Hello All!!
Sorry it has taken me over a week to update this...as you can imagine I've been going going going since I arrived! The internet at my house is sporadic as well so getting a blog post up has been put on hold...UNTIL NOW! Let me update you on what has been happening here the last week...
I have school every day from 8:30AM to 5:00PM. This consists of Romanian classes all morning, lunch, then PC technical training. We have safety and security training, cultural training, further site information-anything and everything you could possibly think of! Yesterday we had medical training with our PC doctor, Dr. Dan. The thing that stood out most to us trainees was the part where we discussed the inevitable PIN WORMS. Apparently, we will all (most like all) get pin worms at least once during our service. Small, white worms that look like rice. Fun huh?? Dr. Dan had pictures and everything to let us know what to expect. We have a bet going-"who is going to get the worms first?" We shall see :)
The language classes are going well-it is amazing what I have learned in 1 week of language training with the Corps. I can introduce myself and others, tell time, use the possesive, explain and describe my house here in Romania (every room, the furniture in the room too), count to 100 and write the numbers as well, describe my mood (happy, well, sad, bad), ask someone to give me something in the formal and informal, as well as using "here & there" and this & that. The training is given by some amazing teachers. I also have been keeping a list of vocabulary words and i have tons of notecards to help me study!
So Romania=amazing. So different than other countries I have been too. And yes-the stray dogs are bad. We had a volunteer who was bit last weekend and he's now on rabies watch..fun! Honestly, I have never had a problem with them but forget trying to jog or run through the streets..that will get all their attention and you will have a pack following you before you know it.
We walk everywhere. My host family (who is amazing-a mother and older daughter) do not own a car so I walk to school, market, center, EVERYWHERE. its great exercize and I need it because they feed us 4-5 courses each meal! Its really amazing that the people are still so tiny. My host mom makes me a bag lunch for school and some mothers send 4-5 sandwhiches with some volunteers!!
The people are so hospitable and they love it when you try to speak the language. I have found that here in the bigger city a large percentage can speak basic English. I'm sure I won't find that once I'm at site!
Will post more later...everything is going well and I hope to get more pictures up here soon! Please leave questions in the comment area and I would be happy to answer them. Anything and everything ask away!! That will help me with blog posting too--knowing what you all want to know. :) Miss you all. La revedere!
Ok Sara,
ReplyDeleteSo what is the weather like? Are there any gardens there? What is a daily meal? How is Romania different than the other countries you have visited? What do they think of Americans? Hope these questions give you something to write about. I pray for you daily and I spray your perfume a lot.. it makes me think of you! Love Aunty M
Why don't you stay in your country if the Romanian dogs are so bad? If your colleague was bitten it does not mean that all the strays are bad. You have no idea how it's like to love man's best friend. Go away, go to your country and do not judge mine. The world doesn't really love you, dear Americans. I have had enough of this patronizing attitude of the so called civilized countries. Go home.
ReplyDeleteWhat you see above me is the attitude of the so called "animal lovers" in Romania, more like animal extremists. They care more about the dogs than a good person`s life, they want the dogs on the streets to make money off of them and they are not be reason with so don`t take too hard on what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteAnd I want you to know that this is not the general opinion in Romania, regarding the Americans. Yes, we want you to visit more, yes we feel good about Americans and the US in general.
Thank you for the kind words about my country!
Hello Sara, I am a Romanian expat. I was born and lived in my country (over 40 years). All my life I never had a problem with stray dogs and is sad to see that some people just hate them. Unfortunately, your post is used by some extremist, anti-dogs group from Romania (IREC which stands for Initiative for Responsible Citizenship according to their translation in English) to support their idea of mass-killing stray dogs- fact which is happening now in Romania although the whole Europe screams for stopping. Perhaps this is the source of their inspiration "And yes-the stray dogs are bad. We had a volunteer who was bit last weekend and he's now on rabies watch..fun! Honestly, I have never had a problem with them but forget trying to jog or run through the streets..that will get all their attention and you will have a pack following you before you know it" - quoted from your post. I have few questions for you: 1. do you have any idea that this extremist group IREC is giving your "case" as an example and as a support for their instigation? Please see: " IREC @IREC_RO
ReplyDeleteAn valid opinion from a person who really visited Romania- I week in Romania: #straydogs, Language Training, ... http://sarainromania.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-w" posted in 2014 on June 30 and tweeted by this group. Source: http://irecromania.ro/our-cause/; 2. did you make any research on EU official documents to see that rabies due to stray dogs is not a threat in Romania? 3. are you aware of the stray dogs' mass-killing that goes on unpunished in Romania since 2013 and appalled the whole Europe?