So today was officialy my first day as a teacher! But let me back up a little bit, because I had a very good day yesterday as well. I LOVE my host family. My host mom, Otilia, is really great. She is a social worker. She has basically bent over backwards trying to make me feel welcome here. Yesterday, she fed my 3 differnet and very large meals from 3 o'clock on. She made polenta for dinner, which i could barely eat because lunch was so filling. Then we went for a walk and ended up getting some pizza. The area I am living in is pretty nice. My family's apartment is small, just two rooms and a kitchen and bathroom. It is very homey though and every square space is covered with croqueted dolies. My room is the playroom of sorts and their is a balcony looking down on the busy street below. On the balcony lives Dora's rabbit, who is named Yasmin. Dora, my host sister, is 10 years. She doesn't speak any English, but I really like her so far. You can tell how close Dora and Otilia are, they are constantly holding hands while we walk. Dora is in one of my classes, however she is going to stay for the entire 4 and a half hours I teach so she can be my guide navigating Oradea's public transportation to work. He birthday party is this Saturday and Dora is beyond excited. We have already gone into about 3 different cake shops looking for the perfect sugar flowers to place on top of her cake.
My first day of teaching was rather hectic. I got the first solid nights sleep in 5 days and then my host mother woke me up. Breakfast was phenomenal, especialy since Otilia makes homemade jam. I took the tram with my host sister and mom to the community center where class is held. By the time 10 am rolled around there were 80 courious eyes staring at me, as I introduced myself and then divided them up into different classes. They are all terribly cute, and I like them so much already. They all kind of look at me as this sort of mysterious American girl who can magically make English fluency happen. One mother came up to me and asked if I would like to spend the weekend in their country home. It was such a nice gesture and I think I'll go for a day on Sunday. The kids are very cute and I hope to go on a few afternoon trips with them and let them show me Oradea. I cannot wait for my first full day of teaching tomorrow, although it is a bit tricky trying to design lesson plans. One of my coworkers, Edena, invited me to go for a walk and maybe to a cafe at 5. it was so nice of her to make the effort to get to know me. My first real Romanian friend! Overall I am loving being here so far and I really do feel at home with my host family. I am hoping to travel a bit the weekend after the next, and I am starting to plan that a bit.
Love and miss you all so much
Emma
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