on the road: predeal & sinaia
While being a diligent attendee at the conference, I also managed to have some fun with some PCV friends. . . 10 hours on a bus allowed me to see lots of fall color. Melody had some good finds at the Predeal Second-hand store. While roaming around Predeal, Melody & I happened upon some musicians. […]
about romania: youth with migrant parents
Last weekend, I headed to a Peace Corps conference about Romanian Youth with Migrant Parents (YMP). YMP is not a “new issue” here, but it definitely is coming to a head. The situation is this (in simplistic terms; it’s pretty complicated overall). Romania is an EU country BUT Romania doesn’t have a strong economy or […]
in the kitchen: tex-mex night
Earlier this week, I made salsa using Gretel’s recipe (1 kilo of tomatoes, 1 onion, 4 ardei uite, herbs) on the off chance that our packages would come from home. They did! (More on that later!) And enclosed were seasoning packets for tacos, burritos, fajitas, etc (Thanks to BOTH our moms!). That sealed the deal […]
earworm: manele
Not surprisingly, one of the aspects of Romanian culture I’m most interested in is music. So here is the first post (hopefully of a series) on Romanian genres of music. The first up is manele music. While it is a far cry from Romanian folk, classical, or pop, manele is inescapable in Romania. It blasts […]
in the kitchen: updates
The ginger ale pictured below tasted like butt. Fortunately, our darling friend Jenny has a sister who makes a ginger ale syrup that is very tasty and easy to make and hits the spot. Mixed with some mineral water, it’s fizzy goodness in a cup. Ginger ale crisis averted. I have been at work so […]
flashback? flashdance?
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3457397&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] a montage of dancing skillz from our Swearing In Party 13.08.2009
in the kitchen: crossing fingers & toes
So this was my post-church project — making Ginger Ale. It’ll take about 3 days to see if I was successful and if we have a carbonated beverage. But I’m crossing my fingers and my toes.
on the road: cumparaturi in Suceava
On Saturday, Larisa, David’s counterpart, invited us to head to her hometown town of Suceava for a day of shopping and meeting her parents. We left at 7AM and arrived there at 8:15AM. By 8:30AM, we had met her parents Maria & Victor and were toasting our introductions with apricot tuica (homemade Romanian alcohol) and […]
in the kitchen: GHIMBIR
Melody-lui messaged me this morning to confirm that she has found GHIMBIR (ginger root) in Suceava. Hallelujah! I’ve been missing ginger ale something fierce and with the price of soda here (5 RON or almost $2 for a 2 liter), we could save a pretty penny making our own ginger ale. So, homemade ginger ale, […]