My summer!

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed summer as much as I did. Man, was I busy. A few days after school ended I volunteered to work a medical conference hosted by the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Romania. It was a lot of fun, and I got to brush up on my rusty German because I was translating.

Then, just after that my parents came to Romania. We spent one week here in Zalău and the neighboring cities so they could get an idea of what my life is like here. I even made them hitch-hike twice! Dad thought it was a lot of fun, but I don’t think my mom was too thrilled.

After hanging out in Romania my parents and I took a train down to Istanbul, Turkey. Man, that was probably the longest train ride I’ve ever been on. It took us about 30 hours. Once there, we went to the airport and picked up my older sister who flew in to meet us there. Istanbul is a very beautiful city! We went to the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. But we spent most of the time shopping at the Grand Bizarre. My mom and sister loved the prices, but didn’t like bargaining with the venders.

After they all few out, I had a few days to relax and un-wind. But not many because it’s a tradition in Zalău every year to have a Roman festival. It was really fun! People wore togas all day (including the mayor) and there were gladiator fights and lots of tents selling foods and crafts. There were traditional dancing and music, and it was just a good time.

A few weekends later was called “Zalău Days.” It’s kind of like a big birthday party for the town. I had a bunch of Peace Corps friends come into town and visit and to party. There was a band that played country music in Romanian. It was really funny, because most people didn’t know how to dance to it. My friend Autumn, from Indiana, and I started the electric slide and people were really confused.

Two days later I had some German friends fly in to visit for a week and I met up with them in a town called Oradea. After a few days there, we all came back to Zalău. That Friday was my birthday, so five PCV friends came into town to help celebrate. Counting the Germans, my apartment was full!

I also volunteered at a mountain biking/climbing/hiking race in the Carpathian Mountains. That was a lot of fun, and very beautiful. My tent was on the side of a mountain. Then I decided to go for a different change of scene and went camping at the Black Sea Coast with friends. We had a big PC meeting in a town called Venus, which was on the Black Sea so we spent a lot of time at the beach.

After that, I went off to Budapest, Hungry to meet up with my twin sister and friend. They came to visit for two weeks. We spent three days visiting Budapest and then took a bus into Romania. While here, Ellie, Bekah and I went to Oradea to visit the hot springs there. And then we went to Cluj-Napoca to see the beautiful city there. Went to the Roman ruins in the village Moigrad near Zalău and spent lots of time in Zalău. It was really great seeing my sister and spending time with her. And that’s where I am now. School starts next week, and I’m looking forward to my second year teaching.

So, like I said, my summer was jam packed and a lot of fun.