usually too happy to notice.

How Perfect is Your Life?

Damn skippy!

You Are 20% Texas

Damn Yankee! You think the sun comes up just to hear you crow.

How Texas Are You?

Thank God!!! I don't want to be from Texas.

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed.
Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

Hmm, good advice. I think I'll act on that.

Well, that's it.

Brain waves

Tue, 01 May 2007 10:15:06 GMT

So, I'm sitting here in my apartment, reading CNN.com, when I come across an article about this new toy that measures your brain waves. The more you concentrate, the better the toy works. The full article can be found here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/fun.games/04/30/mind.reading.toys.ap/index.html

Anyway, this was my favorite part in the article:

"Technology from NeuroSky and other startups could make video games more mentally stimulating and realistic. It could even enable players to control video game characters or avatars in virtual worlds with nothing but their thoughts.

"Adding biofeedback to "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," for instance, could mean that only those players who muster Zen-like concentration could nail a put. In the popular first-person shooter "Grand Theft Auto," players who become nervous or frightened would have worse aim than those who remain relaxed and focused."

I say YES!! Let's teach kids to be calm and relaxed while shooting guns, especially at people whose cars they're trying to steal. Sounds like a great plan to me.

Good Will Hunting

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:12:04 GMT

Here's a clip taken from the movie Good Will Hunting. It was written ten years ago, but read it now and see how it relates to today.

"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had a no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president. "

Hit hard

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:42:38 GMT

Wow...I'm not really sure why but I got a major dose of homesickness these past few days. Then I went to Google Image search and typed in "Boyne City, Michigan" (my hometown) and a few pictures of Boyne Mt. (the ski resort just outside of town) popped up. One of them was my cousin skiing in fresh powder.

Living in a city, even one as small as Zalau (73,000) is really hard for me. I grew up in rural Northen Michigan. My hometown has a population of 3,000. All the towns around it are other small towns of about 3,000. To go to a mall I have to drive south for two hours. And that mall only has 100 stores (including the food court and the keyosks). My home area beautiful-lots of forest, clean water, nature. Here I live in a cement bloc and the only green I see is the ugly, dirty neon that the neighboring bloc is painted. As far as rivers/lakes/water goes you can forget about it.

It was hard going to Egypt for vacation. Being that close to water again took a toll on me. And then I came back to Romania... And when we landed in the Buc airport, 39 people pulled out cell phones to call parents, friends, family, whomever, to tell them that we were safe and back in country. Who did I call? Nobody. And seeng people at the airport being greeted by loved ones really got to me. Remember that scene in Love Auctally where they taped people in the airport? Well, try walking through that when you haven't seen the people you care about the most in 11 months and won't see them for another 13 or so.

Keeping busy is the key. So, in that spirit-I'm going to go hang out with some friends.

Easter, Egypt and Simleau

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:34:21 GMT

April 22, 2007

Ok, these last two weeks have been really busy so here comes another monster update. Ellie, you probably won’t want to read all this so just Skype me and I’ll tell you that way.

So, school ended for me on April 5th at 9 AM. That was a Thursday, and on Thursdays I only have a first hour. So that day I just chilled around Zalău; cleaned my apartment and basically did nothing but enjoy the warm weather we’ve been having. On Friday I went to the near by town of Oradea to spend the Easter weekend with David Bruce (Superman) and John (Gogoaşa). Dave had gotten in around midnight, so I took the earlier bus at 12:15 and got to Oradea around 3:30. On the way there our bus clipped a căruţa (for you people back home, that’s a horse-drawn carriage.).

I spent a few days in Oradea just hanging out with my boys. For Easter itself we made a nice dinner, but ran out of gas for the oven. Here ovens are hooked up to a gas tank like an outdoor bbq back home. And that was the day John’s tank decided to empty itself. So we went knocking on his neighbor’s doors, asking if we could borrow their stove for about half an hour. It was really funny. We ended up meeting a really cool neighbor, Octavian, and his parents. Octavian gave us some ţuica (moonshine) while we waited for our chicken to cook.

I tried to leave Oradea on that Monday so I could have all day Tuesday to putz around and get packed, but when we went to the bus station I was informed that no more busses were going to Zalău that day. I could have taken a train to Cluj and then spent the night at Steve and Scott’s, but I decided just to hang around Oradea for one more day. In the end I had to take a train to Cluj and then a Maxi-taxi to Zalău-taking an extra 2 hours and 30 RON (10 USD).

Very early Wednesday morning (5 AM) I met up with the group of people I was going to Egypt with. We were supposed to meet at this parking lot/tiny amusement park place behind city hall. Well, I got there about 30 minutes early and was the only one there. It was really creepy. I was a lone American chilling out at a deserted amusement park in Romania. Totally a set-up for a horror story. Ellie didn’t appreciate it when I texted her to tell her so. Worry-wart.

Eventually all the other kids and chaperon’s showed up and by 6 AM we were driving to Bucharest. From Zalău to Buc in a train is about 12 hours, and in a car it wasn’t much faster. It didn’t help that we kept stopping for various reasons. On one of the busses we rented the brakes didn’t work, so we had to stop and get that fixed. And then when we got to the mountains around Braşov we stopped for about 45 minutes. Most of the kids on the trip haven’t traveled around Romania much, so some of them were seeing the mountains for the first time.

We finally got to the airport and after all the hassle of checking in 40 students (about 30 of whom have never flown before) we took off. The rest of the day was just a jumble of flying, driving, checking into our hotel and sleeping.

The next morning, Thursday, I got up early and went to the beach. Yes that’s right; it was about 30 C (85 F I would guess) and I was out on the beach reading. When I got too hot, I’d just go swimming in the Red Sea. At about noon it was just too hot to stay at the beach any more so the other teachers and I went shopping. We met up with our tour guide, an Egyptian guy named Alex (that’s not his real name, but he told us to just call him that) who became a friend who we hung out with every day.

Friday morning the whole group met up with Alex at 8:30 to go snorkeling. I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed Michigan until I got back on the water. We all piled onto a boat that would take us to some coral reefs that we could go snorkeling around. Because of where we live in Romania, most of these kids have never been on a boat before, or have gone swimming in open water. They were kind of freaked out. After about 30 minutes I was just about the only one left in the water. I stayed out until they called me back to the boat so we could leave. After snorkeling we went to this island, Giftun Island. It’s a beautiful white sand beach. As we were pulling up there was a giant Hollywood-esque sign that said “Paradise.” I spent the afternoon sun bathing, snorkeling and reading.

The next day, Friday, was a free day. I spent it at the beach and shopping. I really like walking around with Atti, Zoli and Sosci (the other chaperons) because they would always speak in Hungarian (Oh yeah, side note, I was the only non-Hungarian on the whole trip.) Nobody could figure out where we came from because it’s such an unusual language. I learned some words, mostly numbers, so when we were bargaining with vendors it was like having our own secret language.

Saturday we went into Cairo. Ok, so we had made arrangements to take tours with this one company, but when we got there we discovered they were jiping on the price. So we found another company to go through which is how we found Alex. But hotels here work exclusively with tour groups, and we had jilted the company that worked with our hotel. So we had to pretend to stay in this other hotel that worked with the company we ended up traveling with. We had to pretend that we were staying at this other hotel and that we were Russian. I’m still not completely sure why.

Once in Cairo we went to the Cairo Museum and saw all of King Tut’s stuff. And we went to the Pyramids and the Sphinx, which was simply surreal. I still can hardly believe that I saw them, and got to go inside a pyramid. At one point we went into a store and when we came out I saw the sun setting behind the Sphinx and I was just in awe. However spectacular they were, seeing them was also a bit of a disappointment. In my mind the pyramids were out in the middle of the desert, and the only way to get to them was to ride a camel for several hours. In fact our tour bus pulled up to a gate and we walked the 100 yards between the road and the pyramids. This was also the day that the camera I had borrowed for the week decided to stop working. So apart from a few pictures taken the first day at the beach, I don’t have any of me in Egypt. I’m waiting for the people who took some of me to email them to me. Hopefully it will be soon.

Sunday was a free day, and again I spent it at the beach and shopping (I got a wonderful tan). Monday we went to Luxor. We went to the Valley of the Queens and saw some tombs. We went to the Luxor Temple, which was my favorite place in the entire trip. In some places you could still see the original color of the hieroglyphics, over 4,000 years old! We had some free time, so I just wandered around the temple, trying to picture what life was like back then.

Also in Luxor we took a boat ride down the Nile, and went to an island called Banana Island where we ate fresh oranges and bananas off the trees there. Then we loaded the bus and came back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Tuesday was a free day, and again I spent it at the beach and shopping. It’s illegal to exchange Egyptian currency into any other currency, so I ran around trying to spend all my LE (Egyptian Pound) that I had left. I got my friends some beautiful silk scarves that cost about 15 LE each, which is about $2.50. When we were out shopping, I wasn’t allowed to talk much because my accent is so very American. If they knew that I was American they would have charged me three or four times the amount they charged the Romanians, so if I wanted something I told Attila in Romanian and he bargained for me. Sometimes when I would talk, my English was so good that the sellers couldn’t understand me! I had to say stuff like “How many pound is this?” rather than “How much does this cost?”

We left Wednesday at noon, and started the long trek back to Zalău. The trip was pretty uneventful, except on the bus ride from the airport home the students sang traditional Hungarian folk songs for about three hours. I didn’t understand a single word, but it was a lot fun. I got back to my apartment around 4 AM on Thursday-still in time to go to my 8 AM class.

My favorite story from the whole trip deals with Egyptian TV. There were only like 8 channels; 2 in German, 1 in Russian and the rest in Egyptian. So, we couldn’t really understand anything. We were looking for a music station to watch, because you don’t need language to understand that. But the only music station was also a soft-core porn station. Naked girls dancing provocatively to good music. So what most of the kids (the girls anyway) was to turn on the porn station and then put a towel over the screen. There were a few times when I would walk into Zoli and Attila’s room, (side note: they happened to get a room with one big bed that they shared and not two small beds), and they’d be laying side by side in bed together watching porn. It really made me laugh. When I was in their room, they’d throw a shirt or something over the TV as a courtesy for me.

Also throughout the trip really the only people I could talk to were the other chaperon’s-in either German or English. So, Attila being a history teacher, gave me a crash course in Transylvanian history that was really interesting. I learned a lot. And once we were on the beach and a guy who was selling henna tattoos to some of our students made the mistake of saying he was a geography student in university. Zoli is a geography teacher, so he decided to give the “student” a pop quiz right there on the beach. We gave up after he said the capital of Canada was Argentina.

Then on Friday I hopped on a bus after school and went to Simleau, a neighboring town, to visit my friend Lauren. My sitemate Kim came too. The three of us hadn’t seen each other since break started, and we all went on trips. So we took turns telling each other about Kim’s travels in Romania, Lauren’s in Sarajevo and mine in Egypt. We met the new Peace Corps Volunteers who will be living in Simleau, and they’re from Michigan!

So, that’s the highlight of my past few weeks.

Happy Easter everyone!

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 12:12:06 GMT

So, I'm in Oradea visiting my friend John for Easter. David Bruce (Superman) is here too. Well, we're trying to make our Easter dinner when lo and behold, we run out of gas. Ok, for you people still in the USA this might be a little hard to understand. John's oven is attached to a giant tank of propane, like summer grills in the States. Only today, or all days, John's tank decides to run dry. So our Easter dinner is halfway done and then no more. So John and I got knocking on his neighbors doors to see A. who's home, B. who isn't cooking dinner and C. will let us use their oven. We find a wonderful neighbor named Octavian who lets us use his oven, and then while our chicken cooks, proceeds to give us tuica, juice, break, cookies and bread. I love Romanian hospitality! Then, as we're leaving with our cooked chicken, they give us boiled eggs and the rest of the tuica as an Easter gift.

I just thought that was a great story and deserved to be told.

A few things

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:48:53 GMT

So, today made me laugh for a few reasons. Here are some of them:

1. When a woman walks down the street alone, men will make various noises at her to get her to look at them. I've become very adapt at ignoring all sorts of things while walking. Today I was walking and I heard a "baaa" like a sheep would make. Though I didn't turn around, I thought that was a unique call as I'd never heard it before. The sound continued to follow me and I thought this was one persistent guy-until I turned the corner and saw that my "guy" was, in fact, a sheep. I was walking down the biggest street in a town of 70,000 and was being followed by a sheep.

2. I kinda-sorta joined a Rotary club here. Well, a Rodirect club (for younger people, and they allow women in). This is a club for people to volunteer to do good for the community, only in this particular club, nobody ever wants to volunteer for anything! At my second ever meeting, they asked me if I wanted to be president because nobody else wanted to.

3. This is a conversation I had with my friend Jason:
Kate: I don't think I'll make it down for Passover. I have to catch a plane to Egypt
Jason: lol passover is all about escaping from egypt
Kate: Hey, I get it backwards sometimes. I'm a gentile
Jason: hehe
Jason: well so am I
Jason: technically
Kate: Only the good half
Kate: Wait, that didn't sound as mean in my head
Jason: lol

I should point out that Jason's father is Jewish, and as children are considered to be the same religion as the mother, Jason is Jewish on the wrong side.

4. I just finished reading a book my mother sent me called The Keep. I know she sent it to me because, upon reading the back, she learned it was about German's living in Romania and she saw the word Transylvania (the region I live in). Well, upon completion of this book I decided that the writer was an idiot. Either that or he never expected someone living in Romania and fluent in German to read his book. First of all he placed the setting in the "Transylvanian Alps." Then he said it was in Wallhalla. The Transylvanian Alps are in the southern tip of TRANSYLVANIA, not Wallhalla (both are regions). But then he started to describe the area, and used Moldovian towns (the third region). THEN he used some random German words at really weird times that, once translated, didn't even make sense to the plot. THEN he said they were in the mountains just outside Ploiesti. I lived in Ploiesti for training. If there are mountains there, they're very well hidden. I felt like throwing the book out the window after I finished, but I didn't. Someone else should read it and laugh at it as much as I did.

A Kate Quiz

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:43:16 GMT

How well do you know me? I got bored and made a quiz, here it is:

http://www.stumpyourfriends.com/stump2.cgi?234336132522007

Needed update

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:12:40 GMT

I remember when I first found out I was going to Romania, I searched online for current volunteer's blogs to read; thinking they'd give me an insight into the life I was about to start. I found one from a guy named Scott that was pretty good (later I met Scott in person and I think I freaked him out because I had read his blog). I found another one from a married couple, written by the wife Jo. I noticed that over time both Scott and Jo wrote less and less, and during the second year writing went down to almost nothing. I thought that was a little odd.

Now, just hitting my 10 month mark in Romania I find less and less to write. It’s not that nothing is happening in my life, it’s just that it’s harder and harder to connect to the world I had back home. Ahh…

Anyway, this past weekend was St. Patrick’s Day. Kim had a couple people over and we had a lot of fun. There were a few Americans and a few Romanians, and our conversation was a mix of English and Romanian. It was a lot of fun because for the first time I had a full night of mostly speaking Romanian. It was great. Anyway, this useless blog is basically to let you all know that I’m still alive, and having a great time.

New people

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 12:08:43 GMT

I started this blog as a way for my friends back in Michigan to keep updated with my wild and crazy life as a PCV in Romania. Suddenly I find that there are a lot of people I don't know reading this, and that it's being refered to people I don't know by other people I don't know. And I guess I'm on a list, somewhere, of PCV blogs around the world.

Hmm...so, welcome I guess. Read and enjoy. Feel free to ask questions, but please tell me who you are and how you found me. I guess I just never realized how interisting a small-town girl's life could be once she joined the PC.

Oh, and just once agagin: The views expressed in this blog do not in anyway reflect those of the U.S. Peace Corps and are totally and completely those of Kate Neidhamer.

Dinner with the Romo 'rents

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:03:54 GMT

My first month in Zalău I lived with a host family, a gazda, until I could find my own apartment and get settled. During the month I stayed with Nelu and Feli, they adopted me as their American daughter and I adopted them as my Romanian parents. And because Feli’s biological children both live in other countries (a son in Hungary and a daughter in the States), Feli has gotten into the habit of being a little overly motherly with me and the other Americans she has taken under her wing.
Part of my daughterly duty is to return to their apartment and visit about once a month. A few nights ago I did my responsibility and walked across town to wish Feli a happy birthday and congratulate both of them on their recent addition to the family, a granddaughter. Nelu answered my nock with a hug and a lecture. “We’re mad at you!” he declared. “You do not visit enough!” Feli shushed him and ushered me into the kitchen where she had cooked enough to feed all of Sălaj county, let alone me. But before I was allowed to eat anything I was shepherded over to the computer so I could see pictures of “the most beautiful baby in the world.”
Women in Romania are expected to marry young so that they can have many children, while men marry late so they can have a financial foundation to support all the children that their young wives are going to have. At age 23, I am in prime marrying age. Nelu knows of a few nice Romanian guys that he could introduce me to, if I wanted. Thankfully, Feli called me back into the kitchen.
Here in Romania there’s an alcoholic drink made of plums called ţuica. It’s about 80 proof and typically made at home in either a garage or in the bathroom. In Sălaj county there’s a different variation called pilinka. Pilinka is double distilled and thus twice as strong. No meal can be had without a shot or two of either ţuica or pilinka, and any cause for celebration requires massive amounts of the drink. This particular night was a combination celebration, for Feli’s birthday, the birth of their granddaughter and my rare visit. Nelu had the ţuica flowing all night, along with wine.
About halfway into the second course, Nelu remembered that I should be searching for a nice boy to bring home to mom to meet. He asked me if I had met any during my months in Romania, I said that, sadly, I had not. He bent his pointer finger and shook it vigorously at me. A bent finger means someone is lying; the crooked finger is a visual representation of the crooked words said. He reminded me that he wants to be able to dance at my wedding, so I might as well hurry up because he isn’t getting any younger, thank you very much. Again I was saved, the telephone rang and he got up to answer it.
It turned out to be their son in Hungary, with an update about the baby. She’s still the best baby in all Hungary, Romania and probably the whole world. After hanging up Nelu came back into the kitchen. He told me that he was saving half of this year’s ţuica for the baby’s wedding. In 18-20 years, it will be a wonderful vintage. Then, stealing a sly glance at me, Feli asked if he was going to save any for my wedding from this year. This is the year of my Romanian birth after all.
I left that night with a bag of left-over’s, a bag of canned food Feli decided I needed, and a promise to look out for a Romanian boy. I wonder what Nelu and Feli will be worried about for me next month, when I go for my daughterly visit. Lord help me.

I miss Ellie

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 21:54:02 GMT

So this was my sister's away message for two days: "I hate the peace corps.....it took my best friend"

I want to go home...but I want to stay and make a difference even more.

Future tatoo?

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:13:18 GMT

This is a tatoo design that I'm thinking of getting;; ingore the site lines.(Thanks Dave D. for drawing it for me!) I really like the fins and the cross in the shell (which I asked for-the cross not the fins) but I think I'd fill in the eyes.

Any suggestions about where to get it, or the design itself? I think I'd keep it in black and white, or if I add any color, it'd be green accents...

I'm really scared of needles, as anyone who was at IST knows, so this is probably just a pipe dream anyway. But I think it's something I'd like to do before I COS.

Not talking to family is weird for me.

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:10:53 GMT

It’s getting harder and harder to find things to talk about with my family. Every Sunday we chat online, at 9 AM, 11 AM or 6 PM-depending on what time zone you’re in. The first time we met, I talked to my parents for almost three hours. Yesterday we talked for about 45 minutes, and Dad did most of the talking. I mainly listened.

As time goes on it’s just really hard to find topics of conversation that all five of us are interested in. I definitely throw a wrench in the works. Like yesterday, Ellie talked about getting the Sunday paper and the coupons that were in it; Megan talked about babysitting and bowling; Dad talked about cross country skiing; and Mom talked about shopping. And me? I didn’t say much. I mean, the highlight of my week was finding lettuce (which I really was excited about). It’s not that my life is boring, making lettuce the most exciting thing ever, it’s just that my life is so vastly different now. I look forward to different things, I expect different things from each day, and I’m challenged by different things than I was nine months ago.

It’s easier jut to listen and to let their lives wash over me. I just close my eyes and pretend I’m in my bedroom at my parents house, or in my old dorm room at Alma and then the stuff they’re talking about become more relevant, more exciting. Then someone will ask me a question, and I open my eyes and find myself still in Romania.

“Do you want me to send you my old jeans? I just bought a new pair.” asks Ellie. I want to say “No thanks, I already have as many pairs of pants as most families do. Plus the jeans from home mark me as an outsider, and I’m just now starting to blend in making myself less of a target. And if they’re not hemmed, I just walk on the bottoms, wearing them out and making me look like a gypsy, because only they would wear frayed jeans. And looking like a gypsy will just bring me even more harassment than I want to deal with” But I don’t say all of that; I just thank her and say no, I have enough.

And then my sisters talk about money and I just want to laugh at them. Megan spent $30 on a night out with her roommate. In my head I’m thinking “$30…that’s about 78 RON. I could eat for about two weeks with that.” Bekah’s moving down to Florida for a new job, but is only going to get about $24,000 a year, plus benefits. I make just about $3,000 a year and am still doing better than half the population.

Last night I almost lost it. A friend who moved to Wisconsin was visiting Ellie and I talked to her for a bit. I said that a friend of mine here, a PCV, was quitting the Peace Corps and moving back to Wisconsin. She laughed and jokingly asked why, implying that Wisconsin wasn’t a great place to live. I almost blew a fuse.

Why? Because he’s working in a school system where cheating and bribing is so common he’s viewed as the abnormal bad guy when he doesn’t allow copying or takes kickbacks. Because he lives in a society where, as a male teacher in a high school, he’s expected to hit his misbehaving students and sleep with the pretty ones to gain their respect. Because he was upset that he got used to seeing 15 year old girls wearing tight, revealing clothing and too much make-up in hopes of finding a boyfriend who will be their sugar daddy. Because he lives in a culture where girls get married at 18 and then spend the rest of their lives in a kitchen, taking orders from a man who is probably cheating on her-but the priest knows so it’s ok. Because he can’t walk down the street, holding his girlfriend’s hand, without someone grabbing her ass and winking at him at the same time. Because it’s more “decent” to starve a stray cat or dog than it is to euthanize or neuter them because that’s God’s will. Because in this society, so much emphasis is placed on material things that children are being raised by older siblings or grandparents while their parents are off in Italy, Spain, Austria or Greece because they can make more money working at a minimum-wage job there than getting a career here, and you need money to buy a new computer. Or maybe it’s because he was expected to live, work and speak in a language that he really doesn’t understand. Gee, I really don’t know; why would Phil want to go back to Wisconsin? He must be weird.

I obviously didn’t say all that to her; she was just joking. She couldn’t know how things are outside of Michigan, Wisconsin and the Canadian border. Most Americans don’t ever leave their comfort zone; and for my friend, Wisconsin is the border of hers.