Dear Friend,
Iris offered to take the bird out of my room, but I declined. I had already inconvenienced her out of her room (hers is the one I’m staying in,) I didn’t want to make her find another place for their bird. Apparently there were once two, but the female died recently. The male doesn’t know what to do with himself except cheep and chirp. He served as a second alarm clock for me this morning.
Meals at my homestay are much like meals at my house. Everyone comes in and gets what he or she needs, eats it, leaves the dishes, and then gets to where he or she has to be. Cristiana got up this morning, and in true mother fashion, made breakfast. She’s learning English, and speaks rather well considering how little she knows. Vali joined us for awhile to grab a bite and then headed for work. He plays computer games and gets paid for it. I don’t know how he got that job, but he did.
Iris showed me around part of Bucureşti as we made our way to the A.R.T. Fusion office. I was still rather overwhelmed by everything, suffering from sensory overload. The tram is similar to the tube in London, except the tram is above ground and the tube below. Traffic is crazy, so you’re on the defense always when crossing the streets. I really have to implement the “look both ways” principal now more than ever before. We made a few stops before reaching our destination, one of which was picking up lunch. This city is similar to other cities I've been in, except this one is dirtier, more crowded, and has many more construction projects in the works.
I met Carmen at the A.R.T. Fusion office. We took time to eat lunch and relax for awhile before Carmen and I got into discussing goals for the semester. She had sent me a preliminary list of activities I could partake in during the run of the semester, but now we had to pick and choose which ones to concentrate on. The final three projects we chose were
1. participate in the arts festival taking place in Cluj in a couple weeks (Cluj is northwest of Bucureşti)
2. lead a theatre workshop for A.R.T. Fusion volunteers, a workshop that will help enhance their theatre skills
3. help to compile a curriculum for forum theatre that can be presented to high schools in the area
Carmen also assured me that I’d be given time to work on my papers for my directed study. I was also told a number of times to let people know when I needed time to myself. Carmen finished our meeting with asking me about Northwestern’s theatre program and what I’ve been involved with there. I emphasized the department’s ensemble mentality as being pivotal to its success and also explained some of the classes in the theatre major.
After the meeting was a scheduled tour of Bucureşti with a member of A.R.T. Fusion. While I was waiting for this member to show up, I received a nice surprise when Raluca entered the office. Raluca, you remember, was one of the leaders at the Viaţa Camp I was involved in during my first week and a half in Straja. It was nice to see a familiar face. She informed me she would be heading to Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, where she would be starting school. She also asked how my Romanian was coming, so I got to “wow” everyone with whatever I had learned so far.
Alina was the A.R.T. Fusion member who came to bring me on a tour of the city. Her naturally black hair is dyed blonde, so she and I had a laugh about comparing our hair colors (mine is dyed black right now, but is naturally light brown.) She first took me to the old part of the city. It was raining a little by this point, so the park we walked through to get to the old part wasn’t as pretty in the grey weather. The old city, though, is full of old architecture. One alleyway in particular caught my interest. The architecture looked similar to that which I saw in Sinaia my first day in Romania. Most of the buildings in this alleyway were filled with art, which interested me greatly. Some of the paintings were knock-offs from famous artists (I found a Salvador Dali painting that was clearly not done by Salvador Dali.) I really enjoyed that part of the city and have every intention of returning.
We passed a couple of museums and theatres as we continued. In this way, Bucureşti reminded me of my time in London. Not as many museums and theatres, but more than I originally thought. We entered the Museum of Romanian History to find an exhibition being set up. There were several people walking around in period costumes and organizing displays. There was a section of the museum that displayed pieces of a stone pillar from the times of Ancient Rome. It was similar to a pillar I saw in London, where the stone carvings spiraling up the pillar depicted scenes of horses, soldiers, and chariots in battle. It was unusual to feel the presence of something I recognized, though that thing wasn’t from home.
The rain and wind started getting worse, so we decided to meet up with some other A.R.T. Fusion members and go to a coffee shop. I got to meet Ana and her boyfriend Adi (a different Ana than the one who led my group in Viaţa.) At the coffee shop Alina and Ana ordered tea while Adi and I ordered hot chocolate. I was surprised by the price: nine lei. It was really thick, as if someone took a Hershey’s chocolate bar and melted it into a cup. It had the slightest hint of almond, which I didn’t understand, though didn’t mind.
The weather made us all very lethargic. Ana made the comment that weather like this typically makes people melancholic and reserved, at which point we joked about becoming philosophical about the whole experience. Adi and I shared our interests in music. We both agree on classic rock. He also tried having a staring contest with Alina, but failed miserably with each attempt. I later told him he was just too much of a nice guy.
After our visit to the coffee shop, we decided the weather wouldn’t permit us to do much more than return to the office. While we were on the bus on our way back, Adi asked me about sports. I told him I didn’t play. He told me he played tennis and plays it in college. Some of the members of A.R.T. Fusion are college graduates, some are still in college. Alina graduated this past year with a degree in public relations. From what I gathered, Ana is working on an English degree. All I found out from Adi is that he plays tennis in college.
I reported to Carmen the day’s activities once we returned to the office. Soon after that, Iris and I got onto a bus, which took us to the tram, which took us home. During supper I got the chance to speak with Iris and Vali about my family. They in turn shared a lot with me about theirs. Their parents divorced when Iris was in third grade. Their father is extremely talented, but suffers from alcoholism and some subsequent mental health problems. Apparently he’s very heroic and any pain he feels in his body, whatever that pain may be, comes from invisible aliens he wards off on occasional outer space adventures. As fun as this sounded out of context, I could relate to the frustration concerning a father with a mental illness. It was nice to be able to connect with my host family a little. Despite our differences, we are indeed more alike than we realize.
Sleep was welcome after this day ended. I felt very exhausted from the entire day, from what I believe is still a case of information overload. I’m hoping I can knock myself out of it soon, otherwise the next two months is going to be laborious. Please pray, friend, that I can settle into this very foreign place.
Blessings.
Kailen
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