Another New Experience

Romania, specifically Bucharest, has offered a large number of new experience opportunities. On Friday, I not only had the opportunity, but also the reality, of taking part in my first car accident. It should be noted I had a clean record, 10 years worth, without a ticket or collision before my most recent learning experience.

Allow me to first set the scene: I was wearing gym clothes after attempting to maintain some small degree of health by sweating for a few minutes at my gym club. I had dropped off friends and was driving the usual path home. As I was in the car alone, I started the music and was enjoying the classic Time After Time.

I arrived at a chaotic square about called Piata Dorobanti. This square has three incoming traffic roads and two outgoing paths. I had stopped, at my yield sign and allowed about five cars to go. It was at this time I noticed the green lights ahead of me as well as the cars going forward. I decided this was my chance to venture on...I was only about three mintues from home! Unfortunately as I ventured forward, so did a black Mitsubishi which was driving perpendicular to me. As you have probably predicted, I smushed her driver's side door.

God's amazing grace was with me and my friend, Johnathon, happened to walk by. He immediately hopped into the car and accompanied for the remainder of the journey!

This incident was really the least painful of all. After a winding trip, about thirty minutes long, we finally arrived at a police station. It was then I realized I couldn't find my driver's license and urgently took a taxi home to retrieve it. I returned to the station to find my poor counterparts sitting at a table, with two forms awaiting completion, and a number 165. It was then they told me we were on number 133. "Oh my" was my only thought!

After a four and a half hour wait, which by Romanian standards is quite short, we were called into a separate room. By this time my friends, Lyndsey and Simon, had arrived. Simon, a native of Romania, acted as translator which was needed for all paperwork and police communication.

In the end, I was fined 60 American dollars and received a two month license suspension. Apparently license suspension, especially with foreigners, is not uncommon. They granted me a fifteen day driving permit until the suspension takes place. The suspension included the physical possession of my license which I will be able to pick up in two months from another unknown building.

As my mother said, "This is just another Romanian experience!"

Martisor and Woman's Day

March is a fabulous month to be a woman in Romania. There are two specific holidays, one week apart, which honor women.

Before continuing to read, I must make a confession. I attempted to type my own explanation of Martisor and realized it was lacking. So, being the teacher that I am, I decided to use my resources and google it! The following is an explanation of Martisor, one which is better than I could have ever conjured up.....

Mărţişor (Romanian: little March) is the traditional celebration of the beginning of the spring (and until 1701 of the New Year) in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria on 1 March.

The day's name is the diminutive of March (in Romanian Martie), and thus means something like "little" or "dear March". Nowadays, men offer women a talisman object also called Mărţişor, consisting of a jewel or a small decoration like a flower, an animal or a heart, tied to a red and white string. However, giving a little nickel tied to a red and white string is an old custom and was originally designated for both men and women. It was believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be powerful and healthy for the year to come.

The decoration is a symbol of the coming spring. A woman wears it pinned to her blouse on this day and up to two weeks after. Occasionally, women also give such gifts to men. In some parts of Romania such as Moldova or Bukovina the symbol of spring was a gold or silver medal which was worn around the neck. After wearing the coin for twelve days, they bought sweet cheese with the medal, because it was believed that their faces would remain beautiful and white the entire year.

The other day, which is more widely known, is Woman's Day! This takes place on March 8th. This is like the Mother's Day of the world. Once again, women reap the rewards of carrying the xy chromosone. On this day, I received flowers as did many others! Could it really get any better????

Journey to Egypt

I hate to admit it, but I had to look up the exact location of Egypt before I departed for the trip. Cairo was not what I expected and my experience could be greatly summarized by a fellow traveler's comment, "I'm glad I came, but I won't come back!"

Cairo had beautiful mosques and sandstone buildings along side crumbling brick structures. The sheer size of the city was astounding. It could take hours to travel from one end to another, with light traffic. On a positive note the streets are wide and spacious. Like Bucharest, driving is a bit hairy, and the horn is used often and without hesitation.

The history this part of the world can offer cannot be measured. In the span of a few days I was able to see and bring to life what weeks in a classroom fails to do.

As most of you know, riding the camel was an all-time life highlight. Although it may seem everyday to those in that part of the world, the only other camels I had seen were in zoos and on a farm outside of Colorado. My camel's name was Mickey Mouse although I also met a Snoopy. The camel was tall and his gait was slow. Even at a trot, it wasn't a fast journey. Much to my surprise, riding him was not as rough as I would have expected, although riding a horse would be my preferred form of transportation.

One of the most fascinating museums I've attended was the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. It housed tombs, mummies, mummified animals, tools and a wealth of other artifacts. By far I was most fascinated with not only the hair on the bodies of thousand year old dead men but also by the fact that they mummified animals like monkeys, crocodiles and even fruit! It by all means was more intriguing than the typical painting or sculpture (at least to my uneducated eye)!

Equally interesting was the layout of what might be considered the old downtown. What I would have considered a space appropriate to be a modest storage unit, was indeed a variety of shops in Cairo. Hundreds of small rolling doors opened from early in the morning to late at night to reveal shops of all mediums including bakeries, cell phone providers, shoe shining stops, cafes, spice stores and knick knack stands. The majority of these spots were occupied by men, men lingering with no real place to go and sipping tea. Women were not often seen being stationary in any one spot let alone resting in a vendor's place of business.

Attire there varied from traditional coverings to modern day fashion. As would be expected, most women wore head scarves; however, these women might wear skirts or jeans. Clothing was more form fitted than I would have anticipated but unlike in America or England, cleavage was not seen nor were bare arms. I did not see a single pair of shorts, other than on tourists and skirts touched the ground. Although sparse, occasionally women were completely covered in black Niqab and Hijab, even wearing gloves. I discovered that when women are covered in this way, children often look at shoes to find their mothers. Interesting, no???

Romanian Tidbits...Part One

When traveling outside of your own comfort zone, you will inevitably bump into cultural differences. I am not referring to those obvious differences such as varying cuisine, unique wardrobe choices or language barriers. The cultural differences I have in mind are those which surface only after submersion, in a new habitat, occurs. Here are some of the cultural tidbits I found after living in Romania for a few months........

I spend a large majority of my time on the floor. Not only because I am a first grade teacher but because I have limited seating in my home. I often sit with my students on our carpet or the tile if there is no room. This ritual never seemed problematic until one chilly day in December. I was seated, pretzel style, with my bum on the tile and my legs on the carpet. My teaching assistant came to me, whilst I was talking to my young pupils, and said, "Ms. Loeper, you need to sit on the carpet. Please move." Seeing as I am the youngest of three children, I regularly do what I'm told without question. I scooted up and forgot about the incident. However, that was not the end of my reprimand. I was later running around, on the tile, without shoes and another teaching assistant approached she. She, rather agressively, asked me, "Don't you want to have children?" As you can imagine, I was slightly confused. I replied with, "Of course Iwould like children one day. Why?" Her answer was this, "You will not be able to have children if you continue to walk around without shoes or sit on cold surfaces. The cold will make you infertile." Not wanting to be insulting (or risk the chance of infertility) I quickly doned my pair of indoor shoes. After further investigation I learned that the common belief, among both those young and old here, is that coldness can seep into you and cause infections as well as ruin your eggs. This is not limited to women alone; men can get kidney infections!

Somewhat attached to this belief is a belief about the 'current.' The current, as you would assume, refers to a flow of air. In Romania the 'current' is the source of much illness and despair! It is believed that if a person falls victim to the flow of the 'current,' they will, without doubt, end up with a cold as well as a variety of infections. To illustrate this point, I will use a story from my classroom. The women who cleaned our classrooms often left doors and windows open in an effort to make wet surfaces dry with greater speed. Following one of these days I received an email from a concerned parent. The parent stated that his child had a slight eye infection, and he was aware that the door had been open at some point in the day. He stated that he believed the cold air, sweeping through our room had caused the infection. He politely requested that we keep all doors and windows shut, for the health of his daughter. The 'current' had struck again!

One final tidbit, for the time being, concerns the use of slippers. As you now know, cold feet are simply not permitted in this society! When visiting the home of a native Romanian, or those that have been here a long period of time, you will immediately be offered a pair of slippers. The refusual of these slippers is not only an insult but unfathomable. I, adapting to my surroundings, now have three pairs of slippers; one for me, two for guests!

Stay tuned for future tidbits!

My New Home Away from Home

The Primary Building a.k.a. The Yellow Building

Our new educational facilities have been likened to the grounds of Harry Potter's school! There are grand staircases, glistening chandeliers and fabric covered walls. The buildings are quite breathtaking both inside and out and offer a variety of outdoor activities. There are tennis courts with basketball hoops, known as a pitch by my British Counterparts, outdoor swimming pools and a wealth of trees. Like so many things in Romania, this setting is A-typical when thinking of a new school.

In contrast to the romantic picture created above, my classroom is quite standard, at least in some ways! I have been given the old swimming pool changing room!!! It, unlike many of it's neighboring rooms, does not have fabric covered walls or dangling lights. Rather we have brown paint and fluorescent squares! Unfortunately it is a bit small; however, the close setting creates a very cozy environment! We are located right next to the cafeteria, once the swimming pool, which offers the benefit of never being far from food!

There are some interesting logistics at the school. There are fences all around, and you can only enter using a swipe card. Parents are restricted to a small area, far from our main building, and have been invited into the school only once. We are allotted a certain amount of paper monthly as well as erasers, known as rubbers, and other basics. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards which unfortunately do not interact! All students are required to wear "indoor shoes," meaning that students have two pairs: one strictly for outside and one strictly for inside. This action was required to help preserve the carpet. One more detail..... handicap accessibility is not important; there are no ramps or consideration for such things.

This school year has been memorable to say the least!

Snow Snow Everywhere!!!!

When we returned from our adventures in Hungary, Chels and I walked into a winter wonderland! Literally we walked in it because the train could not pull up to the platform, therefore, we trampled through about two feet of untouched snow! This weather, although beautiful and romantic, was a bit problematic!

The problems began when trying to find our car, Sam, amongst the drifts. Only by chance and memory could we remember where we had roughly parked. After some digging we indeed found our blue automobile and the correct license plate. Unfortunately, Sam was so covered and barricaded that we took the metro home.

From home, we formulated an action plan! We needed a shovel. Sadly, I did not have one. This feeling of inadequacy was new as I had a shovel in my Wyoming car, a shovel in my apartment and probably ten more at home on the ranch! We peered into some of the local shops but had no luck.

I decided to seek advice from a more experienced Bucharestian, my neighbor Ina. I asked if she had a shovel which we might borrow. No she did not, but she did have contacts!!!! After three phone calls, she had found me not only a shovel but a shoveler! To make a long story short, after a twenty minute subway ride, a ten minute walk in the snow, three more phone calls to Ina and our shoveler, a ride in a van, a broom, a homemade shovel and 70 Ron, our car was set free!

Although it has dirtied several floors, created some traffic accidents and cut down walking areas, the snow has created a magical blanket on Bucharest that not only brightens it's gray buildings but creates a feeling of newness. With this white cover, it is hard not to enjoy soup and hot chocolate, snowmen making and ice skating is a must!

Christmas Travels!!

View of Florence from Boboli Gardens

As so many do, I was traveling over this Christmas season. During a three week vacation, I was able to see Ireland, Italy and Hungary. My friend Chelsea was able to come on two of these trips! My travels began in Ireland, headed south to Italy and then Northwest to Budapest, Hungary. As I have already shared my Ireland experience, I will begin with "Italia."


At the risk of sounding cliche, the phrase, "When in Rome..." was uttered often during our five day adventure there! Rome was, hands down, a favorite in my book of travels! Upon arriving at our hostel, Chelsea and I were immediately tempted to wander about the city. Our efforts were greatly rewarded when we were treated to the amazing architecture, old and new, that was peppered allover the city! The structures were impressive not only for their massive size but also their detailed designs. Much like the structures of Rome, the people there were amazing and friendly. Chels and I were frequently stopped, mostly by men, and told, "bella, bella." The service was refreshing and warm, with a variety of complimentary items from the menus. Rome was also quite enticing due to the great history and museums available. As some would predict the Sistine Chapel was well worth the hour and 45 minute wait in line. The Colosseum, likewise, was a terrific and worthwhile excursion. The lines were once again incredibly long and the ruins of the old gladiator stomping grounds have quite a story if told properly. A guided tour of this tourist attraction was well worth the Euros!

Line waiting to go to Vatican City

Chels and Ali overlooking Florence

The countryside of Italy
Florence was charming in an entirely different capacity. Although a large city of 600,000 it held a much more quaint feel. The architecture was once again breathtaking, but the sidewalks seemed smaller, the distance between destinations shorter and the buildings a bit smaller. One particularly attractive feature was the formidable sized open air market. The leather market is world renowned and has been in existence for decades. I myself, quite unexpectedly, purchased a leather jacket from the streets of Florence. Florence also houses the magnificent and admired Statue of David; it was once again not disappointing. A definite highlight included visiting the Boboli Gardens and for an art enthusiast the Uffizi Gallery is fantastic. It was here that we had one of our most enjoyable Italian meals! I should mention that although cream sauces are available, there is NO alfredo! Most of the sauces and dishes are much oilier. Regardless of our enjoyment of this city, we were ready and eager to return to Rome!

On a whim of sorts, Chels and I decided to take our adventure to Budapest, Hungary! We did so by riding a train for fifteen hours there and back. We decided to pamper ourselves and get a sleeping car! Travel by train is an experience all it's own. Our cabin was what one would picture for a ship. We had three bunks per room which were spaced only far apart enough to hunch in! Our first cabin, what we would later consider luxurious, had a mirror, plug in and more than adequate heating. This was in comparison to our second cabin, on a 40 year old train, where the bunk beds were closer together, there was no heating, no plug ins and we had snow in our room when we awoke in the morning!

Outside of Train Number 2

I'm eating Langos and wiping grease on my hat

Buda from the Pest side

Budapest was equally as charming as Florence. The buildings were colorful, close together and had neo-gothic architecture. Unlike some of the other European countries I've been to, the language there was completely unrelated to English, Spanish or Romanian. Likewise, their metro system was one I've not been to where at some stops you are on the honor system and at others guards protect the entrance and ask for tickets. Budapest is divided into two parts: Buda and Pest. The Buda side fulfills the romantic soul while the Pest area is more for the young and adventurous. Here we enjoyed large meat and vegetable markets as well as some traditional food such as Langos and Hungarian Goulash.

Although it is always nice to see new places, there is something comforting about returning to the old!