A long update that doesn't say much...
September 7, 2006
So, here in Romania people don’t have clothes dryers. First off they’re too expensive to buy and secondly they use too much energy and are therefore too expensive to run. So people just don’t have them.
But I consider this a bonus. My main reason for that is because now I can tell what kid belongs in what apartment. Right now for example, I’m gazing out my window and I see the apartment across the way has a child-sized, orange camouflage, long-sleeved T-shirt. I remember that same ugly shirt on the body of a rotten, loud kid two days ago who was throwing dirt at other kids. Now I have him pegged, I know where he lives! I just have to take inventory of what clothes hang out of what windows and I’ve got these kids figured out. I’m a genius!
Ok, on a serious note now; PC doesn’t prepare you enough for the boredom of life as a volunteer. Seriously, I’m not joking. Everyday is the same, I get up whenever, putz around my apartment. Make breakfast if I’m hungry. Shower, change and head into town. While in town I walk really slowly, because it takes longer and where do I have to go in such a hurry? I bum around in town for a bit, wander around the open-air market even though I know I’m not going to buy anything. If the lady who sells ice-cream is there, I’ll buy a cone from her, but more often than not she’s not there. I sit in the square and read a bit, watch the kids playing, or write in my journal. At some point I’ll decide I’m hungry and head home.
After I eat, I’ll watch a movie on my computer, play 1,000 games of solitaire and listen to my iTunes. If Kim’s in town this is normally about the time she calls me because she’s bored too. I’ll head on over to her apartment, because even though it’s smaller, she cooks well and has cable. We’ll make pizza or pasta for dinner and watch The Animal Planet, because it’s in English. At 8:20 a movie comes on that’s normally in English, so I’ll stay and watch that then walk home. Then the next day I’ll do it all over again.
I believe PC knows about this random boredom because every week they send all the volunteers a copy of Newsweek in English. They should send out novels, not Newsweek. A Newsweek is just like an appetizer, it just makes you hungry for more but that’s all there is. Giving a PCV a Newsweek is like giving them a pig-in-a-blanket and expecting them to be full. After devouring my magazine I look around my apartment for a book I may have forgotten about, but I don’t forget about books and thus have read all the ones in my apartment. I either need to go visit someone or have someone come visit me so we can do a book swap.
Things will pick up in about two weeks. Students come to school on September 15th, and my counterpart will come back from the States on September 10th. As soon as she gets back to Romania my landlord will hook up cable and Internet in my apartment, for some reason he insists on waiting for her to return before allowing it to be hooked up. Once Monica gets back I’ll also be able to get a tutor to help me with my language skills. I plan on kicking butt with that, I’m not sure what good Romanian will do for me but why not learn it?
September 10, 2006
Ok, I just got back to Zalău from a weekend in Oradea, where my friend John (the PCV from Texas and the one I hang out with a lot) is placed. It turns out he has problems with door locks too. He locked himself out of the apartment just as I pulled into town. So, after various attempts to get in, we got a ladder from the neighbors and he crawled in through the window. Only, the window that was open led to the balcony, and because the window was open he locked the balcony doors. His new neighbor, who we had just met, then climbed up into the window and cracked the frame just enough to open the door. And, that’s how my weekend started.
Luckily, that was the most excitement we had all weekend; that means neither of us got hurt or arrested. We just hung out, drank a lot of beer, we to the movies and watched "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest," and wandered around Oradea and went shopping. I found a mustard-yellow t-shirt with a VW mini-bus printed on it and the saying "That’s Van-tastic!" And it was 75% off, and the last one and my size. I bought it, much to John’s amusement then wore it out that night. I think it might be my new favorite shirt.
Ok, here comes my cultural rant. Why can’t a guy and a girl just be friends? Back in the States I encountered this problem too, but not this badly. John and I got asked by three different people if we were married. Not if we were dating, but married. First his neighbor who helped us break in, then by a waitress and finally by a cabbie. In Romanian the word for boyfriend is the same for male friend, and the same with female friend and girlfriend. So at first, before I realized this distinction, I would say "no, we’re just friends." That backfired on me many times. So now I’ve learned how to say "we’re colleagues." I guess the easiest solution to all of this is to have more female friends, but I’ve always gotten along with guys better than most girls. Plus, wedding rings here can be worn on either the right or left hand. And I have the pearl ring that I always have on my right hand, and John has a ring of his father’s that he wears. That probably doesn’t help us.
One good thing about visiting John is that I left his place with a new book to read, two new computer games to play and four new CD’s to listen to. John and my taste’s are very similar, so it worked out well. I gave him four books and a CD of Romanian lessons. Fair trade, if you ask me. I gave him that Mitchner book, Texas, because he’s from Texas and would enjoy it. Plus, it’s huge and will take him awhile, which is good because, like in my rant above, we have lots of time to read here.
Well, I think that’s all from the land of stray dogs, high heels and bad haircuts. Love you,
Kate