The First Few Weeks of the Romanian School Year

How do I describe the first weeks of school in Romania? Chaos, pure and utter chaos. It took almost two weeks for my schedule to make any sense. Now, at last, things seem to be settling down and I am getting my ideas in order. I have had to set up a grading sheet since this being Romania they have yet to move from the old catalog system into the modern computerized system. Right now I am setting up a seating chart so I can just look at my class and see who is in class and who is not. One of my 12th grade classes is still continuously missing half the class. I am hoping after talking to the director of the school that this week I will see the whole class. My work with the World Wide Schools program which connects me to a 2nd grade class in the states is going all right. I have passed on the classes blog address to my upper level advanced students in hope that they will respond to these American children.

The weather here is getting colder and wet but I am told that my site did not get much snow last year. I still have to get some winter clothes from the second hand shop since as a Peace Corps Volunteer I have very little money and most of that goes to food and paying the bills. Kendra, my now 4 month old kitten, is doing well and growing fast. We are still having arguments about the difference between kitty food and human food and why my socks do not belong under the sofa. I love her dearly and having her with me despite the trouble she causes will help in the coming months.

As I have said before and will say again service in the Peace Corps is like a 27 month rollercoaster ride. You have up's and down's and the up's can last as long as a month or be has short as a second. I go up and down on a daily or hourly basis depending on the day. Sometimes I love my students, sometimes I just want them to go away, and other times I want them to just shut up and let me speak. There are days when I am happy to be here and there are days when I think about going home. These are the ups and downs of the service and are normal.

I have known many PCV's and this is how all of us from the Peace Corps Volunteer to the Country director feels about their service. We are told at the beginning that our service will consist of some the highest highs we will ever feel and some of the lowest lows. It is for this reason that most volunteers will tell you that the Peace Corps is the toughest job you will ever love. This is the simplest way to describe it, because being far from home working in a community where no matter how well you try and integrate into it; you will still be something of an outsider. I am an American here for a two year tour, this is a fact that all who know me in this country understand and it is the thing that keeps me from being a full part of the community. This is what I expected, but it does not make it easy. So for those of you looking to join or going through the process, remember you can never anticipate what your tour will be like, and that there is only one guarantee, you will work hard for all you get and only you can make the decision about if you failed or succeed.