Lifeboat Heaven

Finally!

2006-03-24T14:28:00.002-05:00

I got it! It's great! The Fulbright Commission in Bucharest and the State Department have made a match between me and a Mr. I in Sibiu! I plan to go to Romania on August 8. School won't start until September 15, but I will no doubt need as much time as possible to get ready and to work on my Romanian skills.

Kids and teachers are hearing the great news and coming through offering congratulations. That is, all except one. One of my favorite students, A, with whom I have worked very closely for three years, was NOT very happy with the news. He said, "But you're not going to be here next year to see me graduate! That's not fair! You've worked so hard, don't you want to stay and see the graduation?" A is rather put out about the whole thing. When he came to class the next time after hearing the news, he hit me in the arm! However, when I told him that I would design and knit a vest for him for the graduation, he calmed down.

Mr. I has been communicating by means of email. He gave me his phone number and I want to call, but the time difference has made it difficult. I'll try to get it together for Monday.

Teachers all around the building are looking forward to playing the host to Mr. I and his wife (Mrs. I, I imagine. Do the Romanian women use the husband's last name?). Mr. Z wants to know if Mr. I plays golf. It's so funny how people respond differently based on the sex of the teacher: nobody ever offered me to play gold. Maybe that's a good thing: I have no idea how to play golf. The only thing I really like about golf is how Tiger Woods is always beating everyone. And that's really just racial pride.

About Tiger Woods: They say his dad, Earl Woods, is in poor health. This man has been a great and involved parent and should be a model to parents all across America. He put his own life second and his kid's life first. If only all parents would do the same. I hope the family can find peace at this time.

Finally!

2006-03-24T14:28:00.000-05:00

Eu stiu

2005-10-31T09:55:00.000-05:00

Last week, a Romanian student at my school was telling an American one: "The teacher only knows like two words in Romanian". I was able to respond, "Eu stiu o suta de cuvinte, nu doua!"

Nice going for myself.

Students knitting for the earthquake victims is still going well. Some of the items are beginning to look like hats. I am fixing the rest so they can continue on.

Also, I've been doing a lot of posting on http://www.bootsnall.com/. This is not about the current, in planning, trip.

So far so good

2005-10-24T12:09:00.000-04:00

We're knitting away here. 19 students came on Tuesday to work on knitting hats, and 6 came on Thursday, which wasn't even a scheduled day to work. Some are knitting a bit weirdly, but since we're to felt the knitting, it should all come out okay in the end.

I am well advanced in my plans for Romania, and have located a teacher who seems more than suitable. So I have to imbue my efforts to learn Romanian with increased vigor, because I will probably have to teach in Romanian. Yipes! But I believe I can make it if I work hard.

Knitting for the Earthquake

2005-10-18T07:32:00.000-04:00

This whole thing about the 2.3 million people left homeless by the earthquake is really getting to me. This is more than the entire population of Oakland, Macomb, and Livingston counties in Michigan. It's immense. And they're not being supplied with FEMA mobile homes. Instead, it's tents and blankets. For a Himalayan winter. Sounds very, very cold.

And I am running out of money with which to be helpful: between the tsunami, the famine in Africa, and the floods in the U.S., everyone is stretched. But I'd still like to do something, and in assessing my resources, it looks like yarn is one of the areas in which I'm most strong. So I am earmarking $200 of worsted weight wool for the cause. This is about 29 4-0z rolls.

Now yarn is not enough. The people in the affected areas need finished goods. So I have recruited a bunch of students are my school to come to my room and knit on hats. I'm starting each hat and students can come during their study hour and knit. There's no commitment necessary: when study hall is over, they just put the knitted material down and another student can come and work on the same piece the next time.

Those of you who are knitters are screaming, "What about gauge?" Since we plan to felt the hats before sending them, gauge won't really be a problem.

In the past, I have sent garments to Afghans for Afghans, and that is where we plan to send our goods. Students are very excited: 13 are pre-signed up for today. This makes me feel better about helping the people who are cold right now.

Earthquake in Pakistan

2005-10-10T07:15:00.000-04:00

Oh, the poor people in Asia. Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan are once again the center of an earthquake, this time one more devastating than any in the last 55 years. Scientists say that they knew an earthquake was coming. But what were they going to do? Evacuate the whole region? Clearly this was not an option.

We can't do anything about earthquakes happening. But buildings can be constructed in such a way as to minimize casualties - if the resources for construction and inspection are available. And plans can be put into place to extricate those who were injured but not immedately killed in the quake itself. But these plans, also, take resources. And these are some of the poorest areas in the world.

I feel bad, bad, bad to see the people in such a condition, without equipment to get to the survivors. Reading the news, I find myself crying. Yet another time that the poor have to suffer, and the wealthy nations send too little aid. The U.S. government is sending $20 million. That's $1000 for each person who has died (so far). The U.S. government is spending $200 billion for Hurricane Katrina. That is $200,000,000 for each person who died. Now I understand that we would spend more when our own country is devastated, but this is out of proportion.

Getting Ready - Stuff and Mind

2005-10-01T03:10:00.000-04:00

If I have the chance, it's useful to have a long lead-up to a trip. This allows me to be on the lookout for things I'll need, and also to avoid buying certain things if I know I won't be here to use them. Like, if I'm going overseas next year (10 months from now), there's no need in buying a new winter coat. I'm sick of the "good coat" I have now, which has been in my possession for 12 years. It's a fine quality wool coat, and when I replace it, the new one won't be much better. But I just don't want to look at it anymore. It cost $300 when it was new, so I imagine I could get one like it for $350 today, maybe a little more. But there's nothing really wrong with it, so I can't see getting rid of it.

Knowing I'll be going overseas makes the decision easier. I'll use it this winter, then take it abroad next year and use it then. It will by that time have seen 14 winters. Probably there will be some lady in Romania who is not sick of it, since there are allegedly these elderly widows. She will probably put it to good use and I don't have to feel like a waster for getting rid of it. And I can buy another when I get back.

Several things start coming to my mind when I'm writing about the coat dilemma. Hanan, my Egyptian friend, has noticed that "Haggat Therisa tafdal" or, in English, Therisa's things last. She sees me coming to Egypt with the same pair of L.L.Bean boat shoes for upwards of 10 years. My purses never change. The clothes are the same. Hanan's things, on the other hand, are always different. I've thought about this and have a couple of hypotheses. One is that Hanan, being poor, doesn't have as many items so they don't get rotated as much. Or, maybe, she can't afford to buy as good of quality things in the first place. Another idea is that the pollution in Cairo is degrading the fabrics and leathers.

But even in the U.S, I keep my stuff a long time. That winter coat is the "good" coat, I said. Before it, I had only one "good" coat, and I had that all through junior high, high school, and college (10 years). I have another coat, a parka, and I have had it probably 10 years. There seems to be no need for replacing it. I bet that most people in this country could keep their things longer. As it is, the charities can't handle all of the used clothes people donate. They don't have to worry about me flooding them with used clothes: for the most part, if I get rid of something, it has to be thrown away because if I don't want it, no-one would want it.

Now, this brings me to the issue of getting ready psychologically. Romanians reading this, I imagine, are probably nodding their heads. They probably also use things up before throwing them out. I read on Karla's post that beggars go through her garbage to see if there's anything usable. This also happened in Egypt, so I suspect the Romanians, economically speaking, are somewhat better off than Egyptians, but have the same attitude towards stuff. I don't know, but I bet they give any cast-offs to local people they know, rather than a charity. I don't bet I'll find too many charity shops in Timisoara.

But here's the difference: When I lived in Egypt, or in Morocco, or in Spain, I was a student. Sure, I had more money that many or most of the locals, but not a LOT, LOT more. Now, I'm coming from a country with a GDP of $40,100. Romania's GDP is $7700 in purchasing power parity (means that they can, with their average GDP, buy goods and services equivalent to what the U.S. resident can buy with $7700). In dollars, their GDP is close to $2200 or $2500, depending on whom you ask. What does that mean? If you show up in Romania to live, with $2500, that is about equal to what the average person produces in a year.

Could a foreign person (from a rich country) actually live in Romania for a year on $2500? Not probably. Normally, in countries where the economy is not robust, a complicated network of kin and associates is needed to make life possible at all. People share and trade favors in an informal economy. Money itself does not usually change hands, but favors are remembered and returned when appropriate. An outsider, who has not developed these sort of trust relationships, would need to replace the "social bank" with a bank account.

So, and this is speculation here, how much would an outside person need to live in such a country? That would, of course, depend on how willing he or she was to live like the people. Wash your clothes at home, or send them out to the laundry? Spend weekends visiting friends and family in the area, or going out of town? Cook at home or eat out? How often for haircuts, newspapers/magazines/internet cafes?

I'd bet, if the foreign person was willing to make some inexpensive choices, that he or she could probably make it on close to $5000 in a year. Now, this leads to another point : how do local people feel about these "rich foreigners" who, by their spending, show that they clearly make much, much more than that?

Another teacher of my acquaintance, Mr. Z., went to a country similar to Romania on a teacher exchange. His co-workers had heard that their colleague was receiving $24,000 to go to the U.S. for a year of work, so they suspected that Mr. Z, who was allowed to keep his regular U.S. salary, was in possession of the same sum. Mr. Z said, upon his return, that he felt like every single interaction he had with people in his school environment was in some way colored by this financial disparity. And, in point of fact, this disparity was even more significant than the co-workers knew. The average teacher salary in our state is some $57,000. And Mr. Z's district website gives a salary schedule: he was making about $60,000.

What does that mean? How do people work out friendships if every interaction is in fact affected by monetary concerns? I'd like to know what you think about this, readers.

The traveling Life

2005-09-29T14:34:00.000-04:00

I like reading other blogs from people who travel, especially women.
It's in a way, reading my own past but in different words. I see my own second class train rips, the lecherous bus drivers, and friendly new faces in bathhouses.

Much of my adult life has been spent either going somewhere, being somewhere, or getting ready to go somewhere. So now, I like have a list of what to bring, how to make my life fit in with the traveling one. For example, this is why I don't have pets. And why I always make sure to pack a yoga mat.

Therisa's Travel Tips

1. There is always a bathroom next to or as part of a mosque. And it's usually reasonably clean.

2. I never want anything that is being offered to me by a stranger in or near a point of arrival. Such as, I don't want a taxi from a shady type in Madrid, who greets me as soon as I get off of the bus from Seville. I want to go up to the taxi rack and choose my own. This applies to hotels, restaurants, money-changing services, or anything else.

3. Always have a quest. It keeps you from staying in the hotel room getting weird. If you are out looking for a piece of silver jewelry made in the local town and not imported, you can see some interesting sites and neighborhoods, rather than the inside of a Jeffrey Archer paperback.

4. If your hair texture differs from that of the natives in a country, call the embassy of your own country or a country where the people have hair like yours. They will probably maintain a list of local establishments where people can obtain needed services - like a haircut rather than a hack job. That said, it's sometimes fun to go to a local beauty salon if all you get is a wash, blowdry, or set. You can meet local women and have fun. But don't let them put any chemicals on your head........

So far I've been to: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Canada, and, where I was born, the U.S.

Learning Romanian

2005-09-28T11:39:00.000-04:00

I'm 36 years old, and trying to learn a new language. It's not certain whether Romanian is my 6th language. Maybe it's my 7th. That depends on whether one differentiates between Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian 'Ammiya. But anyway, I had forgotten how many hours one has to spend studying. It's fun to identify words and do homework. It's also interesting to note how one's brain starts slowing down. I can see that I'm not learning as quickly as I used to.

I told all this to my Dad. Actually, I've told everybody within earshot that I'm learning Romanian. They're all encouraging (except for some students who asked "Why? Shouldn't you just learn something useful like Russian?"). Daddy is thrilled for me, but he said that it's somewhat humbling to realize that not only is he himself feeling the effects of age, that he has now lived so long that even his children are getting visibly older.

By the way, I am learning the Romanian because I want to go on a teacher exchange there next year. Administration in my district has already approved the exchange, but that doesn't ensure that a suitable Romanian teacher wants to come. Last year, there weren't any suitable applicants, so we couldn't make an exchange. To prevent that happening again, I have been burning up the Internet looking for a social studies teacher who is also fluent in English. Keep you fingers crossed, y'all!

this lady seems to have the Romanian language situation laregely under control. I'm not there yet.