Carving the Birds

80 for Dinner

80 for Dinner

Last year some of the volunteers stationed in the small city of Zalau hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for us Peace Corps folks and their Romanian associates. It was a grand affair with about a total of 40 – 50 in attendance. This year, the Zalau people said that they’d help if we in Cluj put on the banquet. ‘Cluj is a more convenient place to get to’ they said.

Along with our new site mates from group 21 and great help from an American teaching at the Hungarian Unitarian School, we managed to follow the directions of last year’s hosts to set places for over 80. Dinner was on Saturday as Romania does not celebrate a Thanksgiving holiday.

Three large turkeys that were walking around as late as Thursday weighed in at 43 kilos. They served the 80 and still there were leftovers. Dressing and Gravy and Sweet Potatoes and Corn and Mashed Potatoes and Shortbread and Pumpkin Pie and Cranberry Sauce provided enough variety so that everyone had plenty of good food to eat. I had made my traditional fantasy fudge with imported Marshmallow Crème and Chocolate Chips. Each attendee got a single piece when they paid the small amount to help cover the expenses. It was a great way of getting people to stop by my seat and balance their accounts.

Nancy had secured a donation from the Girl Scouts of America of twenty-one boxes of Girl Scout Cookies and a good friend mailed them to us. They were wrapped in autumn colored paper and placed as table decorations. They proved to be a reminder of home when they were opened. There may have been struggles for the peanut butter cookies or the thin mints, but I didn’t notice for I was in the kitchen helping with the carving of the birds.

The Hungarian Protestant Theological Seminary Cafeteria was the site of our meal and we thank the kitchen ladies who were very interested in watching us cook ‘American’. Our apartment held eight sleeping guests on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning was the site of the ‘Sunday Brunch’. While our apartment is large by Peace Corps standards, it is not very big. And as is the tradition in Romania, everyone takes off their shoes when entering a home. During the festivities I looked out from my post by the toaster and noticed that no one was standing in our foyer. At first I couldn’t figure out why when every other spot was crowded with people, then I realized the foyer was completely filled with shoes.

My toast duties included offering toast (many volunteers do not have toasters) with a choice of strawberry jam, cinnamon sugar- a rare treat and another taste of home, zacusca or peanut butter – not impossible to get, but still a special things for many. I and my helpers went through several loaves of bread, but the attendees all seemed satisfied. Of course there were eggs done scrambled, fried ham, fried apples, banana and zucchini bread, and quiche. It was a good time and fine fellowship to go along with the food.

Nancy made the suggestion that next year, same time, different place – maybe Virginia.

One of the Drivers waiting for a car full

Getting Around Town

Getting Around Town

Nancy and I are forbidden from driving. It is a Peace Corps policy, strictly enforced, that no volunteer can drive within the country of service. It is a good regulation, saves lots of lives and lots of hassles, but it means we give up some of the freedom of movement that characterizes our lives back home.

Getting to and from work every day is an adventure. My commute begins with a 25 minute walk to the west end of Cluj where I join up with my independent taxi drivers. They wait there for a car full – four fills up the old Dacias to the max. – headed toward the same destination. That means, if I’m the fourth to appear, no wait at all, but if I’m the first, perhaps a twenty minute or half hour wait. The cars are mostly old, beat up relics, but the drivers are all very safe (unusual for Romanian drivers) and put up with my broken Romanian. The fare is cheap and as there is no bus headed my way in the mornings not a bad way to travel, except for the wait on cold or rainy mornings.

The return trip is either by the 54 bus, which makes an afternoon stop in Luna de Sus or by drivers wanting a little gas money who’ll stop when they see me standing at the bus stop. The afternoon drivers are not as uniformly cautious as the morning ones and the trip back to Cluj usually gets my adrenaline flowing for my return walk back to the apartment.

Bus travel in the city is usually fairly efficient although the buses can get awfully crowded. Nancy and I buy our tickets at the stands before getting on. We have learned most of the routes and we have developed the proper etiquette to function. It’s strange that some people are extremely rude and pushy, while others are most courteous and sometimes it is the same person. It’s the same with the way most Romanians drive. I’ve concluded that it has to do with being anonymous. As long as one remains faceless, courtesy is not required, but once eye contact is made and an acknowledgement that the other fellow is really a person, courtesy takes over.

I usually offer my bus seat, if I am have one, to the little old ladies that climb aboard with the week’s groceries in their punga. More often though I’m standing and a young lady will offer me her seat. “Nu sunt Butran” I laugh,,,, “I’m not old.”

It’s nice that they make the offer, though I rarely take their seats. The other day though, some old guy, maybe 75, offered me his seat. Now that made me feel old.

Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs

It is election time in the United States. That makes it a good time to reflect upon on how Americans are perceived here in Romania. The truth is, it is a pleasure to serve in this country because of the respect nearly all Romanians have for America and Americans.

In general the United States is viewed in a very favorable light. English is the most often heard language and America is the destination of choice for many who go on summer internships and work study programs. It is difficult for Romanians to get to the U.S. because of our visa restrictions, but that doesn’t seem to deter many from wanting to go for a visit or to work. Many have family and relations in the U.S. and everyone asks us which state we are from. We reply and then are asked “Do you know Michigan, or California,” or where ever it is that the relations lives.

American music is everywhere. American movies play with sub titles on the T.V. and in the theatres. Many young people will answer that they learned their English not is school but watching movies or listening to the radio.

It is with more than ties of culture and destination however. America is viewed with respect for exactly the same reasons that many other countries are uneasy with our foreign policy.

The United States is seen as the most likely, perhaps only, defender of Romania’s freedom. That may seem a little strange but what appears to be the great fear in this country is that somehow Russia will return. Russia was the sponsor of the hated communist regimes and the U.S. is viewed as the only power that would stand up to the Russians. France and Germany are natural allies to Romania, but I feel that many here are unsure of the pacifist tendencies of those countries should Russia again wish to dominate Romania. Only the United States is willing to make the sacrifice to stand up for the interests of freedom around the world. That gets us into confrontations around the world and sometimes we confuse what the interests of freedom are, but the only security that Romania has from a resurgent Russia is the U.S.

Many Romanians read history in that the United States and Britain abandoned them at the Yalta conference near the end of World War II, but it is only the United States and Britain that now guarantee the freedom that now is flourishing in this country. Nancy and I and the rest of the Peace Corps presence here, help to promote the image that America is a country that cares. This January Romania is due to join the European Union. There is much excitement and trepidation on that achievement, but if I read the sentiment here, people would much rather be the 51st of the United States than the 26th of Europe.