It is with a heavy heart....

I am writing this post from the Peace Corps office here in Bucuresti. The reason for this is that on Friday, my father passed away. I was adopted by my paternal grandparents when I was a child and have always lived with them so I definitely consider them my parents. I will be returning to the States to grieve and my with my family and friends over the next couple of weeks. It will be good to see home again but I did not want it to be like this. I would like everyone who is reading this blog to pray (or think good thoughts) for my family and for me as we go through this period.

Thanks.

Food

There isn't really all that much to tell about my life at the moment. We are in the doldrums of August, waiting for the period that teachers go to school two weeks before the kids do here in Romania. I spend most of my time doing the following activities: sleeping, eating, spending two or so hours on the internet at the local internet cafe, watching the travel channel or other English language shows on Romanian TV. So as you can imagine, I have gained a bit of weight; 3 kgs to be exact. I am not too keen on this development so I am glad I have free time to workout and run and that is exactly what I am going to do. Admittedly, , the food here in Romania is very fatty and loaded with pork so I am really looking forward to living by myself and cooking a wee bit more healthier.

On the theme of food; foods from home are really the number one thing that I miss about the States. The choices in cheese here are a bit lacking; most are in the form of a salty fresh cheese or a non-descript, white pressed cheese. Another major thing that I miss about the diet of Romanians is that they rarely eat beef or drink milk. Both are for sale here but beef is fairly expensive and milk is sold in single liter containers. I have a feeling that I will be splurging for cow products every so often. You can't get Cheddar cheese here and I have only seen mozzarella and ricotta once when I was in Ploiesti so I will have to do some exploring in Timisoara.

Ok, just thought you would like to know what is on my mind. Now to get off the net and go eat. Haha

a voice from the wilderness

I have returned to the wide world of the internet. I am thinking everyone must be wondering what has Chris been doing in his first days at site. Well, I am here to tell you that I have been having a blast. My, new, gazda family are very cool. There are three in the family; father, mother and son. I have a really big room with a TV in it and, the best part, I get to stand up to take a shower. I love it! Now I know that all of you have been dying to send me letters and packages so here in my new addy.

Bennett, Christopher
Str. Closca, Nr. 21
Ciacova, 307110
Jud. Timis
Romania

School doesn't start for over a month so I will have plenty of time to start integrating into the community. So far the people that I have met are really cool but this being a small, small town, I do think that I will be watched like a hawk. We will see.

Send me mail!

Ciao