Flowers and stuff
So here goes...Much to say, but the usual small amount of time to say it in. We started Practicum this monday. What's that you ask? Test teaching. We have been teaching lessons to 7th graders in Plopeni. They are 13 years old and so much fun! So far we have reviewed the alphabet, number, shapes, colors, and today we did the body and our family tree. They had a really good time learning the human body. I had them trace me on a huge piece of butcher paper and then they had to label me. We laughed a lot. They drew me with the biggest ears, I had no idea that they stuck out that much! Teaching is hard ( jen I bet you're laughing) and I never realized how hard it is until this week. By the end of three hours I am exhausted and then I have to go to my own Romanian language lesson. So needless to say, patience is short. Pooor Ceresela (Chair-eh-sell-ah) my language teacher. She has to make us try and focus on Romanian past tense when all we want to do is crash. Today was hilarious. We wanted to go outside for our lesson because it was super hot ( at least 40 C) and so we decided to have language at the restaurant/bar across the street from school. So we sit down and everything is hunky-dori, we order drinks and all is still well, and we begin the lesson. Out come the drinks and as we continue the lesson, out of nowhere swarms a hoarde of flies; big flies, little flies, hornets, nats, mosquitos,everything and anything with wings. I'm telling you it was a scene out of the Birds except more disgusting. So we pounded down our pints of beer in two seconds flat and got the heck out of there. Needless to say the lesson continued back in the hot classroom at school except now we were slightly buzzed and tired. Not a great combination. But why am I telling you this?!
Let me leave you with one wierd tidbit about Romanian culture because that is foarte more interesting...Okay, so Romanians carry bouquets of flowers upside-down. It's really strange. Nobody carries it right side up. And it doesn't matter what type of flower nor how big the bouquet. Also an even amount of flowers is bad luck and only given for a funeral. An odd bunch of flowers is proper for a gift. So never give a romanian a dozen long stem roses they would be insulted. That's all for now folks..until next time . Love ya all!

I wrote a huge entry and sure enough it disconnects me right at the moment of posting. So here goes a recap. I have been traveling for the past week and a half..So I appologize for the lack of bloggage...I went to Sibiu to visit the site of a current TEFL volunteer. Sibiu is an ancient Austro-Hungarian city in the center of Transylvania. For the first time I felt as if I was in europe. Sidewalk cafes line the streets and the distinctly european aura of "live now, work later" permeated the air. The town center consists of partially decaying buildings stained various hues of faded pastel. The interesting thing about Sibiu is that a large minority of people in the city actually speak German. In fact the mayor himself is German. We got to visit a school of the current volunteer, Becka. She teaches in Lazar a highschool that is over three hundred years old. It is gorgeous. The enterance consists of a long marble hallway chock full of commemorative plaques and ominous busts of famous Romanian scholars. The mayor's wife, an english teacher at the school met our group at the door and gave us a brief tour. The library looks like it came right out of the Ivy League. Wooden bookshelves lined each wall from floor to ceiling. It was all very impressive. The highlight of the trip though, was dinner at another volunteer's house. Amy made lasgna and brownies for all of us. I think I ate 10 brownies, no joke. All in all I had a good time. Okay, now i must go...time is short! more soon, I promise.