Posh Corps

Posh Corps and New Address

This afternoon Nancy and I will become official Peace Corps volunteers at the swearing-in ceremony. While we have felt like official volunteers for some time, we’ve actually only been trainees. We’ve had ten weeks of language and cross cultural classes. We’ve made an initial visit to our permanent work site and we’ve tried to absorb as much of Romania as possible. Monday we’ll take the train to Cluj to begin our two year assignments.

I post the following random observations. First we’ve been treated splendidly by our host family. We’ve shared their house, their bathroom, their food. They’ve never complained about us – at least never in English. They’ve been special help in our language training. The terms in language learning are sympathetic listener and sympathetic speaker. They listen eager to understand our faulty Romanian and they speak slowly and repetitively until we grasp their meaning. The Romanian/English dictionary is often our dinner companion.

Speaking of food, Betty, our Gazda hostess, has been an excellent cook, consistently excellent. We’ve bragged about her to our fellow trainees, some of which have had a few horror stories. On Monday Nancy goes back to cooking, I go back to washing dishes. Betty had forbidden me use of her kitchen sink so I’ve gotten out of practice.

We’ve had nearly all the comforts of home and a short order cook available. Apparently in other Peace Corps countries Romania is referred to as Posh Corps. In 1961 when John Kennedy first inaugurated the program the norm was living in the countryside as the locals do and that still is the principal. Most Romanians have a decent lifestyle. Hot water is almost universally available. Refrigerators and gas stoves are in everyone’s kitchen.

One young fellow who Nancy and I both like was commenting on his site assignment. He was selected for a remote location in Moldavia. Some volunteers came back from site visit bragging of their accommodations – two have hot tubs available – which makes it difficult for fellows like Russell who live in a town at the end of the road with hot water operational only for certain hours. He was complaining that cell phones work intermittently, that the one school computer may not be hooked up to the internet, that there were only two small stores in town and they did not carry a full compliment of items. There was nowhere to buy frozen chicken breasts for example.

Russell will do extremely well at his site as long as he sticks with it. I can say that because Nancy and I will be close to a university city, filled with all sorts of diversions and culture and American class shopping. We won’t be able to purchase much for the stipend that we are given is to cover only basic expenses and we’ll have to carry everything we get in a punga for we are required to take public transportation. Compared to nearly every other Peace Corps country though, our situation, even Russell’s, would be considered posh.

The challenges ahead are not really in living conditions but in assimilating. Romania is a second world country on the verge of becoming first world. I should say that portions of the country already are first world, others part third. BMWs swerve around horse drawn carutsas. The average is second world for whatever that means. Private spaces and the country side are beautiful. Public spaces and public transport, with exceptions, are unclean, crowded and smelly. Checks, credit cards and American money are not used. Bills are paid by cash and in person at the Gas Company or the Electric Company.

People admire Americans and many speak excellent English, but they all wonder what in the world we are doing here.

That question is not easily explained in English or in Romanian. In one sense we are instruments of American Foreign Aid, placing money in towns and villages where it can effectively make a small difference. In a real sense we do serve one of the tenets that Kennedy put forward by being the face of America for people that have never seen an American. We hope the face we present is a fair one. For my language exam yesterday I had found a way in Romanian to express why I’m here. I practiced to say if properly unfortunately the question never came up so I didn’t get to use my little speech. I hate to waste it, so here it is.

Sunt Batran. Parul meu este alb. Vreau sa fac bun inainte mors.

For those interested in sending snail mail the best address for us is:
Asociatia Bioagricultorilor din Romania
407 281 Luna de Sus nr. 376
Jud. Cluj, Romania

This is the address for my work site. Please put on the envelope to my attention. We do enjoy getting snail mail.