The way things are

Life is good.

I arrived in Bucuresti on Saturday afternoon, took and cab to the Peace Corps office and then to the hotel and promptly fell asleep. I awoke to my surpise at 2 am in the moring, stayed up until around 6 and then slept until 10. Jetlag is a bitch. Sunday was spent doing much of nothing except waiting for my train to leave that evening. Most of that time was spent at the PC office playing on the internet.
One note of advice about buying train tickets here in Romania. Do not wait even until a couple of hours before the train leaves. I wanted to buy a ticket on the Intercity (IC) train that runs from Bucuresti to Timisoara at 3:45 pm but that was not to be. Instead, I had to buy a ticket that left Buch at 9:45 and would arrive in Timisoara at 8 in the morning. The problem about this train is that instead of taking the normal route through the southern sector of the country and then cutting north, the train went straight into the mountains and went north of Arad and then cut south of Timisoara. I was nervous for a while that I had taken the wrong train but I was reassured by the other man in the compartment that indeed, the train was bound for Timisoara.

I was picked up by the school driver and taken back to my gazdas house where I promptly again fell asleep. I can't really sleep on trains. I slept until that evening and then spent time with my family here in Romania.

The next morning, Tuesday, was my first introduction to the school, its teachers and its students. I met with the director of the school and then went into the teachers lounge where I shook every single persons hand and introduced myself to them. After that, it was time for the students. Professor Romeo (haha, he is a funny guy with a funny name) took me around each classroom in the school and I told each class a prepared piece about me. After all of that, I sat in a class that my counterpart, Judit, teaches and discussed different things about English and about me. I only had to teach one class that day. I would like to tell you that it went perfect and everyone was engaged. That was not my experience. Much of that class was the students just staring at me and me trying to think of things to say. Luckily, I was prepared for this by the second time I taught and the subsuquent classes I taught where much more lively.

On Tuesday, Roxana (one of the TEFl directors) came by one her route of making sure all of the TEFl volunteers here in Romania are okay. Most of the time, she expects to sit in a class but luckily she understood that I am running around like a chicken without a head and we jsut talked. After that, we all sat around the table, talked about different issues that are going on. We then discussed the matter of my housing here in Ciacova.

An apartment has been found for me here in Ciacova. It is in the center of town, above the post office. I will have two rooms, plus kitchen and bathroom. The only problem is that the apartment has not been lived in in a long time and the place reflects that. In what will be the beroom, the wooden tiles have got wet some time in the past and rotted so that is in the process of being replaced. In the lack of being lived in for a long time, there is the expected dust, spiderwebs and all around mess that will be cleaned up. The water heater in the bathroom is bad and is being replaced. There isn't a servicable refrigerator or stove in the kitchen and newer ones that work will be provided for me. Speaking of that, there isn't furniture in the place so Caritas, a service organization that has a branch here in Ciacova is providing this for me. Outside the door of the apartment was an open area to the roof of the building that pidgeons have over the past years roosted in and therefore shat all over the place. Thank goodness that has been sealed off and been cleaned of detrius. And now for the coup de gras, ladies and gentlemen. The heating system in the building is controlled by the post office downstairs and at night and on the weekends, they turn it off. Unfortunately for me, that means there isn't heat provided when I will be needing it most during the winter. Thank God that Roxana had a portable heater that they were going to give to another volunteer and she reappropiated it for me. :) It won't be cold enough at night for a while for me to actually start using it but I probably will starting sometime in late October or early November and will have to learn how hot it gets and how much electricity the unit uses. The Peace Corps provides us with extra money during the winter months and if we go over that, I think there is a rembursement form that I can fill out to cover the expense. Needless to say, there might be some cold nights here in Romania and I am thankful for the massive amount of winter clothing that I just brought back from America. I think I might need it. Over all though, I am really excited about getting my own place (even though I really like my host family here) and hope to get settled in either this upcoming week or the next.

I went to Timisoara on Friday to have photos taken for my legitimata. That is basically the national Romanian ID card and all Peace Corps volunteers are required to get one. I have heard that it takes a lot of paper work and even cost quite a bit of money, but the PC remburses us for that too and I hope it won't take too much time or headaches to complete.

Ok that is all I have to say. I got a camera when I was back in America and will taking many photos of my life and travels here. I am really appreciative of the notes of condolences and of encouragement that you all have given me and that really helps. Take care for now and have a wonderful day.

Ceau