Temă

Much has happened since we last posted, and I am going to try really hard to put a few posts up in quick succession, including a few new photos.

In the meantime, I figure that folks in the States are curious how our language skills are progressing. This weekend I was supposed to write in my journal for temă (homework). I thought a post of my homework (and a translation following) would show how much we can communicate in just 5 weeks. For this, I have to give a huge shout out to our amazing team of language teachers. So far we've had three different teachers. Mine have been Simona, Octavian and Raluca.

This will also give you a sense of what our life is like here. A sneak peek: it is definitely not what I thought of as the stereotypical Peace Corps weekend.

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Noaptea trecut eu, Sarah, și colegii am mers pe jos în centru. Înainte de cina eu am cumpărat o carte în limba română, "Atacul Mutanților." Kevin a citit asta carte în engleză când a fost mai tânăr, și a amintit învelitoarea cârții.

Apoi, noi am mers la papetarie. Au avut multe pixuri, caiete și altceva. Lânga mazin era un magazin de mâncare naturala. Vânzatoara a vorbit cu mine despre produsele ei. Ea a avut ciocolata fără zahar, și sare din mare și din atlantic. Toate produsele au fost foarte scumpe.

Mai târziu noi am mers la restaurantul C&C. Am luat cina și am băut bere. Eu am mâncat pizza quattro stagione. A avut o parte cu salam, alta parte cu șunca, alta parte cu măsline și porumb, și ultima parte cu roșii și ciuperci. A fost gustoasă!

Dupa china noi am vrut desert, deci am mers la restaurantul San Marco. Multe persoane au mâncat ciocolata caldă. A fost o budincă, nu a fost o băutură.

Dimineața eu, Sarah și gazdele mele am mers cu mașina în oraș la parastas. Am ajuns târziu pentru biserica și cimitir, dar am pus niște flori pe mormânt. Noi am mers pe jos din cimitir la casa mamei decedatului. Alt voluntar, Jason, a fost la casă pentru că decedatul era fratele gazdei lor. Eu am băut niște țuica și un pahar de vin alb cu apă minerală. Noi am mâncat supă cu tăiței, brânză, doa feluri de sarmale, mămăligă, și prajitura. Noi am mâncat pește și șnițel de porc de asemenea.

Acum eu fac temă, ascult musică, beau cafea și apa, și insectele mă enervează. Eu sunt afară, si cu excepția insectelor este foarte frumos și agreabil.

Mâine vom avea o zi liber. Nu știu ce voi face. Poate voi cumpara spray de insectă!

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Last night my classmates, Sarah and I walked to the town center. Before dinner I bought a Goosebumps book in Romanian, "Attack of the Mutants." Kevin had read this book in English when he was younger, and he remembered the book's cover.

After, we went to the office store. They had many pens, notebooks and other stuff. Next to the store is a natural food store. The woman who works there told me about her products. She had chocolate without sugar, and salt from the sea and from the Atlantic. All of the products were very expensive.

Later we went to the restaurant C&C. We had dinner and drank beer. I had quattro stagione pizza. It had one part with pepperoni, another part with ham, another part with olives and corn and the last part had tomatoes and mushrooms. It was tasty!

After dinner we wanted dessert, so we went to the restaurant San Marco. A bunch of people ate hot chocolate. It was a pudding, not a drink.

This morning my host family, Sarah and I drove to the city for a parastas (anniversary of the death of a friend or relative). We arrived too late for church and the ceremony at the cemetery, but we put flowers on the grave. We walked from the cemetery to the deceased's mother's house. Another volunteer, Jason, was at the house because the deceased was his gazda's brother. I drank some țuica (strong, locally made plum brandy) and a glass of white wine with mineral water. We ate soup with homemade noodles, cheese, two types of sarmale (pickled cabbage or grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice), mămăligă (Romanian polenta or grits), and cakes. We also ate fish and pork schnitzel.

Now I'm doing my homework, listening to music, drinking coffee and water, and the insects are bugging me. I'm outside, and with the exception of the insects it is very beautiful and pleasant.

Tomorrow is a free day. I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll buy some bug spray!