Christmas

Last year I spent Christmas in Romania with fellow volunteers, Julie and Vicki. This year Julie and I decided to try another Eastern European destination for the holiday, Budapest.  Julie and I have been wanting to go since we discovered that we can get there with just one train transfer from our sites.  However, we weren't able to find time to go this summer so we decided to go for Christmas.  The train journey took a little over 15 hours and two trains.

Arriving in Keleti Station

We arrived in Keleti station in Budapest on a very chilly morning, but were able to warm up as we strolled to our hotel.  Our hotel was very conveniently located, just one block from the Great Hall Market where were were able to look at lots of local produce, spices (lots of paprika!) and handmade crafts.

Great Hall Market

We also were able to take a short stroll from our hotel down a pedestrian boulevards to one of the main Christmas markets in Budapest.  During the month of December local squares are filled with vendors selling holiday crafts, food and drinks.  We enjoyed drinking mulled wine and checking out local crafts.

Christmas cookies

On Christmas Eve we visited one of traditional thermal bath houses, Szechenyi and enjoyed soaking in the thermal baths and sitting in the saunas.  The steam made it difficult to photograph, but the bath house was built in 1881 and was as gorgeous as it was relaxing.

Szechenyi Baths

 After the baths, we walked back to our hotel through Pest taking in many sites along the way.

Vajdahunyad Castle

The Christmas Tree at the Opera House

That evening we found Christmas Eve service in English at St. Columba’s Scottish Presbyterian Church.  It made it feel a little more like Christmas to get to sing a few hymns and carols in English.

Christmas day we woke up to gorgeous weather and took the opportunity to walk around the city more and cross the river to Buda.

A square in Pest next to our hotel

Matthias Church in Buda

Fisherman's Bastion in Buda

The view of the Hungarian Parliament from Buda

Christmas Dinner

We had nice day, including what we agreed was our most unusual Christmas dinner thus far, sushi.  It was difficult to be away from home and family for the second Christmas, but I feel very blessed to have such a good friend to spend the holiday with.  Thank you Julie!

As for next year, I can't wait to celebrate Christmas stateside, but I look forward to calls with Julie to reminiscence about our Eastern European Christmases.

Snow and School Celebrations

Snow finally started falling in Romania during our last week of school before winter break.   It was nice to get a little bit of white before the holidays set in.  Although, most afternoons it warmed up so that most of the snow melted away.  I did have a good view on my walk back from visiting the Catholic kindergarten last week. I cut through the park which was quite deserted.

snow in the park

During the final week of school, my school held their traditional carol (collinde) singing.  A few teachers get groups of students to perform.  This year's event was smaller than last year, we had just two groups sing and one group perform traditional dances.  As it was explained to me, carol sings are a traditional way for students to celebrate the start of the holiday season and to thank the teachers.

Group #1 - from 13th grade

Group #2

Four of the five boys in the dancing group are in one of my tenth grade classes and one of the girls in one of my eleventh grade classes. 

It was great to see some of my students performing traditional dances. I took a couple videos, but unfortunately I can only get one to upload to this post.  Here is a short clip of the goat dance.

My school has challenges when it comes to having events; we do not have anything close to an auditorium. We have a space that can maybe fit 1/5 of the school which has over 1,200 students and 100 staff members. Thus when events are held late in the afternoon; most students choose to leave rather than stay for events; some teachers also choose to leave.

 

the audience

To me, it's always depressing because very few people get to see our students perform; especially their peers.  I see so few opportunities to showcase their talents or passions.  I think of all the high school assemblies, concerts and events I attended growing up.  I loved seeing my peers perform and was always instilled with such pride with what my classmates could do.  I wish my students here could experience some of that.  This being said, I believe some Romanian schools do have lots of events, but industrial schools like mine do not.

Holiday Beginnings

Recently, I spoke with a former volunteer who said that she feels that the spirit of Christmas really comes from the heart so that one can feel the spirit no matter where they are.  I both agree and disagree with this.  While I believe you can feel the spirit of the season radiating from within, for me Christmas doesn't really begin until I get to spend time with family and friends.  The joy of the Christmas season is gathering with those I love. While I don't get to see my real family this year for the holidays I have been able to start the holiday season with some friends and students here in Romania. 

My holiday season started last week in school when I started doing carols with my students.  I see half of each class once a week so it takes me a full week to see all nine of my classes once.  Last year I learned the lesson that although we have class until the end of the week before break classes pretty much stop on Wednesday therefore, I knew that if I wanted to get all my classes to be able to sing carols I needed to start early.  I did carols with my 10th and 11th grade students (the 12th graders were giving final presentations).  I chose "Jingle Bell Rock," "Silent Night," and "Little Drummer Boy."  Some classes were more into it that others, but it was fun to share some new carols with them.  I also told the story of the little drummer boy which doesn't exist in Romanian (at least not that any of my students knew) and was my favorite carol when I was little.  I should note that although I teach at a public school there is a state religion (Romanian Orthodox) and all students take religion as a class unless they get a waiver.  I do have one student who is Adventist, but all my other students are Romanian Orthodox or Catholic.

For over a year now I have also been teaching an English class for some of the mothers that use the services at "Together in Life's Path" (the foundation I work with).  Angela, whose home I visited last week, runs the foundation with Saskia, a volunteer from Holland.  This summer I also started teaching an English class for kids there which I have continued into the school year.  Angela and Saskia have been my biggest cheerleaders in Romania.  They have been advocates and friends; they helped create the sports camp which was one the highlights of my summer.  Being able to go to the foundation twice a week has been a blessing.  Thus I was thrilled to be able to celebrate with them at their annual holiday party (last year my school schedule conflicted with the party).

Some of the mothers from English class

Mothers and children came to part.  As is a Romanian tradition, each child who was old enough had to recite a Christmas poem or sing a song to get Mos Crăciun (which literally translates to old man Christmas or Santa) to come.  Below is a video of a student, Danuț, who was very nervous reciting his poem.

Maia and Miruna, two students in my kids class

waiting for Santa

Santa was accompanied by a choir from a local high school who performed for everyone gathers.  Then each child got a present from Santa.  Who unfortunately terrified a few of the kids.

Maia and Mos Crăciun

It was a lovely was to start my holiday season.  My students also bought me a lovely sweater which I will be wearing for Christmas.

Making Christmas

This week I am headed to a kindergarten in the Catholic village next to my town.  I got a request via a teacher at my school to go there a teach a little English lesson for Christmas.  Tonight as I am preparing I realized I really did not ask enough questions.  Kindergarten in Romania can be kids from age 3-5.  I don't know what age group I will be meeting.  I also don't how many classes I am expected in.  I know the school has at least 3 classes.  At least I have Santa on my side.

One Year Later

Today Julie and I got together.  We have been having unseasonably nice weather so we decided to go walking in the hills around her site.  We went on my favorite short hike.  After crossing the river out of her town you hike straight up a hill for about 20 minutes so you get nice and warm.  It's also a great leg workout.  At the top of the hill is a small community of house where chickens abound.  They were way too speedy for my camera, but I am posting this blurry photo to show how gorgeous some of them were.

 

As Julie and I hiked, we caught up on the past week of classes, some of which have been quite difficult.  We also talked about what a difference a year makes.  By this time last year we had already had a few weeks of snow and had started to become the shut-ins that harsh Romanian winters force you to be.  We also talked about how much easier it is to get out and do things versus last year when we felt almost every spare moment should be spent lesson planning. 

A year later our perspectives have changed and while we're not sure if we have gotten any better at it; at least it feels a little easier.

On the train ride back to my site I had a little surprise.  Many Romanian trains have assigned seats, but the little trains that run up and down our valley don't.  They are the lowest class of train in Romania (read both cheap and dirty); however, the train ride isn't too long so it isn't a bother.  Today as I looked for a cabin and a seat I saw one cabin was under lock and key.  I was a little afraid of what I might see when I peaked in as there is a prison next to the train tracks, but this was a happy surprise.  The cabin was full of gorgeous Christmas trees. 

I have no idea where they were from or who they were for, but they smelled glorious.  I hope they are going to good homes.

Thanksgiving Day 2.0

Last year I spent Thanksgiving day in my classroom trying to teach my students a little about one of my favorite holidays.  The whole day felt a little surreal and I think my attempts to teach my students the joy of the holiday only increased my homesickness.  

 

This year I opted for a different approach.  I took a day of annual leave, something PCVs usually reserve for days out of the country, in order to attend a very special Thanksgiving at the American Ambassador's Residence.  Ambassador Gitenstein and his wife have graciously invited the Peace Corps community into their home along with Embassy staff and other foreign dignitaries during their time in Romania.

It was a lovely event; I was able to see some fellow volunteers that I rarely get to see and meet some new friends from the expat community. Ambassador Gitenstein and Mrs. Gitenstein shared their traditions, saying a prayer and blessing the challah.

Everyone is attendance enjoyed an amazing spread, including a delicious bread pudding made by Ambassador Gitenstein! It was a nice was to spend my second Thanksgiving in the country.

Lesson Experiments

I spend a lot of trying to create lessons because many of my classes do not have books and for the classes that do have books many of the exercises are levels above their ability. I will admit that I don't do much better than the books when I try to create lessons. I miss the mark a lot. Sometimes lessons are too difficult or other times I just can't get my students to engage. I tried to use some very creative lessons from Gender and Diversity Committee, but I couldn't get my students to take them seriously.

For Valentine's Day I was a bit unsure about if I wanted to try to create a lesson or if I just wanted to skip the holiday. I teach 18 classes a week, but I only have half of a class at a time, thus I see each group once a week. The week before Valentine's day I tried some lessons supplied by Peace Corps, but they didn't quite work for my students. The activities that match the levels of my students are designed for elementary age students thus even with my attempts to fine tune then for high school flopped.

However, I decided to try one last time to do a holiday activity on Valentine's Day. I explained to my students a little about traditions in the U.S. and told them that the holiday can be about doing something nice for themselves and also for friends and family. They mostly thought of the holiday as something to celebrate with their boyfriend/girlfriend. I first had my students write on a post-it note something they do well or are good at. For example, "I am a good sister" or "I am an excellent artist." Then I had them stick the note to themselves and tell the class what they had written without looking at it (quite a challenge for some). They then had to write something nice about their desk-mate on another post-it and stick it to that person. We then made traditional valentines. While it wasn't a complete success, it went much better than the week before and I am glad I tried again. Below are the photos from one of my 11th grade classes that did the lesson.

Winter Holiday - Part 2

2011 started with a bang, literally. We arrived in Athens on New Year's Eve and watched the fireworks over the Greek House of Parliament from below the Acropolis. We then spent the next five days exploring the city and ancient sites. It was wonderful to be in a milder climate we even got out for a couple morning runs which was especially as it's too icy to run in my site in Romania.

We managed to pack a lot in and I would definitely love to go back to Greece in the summer to see some of the islands. Here are a few highlights from our time in Athens.

Elizabeth tests the water in the Aegean Sea.

Hadrian's Library.

Hadrian's Gate

Finally, Acropolis!

Theater of Herodus Atticus

Parthenon

Erechtheion

Socrates' prison

View of the Acropolis from the Hill of the Nymphs

Winter Holiday - Part 1

I spent the majority of my winter holiday outside of Romania with my dear friend Elizabeth. I feel so lucky to have someone get on a plane on Christmas night to travel around the world to see me. Let alone to have this be a friend who has known me since 3rd grade. I hadn't seen any friends or family since July when my cousin Emily came to visit so I was extremely excited to be with a loved one, especially around the holidays.

Elizabeth arrived on the 26th of December and we spent a couple days in Bucharest before heading to warmer climates. We were a bit nervous because on the day of our departure heavy snows hit Romania.
However, the Bucharest airport knows how to deal with snow so our flight departed on time and in just one short hour we arrived in ISTANBUL!

Istanbul was amazing and with only 3 days there it was a bit overwhelming, but we managed to see a lot. Here are a few of the highlights from our time there.

The Blue Mosque (exterior)

The Blue Mosque (interior)

Taking photos inside the Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sophia (exterior)

Hagia Sophia (interior)

12th century mosaics in the Hagia Sophia

Orient Express train station

castle viewing during a boat cruise up the Bosphorus Strait

We made it to both the Europe and Asian sides of Istanbul. Elizabeth is representing her affiliation.

As we hit both sides we felt ready to venture to an even warmer climate. Next stop Athens!

Blogger note: As with most of my vacations, I took way too many photos. If you would like to look at my larger Kodak Gallery, just shoot me and I'll send you a link to the full gallery.