MY FIFTEEN MINUTES HAS COME AND GONE

So I did my first interview in Romania. I was live on Radio Craiova and taped on Radio Bucharest. They interviewed me about september 11th and asked me how it felt to be an American in Romania. How does it feel to an American in Romania? I didn't know what to say. I still don't know what to say. The states seem so far away and September 11th feels even farther, but at the same time every time it was mentioned I felt this great weight. Felt is too past tense, I still feel the weight and the eyes on me everytime the twin towers are mentioned. And I found that I really didn't want to share, where I was or How I felt. Those facts seemed so unimportant. Who really cares, where I was, or what I was doing. Who cares how I felt.
Romanians are obsessed (this is a huge generalization) with everyone else but themselves. Everyone that I have talked to wants to leave. Everyone, and I am not exaggerated is concentrated on getting out, moving abroad, desserting Romania. They imagine the "gold paved roads" of America and Europe When they talk about Romania all I hear is the negative. The blocs are ugly, there are stray dogs and trash. You can't make a living, you can't ever take vacation or travel. Life sucks. Life stinks. Life was better before the revolution. Life could not get any worse. It becomes disheartening. You don't understand how beautiful Romania is. Beyond the gray and aging blocs, in between the factories and pipelines there exists the most magical parts of the country. Green. Everything is green. Beside every apartment is a garden full of flowers. I have never seen such bright reds and purples, yellows and blues. The concept of organic food doesn't exist here, simply because everything is organic. You have never tasted a tomato until you have tasted a Romanian one. The food is so good and you know that it comes straight from your neighbor's backyard. Which brings me to point number three, that of "your neighbor's backyard." The sense of community here is extrodinary, everyone looks out for one another. What's yours is mine and mine yours. Hospitatlity is not a word, it's an institution. There is so much positive that I see outweighing the negative. Honestly, besides laundry, living here has not been a step down in the standard of living. Life could be so much worse.
It's frustrating, I realize, to expect the world to change overnight (from communism to democracy), to expect life to be instantly better, and watch as change creeps in so slowly. But 12 years is a fraction of a second in grand scheme things. The US has been a democracy for over 200 and we are still far far from perfect. We still struggle with our own problems of poverty and unequal standards of living. I want Romania and Romanians to be optomistic about their country. i want them to feel as if they can and will change the face of their country. I want them to want to stay here. i want them to stop asking me how much better it is in the States and start telling me how much better it is in Romania. I want a lot.
I am reflective because school starts tomorrow, and I am freaking out, just a little. Nervous, but not. I will do my best and if my students like me, then they like me, and if they don't then, oh well. I played basketball yesterday with a few girls. They are sweet but a few of them have already tested their limits with me by using bad language. I gave them the evil eye and that worked pretty well. I get it from you mom. They helped me clean the english library this week, which is still in an uproar. Which reminds me..save all of your books. Don't donate to goodwill, because I am going to figure out a way that you can send them to school, make a tax write off and help build the english library here. So please save all of your books!
Oh lastly I want to send out some birthday love....................Happy birthday to you, dear.......Brook, Brenda K., Jenny B. and whomever I left out, I'm sorry. Know that I am thinking about ya, girls! So wish me luck for school. The tidal wave is building up behind me and tomorrow it's finally gonna crash. Oh yeah, it has started to get really cold here, which is a nice change. But I am talking really cold, and the girls just laughed at me and said, "Just you wait!" I can't wait for the snow!!!!!
XOXOXO nina