Like in America, Christmas time in Romania is very important. If for nothing else, it is an opportunity to relax with family and friends, free from the stress of work and pressures of society. Christmas is a highly anticipated time of great joy for children and guilt free full bellies for adults. Knowing that this would be my first Christmas out of the United States and away from family, my Counterpart graciously insisted that I join her family for the holiday. Well, to be honest, I was also out of the United States for Christmas of 2006 while visiting my good friend David in Sydney Australia, but that wasn’t going to stop me from taking full advantage of the opportunity to be a guest in a Romanian household on Christmas Day this time.
On Christmas morning, since I didn’t have any presents to open, let alone a Christmas tree, I decided to treat myself to a big Christmas breakfast. My Romanian Language tutor, knowing how much I miss American style bacon, brought me a pack from the city earlier in the week. What better to serve with bacon than, well besides green eggs of course, Pancakes! So I dusted off my copy of our Peace Corps Romania cookbook, Pofta Buna, and whipped up a quick batch of pancake batter. Without a non-stick fry pan, my recently acquired wok served as an excellent substitute. In no time, I had a full pile of crispy bacon and a tall stack of homemade pancakes. What to use when Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup isn’t handy? In my book, peanut butter and honey always serves as a good stand in. With the addition of a piping hot mug of coffee, I savored every bite of the breakfast Santa had brought. Little did I know that moments later I would receive a phone call asking if I could come early because a full brunch table was about to be served and everyone was starving; I immediately began to regret my early morning indulgence.
In a manner that I fully appreciate, but perhaps only serves to spoil me, my Counterpart’s husband again drove out of Ploiești to pick me up. He insisted that I shouldn’t have to stand and wait in the cold on Christmas for a MaxiTaxi that may never come. In route, we picked up my Counterpart’s parents and made our way through the empty streets of the city to the family’s apartment. My Counterpart lives in a great part of Ploiești on a wonderful tree lined street in a well-maintained bloc. With presents in hand, we all tromped up the several flights of stairs, and opened the apartment door to their welcomingly aromatic home. Within seconds, my shoes were off and hot, peppery țuica was warming my soul.
Shortly following our arrival, the food began to migrate from the kitchen to the table. Though I was still recovering from my earlier food coma, I nibbled on homemade charcuterie prepared from Ghiță who had been sacrificed for us the weekend before. After the edge of hunger was satiated the gift exchange began. Not expecting anything in return I brought a couple jars of American style stews that I had recently made, thinking that it would be a nice gesture of “Thanks” in exchange for the kind invitation. Certainly, I should have known better, because I was promptly handed a bag of goodies; namely, lots of chocolate and a brand new leather wallet. Now the later is particularly interesting because they have a tradition here that if you give someone a wallet you must be certain to put money in it so that the recipient will enjoy wealth in the future. Even though there is little chance of an increase to my Peace Corps stipend, I appreciated the thought nonetheless.
The afternoon continued in this manner as the țuica and wine continued to flow. My counterpart presented a slide show of her family’s recent vacations as well as albums from major events in their lives like their wedding and their daughter’s birthdays. Since I had my iPad with me and was able to return the favor by showing photographs from my travels and of my family. It was a great way to spend the holiday away from home, my Romanian Counterpart again succeeding in making me feel like an important member of the family.
Note: If you are viewing the email version of this post please click on the Blog title above which links to www.27luni.com in order to view the photographs.
What exactly is a Counterpart? Please excuse me if you have already explained this in a previous post….
By Peace Corps definition, a Counterpart is a teacher within the school a Volunteer works whom is assigned to that Volunteer. Often times they are the individual within the school that has applied to have a Volunteer come to their school. Most of the time, the Counterpart is the teacher with whom a Volunteer splits/shares classes. They are a Volunteer’s anchor in the school. Since the administration at a school usually doesn’t speak English, the Counterpart acts as a bridge. My situation is a little different in that my Counterpart applied to bring me here, but doesn’t actually teach English right now. She is a Romanian Language Teacher (though she is certified to teach English too). I split classes with three other English teachers here at the school.
gotcha, thanks!