SMILE!
I finally broke down and bought a CD player. The silence of my apartment was starting to get to me as you can probably tell from my last entry. I made my big purchase yesterday at the Cozia (Valcea's premier semi department store). Pleased with my decision to end the silence, I walked excitedly home from the Cozia with my new boom box under one arm and my school papers under the other. As I crossed the street, thinking about which CD I was going to play first, I saw a couple ahead of me taking pictures in the main square. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Without a second thought, I crossed into the plaza and proceeded to walk around their photo zone, when the boyfriend approached me. "Will you take our picture together?" he asked in Romanian of course. "Da!" I said confidently and put down my stereo and papers. He handed me the camera and I yelled "Branza! (Cheese!)" and proceeded to take their photo. But, the camera didn't work. I searched for the words, and finally said timidly, "Nu merge!" (Roughly translated..It doesn't go.) The boyfriend came over, assured me that all I needed to do was press the button, and went back to his pose. I tried again to no avail. "Nu merge!" I said with less confidence. The girlfriend came over to me this time. She looked at my face, frowned and then said something rapidly in Romanian. I didnt understand. She pointed to my face. I touched my cheek and discovered a wierd black grease. How long had it been there? The grease covered my whole cheek and eye. The boyfriend, came over and started to stare. What was happening to me? Where could this dirt have possibly come from? At this point both boyfriend and girlfriend are talking rapidly at me and then in unison exclaim "SMILE YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!" (in Romanian of course). Three camera men pop out of the bushes and a crowd forms in the plaza. My face is now black and red from embarrassment. They suddenly realize that I don't speak romanian and the boyfriend exclaims,"She doesn't understand!" to the crowd. Finally a sentence that I DO understand. "Da!" I exclaim emphatically, "Vorbesc putin!" (Yes! I speak a little!) The crowd laughs. I pick up my box and papers and continue of my way home. I felt as if I had just entered and exited the twilight zone. It was so strange and now thinking about this incident, I find it hard to believe that I was on Romanian Candid Camera. I guess, now you could say my fifteen minutes is up!
nina

I forgot to say that unfortunatly all of your personal emails got erased from my hotmail account. This last time when I when i was on, I went over my space allowance, so if I don't answer it's not because I hate you...I don't remember who wrote and who didn't. =(

SCOALA, NAZI's, TOO MANY STORIES

My head is spinning with this book that I have just finished. That's the beauty of life without tv, no distractions. I have been averaging two books a week, which isn't bad for me. I am starting to run out, but head is so filled with stories, I am not sure there is room for much else. The apartment at first seemed so quiet but I have managed to keep myself in the middle of one book or another which adds to the noise. At least the noise in my head. I am starting to ramble like a crazy woman.
On to more important things...The first day of school went off without a hitch. I have two tenth grade classes, one eleventh and it looks like I will have two ninth grades. Man are the eleventh graders hyper. They have already started to test me, cursing and yelling and being outright obnoxious ( in a cute sort of way). So I shot them the evil eye and I joke along with them, but I assure you that i did lay down some ground rules. The other classes are a little quieter. The hardest part is getting past Chad the recently departed super volunteer. They really liked him. And he did a lot of drama activities. I want to do some drama things, but I want to other stuff as well. A little creative writing here and there, maybe some poetry and short stories, I don't want to corner myself into drama games and that's it. The hardest part of my job will be to remind them that I am not Chad, I am Nina, and I still can be just as fun. Anyways, I am planning to do a unit on music first. They are really into Metallica, the Doors, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and Nirvana ( all of my favorite bands =) BUt I am going to introduce them to Jazz, the Blues, and we are going to have a lesson on Rap slang. I thought it would be fun if they had to write their own rap song, or a dialogue using only rap slang ( Bling bling etc...)
What other interesting things have happened........OH YEAH, how can I forget. So, it is the first day of class and the first time that I see one half of my eleventh graders. I hear them filing up the stairs. My class is in what they call the Dungeon, but is more like Rapunzel's tower, because it is high isolated corner of the school. There are no windows and you can hear the Philharmonic ( which is shares a part of the school building) practicing below. To get to class you have to climb a series of stairs. They made their way into the classroom and two boys are laughing hysterically, joking around. I turn around from the chalkboard to see what's the fuss and this kid is wearing a gigantic swastica. The boys see me and laugh, "You're not Jewish are you?" I was stunned, I hadn't expected to bear all about myself before they knew me. They didn't even know my name. "Well, actually, yes I am." Their faces went blank and they shut up really fast. I guess Bogdan ( the kid with the swastica is a nazi). I didn't know what to do. I still haven't told Vanda because I don't want to make it a big deal, but from then on I knew that I am going to plan a lesson about difference. And I am going to plan a lesson about prejudice and Judiasm. It's cool to be anti-semetic. It's cool to be anti-gypsy. It's generally cool to be an anarchist. I told him to put the swastica in his shirt and that I didn't want to see it. He didn't say anything offesive. Honest to God, I don't think any of these kids have actually ever met a jew before, let alone know anything about Judiasm. They have to take a compulsory Romanian Ordothdox class for goodness sakes. All I kept thinking is, "Today is the day after Yom Kippur, what are you trying to say?" In life when you look left things always seem to come from the right. Hmm...
It has suddenly gotten cold here. Just a month ago I was sweating in 110 degree heat and today I broke out the scarf. I wonder what it will be like in December. Tomorrow I have five classes and it's going to be a long day. Teaching is tiring. Well, that's all folks...until next time. yours, nina

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