Mo-mania: Gazda Meetings

Saturday afternoon was one of the much anticipated times during PCT. After lunch we met our gazdas or homestay families. We were told as a group we would be living in situations ranging from very humble apartments to separate estate houses. Some families would have hot water, some would not, some might have internet, most would not, but all the gazdas would have space for us.
All the PCTs were set up in a conference room with tables running across the room with our names on one side and our gazda families on the other. We all sat in the room hoping that they would like us. We had filled out questionnaires with a little information about us, but not too much.

When I finally met my gazda, Mariea, I learned that her daughter, Gabi, was also being a gazda for another volunteer. I was very lucky to get to live around the corner from another PCT! Also, Gabi’s son, Cosmin and his girlfriend Georgiana, speak some English.
Mariea and her husband, Gicu, live in a 5th floor apartment and speak only Romanian. It’s good practice for me, but at this point I only know words so we have very halted “conversations.” It’s nice to have Cosmin and Georgie come for some additional translation. Mariea has four adult daughters and 5 grandchildren. She had all of the families over including Gabi and her PCT on Saturday night. At the end of the evening I went to bed feeling quite overwhelmed. The whole family was extremely kind, but we didn’t have enough common words between us to communicate. Also, everyone offered me lots and lots of food which was interesting because it seems that no one else was eating.

This is not my apartment, but typical of the bloks in my area.

The next day was much better as I slept until late in the morning, I think the jet lag had finally caught up with me. I then went to Mariea's daughters' house to play Rummikub with all the grandchildren with another PCT. It was a great way to break into the language.

In the afternoon, I walked with Cosmin, Georgie, and my fellow PCT, Chelsea to tour the old castle of the "majors" as Cosi called them. I think this translates to rulers of Romania. Below are pictures from our walk in the castle grounds and the stadium and park next door. The castle costs 3 Lei to get into (about $1) while the park is free. They are both about a 15 minute walk from our apartment blok.