Getting Around...

  So a friend of mine - well I met him and his wife online, and recently in person, was featured in this article on Romania Insider.  Raoul Pop and his wife Ligia, are both Romanian, whose families emigrated to the U.S. when they were younger.  They have returned to Romania, and are rapidly teaching healthier eating habits to Romanians; which is a good thing, since pork seems to be the main staple on the tables here.  Raoul is also a very talented photographer, who after running into many ex-pats here and speaking with them, decided to start filming a series that he puts online, called "Romania Through Their Eyes".  His goal is to hopefully get the ear of those in positions of power who can bring about some much needed change.  Even just getting the ears of average Romanians.

I was recently interviewed for this series, which I understand Raoul is currently editing, and I'm a bit nervous, as I'm a bit of a talker - especially with my hands - I think it's an American thing.  ;)

Anyway so in the article, right under Raoul, guess whose name and photo is listed?!?  That's right - mine. I was utterly shocked, since the other ex-pat bloggers listed are professionals who are actively working here in Romania, where I'm just the American wife of a Romanian man, with 3 kids, who struggles desperately to learn the language.

The man listed directly below me, is absolutely hysterical, and definitely a must read for any ex-pat here in Romania, or anyone wanting to visit Romania.  Sam's motto, is "You might have been born here, but I'm still more Romanian than you" - and I think he's probably right!  PLEASE check out his blog here!

Time Machine

  So maybe I mentioned this before, I can't remember, but I notice the kids at my kids school.  I mean the teenagers.  Obviously my kids aren't teenagers and don't require me to walk them to and from school.  I mean the girls trying, sometimes desperately to get the boys to notice them.  And the boys with their coolness just standing there.  They KNOW they don't have to do anything, they don't have to really try to get a girls attention, and even if they do have to try to get their attention, they look cool doing it; whereas the girls, well we just make ourselves look like idiots.

  I've said this before, and I'll say it again.  People are the same all over the world.  The only thing that really separates us, besides language, is culture.  But even with language and cultural differences, we're all wired the same.  Girls will always pretend to be stupider than they really are so that they don't make the guy they're crushing on to feel inferior or something.

  I watch these 15 year old girls run around acting silly and giggly, and I just want to grab them by their shoulders, and yell at them "STOP IT!  Stop pretending to be stupid, focus on your books, make a life for yourself.  Forget about the boys till you're done with University, and have a career.  These boys here and now, they're not going to get you where you need to go in this life!"  But it wouldn't do any good, they wouldn't listen, cause hey, when you're 15 you know EVERYTHING, and us 'moms' - pshhhh, we don't know nuthin.  We might as well have dropped off the turnip truck yesterday.  Gah!

  I keep trying to instill that into my girls, and have been since they've been old enough to comprehend complete sentences.  I tell them, what matters in this life is your education, and how you treat others.  Focus on learning, going to college, and getting a career, then AFTER all that, that's when you worry about marriage and babies.  Don't mess around in school, do good in school so that when you get big, you can have all the clothes and shoes you want - they're girls, they love clothing!

  If I've just repeated myself, excuse me, just these daily observations of the next generation make me laugh, and look back at my own awkward adolescence; I was weird, self-conscious, and insecure, too worried about what others thought of me instead of grinding it out in the books.  If had kept my nose in the books I could be anything right now, who knows I could be sitting in congress shakin' things up....okay maybe not shakin things up, cause well, they'd assassinate me for not playin' ball with the lobbyists, et al.