oh november!

things have been so on the up and up lately...which a real relief. i knew things were going to start to work themselves out and i would become more comfortable with the adjustments i'm having to make, and i think the beginning of that process is here! finally! and having made the decision to stay at my site for the whole month of november couldn't have been what i needed more right now.

my classes have been going well, and i am actually becoming more motivated with each day to get up at the crack of dawn and do my job :) my community integration is also happening, with regular visits with both of my mentors in which i get laundry service and a free meal. i can't wait until i have the resources (like a functional stove) to return the favor to them real soon. language is one issue that has been more on the rocks, and not really sure when that will be resolved but hopefully before i lose it all!

so thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks and i'm actually kind of excited about what we have planned. an environmental volunteer from the group before us does work in this park that has been made available to us for our big day of feasting. so the volunteers on the west side of the country are having our own dinner the saturday following turkey day. we will all be getting together thursday night, so that we can have all of friday to prepare for the meal. then on saturday, friends and colleagues from our communities will be joining us. i have invited all three of my mentors and their families to come and i am hoping for a big turnout! it will be nice to be with friends and family :)

december has a lot of things going on. to start off with, december 1st is a romanian national holiday, which makes a great segway into a nice long weekend in which we are planning to visit another volunteer who is a knowledgeable snowboarder (that's if it starts to snow asap)! then the week following is our in-service training, ist, where we will spend the week quite like the days of the summer, in language classrooms, and lecture hall. but the bright side is that i'll get to see so many faces that i haven't since august 8th! people that i miss so much! it will be like a giant love fest :) after that, back to school for one more week (which is no brainer christmas lessons, complete with caroling the hour away), then winter holiday!!!! not sure exactly what that will entail but i know it will be a bit of traveling and being with the people i love the most. i may even get to be a part of a traditional hungarian christmas eve! then off to spend new years in brasov, one of my favorite cities in romania.

back to school on january 5th to finish out the semester...then semester break! the week of february 1-5 i will be in beautiful CYPRUS! we are pretty much guaranteed some good skiing up on the mountains, but with gorgeous weather down below! i am pumped about this for sure! it will be the second country stamped in my passport!

i will be getting my camera back (from leaving it at sara's house) for thanksgiving, so i will be sure to update you guys more often with photos from then on...especially with the exciting things i have coming up! until then...