Today I returned from another weeklong summer camp focusing on English. The camp was coordinated by a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer through her high school and was held in northern Romania in the small town of Sangeorz-Bai. This camp had a very different pace than the last one I participated in, which was a welcome change. Rather than the non-stop, fourteen-hour days of TOBE, this camp only required us to plan for three hours a day, a much more manageable amount of time.
Since the camp was held within the community it was designed to serve, there was no requirement to provide the students with overnight accommodations or to keep them pre-occupied from dawn to dusk. This allowed us the freedom to hold sessions midday, plan in the afternoons and to relax in the evenings. In similar fashion to other camps, the PCV coordinator segmented each day into different topics such as: getting to know one another, gender stereotypes, and directional vocabulary.
One thing that is nice about summer camps like this is that we are given the leeway to have more fun with the students outside of a set agenda, as such, we were able to play a lot of games and activities with them that would not necessarily fit in a normal classroom setting. My colleague did a great job putting everything together, every session went smoothly and the students gave great positive feedback at the end. I was particularly impressed with how creative the other participating Volunteers were; with little notice and time to prepare, they always had some great idea in their back pocket to save the day.
Even more impressive than the camp itself, was the camp’s backdrop. This is the first time that I have been so far north into the country and it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. Sangeorz-Bai is tucked in-between and surrounded by tree-covered mountainsides that are dotted with small cleared patches of land for farms. The houses are mostly modest in size, but are enviably charming, many are even painted with bright vibrant colors. The town itself has two main streets that meet in the ‘center’ of town; this is where the Town Hall, Cultural Center and the High School can be found, not mention a great fruit and vegetable stand. Just down the street is the town’s Contemporary Art Museum, which for a town of only ten thousand people is quite impressive. The museum reminded me of something one might find in New Mexico or Central California; it had multiple levels with an open flowing staircase transitioning its guests from installation to installation. Soft light entered the building through skylights on the roof and illuminated the various pieces of art perfectly. Needless to say, the artwork itself vastly exceeded my expectations as well; moving beyond two-dimensional drawing and paintings, many were large pieces of installation art, some even spanning multiple levels. The visit to this museum was certainly an unexpected highlight of the trip.
Sangeorz-Bai is currently a buzz with construction activity. The two main streets as well as the town’s main park are in the process of being renovated with new sidewalks, drainage systems, and fresh pavement. As I understand it, the town managed to qualify for funding from the European Union; once the work is complete, this charming little town will be even more pleasant to walk around. There are a couple of great grocery stores (no peanut butter though), small shops all around and a handful of interesting eateries. One coffee shop, whose name escapes me, is affectionately known as the ‘fish bowl.’ An apt nickname as the establishment has huge windows lining is front facing outside wall on both the first and second floor. In a small town, where everyone already not only knows your name but your business too, it would be tough to slip by unnoticed on a date in this place.
It was explained to me that Sangeorz-Bai originally became popular due of the healing properties of natural mineral springs that run down from the surrounding mountainsides; the name itself, ‘Bai’ even suggests ‘bath.’ Although the tourist industry has faded in recent years, the infrastructure still exists to facilitate a major population swell. It is my guess that as the town repairs are completed and the economy at large picks back up, that Sangeorz-Bai will once again benefit from tourists searching for the fountain of youth. In the meantime, I feel ten years younger just having had the great opportunity to visit the town, help out with the camp, catch up with some friends and to do some cooking!
With a slight last minute adjustment to my schedule, I returned this morning on an overnight train ride and plan to turn around this afternoon to head to Snagov for another camp, Tabara de Tennis. The camp is apparently quite expensive for participants and is held at a Romanian Olympic training site. The focus, in addition to English, will be tennis and swimming. The camp is situated on a large lake, so as I understand it, there will be kayaking and such as well. More updates on that next weekend.
P.S. I will upload some photos as soon as I have the Internet bandwidth.
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