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.