Here and There

Tomorrow morning I will be heading down to Bucharest to check with the doctors again about my eye. I am still seeing the spot I previously wrote about.  It's a bizarre problem, and I'm finding it troubling that in the past three months it hasn't gone away.  However, the spot hasn't gotten any bigger which is a blessing.

After my doctors appointments I will be bound for the United States.  My dear cousin Corona is getting married and I am taking leave to go to the wedding. 

 

It's been about a year and a half since I have been in the U.S. and more importantly, seen most of my family and friends.  I am very excited to see everyone, but quite frankly, I am bit nervous about it too.  I don't quite feel that I am able to articulate all of my nerves, but I feel like so much has happened since I have been away that I am not quite sure I'll be able to take it all in.  However, I shall try.

This and That

the D building at school, where my classroom is

I am finding the second year of teaching a bit easier, but there are some moments that cause me to pause and think, "What on earth am I doing?" One of those moments happened today, at the end of a class of eleventh graders.  I am now in the second year of teaching this class.  At the end of the class, as the students filed out one of the girls looked at me and said, "Hello!" The worst part is she wasn't even being flippant, she really just thought she was saying "Goodbye!"  As they went out the door one of her friends explained the error to her and she seemed surprised.  Sigh.

This year I am teaching three new tenth grades.  I think I enjoy tenth graders the most even though they are the most challenging for me.  It strikes me that my tenth graders still have a little bit of child in them.  I have found that my eleventh and twelfth graders are more weighed down by the world.  In tenth grade, students are still willing to play games and quite frankly, still have fun. This year I decided to do something a little different in my tenth grade classes; I let all my students choose English names.  This is common in American foreign language classes, but not in Romania.  I told students that they could choose any English name, but that it was optional.  In my first class, the girls did not want names, but I loved the boys choices.  I didn't give the boys any ideas; these are their choices, in the order they chose them.

• Jimmy Carter
• Eminem
• Brad Pitt
• James Bond
• Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Bruce Lee

I love the eclectic nature.  Every time I start the class and ask if Jimmy Carter is here, I can't help but laugh.

Achieved

A few posts ago, I wrote about the uniform donation from Brooks.  The handball team was finally able to get their uniforms in preparation for the season which will start in November. Here is part of the team at practice last Tuesday.  They love their new uniforms and look pretty great in them too.

The full team was not at practice this week.  The students at my school have been greatly affected by the change in the train schedule in town; 70-75% of the students in my school commute from villages outside my town.  This means that they rely on trains, maxi-taxis, and buses to commute each day.  Trains are infrequent and a recent change in the train schedule has meant that many students end up leaving school early.  There is a train at 1:55 and if they miss that train they are stuck in town until after 5:00.  Many students need to get home to do chores before it gets dark, not to mention the fact that if they did stay until the end of school there is no place for them to go.  In one of my 10th grade classes 7 of the 14 students leave at 1:40 (20 minutes early from a 50 minute class) to get the train.  Their form teacher confirmed that I need to let them go early, but it's very hard to try to pack in the entire lesson done in the allotted time before they go.  Not to mention that they only have English twice a week.

In my second year, I find it easier to take these situations in stride, but I feel no less sadness for my students and the opportunities that they miss.

The Painted Monasteries

Beyond Transylvania, some of the most visited sites of Romania are the painted monasteries in the northern part of the Moldavia region.  The painted monasteries date from the mid-fifteen century and have frescoes that have weathered the Romanian seasons amazing well. Last weekend, I took a monastery tour with my dear friends Julie and Mil, who is back for a visit.  We had put off seeing the monasteries because they are not easily accessible with public transportation, but we were able to hire a guide who drove us to four of the main painted monasteries.  We started off with a gorgeous, but chilly fall day at Humor Monastery.

Humor Monastery

frescoes at Humor

Our next stop was Voronet, which is dubbed the "Oriental Sistine Chapel" in many guide books.  The monastery was founded in 1488, while the frescoes were added between 1547 and 1550.  The most well-know is "Last Judgement" which has many fascinating details of its era, like the Tatars and Turks destined for perdition.

Voronet Monastery

the register of saints and philosophers

the lives of St. Nicholas and St. John

Sebastian, our guide, describing the finer points of "Last Judgement"

Mil, Marta and Julie at Judgement

Our trip then took us into the mountains where we were able to take in more Romanian scenery while the temperature continued to drop.

We made another stop at Moldovita, but I didn't get a photo of that one.  Our final monastery was then Sucevita, by that time we seemed to move from fall to winter. Sucevita was the last of the monastery complexes built in the region.  It's main fresco is the "Ladder of Virtue," depicting angels ascending to heaven and others falling and being pulled from the ladder.

Sucevita

The Ladder of Virtue

snow!

 It was a fascinating and enjoyable day.

Smaller

This year I have a new classroom which is smaller than my previous one.  I have much better seating for my students, the desks I had last year were terrible and not really built for high school students.  I moved all my "decor" from the previous room so it feels homey.  It was a little hard to try to get the whole room, but here are a couple snaps.

Sadly, the room also works better because all my classes have less students than last year.  Some students have quit school, others have transferred, while others have moved to join their parents in other countries.  As I created my grade books for this year it was sad to see all the students I have lost in less than a year.  One of the now 11th grade classes is down from 30 students last year to 24 students; a now 12th grade is down from 24 students to just 17 this year.  I hope to do what I can during the year to keep them engaged in my little bit of their school experience.  I only see each of my students for one hour a week, but it's a reminder to me to try to keep classes as enjoyable as possible for my students.

Getting There

Last week my tomatoes finally began to ripen and this week I had a tiny harvest on my balcony.  I also finally was able to start teaching in school.  This year I have three 10th grade classes, three 11th grade classes and three 12th grade classes.  All the 10th grade classes and one of the 11th grade classes are new.  It feels funny to finally be starting school in October, but as we say here, "asta e."  The expression ends up translating figuratively to something like, this is life.

Last weekend I went over to Bacau to have a birthday party for a couple of fellow PCVs.  The maxi-taxi ride there takes about an hour and fifteen minutes.  Along the ride I saw lots of fields on fire as people burned up what was left of their corn crops.  We also picked up a lot of people on the road who were coming back from working on their property in the country laden with nuts and produce.  Many people who live in the cities have family property in the country that they work.  As grandparents age in the country, parents from the city move in and inherit the property.  They then give their apartments, which they bought after communism ended, to their children.

As I rode, I thought of how my concept of time in Romania has become so different.  An hour and fifteen minutes each way seems like nothing at all.  I catch up on pod-casts and let my mind wander.  I worry less about those minutes of where I am not productive.  I worry more about my future, about the future of my students, about the economy, about unemployment, and about what I will teach tomorrow.  It seems easier to try to just focus on the scenes in front of me, about the burning fields and people returning from them.

Kindness

Last school year my favorite time of the week was handball practice. Admittedly, I was terrible at the sport, but I loved trying to play and being able to connect with a few of my students in a different way.  The coach was kind enough to let me take part in practice and tried to catch me up on the years of the training that the girls had.  Unfortunately, handball is not similar to any American sport I know and even after a whole year practicing, I still couldn't throw the ball with much force.  The game is played on a basketball court, with goals similar to hockey, and a ball similar to a soccer ball.

When I went to the matches that our team played with other schools in town, I was struck by the difference of appearance of our school versus the other schools.  Other schools had full uniforms and some even had names on them.  Our school only had a batch of men's shirts that were giant on them and even then some girls had to wear their own tank-tops or t-shirts.  Our shirts were also worn by the boy's team in matches; they were sometimes worn by both teams each week, and quite frankly smelled of it.

my school, in white

I spent a lot of time with the girls last year and I wanted to think of way to thank them for all their patience with me.  I finally decided I would try to get them shirts that were cut for girls and actually fit. I tried to think of how to accomplish this.  I couldn't think of any place in my town that had nice shirts that were made for sports.  I decided I needed some reinforcement stateside.  A friend of a friend works at Brooks, makers of fabulous running gear. I thought I would give it a shot.  I wrote a letter asking if they be willing to donate shirts to the school.  They wrote back, that they would not only donate shirts, but also shorts.  The girls would have complete uniforms, that actually fit!

Over the summer a big box arrived from Brooks and I have spent the past few weeks in anticipation.  This week will be the sign-up for handball (it's a year-round sport so it starts a little late) and next week will be the first practice.  The coach has the uniforms and is equally excited to show the team their new uniforms.  

Stayed tuned for the big unveil in a few weeks!  Also, again a giant thanks to Brooks, for the amazing donation!