27 Luni

This is the calm before the storm, my final cushy weekend in Tărgoviște with my Gazda family before moving to my permanent Peace Corps site and kicking off a series of activities involving summer camps and site integration.  This is the final weekend of amazing home cooked meals, comfortable surroundings and familiar faces that I […]

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Wednesday, the final full official day of my site visit to Valea Călugărească maintained the quick pace and complete schedule as had the previous two days.  Breakfast again was served at 7:30 a.m. sharp along side several students and was followed by a ‘free period’ in which I was to plan activities for an afternoon […]

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Tuesday of last week proved to be just as eventful as Monday with a full program in my new community.  After an interesting episode with a malfunctioning showerhead, I got cleaned up, put on my tie and met a few students from the day before in the Cantina shortly after daybreak.  Breakfast consisted of boiled […]

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Previously on As Romania Turns: “About ten kilometers outside of town, we pulled off the road just passed a rusty and bent up old sign that read Școala de Viticulură.  Down the short side street, passed a horse and cart on the left we turned into the entrance of the school.” And now, the continuation […]

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Last week I visited the site where I’ll live and work for the next two years, Valea Călugărească.  Like the small village itself, everyone that I met was very welcoming.  My counterparts, the host country nationals that I will be working with, created a detailed itinerary for my visit; some days lasting from 7:30 in […]

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The past week has been very busy; we completed our final practicum lessons, performed our first official language evaluation, discovered the locations of our permanent sites and participated in a conference with our new teaching Counterparts.  These are all very important milestones in our Peace Corps pre-service training and represent the completion of the first […]

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Similar in fashion to the Monastery field trip we recently made with local students from Targoviste, our group was again invited by a different school to participate in a hike at the base of the Carpathian Mountains. The day started at 7:40am, as several volunteers met at one of our regular bakeries; used as a […]

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This past weekend I celebrated my 31st Birthday here in Romania and quite honestly I can’t think of anywhere else I’d have rather spent it.  Even though I miss my friends and family back home, I am fortunate to be surrounded by incredible and thoughtful people in an unbelievably beautiful place. Our PST class has […]

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Yesterday, after a long hike into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, I walked back through Targoviste, passing some “old” haunts. During our first few nights in country we stayed in the Hotel Valahia, where we had our initial Peace Corps meetings, received our vaccinations and dined like welcomed houseguests. Though only two weeks ago, […]

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It’s been a busy week with lots going on at PST.  From the extensive, half-day language lessons to supplemental classes on safety, security and health concerns to our first onsite visit at a local school.  With the later being the most interesting.  Friday morning, the 39 of us volunteers met at the PST school in […]

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