Different kind of weekend

I'm gonna be honest...I'm not the most talented, seasoned, or brave traveler! I had planned on going to Brasov this weekend to hike in the mountains with some fellow volunteers. I planned, that was, until I missed the maxi-taxi and train that could have gotten me to Brasov at the time I needed to arrive for the hike. Instead I turned around, having wasted a Friday night... I was a little ticked off at myself for a while until I realized I still had enough of the weekend left to enjoy it! So I went for a hike around Tarnaveni, spent some time with friends, and had lunch with a little old lady! The weather was beautiful, the fall colors were majestic, and I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. I'm including some pictures of my hiking and some cool shots of my town. They don't quite do justice to just how beautiful it is here in Transylvania right now...but you get the idea!
Sunday I also went shopping in Targu Mures with my friends/community mentors Relu and Dana. We also went out into the countryside to look at the land Relu wants to buy. On the way home we stopped for Relu and Dana to show me an area where the German army occupied the hills near Targu Mures and thousands of Romanians were killed as their resisted. The last picture I added is of those hills. And one more thing...the picture of the house is my counterpart Monica mother's house.

Fall Festival in Tarnaveni

When I say the words "fall" and "festival" I instantly think of Street Fair in Bluffton and Fall Festival in Evansville. Both of these places have been home to me, and now I have the Tarnaveni Festival to add to that list. It's basically a celebration for the harvest and wine season. It's your typical festival so I won't tell you things you already expect.

The festival in Tarnaveni came at a perfect time for me because this week has been tough. My favorite part of the festival was that my students invited me to hang out with them. We wandered the streets of tarnaveni, partook in all of the awesome food and fun, and jumped up and down for what seemed like forever at a concert. I didn't particularly like the music, but I did enjoy the bonding time with students. It's different here. In America, thanks to teachers that have abused the power they have as educators...there has to be a certain amount of disconnectedness between teachers and students. I've always been taught to be friendly without being their friend...but it really is genuinely nice to have personal relationships with students. (within reason of course, I'm not trying to promote anything wrong here) It's just nice to see teachers being examples inside and outside of the classroom without betraying the trust of the school and community.

I went off on a tangent there...sorry! The festival was great as I've already said. I spent the first half of the night with my students and counterpart and then stayed out late with my friends Dana and Relu. Seriously, I have the best community mentors! Beers and stories went on for hours...and I tried my best to keep up in Romanian. Dana helped me out when I couldn't understand due to others talking too fast or me having too many beers...I'm not sure which was the culprit!! I'm including some pictures for ya! The only thing missing from the festival was the candy and caramel apples...maybe next year I'll set up my own stand! haha!

It's gonna be a tough week

Losing someone you love in life is never easy...and you typically can't prepare for it either. For the second time in my life, I'm finding out that losing a loved one while far from home adds additional pain to the loss. Today, I woke up to a message from my mother saying that my Uncle Phil had passed away. I'll spare the details. This was the guy that always asked me if I wanted a beer when he saw me. The guy that gave me a $20 on my 21st to "buy some booze" as he put it. I'll miss him.
I'm usually pretty good about leaving my personal life outside the walls of a school building or classroom. I put on a happy face, I go about my business, and then I leave at the end of the day. Simple as that! Today I tried my best to be the same...I'm not very good at disguising my emotions if you wanted to know so it was easy for the other teachers at my school to recognize something was wrong. Probably because I'm always sunshine and smiles when I come to school every other day. It's hard for me to talk about the loss of a loved one in English...I couldn't begin to explain in Romanian. So I waited until after class and told Monica, my counterpart, what had happened...I didn't want to do that because she's so emotional anyway. She about cut off the circulation to my head when she hugged me around the neck, but if I'm honest it was nice to have some support.
Not that I'm lacking support. My family and friends at home are unbelievable, but I learned that the people that are part of Peace Corps Romania are extraordinary, caring individuals.

So, though I'm far away...my prayers are with my family especially Aunt Karen! I love you all, and I really wish I could be there!

Flying solo in the Romanian classroom

First, I want to apologize that there are no pictures with this post. I know how you like them, but I jut haven't had time at school to even think about grabbing my camera. School has been really good thus far. The 8th grade students are my biggest challenge, but only because they don't seem to want to speak! Of course there are things I want to improve on, but overall classes are fun and educational. I've even covered for my counterpart with the entire class already and tried to speak as much Romanian as possible when needed. All the teachers and staff at school are very accomodating, but that doesn't stop them from teasing me from time to time. My favorite part of school is walking down the corridors and having students saying "Hi, Miss Tara" or "What's up!?"

Clasa V --They are the youngest class I teach, but they are almost the most advanced. They are willing to try new things and love when I challenge them to have a conversation with me in English. Many of them also live near me so they are excited about playing fotball (soccer obviously) and baschet (again obvious...).

Clasa VI -- I teach two classes in the sixth grade. One is very open and can understand English very well; the other class struggles a little more. Both classes are fun and open to learning and so am I! They are all very well behaved which makes my job pretty easy. We learn, talk, and play games!

Clasa VIII -- I also teach two classes of eighth graders. There is one class of advanced learners and one class that is classified as intermediate. They are difficult because they seem shy so far and don't talk much...they'll get over this quickly.

Teaching here is far different for me than teaching in the States. My counterpart and I split classes...which means I usually only have 12 students with me at a time. This makes it much more beneficial to the students because they get more interaction time with me, and they aren't as hesitant to make mistakes or speak in class. I have taught the full classes a few times already, but I just don't like the textbooks. I've always been a bit of a rebel teacher when it comes to textbooks...I don't like them especially in my history classes, but they do have some benefit I guess. I just think, as a teacher, I love coming up with taylor-made lessons to suit the students' learning styles and personalities, but with minimal resources the textbook is something the only visual form of information I can provide the students with. Well I just wanted to share a bit of my feelings about school so far. Feel free to email/comment questions if there are more specifics you want to know. I'll do my best to answer them!