Village Living

I am now in my Village, officially here for one week. In this time I have worked the fields, making feeding posts for the animals and painting a fence! Life here is much much different than anything I have ever been used to. There is no such thing as a watch or a clock, just when the sunrises and when the sunsets. During that time you must make the most of it to get all of your work done otherwise you work in the dark. The roosters wake me up every morning at sunrise then moma cow really wakes me up at 8 am. I do not have internet access yet at my house but the mayor keeps promising me it is on the way! Right now I am in the mayors office using his computer and he has no problem letting me use it but it would be easier to get it at my house. No one here expects me to help them in the fields or paint fences but in reality there is not much else to do and I have enjoyed my time working with the people. Because I am American they dont think of me as a worker and every 5 min they ask if I am ok or need a break...I just smile and laugh and keep working. I have become fluent in the workings of a pitch fork and one day I hope they will trust me with an ax but as for now grandma wont let me use it! I go on a lot of hikes in the hills and to neighboring villages and the people I have met are wonderful and friendly. None of them can understand why I would ever leave the States for Romania to not make any money but at the same time I think they respect it and me for it, especially when they see me walking the streets with a pitch fork over my shoulder coming back from the fields! There is one small store in the village that has all of the essentials, beer, chocolate, chips, bread and Cognac! For anything else I have to travel to other villages or cities which is not always that easy to get rides. Thus my legs are getting strong and my waist line thin but it is a great way to practice my Romanian. I do not speak english at all unless I run into a French tourist who speaks a bit or sending text messages to some of the other Peace Corps volunteers, needless to say my Romanian is getting pretty DAMN good! I wont lie, it does get a bit lonely here all by myself, but then I go for a walk and get invited into every persons home for a shot of horlinka...moonshine brandy that is at least 120 proof and considered good for the digestive system and some bean soup and sarmarle, cabbage rolls! It is impossible for your perspective on life not to change living with these people, working hand in hand and communicating in their native language...I have only been here a week and it has already begun to happen! Such a simple lifestyle...family, hard work, church and laughs aka horlinka!

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