Peace, Love, and Passions

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.

Don’t make money your goal.

Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. Maya Angelou

This is quote I’ve been looking for for a long time- but never actually knew I was looking for it. It’s the reason I applied for the Peace Corps in the first place. One semester before graduating college I realized a high-paying job was not what was going to make me happy in life- following my passion is. Since I was 7 I’ve wanted to be a teacher and now I’m finally doing it... and loving it! (Most of the time)

Being the sole American in a town of 2,200 is definitely making it so “people can’t take their eyes off [me]”.

This morning as I was walking to school I could see a woman quite a ways in front of me walking toward me with a smile on her face. She approached me and just started having a conversation, as if we’d known each other forever. While I honestly can’t tell you her name or if we’ve met before, it was a great feeling. And when walking home from school today I said hello to a group of villagers sitting on a bench- which is usually occupied in the afternoon by these people. I smiled, said, “buna ziua”, and every single person smiled and said it back. At school I have teachers saying, “hello” and, “goodbye” to me. It’s almost as if being an American is contagious- and it’s so fun!

Also, after 3 weeks of trying to figure out one of my students in my 8^th form class (the one I teach alone) and how she can learn English the best, today I FINALLY figured it out! We spent the whole class working on vocabulary. It was rather simple, and just a few words, but I wanted to make sure they learn it. We were very active- playing games, repeating, recalling, and… (drum roll please!!!) LEARNING. This one particular student was actually recalling vocabulary words and actions before my two “best” students. I was beyond thrilled and basically jumping out of my seat in excitement! This is another reason why I love my job!!