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A view from Mt. Tampa over the medieval city of Brasov; a weekend trip during training

 

The clock tower in the old town center

 

The famous black church in Brasov. Named because of its appearance after a fire

 

Another view of the black church

 

The wonderful old town square full of quaint shops and restaurants with the black church imposing in the background

 

A view of the square with Mt. Tampa in the distance. A funicular or cable car takes you all the way to the top where you can get gorgeous views of the city.

 

 

The first class I taught in Romania. Beside me is Kevin, a volunteer from New York. During this practicum period we are paired with other volunteers and evaulated by the directors of the teaching program. The directors use these evaluations to place us in schools throughout Romania. These eleventh grade students were talented and eager to learn. I brought in some college level literature texts which they handled with ease.

 

The second class we taught during the 2 week practicum. These tenth graders showed a lot of enthusiasm and were a pleasure to teach.

 

The Gheorge Tattarescu High School of Arts . . . during training we had an opportunity to visit our sites where we would be posted for the next 2 years. The next series of pictures are from Focsani.

 

Another view from inside the school

 

Outside the school

 

A basketball court

 

Some of the facutly from the school. To the far left is Ioana, my counterpart, who will help me to understand the Romanian school system and integrate into the school.

 

The front of the school

 

A street corner with the theatre in the background

 

The famous memorial in Focsani

 

Some street art

 

The synagogue in Focsani. There were once a sizable population of Jews in Focsani, but now there remain only a handful.

 

Fellow PCV's, you will be missed.

 

Ileana and I. My gazda mother from Ploiesti who attended my swearing in ceremony.

 

Jim Ekstrom, the Director of Peace Corps Romania along with Jamie, a volunteer going to Tulcea

 

Some Peace Corps Volunteers playing ultimate frisbee

 

Some peace corps volunteers waiting for directions in Bucharest

 

For several days the front of this door looked like this with the coffin and the candles. After a family member has died, some Romanian families keep the body in the house for three days.

 

A statue in the center of Ploiesti

 

A map posted in the training office in Ploiesti which shows the placement of all the peace corps volunteers in Romania colored by sector. The blue circle is Focsani,where Eric and I are posted. Jonahtan, a volunteer from group 20, has already been there for 1 year.

 

A typical day in Pre-Service Training (PST). Lots of low-key group training sessions like these make me yawn.

 

A rambling street in the mountain town of Sinai in Transylvania, one of my first weekend excursions during PST

 

An old house in Sinia

 

The train station in Sinia

 

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