A Holiday Update

I can not believe the year is almost over. It is true what they say I guess, the older you get the faster it all goes. Having just celebrated my 30^th Birthday I guess that means things are just going to continue to speed up. For instance, just the other day I realized that for the first time in my life I have spent more time this year outside of the US than in it. And while I miss my friends and family in the states I know that the next year and a half will fly by before I know it.

As I reflect back on my time in Romania thus far a flood of memories come back to me. Sufficed to say since joining the Peace Corps earlier this year I have seen and done things I could have only imagined a year ago. In my travels throughout this country I have stood on streets older than our country; found new friends in my fellow volunteers and Romanians. I have seen the effects of centralized planning and a command economy firsthand and the turning of a culture toward change. I have drawn on skills and knowledge that I learned in school and in business world. I am SLOWLY learning another language, and a different culture realizing that we have so much more in common than we may realize. To sum the year up I will adapt a line from a great Ray Charles song: “It was a very good year for new adventures”.

As a big fan of lists, I present you with my top five. When I started thinking about all I have seen and done these were the first things I thought of:

1. Standing atop a mountain overlooking Brasov (a city in the south of Transylvania), taking in the beauty of the Romanian countryside and the old town below. This was my first opportunity to see a true old city, with city walls etc….
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 4^th of July in Ploiesti. Water Balloon fight, Cheeseburgers, potato salad and guacamole. 70 American’s trying to convey what the party is all about and just generally having a great time!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. My first day at work (Oradea). I know this is a strange one, but the feeling I got arrived here, as if this place was specially prepared for me was one I hope I do not forget.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Habitat for Humanity in Pitesti – This was 1^st real opportunity to feel like a volunteer here in Romania. Up till this point we were learning about Romania, and Romanian and I had feeling of being at camp/high school more than being a volunteer. A good day of manual labor was just what the Doctor ordered at this point in my stay.
   
   
   
   
5. European Vacation (Dec 2006) – Having never been to Europe before arriving in Romania earlier this year I thoroughly enjoyed traveling Eastern and Central Europe and witnessing the history and architecture of the “old world” first hand.

I have seen and done so much more than this, and up till this point I have not done a great job of recording it all. I am committed to changing that, both for those interested in keeping up with me and for myself as well. I do not want to let the lessons I learn during this time of my life pass me by and become forgotten.

May your Holidays be merry and New Year bright…talk to ya’ll in the new year!

CSR '06

Last Thursday (11/9/2006) I was asked to attend and participate at a conference in Bucharest. The conference was just two days and would start on Tuesday (11/14/2006) which gave me just a couple days to prepare a presentation on a topic I knew very little about. I was still excited though. I was excited at the prospect of doing something a little bit different; to represent my organization, the Peace Corps in front of some of the largest company’s in Romania. The conference about CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). At the same time I was nervous. This conference included members of the government, business leaders and directors of high profile NGO’s from around the world. Needless to say I felt just a little out of place. After all aside from reading what did I really know about CSR?

So what is CSR anyway? Basically it a concept that revolves around the idea that companies of all sizes have a responsibility to their employees, customers, shareholders and the community at large. That they have a duty to provide for greater good beyond just making profits. To developing their employees, providing solid goods and services to their customers, and in a pie in the sky view help make the world a better place. By comparison in the US business has long operated on the Friedman model which states “the business of business is business”; nothing like using the same word 3 times in a six word sentence. Breaking this argument down, business should focus on two things; reducing costs and increasing profits within the framework of the law of course. It is one of the reasons why millions of manufacturing and now service jobs have been shipped over seas. Some may debate that CSR’s main goal would be to socialize companies, make them act in the common good just not their own. This is starting to change as people realize how interconnected we all are. Instead of getting into an ideological debate between bottom line thinking and CSR I will just say that a comprise between the two would do wonders for businesses and communities the world over.

As I was preparing for my presentation I received a call from the organizer of the event the day before the conference asking me to speak in a second session. I had just spent the better part of the weekend polishing my first speech and now I had a little more than 48 hours to prepare another one, with a ten hour train trip and a day long conference to attend and participate in. I left Oradea on Monday night on an overnight train to Bucharest which would allow me to arrive Tuesday morning just in time for the start of the conference. After catching a cab to the hotel and overpaying (as I have a tendency to do…I have to learn to check the prices of cabs before I get in) it was into the conference. The entire conference was great, it was a good chance to learn what is being in Romania and around Europe. The breaks were also great times to meet others in business and government and I walked away with some good contacts that my organization may be able to interact with.

My first presentation was at 4:00pm, and while I was a bit anxious all day long when I finally got up on “stage” the anxiety vanished and things went well. I was able to involve the audience and got a couple laughs (not to worry they were planned). All in all, I was greatful for the opportunity, glad it is over and thrilled I didn’t botch it.

Peer Support Training & Pieces of Home

Last Wednesday night I left my home in Oradea and made the 10 hour train trip to Bucharest for Peer Support Training. What is Peer Support you ask? While in the Peace Corps Volunteers have the opportunity to serve our fellow volunteers in a number of ways, one of them is the peer support committee. As I have written in this blog and any one of us could tell you, things are different here. As we adjust to these differences culturally, work wise, and socially it is sometimes helps to have someone to talk to, bounce ideas off of etc…. This is what the peer support committee is for; there are three of us from our group who have volunteered to serve in this way. I got into Bucharest on Thursday morning after traveling all night long on the train. This is actually not as bad as it sounds, as I take the sleeping car and sleep most of the way and wake up with just about hour to go. The only downside is that no matter how well I sleep on the train I still wind up feeling a bit tired.

After arriving Thursday morning I made my way to the Peace Corps Office and it was off to a medical appointment. Everything is ok thankfully but since I have been over here I have experienced some reoccurring medical issues and the medical office had set up some tests for me in order to get a clear picture of what may be going on. I have been so impressed with the professionalism and diligence of the medical staff over here, it many ways it is the best medical care I have every received. When the appointments were over I had the rest of the day to enjoy and explore Bucharest. I ran into another volunteer from my group who was also in town for medical care and we spent the afternoon catching up on our experiences so far. We shared some funny stories of things we have encountered and commiserated on the similarities of our service thus far.

I think one of the biggest challenges for volunteers in Romania is finding a sense of effectiveness. Romania is very advanced in a lot of ways, and the basic manual or tangible projects are harder to come by. I think when most people think of the Peace Corps they envision us hanging out in a village in Africa or the Caribbean and digging ditches, running electricity etc…. The projects I am involved with however while important are softer in nature. They revolve around education and shifting people’s views, things that are not as clear on the outside, but still very important. But I digress…

Back to the training and my weekend in Bucharest. By far the highlight of the weekend was the discovery of Dr. Pepper. You heard me right, we have Dr. Pepper here! Friday night we had American junk food night; Dr. Pepper, peanut butter, chocolate, McDonald’s and Cheeto’s. A night of pure comfort food, and movie watching, it was very enjoyable. I was in meetings the rest of the weekend ending finally on Sunday at about noon. So it was off to the train station and more fun with tickets. I had purchased a ticket for my trip back before left Oradea, but over the weekend I realized it was for the wrong time. After a little back and forth and more money I was on the correct train and headed home. This is the part of the trip that is not usually enjoyable (10 hours on a train in the middle of the day and night) but thankfully a friend of mine was traveling with me. The train was packed though so we spent most of the time in the Bar car playing cards where I was soundly whooped in Rummy. I finally got home a little after midnight, and it the start of another week.

(I have also posted some new pictures of Bucharest on my online photo album)

The Hard life of a PCV

There are times when life just gets too hard, too demanding; when you forced so far out of your comfort zone that you don’t know if you will ever feel the same again. This past weekend was not one of those times!!! It was full of late nights, dorky games, goodbyes and hellos, fast food (Romanian style) and good food, new friends and old friends (well relativity old friends) and parties that last all night long. All in all it was a weekend to remember.

I arrived in Cluj on Friday night after hitchhiking from my home town Oradea. For those of you who know me, that right there is a huge step outside my comfort zone, but here in Romania it really isn’t that big of a deal. Think about it like splitting gas money with strangers. The ride was uneventful, the driver really didn’t say a word, he was too busy driving like a maniac! I have never seen a driver swerve in and out of traffic getting so close to cars. At times I thought our front bumper would touch the back tire of the car we were passing. It was a lot like a roller coaster ride!

Cluj acts as the capital of Transylvania the area of Romania that I am living in these days. To give you a visual it is pretty much the Northwestern part of the country everything to the west of the Carpathian Mountains. This being my first visit to the city however I had absolutely no idea where I was and where I was going, but this dilemma was soon solved with a quick phone call and I was on my way. After meeting up with some more volunteers it was off to a party for a member of group 20. The reason for the party was not the best, this particular individual decided to leave Romania a little early and go back home, we call it Early Termination, or ET’ing for short. But hey it was still a chance to get together with friends, meet some new folks and just blow off some steam. And blow off steam we did, with the party lasting till 5am. Being the old man that I am I could not have made it without two HUGE cups of coffee (thanks kim).

Waking up the next morning was no fun either as no amount of sleep can really help you get over going to bed the same morning. When we finally did get up and decide to explore the city we found it was lunch time and we were hungry so we were off in search of food. We stopped at a great Italian place and while pizza was out (something to do with the oven we were told) the chicken alfredo was great! After lunch it was back to the scene of the party and time for clean up. It is amazing how quickly that can go when you have enough people. The highlight of the evening was still to come however…. As a group of us sat around at an outdoor café someone was struck by the desire for sushi. Keeping in mind that I had already prepared myself for two years without this delectable dish, the thought that good sushi was attainable here made my mouth water immediately. With a quick group consensus we were off to the sushi restaurant. It was a great time and a great meal! There were sixteen of us that took over a private room in the upstairs of the restaurant, and for the first time since I have been over here I had a truly great Japanese meal complete with miso soup, tempura and plenty of sushi.

They say that as we are over here we need to take time out every once in a while and find ways to connect with things that we know. I have mainly been doing this through books, movies and e-mails, but to have the chance to share a familiar meal with friends was a great way to remember everything I love about home. And I have ya’ll to thank for it. Your tax dollars paid for it! Know that while I miss home, the friendships and familiarity of it all I do get to enjoy little pieces of it now and then.

Getting Settled

After months of living with others and getting to know Romania at a very personal level I finally moved into my own apartment in the last week of August. After living on my own for so long before coming to Romania, having my own space, and my own schedule it was strange living with a family again. This was only underscored when I moved into my apartment. It was like a breath of fresh air walking into and getting settled into my own space again. Getting here has been a bit of an adventure as the original apartment that was set up for me fell though. As luck/fate/God’s providence would have it however loosing the original apartment was the best thing that could happen to me because this place is awesome. With access to the internet and even cable tv my home is becoming a great resting place and it does not seem like I am roughing it at all. That is a good and a bad thing at times, but I am just glad that I have clean safe place to lay my head at night. I have posted pictures of my new apartment online at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgoodell00/HomeSweetHome

Is it all just coincidence?

What is it that pulls us in one direction or another? We all have stories of coincidence. Missing the bus only to end up talking to someone who becomes a friend. Looking so hard for a job or a career only to bump into an old friend who just happens to know of a job that is perfect for you. Things like this happen all the time, and more often than not we write them off as good timing or being in the right place at the right time. Then there are the hard times as well, when we ask why me? A friend or loved one dies; the car breaks down; no matter how hard you try you just can not make ends meet. Many of look back on times like these and remember that they were hard, and uncomfortable but also see through the lens of time and realize how much we grew because of them. I can look back at my own life and see the same types of instances. And as much as I may like to at times I can not dismiss instances such as these as coincidence. So here is the question, is it all just coincidence or are there fingerprints of something greater all over our lives?

By a way of answering my question allow me to tell you about my own journey over the last year. Many of you already know some these events, but when I look back at them I am amazed and therefore I think it bears repeating.

I started my journey of joining the Peace Corps over a year ago as a step of faith. I was looking for a change; my career was stalled to say the least so I started looking at different options. Like most of us I have a huge desire to be respected for my work and as a person. So I started looking at law school because everyone loves and respects lawyers right? I took the LSAT and scored well enough to gain entry to a number of schools. When I sat down to write the essays however I froze, I didnt know what to say or how to say it. It was during this time that I also started looking into the Peace Corps. Unlike my Law School essays this application took no time at all, I was able to complete it in a night. Not exactly a shinning light from the sky, but it caused me to sit up and take notice. I decided then and there that I would see this process though till the end and leave the rest in Gods hands.

A year passed, and after a number of doctors visits to provide more information to Peace Corps I still did not have an answer. I still wanted to pursue this opportunity but I did not want to wait another year for an answer. Therefore I resolved that I would pursue the Peace Corps till the end of the 1st quarter of 2006 (March 31st that is). Things finally started moving at the beginning of March and by March 28th I knew I was accepted, by March 30th just one day before my self imposed deadline and two days before the Peace Corps deadline to leave with this group I found out I was going to Romania, and doing business development. I could not have been more excited, and that excitement continues to this day. The question was what form would this service take? Would I work with an NGO, or a Mayors Office? Would I be teaching or making copies?

Fast forward to two days agoI when I finally visited my site. I will be spending the next two years of my life in a city called Oradea a lovely little town in the Northwestern part of the county that was part of the Hungarian Empire until the end of World War II when it was given to Romania. This I am told is a bone of contention between Hungarians and Romanians but it makes for a beautiful city. I will be serving with an organization called Integra (www.integraromania.ro) whose main goal is to encourage entrepreneurship among at risk women through training and micro loans. From a business standpoint this is exactly what I wanted. I will be involved with everything from creating training materials to teaching business English. From a personal standpoint it is a faith based organization, and we started Monday off with a small Bible study. Later in the day I had a conversation with a one of the directors of the NGO who it turns out got his Masters at Wheaton College at the same time I was attending High School just a few miles away. He attended some of the same Churches and knew some of the same I did at the same time, but I had to come to Romania to meet him face to face. Later in the day I ran into a street evangelism team from America who was working with church in town. The guy doing the translation from English to Romanian turned out to be the pastors son of the church and goes to school with the daughter of the executive director of my NGO. It was at this time more than ever before that I started to feel like this was a place prepared for me.

Allow me to take a couple steps back and explain that last statement even more. First of all as Peace Corps Volunteers we have little or no say over where we go or what we do. Therefore my placement at this NGO was out of hands other than the fact I showed extreme interest in the opportunity when it was presented to me. The real kicker though is that this assignment was not even supposed to be open. A volunteer went there just last year, but after six months in the county he got married and left the country. Leaving this post open for a new volunteer. So after connecting all the dots, I was sent to Romania though really no say of my own other than a request to go to Eastern Europe. I was then placed in this town and this NGO after just showing interest in the opportunity. Not only does this opportunity match my skills from a business standpoint, but it matches my spiritual desires as well. These next two years are going to be a wild ride, and I look forward to sharing more about my experiences as time goes on.

Time to Get Serious

Well at least partly serious. It has been a good two weeks since I have written and a lot has happened. Maybe not a lot in the terms that we as Americans think in, there were no great accomplishments made, and I have not changed the outlook of the Romanian people single handed (yet). What has been happening is a slow shift from feeling like a tourist and this whole trip feeling like one big party with 70 new friends, to realizing that I will be in Romania for the next two years. Two years…sometimes when I say those words I think the time will last forever. Other times I fear I will blink and the experience will all be over.

Last week was one of those weeks that flew by and before I knew it I had been in the country for two weeks. I as I write this note I now have been here for three. With 13 days of language classes under my belt I am beginning to remember that I have a job to do, and that job for the time being is to learn the language. The days of feeling like a non-stop party is going on around me are quickly coming to an end, yet I still find ways to be comfortable, and avoid the reality around me. From reading books (without TV around I find I can kill a book very quickly), to listening to music I find myself procrastinating and avoiding the reality that is at hand. That I am stranger in this land, and while my physical appearance will always make me stick out the one thing that is in my control is how I prepare myself. It is about time to get down to business on that front.

Now that I have poured my heart out so to speak about the ups and downs of being a Peace Corps Volunteer allow me to regale you with an amusing story. I mentioned before that things are “different” in Romania. Well one of these things is the elevators. I am currently interning in the Mayor’s office in Ploiesti, with the Department of International Relations. Sounds pretty cool huh? Their main goal is to raise funds for projects in the city and the county, everything from Environmental to Public Works projects. The office is located on the third floor of city hall and being a typically lazy American I along with the rest of my group 4 and a security guard to escort to the door all got in a space the size of a very small closet. I remember thinking as we stepped in, man it would suck to get stuck in this thing. Well a short minute later we were stuck. We made it the third floor and when the doors were supposed to open they didn’t. What made for more good times is that apparently cell phones do not work in elevator shafts, so after some banging and shouting we finally got someone’s attention. During this time the power to the control panel went out, no bells, no possibility of choosing another floor, and with the handy dandy safe lock doors no chance of prying open the exit.

It was during this time that I remembered how much I hate confined spaces, and flashbacks of childhood sleepovers and trapping each other in the bottom of our sleeping bags “for fun” came rushing back. I wish I could say I handled those times well and it did not bother me, but I would be lying. I hated every second of it, and now stuck in an elevator with no room to sit, 4 other people and a rising temperature I was doing all I could to remain the calm cool collected 29 year old I have become. Inside however the little kid trapped in the bottom of his sleeping bag by his friends was screaming to get out.

A very LONG 10 minutes later the elevator started again with a slight drop leaving my heart in my throat and then proceed very slowly down to the 1^st floor. We all exited and this lazy American was no longer feeling all that lazy. As we filed out the security guard informed us we could get back on, just not all of us. Apparently the weight limit on this elevator was much less than we anticipated. Needless to say I was not first in line to get back in, besides I really did need to work on those calf muscles anyway.

A Long Overdue Update

When I came over here I had a goal of updating my blog once a week and letting yall know what is going with me. When you last heard from me I was stuck in an elevator in Mayors Office here in Ploiesti. I am happy to say that I got out of that elevator and have even ventured (hesitantly) into another couple of elevators since then. I have also started to do some traveling since then as well. Since it has been so long I have broken this latest blog into a couple different sections. I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures as much as I enjoyed experiencing them.

So what are you up to?

As of now I am still in Training, which means I have been learning Romanian for 4 hours each day and then attending sessions on everything from Medical Information, to how to do a SWOT analysis (business 101). As I have said before the whole thing seems like a mix between camp and high school. It has been a good experience but I am ready for the next step. This Wednesday (Mercuile) I will find out where in country I am going and what I will be doing for the next two years. While I dont know for sure there is a chance that I will be working marginalized people groups here in Romania who want to start small businesses. It would involve business training / Business Plan writing and review and possibly a micro-finance component. I have no clue where it is but from what I have heard about it so far the opportunity is exactly what I want! So for all of you that have been praying for me you can lift that one up. I will be sure to let yall know later this week what happens.

Brasov

The first trip I took while in Romania was to Brasov, a beautiful mountain city in the southern part of Transylvania. Unlike most of the country the city remained pretty much untouched during the communist era and much of the buildings were preserved instead of being torn down and rebuilt as bloc housing. It also houses the Black Church, a massive structure that took over 100 years to build. It sits in the center of the old city and dominates the landscape. Standing next to it you can not help but feel small as I am sure this was the intent. I went with a group of 6 people and began to experience the joy of public transportation and navigation with limited knowledge. It was actually a lot of fun. We took an accelerant train to Brasov from Ploiesti which took about 2 & ½ hours. The nice thing was that we had a cabin to ourselves and were able to talk, move around and be comfortable the entire way there. It seems to me that the secret to traveling here is to do it in a group if at all possible. As we are all traveling on the cheap we also crammed into the hotel room and real comfortable on twin size beds. When you are tired enough however just about any sleeping arrangement seems blissful. It was during this trip that I was able my first stand-up shower since leaving the hotel soon after my arrival in Ploiesti. It was everything I remembered it could be! I didnt even care that it was a shared bathroom for the entire floor. The sheer bliss of standing up and showering under hot high pressure water was enough to bring a tear to my eye.

We arrived in Brasov on Saturday afternoon and walked around the town a bit. A few of us even stumbled upon an Irish Tavern complete with Pizza and dulce ketchup (they serve ketchup as sweet or spicy here in Romania) and of course GUINNESS!!! So for the second time since I have been in Romania I got to experience the awesome goodness that is a pint of Guinness with all of it frothy goodness. I am sorry to say that because of the price it is the last one I have had. We continued to explore the town the rest of the day which included watching the World Cup in a completely deserted bar and having an honest to goodness cheeseburger for dinner with sweet ketchup of course.

The next morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast in bed. And because breakfast consisted of bread and cheese most of breakfast remained in the bed in the form of crumbs. It would be safe to assume that the cleaning lady was not our biggest fan after that little performance. After breakfast we headed up the mountain behind Brasov called Mt. Tampa. It was nice little 3000 ft hike with plenty of switchbacks. The view from the top was amazing as well! You could see for miles or kilometers whichever you prefer. They had a little restaurant on the top where we had a wonderful lunch of peanuts and chocolate along with some drinks, just what was needed after a nice long hike. A friend and I ended up taking the tram down the mountain due to her asthma kicking up and spent a few more hours exploring the town in search of Romanian patch and or sticker. Amazingly enough there were none to be found. It seems that tourist items such as stickers and patches are harder to come by then one might think. I suppose it is has to do with the development of the country but I am finding that little trinkets and the like are not found in the abundance that they are in the states. Another 2 ½ hour train ride back and we were home.

I have included some pictures of this trip on my online album at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgoodell00/Brasov

Pitesti

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Pitesti with a group of Peace Corps Volunteers to do some work with Habitat for Humanity. It was an unbelievable time and for once in my life I got paid to work with Habitat. The Peace Corps put us up in a hotel for two nights, and gave us money for travel there and back as well a good chunk of money for food and beverages. Talk about a rewarding experience! In all seriousness though, it was just nice to get out in the air and do some real physical labor. We had to dig a ditch around an apartment building for a new septic system, 2 feet wide and 3 feet deep from the foundation. The fact that there were mounds of trash another 2 feet high around the foundation just added to the fun. Nothing like a doll crawling with maggots to get your juices flowing. Aside from the maggots and the other creepy crawlers we unearthed the project went off without a hitch. That is until the heavens opened up and started to fill our newly made ditch with rain and the mud we just shoveled out. All in all it was a great trip and a lot of fun. With the extra money in my pocket I also got to enjoy a great meal and learn a little Romanian lesson. They sell liquor by the milliliter here and while I thought I knew what I was doing it turned out I didnt. I ordered a Jack and Coke thinking I was getting one shot of 20 ml. Turns out a jack and coke calls for 2 shots of 20 ml so my drink doubled in price. There are worse things that could have happened, but I could not help but feel that I was taken advantage of. I guess I had to learn sometime.

You can find more pictures at:

(Insert link here)

That is it for now. I will be posting another message in a couple of days once I know where I will be going and what I will be doing.

Not in Texas Anymore

Wow! What a week! It is hard for me to believe that I have only been gone a little over a week; it seems more like a month. I have to concentrate to think back on my weekly routine before quitting Handango, and then leaving for the Peace Corps. It mainly consisted of getting up, going to work, watching TV, spending time with friends and going to sleep. To say the least it was comfortable and easy. I now find myself in an environment where simple conversation is a chore. That is not to say that things are not good though. I am being stretched daily, and in a lot of ways it is like High School again. school all day, sack lunches, a pretty set schedule and parents (gazdas: “host family”) that treat me like a son.

A good friend told me before I left to remember that above all “It’s not bad. It’s not good. It’s just different.” That and a few other simple quotes run through my mind daily. Romania is so different, yet so very similar. My 1^st weekend here there was a city celebration “Ploiesti Days”. We spent the evenings listening to music, and one thing that will stick in my memory is walking past the town fountain with friends and listening to “Sweet Home Alabama” sung in English by a Romanian country band blaring over the speakers. Another night I found myself two steppin’ in the street with friends from the Peace Corps as another band covered Shania Twain songs.

There are many differences as well though. The friendly smile, nod or wave and a “Howdy” is gone. It is replaced by Buna Dimeata (Good Morning), and a blank stare back. People here keep to themselves, and spend a lot of time looking at their shoes. Perhaps it is a big city thing, but Sebastian (my host Father) has let me know, “You just don’t do that” as I kepy waving hello. Some other adjustments to daily life are things like: no dryers or dishwashers, toilets that look a bit different than what we are used to with the tank mounted high on the wall, non degradable toilet paper and a small trash can for your used TP, showers that you sit in a tub to take because most people don’t have shower curtains and a wand to wet yourself down with. In my case it is accompanied by an enormous lack of water pressure and very little hot water. My favorite daily 20 min hot shower is a thing of the past. So once again…“Its not bad, Its not good, Its just different.”

Overall things are really good though. My host family is becoming just that, a family. They are a couple with one older son who lives next door in a second house with his Grandmother. They also take care of their 2^nd cousin as he goes to High School here in town. In fact I am pretty sure I have displaced him from the room I am staying in for these next 10 weeks. The fact they have a house is quite an accomplishment as most families live in blocs – that marvelous feat of lasting construction that we have all heard about from the communist era. Having been in at least one and seen too many already from the outside I can tell you they are every bit as ugly/depressing as you have heard. On the inside though they really aren’t that bad, not the four seasons by any means, but very livable. I am also amazed at how much people seem to provide for themselves. The family I am staying with has a garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, radishes, a couple cherry trees and I can not imagine what else. The best part though has to be the food! It is so GOOD, and so fresh! Every meal I have had, while different has been delicious! There has only been one or two things that I have had so far that don’t taste all that good. No matter how much I try to “integrate” fish egg pâté is staying off my diet.

There is so much more to tell, from grabbing a pizza and beer on the top of one of the oldest buildings in town, to “raving” until 1 am with my Peace Corps friends and my host brother. That’s right folks I can rave with the best of them. In order to keep these things readable however I will limit myself, but let me know if have any questions. Tune in next week, and remember I love comments (it is the only way I know you read this stuff…

The Adventure Begins

Well “staging” is over and done with. It all started on Monday the 15^th with a morning flight to Philly. Aside from some slightly overweight luggage, and an hour delay it was smooth sailing. I was not disappointed upon my arrival in Philly either as I landed a classic east coast cabbie. Our conversation was deep and meaningful…just like on Taxi Cab Confessionals…ok not really. It was as deep and meaningful as we get with one person using the F-bomb more than any other word. It just made me laugh.

From there it was all about “staging”. I was told staging would be like orientation, as in your 1^st days at college, learning all about the rules and regulations. What to do and what not to do. We talked about our aspirations and anxieties, ways to mugged and stay safe. All in all just a general into the Peace Corps and a reminder of just what we are all getting ourselves into. And just like those 1^st few days at college when you don’t know anyone and don’t know what to believe I am sure the experience will be totally different from what we all expect. What was the most interesting to me was the personalities that began to emerge. You had the guy who had an answer for everything, the folks who were shy and didn’t say anything, and those in between who spoke only when they had something to say. All in all though it is a great group of folks and I am already forming some friendships that I know will grow deeper over the next couple of years. I am also amazed at the depth of talent that we have with us, graduates from Brown and M.I.T., business owners and engineers, environmental whacko’s (I mean conservationists) and teachers.

I am writing this little note from the international terminal at JFK, reflecting on the week. Thinking more about what it is I am looking for in this experience and what it is am searching for in myself. How is this all going to effect me? What will life be like in two years? What exactly will I be doing and when? These are all questions I have, but the answers still elude me. I am learning patience though. I am learning that it will all be ok and remind myself that I am firmly in the grip of God. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you, along with my thoughts fears and triumphs. I want these letters and posts to be as transparent and as real as possible and an accurate reflection of the ups and downs of this adventure. So stay tuned for more….

A New Chapter…

Well I have news everyone! For those of you who have not heard I have a large life change coming up. After pursuing it for past year and a half I have been accepted to the Peace Corps! I will be leaving for Romania on May 15^th, and will spend the next 2 ½ years there. Quite a change I know…it is one I am excited about and yet at the same time completely freaked out about.

This is also the start of something else for me, a new way of communicating. I have committed to keeping in touch, and keeping a journal of this new adventure. So here it goes…

After telling anyone about this decision a number of questions inevitably come up, I will do my best to address them here.

So what made you decide to go into the Peace Corps?

Good question, I have been asking myself that a lot lately. This whole adventure started about a year and half ago and the idea was hatched when a number of different things all came together in my life at the same time. Work was changing; I was changing departments for the third time, and questioning what exactly I wanted to do with my life. (I still haven’t figured that question out, but I am working on it.) I began to feel the need for a change, a new challenge, a new adventure.

Around the same time, a horrific world disaster took place in the form of the Tsunamis that hit Indonesia, Sir Lanka, India and Thailand. I wanted to do something to help, so I started looking into agencies that were operating there in the wake of the disaster. I soon found however that due to operation methods these organizations were just requesting money, and were not able to send volunteers over at the time.

At the same I was also thinking of going back to school, so I took the LSAT and started applying to Law schools. It was during this time that I came across another kind of opportunity…the Peace Corps. When I 1^st heard that the commitment was two years I wrote it off, and decided to pursue school instead. Something about the application process halted my efforts though, no matter how much I thought about it I just couldn’t come up with decent way of expressing what I wanted to say. The Peace Corps application on the other hand was a breeze! That was the first little sign to me that I was starting to head in the right direction. I believe God speaks to us in the subtly of life. That faint whisper does exist when we know how to look for it, listen to it. There have been more indications like that along the way, but I can save that for another time.

In short (I know too late for that…) I have wanted a change for a really long time. I did not know what it was at first, but this little adventure of just getting into the PC has shown me that I am making the right move. I am really excited about it, and yet totally freaked out at the same time. The unknown can be a scary thing, but I am confident I am heading in the right direction at this time.

What will you be doing in Romania?

Well, I can halfway answer that. The Peace Corps has been a serious of steps. You find out what you need to know, when you need to know it. What I know so far is that I will be a business director whose main task is to help improve economic conditions in the country. I may be working with a NGO (Non-governmental Organization) with a focus on economic development. I may be working with a mayor’s office or directly with business owners and entrepreneurs doing grass roots business development. I will find out exactly what I will be doing about halfway through my training period which will be by June or July of this year. I will let know what I find out.

Where will you be?

I know where I will be to start. I will be traveling from Fort Worth to Philadelphia on May 15^th. I will be in Philly for 3 days and on May 18^th I will hop on a plane with 72 other Peace Corps Volunteers and travel to Ploiesti. I will be there for about 3 months living with a host family. My task during this time will simply be to learn the language and a new culture. This is when the fun will begin.