Student Blogs

Coming to Romania, I had heard that there were wild dogs roaming the streets. I’d heard and read that the wild dogs were a serious problem and that caution is advised when walking alone. When I first got to Romania I believed in those stories wholeheartedly and was scared whenever I saw a dog on the street that even came nearby. At night, hearing the dogs howl and fight outside was so disturbing the first few nights.

This semester has already brought so many new changes and challenges. Coming into this experience in Romania, one of my biggest fears was that I was going to be stuck eating food I didn’t like for four months. On one of the first nights in Romania, I was eating at a restaurant and order fried fish. When the fish came out as the full fish, with the head and eyes and skin still attached, I had a bit of an inner-meltdown. I was so worried that I was going to be eating the strangest food for four months.

In the short time I’ve been in Romania, I’ve learned a few important bits of information. One bit I learned is; the food is amazing, and the second I learned is; Romanians love to show their affection through food. There hasn’t been a day so far that I haven’t had some form of bread at any given moment of the day. In my host family, we have bread at every meal. Whether it be homemade white bread or fancy breads that I have a hard time pronouncing, I am without a doubt always full by the time I’m done eating.

Communication is so easy to take for granted.  This is especially true when speaking a native language in a culture that is all too familiar.  Both verbal and nonverbal communication comes so naturally when at home.  When I arrived in Romania I became much more intentional with how I interacted with others.  This is particularly true with my host family.

To read student's reflections from 2012 & 2013, please click here. For student reflections from 2008 to 2012, please visit this blog. 

It's been more than a month now, since I have been in the lovely country of Romania. It's been a long month, filled with emotions and unfortunate events and when you have a month like that it seems as though time stretches out and what came before seems much farther away than it maybe otherwise would have.

I had to leave early, due to family reasons, but here is what I remember from my last few (I didn't know they were my last few) days in Romania.