Familie

It was really terrific to see everyone in Kansas. I deliberately flew back to spend time with my family because I'm not sure that I will have a chance to see them for the next 27 months, and I'm expecting to spend some time in Europe following my Peace Corps service. So with that in mind, I spent time today studying familie (family).

Note: Going forward, parentheticals ( ) will be translations, and brackets [ ] will be my way of giving you a rough estimation of pronunciation. Obviously, I expect everyone to learn along with me. ;o)

Mulţumesc (thanks) mama mea [may-uh] (my mother) şi fraţii mei [she fraht-zee may] (and my brothers) for bearing with me as I tried my hand at translating everything into Romanian. As they were laughing at me, commenting "well, Tim is teaching again," or simply rolling their eyes, they dealt with it admirably. There is something about teaching a subject to others to really help concretely set up concepts in one's own mind. Mom was especially helpful as I ordered drinks and food and asked her "what I owed her," and then broke down the dolari and told her it was too much or just enough. The hardest part of learning this language is that I don't have anyone around me that speaks Romanian.

I'm grateful that I'll have Skype and e-mail to keep in touch with Mamă şi Tată şi întreaga familie [she oon-tray-ah-guh fuh-mee-lee-eh] (the whole family). Te iubesc! (I love you all.)

Special shout out to văr [vuhr] (cousin) Marc and to Marty. Thanks for letting me pick your brain about Europe. I really enjoyed dessert and tea. You're both great! Noroc (good luck) in all your endeavors.

Another shout out to Vanessa. Your many tips on Italy are much appreciated. It was great to see you, and spend some time together. I'm looking for that backpack as I type.

Noapte buna [Nwap-teh boo-nuh] (Goodnight) familie - I feel like I'm on the closing moments of The Waltons.

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Staring up at the same moon.

Alpha

 

Taking A Walk In History

I have the great fortune of having some pretty great relatives, and the even better fortune of having one heck of a kid brother. He's the kind of modest guy who lights up a room without thinking about it. He's just so darn cool! So, anyway, I stayed with Steven, his lovely and extremely intelligent wife Vanessa and my new (5-months old) nephew Xander for a couple of days in Lawrence. Steven took a couple of days off to hang out, and we ended up at the WWI memorial and museum in Kansas City.

The Memorial Tower

This was an amazing place! If you want the scoop on any aspect of WWI from the life of the soldiers to what the front lines looked like, to the strategies of the opposing sides, this is the THE place to visit. The people who put this museum together spent a great deal of time and energy to compile artifacts, weaponry, uniforms, and put the whole thing together with a great deal of care and attention to detail. However, they did so in a way that is fascinating and makes the viewer really want to remember.

Closeup of the tower

Museum adjunct and sphinx covering it's face to the horrors of war.

 I found it fascinating that even at this museum, I could find references to Moldova (then still a part of Romania) and how much loss the people of this area suffered in The Great War.

Eastern Europe today -- Moldova is the small lavender country tucked between Romania and Ukraine.

Here are two maps to compare the area today versus the area in 1914:

The various factions at war during WWI

You can see where Moldova is today -- the small country East of Romania and wrapped by the Ukraine to the North, East and South. Back in 1914 it was still a part of Romania -- hence limba română (literally the Romanian tongue).

Romania entered the war in an attempt to seize Transylvania, a historical province with a majority-Romanian population. Despite initial successes, the combined Russo-Romanian forces suffered several setbacks and by the end of 1916 -- only Moldavia remained under Allied (Great Britain, France, Romania, Russia, Italy, several other countries, and eventually the United States) control. After several defensive victories in 1917, the Allied front collapsed when the Bolsheviks took Russia out of the war and Romania, left surrounded by the Central Powers, signed an armistice at Focşani. On November 10, 1918, just one day before the German armistice and when all the other Central Powers had already capitulated, Romania belatedly re-entered the war. By then, about 220,000 Romanian soldiers were killed. This was about 6% of the total millitary deaths of the Allied forces.

It wasn't until 1940 that the Soviet Union assumed control of Moldova and called it the Soviet Republic of Moldavia... but, that's a story for another day.

A huge thanks to Steven for taking me to this great museum and just for being a terrific brother!

This is the glass bridge that visitors have to cross to get into the WWI Museum. Beneath the bridge is a field of poppies (lest we forget) and the Memorial Tower reflects down onto the field from above.



Spring was in full swing when I visited on this cloudy day I loved the juxtaposition of the bird's nest with the Memorial tower -- the circle of life.

Kansas - The Land of Ahs

I know it sounds corny, but that really was the tag line for Kansas tourism back in the 80's, and there really is a lot to be said about this Midwest state.

I'm back to visit the family for the last time before I head to Europe in two months, and it is really hitting me how much I have to do and that this trip is really happening. The nervous meter jumped a couple of notches, but then so did the excitement meter. I know I'm going to miss my family, but with all the wonders of the age, communication will be a fairly simple matter. I keep telling myself that it's not like I'm going to some distant planet. I'll have e-mail and Skype. However, there is the small matter of being 8 hours ahead in another time zone.

Then I land in Kansas City, and I am really struck by the similarities between the landscape in Eastern Kansas and what I've seen in the many blogs and photos of Moldova:

Lots of small towns and villages - check.
Heavily agricultural - check.
Rolling hills, rivers and creeks - check, check, check.
Small farm houses - check.

Even on a social level (outside of the bigger towns in Kansas) there seems to be fairly defined gender roles, a strong work ethic, lots of church going folk, lots of drinking on the weekends, friendly hospitable folk who are deeply proud of their towns, counties, local schools, newspapers, etc. I'll have to see how the two cultures compare, but I'm thinking at this point that they are very similar.

At any rate, I spent the entire week in Kansas looking at the NE corner of the state from how a citizen of a small Eastern European country might see it. Then it hit me... many of the people living in NE Kansas are descendants from small Eastern European countries. There are pockets of Austral/Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Slavs and many more. Their cultures have all created the backbone of the modern Kansas ethos.

So, I spent the week playing Federick the Mouse (great children's book), and absorbing images and smells, the feel of sunlight and sounds so that I can share them with the kids in the cold Moldovan Winter.

Check out this book - The title should be Timothy

Pastel Kansas fields



Charolais on a Spring morning

Kansas reflections

Babbling brook

Old hog shed

Old hydrant

These tiny blossoms are highly scented

Cotton clouds in a brilliant blue sky

Last year's field in the Spring sun

The Henbit created a lavender mist over most fields

Catholic church in Mooney Creek, KS

An old farmhouse

Three (or more) bags full.



The old high school in Nortonville, KS

Lots of barns

The Mighty Missouri river

Pear tree at sunset



Bygone days

Another farmhouse



The Redbuds were prolific and stunning this year.

Conversational Romanian

I am back at the beach for an intensive language session.

I've been studying a number of adjectives and now know how to say big, little, dirty and clean (mult, mic, murdar si curat) and so many other wonderful words. I really need to learn how to include accents on this blog so that my readers will be able to learn along with me.

Just got an 8 CD set from Pimsleur that is based on a really novel way of learning language. It is completely aural and demands that one listen to only one lesson per day and for only 30 minutes for an optimal learning experience. So far it has really been helpful. However, I don't know if I'm picking it up quickly because of my pre-learning.

At any rate, I'm learning verbs at a rapid pace and really feel like I'm hearing the language as spoken by natives. My problem is whether I can pronounce correctly as I have no one with whom to practice. C'est la vie. Oops, wrong language. :o)

Here are some shots I got yesterday morning while it was foggy on the peninsula. Kyra got me up early to play, and I thought, why not head out for some shots.



Makes me think of medieval England or Ireland. Just need a sword in that stone.



Oysterville Church



Cat in the mist



Spring comes to Oysterville



A taste of Spring

Breaking Out of Amber

Many thanks to my friend Karen for reading my blog and asking why I chose the title "Breaking Out of Amber". Thought I'd spend a few minutes answering that question.

First, a quick commercial: if you are looking for a terrific insurance agent who is responsive and always looking out for clients, take a moment and check out Helfrich Insurance. They're located in Washington State and they have represented me, my home, my various interests and businesses over the course of the last 17 years! I wouldn't go anywhere else. :o)

 

Ant Fossilized in Amber

 When I started thinking about my blog name, I was thinking of the idea of how joining the Peace Corps was in essence a breaking out of the rigid confines of societal expectations. It's funny how we can so often take on the mantle of what we are expected to be based on our gender, age, or the boxes that others use to define us. We've all heard the self doubts and the self-imposed limitations: "Do I have the right job? Am I making enough money? I have to keep doing this because I have to pay the mortgage, because I'm good at it, or because I can't throw away all that I've done to reach this point in my career." I had these doubts as well.

In fact, on a phone conversation with Mom a couple months ago, being concerned that I was breaking off more than I could chew, she cautioned that I needed to remember my age. "You are middle-aged, you know. You're not a young man."

I've always hated boxes; to me they're equal to doors being closed. While I understand that doors will close as I progress through this life, I want them to be of my choosing and understanding.

What a perfect metaphor amber is: sticky resin from trees that draws insects to its sweet promise then traps them and surrounds them. Fast forward several millenia and you have a stone, many of which have an insect inside. In my vision, the insect wakens all those years later and finds a way to drill out of the confines of its limitations to live a different life.

I am breaking out of the boxes of my self doubt, comfort, self-imposed and societal limitations. I'm drilling my way out of the life "I'm supposed to live," and into an adventure. Going to spread my stiff wings and fly. Kind of exciting! :o)

Thanks for reading.