Fulbright in Romania

The Fulbright Commission has been in Romania since 1960. Interesting that it would have been allowed before 1991. It has an intriguing history. Today the Commission fills many roles in education in Romania. The Teacher Exchange Program is the one that has brought me to Romania. It has allowed Cristina and I to change places for the academic year. Do I hear a possibility for a reality show? “Changing Places?” I can see it now – Cristina in my classroom and me in hers. I wonder what we would each choose to highlight?

Fulbright has a number of programs in the States, but it seems that there are a myriad here also. Mihai Morieau runs the office. He has managed to get me where I need to go and put all the pieces together. Miheala runs a program today as students are studying for the SAT and TOEFL exams. There are two rooms of students getting ready to take the exams so that they can do their very best. Diana is a student from Gura Humorului and is studying for the TOEFL. She wants to attend an American college for to study journalism. We talked for awhile and then she got back to her studying. I will have her sister in class. I told Diana that she is welcome to visit any time.

It is a very successful program. Students come from all parts of Romania to study here. They are committed to an educated populace. I find it refreshing that people young and old are interested in philosophical and educated issues. Certainly there are discussions of mundane topics, but I have heard esoteric discussions as well, much more so than I might at home.

Tonight it is raining. I do have an umbrella with me! That is one thing I have learned in Europe. I try to always have an umbrella with me. It is one of the most useful things I carry in my sack of goodies. I have three this time and I hope they will last the year. I could probably count the number of times I have needed one in America on one hand, but that is certainly not the case here. It rains much more often in Europe. Either that or I have an Eeyore cloud over me.

Mihai told me of a tiny museum that is only two blocks from the Commission. The museum is a little jewel, to quote Mihai, and it contains Romanian classical painting in a nutshell. Nicolae Grigorescu lived and painted in the house for a time, which has now been transformed into a museum. This little museum has the paintings and sculptures displayed so that you can walk right up to it to see the brush strokes and the colors. Grigorescu is Romania’s greatest painter. He was in his glory when he lived here. Some of his earlier work is the church painting at Agapia Monastery. One of the unexpected joys of Eastern Europe is stumbling upon these little, unpublicized, hidden treasures.

I spent the day at the Fulbright Commission and managed to find my way home without any detours. Along the way I saw this garage. Can you imagine driving out of it and still have a car in one piece. It would have to be on stilts not to scrape.

This is going to be great. The hotel is a quaint one where you can walk at night. This was actually too sweet for me to finish if you can imagine that. What will this year bring?