http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Chris-Alecia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Chris Alecia en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:25:48 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:25:48 +0000 Dear AllHappy New Year And belated happy holidays I will skip the obvious it has been ages and get to what we are here for all the juicy gossip you have been craving about the where and when and how of America's finest redheaded couple who used to be volunteers in Romania specifically Odorhei. That is correct used to be for you who are out of the gossip loop we are RPCVs. Unlike all http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-360427.html Greetings FriendsAlecia and I have now officially finished Peace Corps and so thought it might be time to fill you all in on the big lsquowhatrsquos nextrsquo Alecia and I have decided to stay in this beautiful part of the world for at least 3 more years. Alecia is working on a small company that will collect dry and export the regionrsquos delicious natural bounty i.e. wild blueberr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-310849.html Greetings one and all so the big update is that we are staying in Romania postpeace corps. We have decided to take a leap and start some new things on this side of the pond. Alecia will start a small business in wild gathered products Chris will manage the community foundation he started and we will both do some editing and consulting on the side. More on all that in the next blog but in the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-277488.html Happy HolidaysWell we once again find ourselves tardy on the blog front. So we would simply like to make a short note of what we have been up to and present you with our favorite pictures from the late summer fall and the holidays. The glossy overviewThis summer we were blessed to have friends and both sets of parents Alecia and Chris brothers and Erin Scott Chris brotherrsquos fianc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-231279.html Hello again all below is a reprint of an article we have submitted for publication regarding Chris' experiment in socialentrepreneurism with Agora...Recently a group of 11 American and British volunteers gripped sticks and cheese graters with a mix of anticipation and consternation as blackened loaves of sourdough potato bread emerged from a traditional wood fired oven. A couple of grandmother http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Harghita/Homorod-Valley/blog-208814.html Hello friendsItrsquos been a few months now since our last post and we hope yoursquore well. For us the summer has been wild trips around Europe visitors from home and various work related shenanigans. This is the first attempt to fill in the busy summer and give you a peek at what wersquove been up to. Thanks for your patience and we hope you enjoy the picturesWith that preface bac http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-208221.html Dear All It has been a while since our last update but in retrospect the pictures until recently have been rather dull. But now that the dark and stormy months seem to be passing into a spring time we are coming out of hibernation and have some pictures and stories to share. For the most part life in OdorheiUndvarhely is increasingly busy. Alecia is deep into the fruit project with Agora an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-144792.html Dear friends Our blog had some technical difficulties but I think everything should be fine now so I am resending last week's blog to everyone. Plus bonus pictures from a trip to the villages last week. We headed out to Almas on a snowy day and visited many of the local craft makers and I have attached pics. Thanks and have a great weekLast week's blogGreetings from finally snowy Transylv http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-125903.html Dearest one and all Happy New Year We hope your holidays were pleasant and that 2007 will bring you a year full of happiness and success peace and interest. Well as you might imagine spending the holidays in Sicily was great. Not just great stupendous scrumptious delightful and just about any other positive adjective yoursquod like to tack on. Granted the trains didnrsquot run on ti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/blog-119740.html Dearest FriendsHappy Holidays to you We are glad that we have been able to share some of our adventures throughout this year with you through this fantastic medium. While there is much one might reflect on considering the major changes in our life thanks to the blog there is less to recapInstead we look forward to what the new year will bring. We are headed to Sicily for the holidays and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-112567.html Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all We hope you all enjoyed a warm happy and delicious day.Our first Thanksgiving in Romania was a distinct pleasure celebrated with 35 new found friends at a cabana in the mountains. We missed you all and are thankful for your thoughts emails and support. Thursday the Turkey Day itself we traveled from home to Arad 30 km from the Hungarian border and ho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/blog-107239.html Greetings to one and all. As our first snow of the season falls on town and one begins to think of hibernation we thought it might be a good time to update you on our somewhat frenetic fall travels. In the last three weeks we have been to northern Hungary on a study trip Bucharesti to work on a hurt foot of Aleciarsquos pulledstrained Achilles tendon perhaps she will treat you to a desc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-100976.html Alecia The weatherrsquos starting to change here. We see frost some mornings and are starting to think about purchasing winter coats. The stalls at the outdoor market are bursting with tasty seasonal treats apples pears grapes walnuts dry beans fall spinach and lettuce potatoes dry herbs home made paprika popping corn tomatoes onions eggplant garlic and the like. Since our last http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-93335.html Two festivalsChris Taking a break from our increasingly full schedules Alecia and I speant the last two weekends visiting two very different festivals. The first was the Rosia Montana Fan Fest to raise awareness about a proposed mining project and the second was the Homorodalmas Barlangfestival read Almas Cave fest in the little village where Agora works. Rosia Montana The Project the Rosi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-88491.html When I came into the office on Friday someone had brought us an injured white stork the kind that sits on chimneys and brings babies. Why Because we are an environmental organization of course. We were supposed to go to Almas the village where we are doing rural tourism work but instead we speant the day with Storky. Feeding it making a bed in our closet trying to find a sanctuary med http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-81953.html We are now real volunteers After 10 weeks of training Alecia and I swore in upon the constitution we vowed to ldquoprotect America against all threats foreign and domesticrdquo ldquoso help us Godrdquo which was interesting at the Tomas Caragiu theater in Ploiesti. In attendance were the Mayor gazdas newspapers radio and 3 national TV stations. The American Ambassador is usual http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-81948.html The pictures from Tirgoviste were taken the second to last weekend before leaving Ploiesti. Our gazdarsquos son Ciprian is an advisor to the archbishop of the town so we went for a visit and a tour. Tigroviste is a traditional capitol of Romania and is home to some beautiful churches and monasteries. The ruins of the old capitol itself see Princely Court house a beautiful church with an i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-81946.html Alecia Itrsquos now July 16th and we have 2 weeks of preservice training left. At the end of the month we officially become Peace Corps volunteers and depart for our new home. Last week we learned where that new home was Odorheiu Secuiesc and we paid it a visit.Odorheiu Secuiesc is the unofficial Hungarian capital of Romania. Itrsquos a town of about 40000 people 98 of which are ethni http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-74925.html Upon arriving in Romania after a long and uneventful flight Alecia and I were among the lucky that had all of out luggage arrive. Funny enough the hardest part of the trip was flying through Philadelphia but after traveling around that fair city I can honestly say that all of my lessthan brotherly feelings from the airport have been assuaged. Thank you Erika and Rob for being stellar hostsU http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/blog-71813.html