Blogs from Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 32

Dear Diary, I survived Transylvania with only minor, non-scarring, difficulties, and I am now back in the Buda of Pest. So, here’s how it all went down…. Friday morning I awoke at the terrifying hour of 5:00 so that I could be at school ready to roll at 6:00. I was on time, running on about 3.5 hours of sleep. Instead of leaving on time we decided to wait around for FOURTY FIVE MINUTES for the losers who went out and got drunk the night before. I really cannot stand people who are so freaking disrespectful. This is when my first migraine of the weekend began to move in. The drive to Transylvania is supposedly about 9 hours. For us? Much much longer. I attempted to sleep for the majority of the ride, only waking up ... read more

Hello again all, below is a reprint of an article we have submitted for publication regarding Chris' experiment in social-entrepreneurism 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 grandmothers handed a loaf to each volunteer and stood back smiling… This somewhat surreal scene occurred on a late July day in a small village in Transylvania - though the idea was born nearly 9 months earlier in a slightly more mundane strategic planning meeting. At that meeting, Peace Corps Volunteers Chris Worman and Alecia Ball, and partner organization Agora, were discussing the future. Agora, like many Romanian NGOs was facing an uncertain funding future due ... read more

Hey there readers!! Its been a while since I sent an update I know, but I've been a bit busy... now where was I? Ah, last time I posted an update we had just arrived in Bucharest and had a big night out. We've moved on a couple of times since then, first to Mamaia, then on towards Transylvania (though its not really dark and stormy). Mamaia is a small beach resort on the Black Sea Coast. Its made unique by the fact that roughly 100 m from the beach running parallel to the coast is a large Lake. Between the two bodies of water becomes a huge party over the summer months. Unfortunately by the time we arrived there the "tourist season" had just finished, and literally 90% of shops, hotels and restauraunts had shut ... read more

Vlad Tepes Drakula iz dinastije Basaraba, rodjen je u Sigisoari - Transilvanija 1431. godine. Bio je vladar Vlaske oblasti u Rumuniji. Po rodjenju prorocice su predvidele da ce Vlad biti pravedan, ali surov vladar i da ce sve svoje protivnike nabijati na kolac, zbog cega je i dobio ime Cepes (Tepes), sto na Madjarskom znaci kolac. Naziv 'Drakula' je nasledio od viteske titule svoga oca. Zapravo, negov otac Vlad je pripadao viteskom redu Dragon. Kada se vratio sa viteskom titulom i zastavom u Rumuniju, neki grlati Rumun pogresno procitao Dragon i nazvao ga Drakul, sto se Vladu svidelo i to je zadrzao. Tako se to prenelo i na njegovog sina, samo je pridodato i slovo 'a', te je nasledio Drakula. Kada je dosao na vlast Vlad je bio surov vladar, pa su se u nekim izvestajima ... read more

HI all...it's birthday eve...per Romanian time, I've got another hour till I'm 41 ... can you even? I'm in Brasov, and have been here since we left Cluj ... wow, not Monday (what I thought) but yesterday!? Wow, we've done so much in 2 days...I'm confused by the time!!! From Cluj we drove down and made a few stops. One was in Sighisoara...where Dracula's father used to live. Very cool place...old, cobblestone roads...most leading uphill...there was a church that took 400 years to build...started 13th century (I think?) Lotsa history here. I also found myself waiting for our group of 11...and outside a church...and heard an organ? It was weird...one of those things you wonder if you're not imagining??? Nope, I wasn't! I bailed my group, and had to go check it out! Since I wasn't ... read more