In with the Gazda!

So, I am here in Ploiesti, and I have moved in with my wonderful host family (Gazda). I am using their internet connection, which is twice as fast as my broadband connection in Denver. Amazing, huh? Things are going very well, and I am starting to learn Romanian. It is coming along slowly, but it has only been three days. I am sure it is a huge challenge, but I feel like doing it for so long and being immersed will help immensely. We will see. Anyway, everything is great so far. I will add more pictures soon!

Pictures

Hey, I thought I would just show some pictures real quick of our journey over here and a little bit of the beautiful city of Ploeisti. I haven't taken many pictures yet, but I promise to keep working on adding pictures here.

In Romania!

We are here! The trip over went quite well, long but not bad at all. We went through Frankfurt and then to Bucharest. From there it was only a short busride to our new (temporary) home on Ploiesti. We are staying at a hotel and going through all of our pre-service rules and regs and such. Our group is really getting to know each other and we are all loosening up now, so that is all going very well. Romania is very cool so far, an odd mix of Latin cultures and Eastern Europe. The people are beautiful and there are a lot of bright colors in the countryside. The city is an industrial one, very urban, as is common here. It is odd how a city that is not huge can feel so big when it is built in this manner, but it certainly feels like you are in an urban area. We are using wireless in a restaurant near the hotel, but it is not a far walk, and the connection is excellent. It is crazy how well you can connect to the rest of the world. No more waiting for six weeks for letters for Peace Corps volunteers. Cell phones are everywhere as well, and every volunteer in the country that is at their site has one. Amazing, huh? Anyway, I had better be going now, but I will try to post again before long! (P.S. Sorry I have not posted any pictures here, but I will get them uploaded soon enough)

Staging

Here I am at staging. So far, so good. Seems like a fun and nice group of people to be spending the next couple of years with. Only a little over a day left, and then we get to travel off to Romania! We are going through all of the rules and regulations, figuring out our expectations for our experience. Lots of sitting in a room, but it is only for a couple of days, so I guess I am willing to sit through it, knowing we will be leaving so soon. I still don't find myself particularly nervous or worried, mostly still just excited. We have learned a lot about general Peace Corps stuff, and not much yet about Romania, but there will be plenty of time for that later, of course. Now, it is just the "nuts and bolts" of being a volunteer. We will spend all day tomorrow here, and then off we will go to the airport on Wednesday morning. JFK, then Frankfurt, then Bucharest. From there, we will head to Ploiesti, our training site. Sounds like it will be a good time, very challenging but extremely rewarding. Anyway, the preparations continue............

Time's Up!

Ok, so now my time here is just about up. My flight leaves in just a few hours for Philly, and then on to Romania! I have spent the last few days seeing people once more and saying some very hard goodbyes. Who knew it would be so hard to say goodbye? Last night I went out with some friends from DU for one last night in Denver. It was wonderful and exciting, and a great way to say goodbye to this great city. Denver is lonesome for her heroes, eh? Anyway, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go, so...here we go.

Getting Ready To Go

So, here I am, with six days until I leave for my staging. I am getting all of my stuff ready to go and tying up all of my loose ends. I sold my car today, and I just need to put a few more things into storage before leaving. Yesterday my family threw me a surprise bon voyage party, which was well attended and very fun. I was quite surprised to come home from drinking a couple of beers at the bar to find all of those people waiting for me, let me tell you! Anyway, it was very sweet and nice of my family to do this for me. A nice way to say goodbye to many family friends. Now that I have talked to all of those people though and told them about my plans, I guess I really have to do this now, huh? Time is winding down fast.....