Tomatoes and Frozen Pizza

The title to this blog may seem a little odd to you. I guess, if I think about it, it is pretty weird, but I told my mom this would be my title and it is! However, it signifies the point I'm trying to make. Before coming to Romania I didn't eat tomatoes...I could stand them with other things on occasion, but to eat a tomato is not something I favored. Frozen pizzas, on the other hand, were a staple to me in college and at home. Anyway, since being here it's clear to me that to be successful I must branch out and try new things and yet still remember where I came from. This, for me, is what the Peace Corps is all about...keeping the frozen pizza but also taking a bite out of a tomato. Take away the Peace Corps as a symbol of the U.S., as an asset to the countries it serves...what's left is the indelible effect it leaves on the volunteers.
I've taken to eating a tomato everyday (with salt of course), and yet I still have an occasional frozen pizza. I haven't forgotten my home and those I left to come here...but everyday I embrace something new, exciting, and challenging about Romania. I have to let go of some things from home...for at least two years...in order to integrate into my society. When I go home I want my community to say that I became a Romanian! (at least a little anyway) So, here, at the beginning of my teaching tenure in Târnăveni and beginning of my cultural integration...I pledge suck the marrow--tomatoes, pig fat, etc.-- out of life in Romania. (Whitman)