It’s been awhile. Let me just sum up the past month and a half: a roller coaster of experiences.

I turned 25

It was a great day. Good food and great friends (who I probably wouldn’t be able to bring ALL together again in one room). I wonder what’s in store this year.

Group 19 says “See ya later”

Saturday, May 13^th. Cheeseburgers, mici, potato salad, and chips & dip. Loads of fun. I chaired the beer contest. Partying together for the last time as 19ers. Pretty big moment there. We were in the homestretch of our service. The first 19er to go left 2 weeks after that party.

Chairing the beer contest

Fill it up!

The proud winners

Amsterdam

What a trip. 4 days. May 18^th – 21^st. Flying Pig Uptown and Youth Meeting Point Hostel. I hung out with my favorite trainee in the whole wide world and a good friend of mine, Harm! Also met Melina. J But THE reason for making the trek – Eddie. Haven’t seen this guy in 2.5 years and I wasn’t gonna pass up hanging out in Amsterdam – a good ways out, across the Atlantic, from Cali. Fantastic time catching up. Just like the good ol’ days. The difference? We were both older (What comes with age? Pragmatism counts J). That’s about it (at least from my part). Shamim, Eddie’s roomie, made it to Amsterdam too. He’s still due for a trip to the Red Light District. (*wink wink)

Back To Back Travels

 Here’s what I did.

Traveled from Sibiu to Bucharest (6 hours by train) for some Peace Corps business. Stayed for two days. At 6 am the next morning, I took the train to Targu Neamt for Jan’s Farewell Party (6 hours by train). Stayed overnight but didn’t really sleep. At 5 am the next morning, took the train back to Bucharest but missed connection by 2 seconds so had to wait in the freezing station (in May? Go figure.) with 3 others for 2 hours. Total travel time until Bucharest was 8 hours. Then on to Craiova by train (3 hours) to deliver AIESEC trainings. Stayed for 2 nights. At 9 am the next day, I traveled back to Bucharest to get a connecting train to CLUJ-NAPOCA (8 hours) where I stayed for 2 weeks to volunteer at the Transylvania Film Festival… Whew. I was kinda pooped after that.

Transylvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca

Got my energy back after a night’s rest in Cluj. There were 6 PCVs total who volunteered for the event. Erik, Jonathan, Kenny, Alan, Dave, and myself. FABULOUS time. Apart from seeing movies and going to parties for free, the aspect which I enjoyed the most about this event was the camaraderie of the group. I truly enjoyed hanging out with these guys and tried to soak in the moments of pure group boredom, perpetual inebriated state, and those other

special moments up the tree house (aka bunk beds). Cluj rocks.

All the international volunteers during the festival

Fellow LA-ers. Westside.

The tree house

Trojans forever. Boo the blue. No offense. Fluturasi ...

The rest of the time…

I’ve been doing all kinds of preparations for closing my service. A plethora of Peace Corps paperwork, packing/getting rid of stuff, and making plans to say thanks/see ya around to all who have impacted my stay in Romania. Not easy but somebody’s gotta do it.

Mixed feelings

Bittersweet. Sometimes I am just totally READY to get outta here. Sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I think I need more time. I admit. I’m just scared of the next step. Was my PC Romania experience some kind of a simulation? Are the feelings I have here valid back home in Cali? Reintegration scares the sh*t out of me when I think about it too much. So, I’ll stop right here. 

Here’s a question

When you find yourself in a moment that you want to last forever – how do you stop time? How do you capture everything that is beautiful in that moment and make it last forever, or at least make it seem to last forever? How does letting go be the same as holding on to that moment? Mere musings. Rhetorical questions…

18 days til I become an RPCV (Returned PCV). Until then, I’ll be busy soaking it all in. Two years went by fast.