A glass of wine and a good story

On a trip to visit my brother in the Bay Area in 2004, I tried, and thoroughly enjoyed, a couple of bottles of excellent California wine.  I didn't really have a true appreciation for wine, however, until I moved to Europe, and specifically to Romania, in 2007.  I've always been more of a beer girl than a fan of hard alcohol or wine, and still generally tend to lean more towards consuming beer, though the balance has started to shift.

I've had the pleasure of living near some of the world's top wine-producing regions: La Rioja, Spain; Bordeaux, France; and the Western Cape, South Africa.  That's certainly helped in developing a palate for fine wines, and mostly reds.  I'm also generally very impressed with Italian wines (though I don't know a lot about them), and have tasted some phenomenal Austrian and Romanian wines as well.

Cutting grapes at the Jurancon Winery near Pau, France

Blind Taste-Test- Vienna, Austria

One of many glasses of unbelievable red wine during a recent trip- Monza, Italy

Traditional Romanian Wine Crama- Bring your own container!

A typical Romanian backyard

Although Romanian wine is not world-renown, it has all the qualities of a fine European wine.  For me, however, it's not so much the wine itself, but the Romanian culture, customs, & tradition surrounding wine, that I adore.  First, Romanian wine is affordable.  You can buy a bottle for a dollar or two in any grocery store around town, so you can drink a bottle with every meal if you want, which is exactly how is should be.  Second, Romanians frequently buy "fresh" wine straight from a barrel (i.e. before it's officially been bottled.)  It's not uncommon for someone to show up to a typical wine store, which are called "cramas" here, with an empty 2-liter 7-Up bottle (with the label still on it) and ask the clerk to fill it up with a dry or sweet red (or even a semi-sweet, which involves filling it half full with sweet and half full with dry and giving it a good shake.)  Third, as the days become colder, you start to see more cafes and street stands selling "vin fiert" or mulled wine, perfect after a brisk walk or while shopping at an outdoor market.  Finally, there are a lot of Romanians who still make their own wine, and it's common to show up to a party at someone's house where they're serving jugs of "homemade wine," either made by their families or friends' families.  I love that the wine tradition is deeply embedded in the Romanian culture, and I think that's exactly why I'll always equate my appreciation of wine with my years living here in Romania.

As for my all-time favorite wine, though, the go-to bottle that I would recommend to anyone looking for a dependably great wine to serve at a special event would have to be a French Bordeaux that I "discovered" about a year ago: Paillet-Quancard, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux 2006.  (And surprisingly, we've actually found it available in Pennsylvania wine & liquor stores for about $14 a bottle.)  If you can't find that one, my humble recommendation would be to look for any red wine from Cotes du Rhone, France, since I've never been disappointed with wines from that region.

But finally, as promised, a good story, wine-related, of course:  During the Gold Rush in California, circa 1848, new immigrant groups headed West across the U.S.  Legend has it that French immigrants brought grape vines with them, which they planted, thus starting the California wine industry.  A decade later, in the late 1850's, an epidemic, known as "The Great Wine Blight" spread across France, destroying the grape crops that had supported entire wine-producing regions like Bordeaux for centuries.  Hundreds of small wine growers tried, and failed, to eradicate the blight using chemicals and insecticides.  Finally and thankfully, a process called "reconstitution" was developed and the French wine industry was saved.  And what do you think the term "reconstitution" meant for a 19th Century Frenchie?  It's just a fancy word for bringing grape vines from California back to France.  So, before you drink your next glass of Cotes du Rhone, give a little "cheers" to the U.S.  Yeah, maybe we were in the right place at the right time, but the French can't deny that we contributed a little something to that absolutely perfect bottle of delicious red wine.

First in a Series of Four: Endless, Numbered Days

I recently completed my first painting in a series of four called, "Endless, Numbered Days."  This time, these paintings are 100% original (as opposed to my last two paintings, which were replicas), but they are inspired by a song called, "Passing Afternoon" by one of my favorite bands, Iron & Wine (you can listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36dIQfL5kFQ.)  I think it's pretty remarkable that a song can inspire a painting or a poem, and vice-versa, a clear sign that they're tapping into the same area of the brain and triggering similar emotions that can be expressed in a variety of ways.  Maybe the ultimate goal of any artist should be to produce something so good that it inspires others to express & create.    

"Your Home Church ... Away From Home"

Yesterday was my grandmother's 94th birthday.  I sang "Happy Birthday" to her over a Skype video chat, and as I marveled at how amazingly well she's doing, both mentally and physically, she marveled at the fact that she could see and hear me, in real time, despite being 5000 miles apart.  Pretty amazing for a woman who was a teenager during the Prohibition Era.

When my grandmother married my grandfather, around 1940, my grandmother converted from being a Presbyterian to being a Lutheran.  My grandfather, Reverend George Edward Bowersox, Jr., had graduated from, or was about to graduate from, the Gettysburg Theological Seminary to become a Lutheran pastor like his father.  I think it's pretty safe to say that Lutheranism is in my blood. 

I grew up attending Trinity Lutheran Church with my grandparents and parents in Somerset, Pennsylvania.  My brother and I were baptized there.  My grandfather's funeral service was held there.  It was, and always will be, my church home.  Although I knew the Lutheran service and many of the traditional Lutheran hymns by heart, I was open to attending other churches after I left Somerset to go to college, and I did attend other services from time to time.  But somehow, for some reason (and I'm still working on figuring out what that reason might be), I keep coming back to Lutheran churches.     

Trinity Lutheran Church- Somerset, PA

For example, St. Peter's Lutheran Church was one block from the Lehigh University campus, and more importantly, offered 11:00 Sunday services, allowing me to set my alarm for 10:50 and roll directly out of bed and into a church pew.  This church also provided us college kids with care packages for Finals' Weeks, which was a really kind, and much appreciated, gesture.

St. Peter's Lutheran Church- Bethlehem, PA

A few years later, I found myself thoroughly enjoying a sermon given by Reverend Michael Church one Spring Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Astoria, Queens.  I had walked past this impressive stone building almost every day that Fall and Winter on my way from the Broadway N & W Subway stop to my apartment on 30th Avenue, and decided it was time to stop in and see what a New York City Lutheran church was all about.  Once again, I found myself feeling at home, satisfied both by the intellectual approach Pastor Church took to preaching and the delicious coffee hour treats that followed the service each Sunday- shamelessly wooed by food yet again.

Trinity Lutheran Church- Astoria, NY

In Kigali, we tried out a couple of different services before discovering the Lutheran Church of Rwanda, which was started by Rwandan refugees returning from Tanzania after the 1994 genocide.  Attracted by a small wooden sign that said, "English Service: 9:30 a.m.," we wandered up the red dirt road until we saw the sturdy steel roof that signified an important building.  We quietly took a seat as the pastor finished the opening prayer, his back turned to the small congregation as he faced the cross at the front of the alter.  When he turned around to face us, his eyes lit up and he literally stopped mid-sentence to welcome Rob & me, enthusiastically announcing that Rob Thomson, the basketball player whom he'd watched on television many times, was worshiping here with us today!  After a greeting like that one, how could we not feel welcome and want to return?  We'd found our church in Rwanda, or rather, it had found us. 

Lutheran Church of Rwanda- Kigali, Rwanda

And there was no way to miss this church: Christ Church Lutheran, one of the most prominent structures in Windhoek, located on a hill in the middle of Namibia's capital city.  It's an odd emblem of colonial Germany's presence in Africa, built exactly 100 years ago with construction materials and even the church bells shipped from Europe down the Atlantic to the port city of Swakopmund and then by rail across Namibia to Windhoek.  Although I only worshiped there a few times, the building's presence, and the fact that the church organist happened to be the Head of my University's English Department, drew me in.  Singing hymns in German at an Easter sunrise service in southern Africa is a distinctive memory that will stay with me until I'm 94 (that is, of course, if we could all be so lucky.)

Christ Church Lutheran- Windhoek, Namibia

But perhaps the most remarkable occurrence of a Lutheran church finding me, rather than me finding a Lutheran church, happened last March when I arrived in Cluj.  I started my search for a church community the way I start most searches these days: on Google.  The phrase, "English speaking churches in Cluj, Romania" brought up a couple of search results, the first one being "The English Ministry of the Lutheran Church in Romania" (http://englishministryromania.org/.)  The website was clear, up to date, and most importantly for me, written in English.  I started to read phrases like, "An International Church" and "Community and Purpose in the heart of Transylvania."  It looked promising. I read a bit under the tabs "Worship" and "What We Believe," and then proceeded to click on the "Who We Are -- Pastors" tab.  And here's what I found:

The Rev. Michael Church was raised in Woodstock, New York. He has degrees from Vassar College, Princeton Seminary and the Lutheran seminary at Philadelphia. He was an exchange student at the Mar Thoma seminary in Kerala, India. He has served parishes in New York City and the surrounding area. 

The Rev. Terri Luper Church was born in New Orleans and raised in Waco, Texas. She has a bachelor's degree in Sociology and Business from Baylor University, and an M.Div. from Princeton Seminary. She is also a talented singer with a taste for line-dancing.  Before coming to Romania, she served congregations throughout the New York area.

And then it dawned on me.  There might be a lot of Michael's and a lot of Reverend Church's and a lot of pastors who have served parishes in New York City, but the picture of the pastors right there on the website confirmed it: This was exactly the same Reverend Michael Church whose sermon I had thoroughly enjoyed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Astoria, Queens four Springs ago.  I had found my new church home, yet another Lutheran Church:  the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cluj, Romania.  It's been everything I'd hoped for: community, purpose, and yes, even a weekly coffee hour following the service.

I think my grandfather would be pleased.

Evangelical Lutheran Church- Cluj, Romania

Newest Entrepreneurial Project: "Business Casual"

The following is an informative document/poster that's being distributed to future class participants.  Sorry for the sloppy formatting, as copying and pasting from a Word document to a Blog document doesn't seem to work very well... 

Business Casual:

“Dressing professionally, looking relaxed,

yet neat and pulled together.” (as defined by the NY Times)

“Business Casual” is a 6-week Business English Course specifically designed for UBB (Cluj's University Babes-Bolyai) Lecturers who wish to improve their own Business English skills in order to more effectively instruct students.  The course has been tailored to target the needs of UBB Lecturers as curriculum shifts dictate the need to teach more and more business courses in English. 

 

The objective of the course is to increase the participants’ familiarity and confidence of English for its use in business content and terminology, oral & written communication, and text comprehension and production.  This course will place special attention on creating a Student-Based Learning environment, where participants, rather than the trainer, generate the bulk of the material, interact while working together on various hands-on activities, projects, and tasks, and learn to identify and correct their own English language mistakes.

The 6-week course will be made up of the following topics and sessions:

Weeks 1, 2, & 3- Basic Oral & Written Business English Communication

• Cover Letters and Mock Job Interviews (Grammar Review: Present Perfect Tense)
• Characteristics of an Effective Employee & Boss (Vocabulary: Adjectives); 21^st Century Business Concepts (Vocabulary: Business Terms)
• Formal Letter Writing and Internal Communications- Letter to the Head of the Department, Voicing Concerns (Vocabulary: Common Written Phrases)
• Telephone English- Focus on Pronunciation & Common Errors
• Contracts & Agreements (Grammar Review: Prepositions)

Week 4- Accounting & Finance, Money & Banking

• Listening & Summary Writing: The Origins of Money
• Buying & Selling: Sales & Pricing (Grammar Review: Conditional)
• Reading Comprehension: Foreign Exchange and Import/Export Markets

Week 5- Marketing & Advertising

• E-Marketing Case Studies 
• Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Romanian Economy- Class Presentations- Re-visit the Focus on Pronunciation & Common Errors

Week 6- Economics 

• Debate: Globalization vs. Cultural Imperialism
• Reflection: The Future of the Romanian Economy 

“Business Casual” is a course designed by American English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Instructor and Teacher Trainer, Marsha Bowersox, along with the invaluable help of UBB’s Camelia Moraru, who has identified the need for the course, shared the typical English language strengths and weaknesses of UBB Lecturers, and has helped to arrange the course logistics. 

Prior to moving to Cluj in March, 2010, Marsha was an EFL Instructor at LaGuardia Community College’s The English Language Center in Queens, New York City and an English Language Fellow for the U.S. State Department, teaching and developing teacher training courses at the School of Finance and Banking in Kigali, Rwanda and The Polytechnic of Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia.  Marsha is also a Certified Public Accountant who runs her own International Tax Consulting Business for Americans living and working overseas.  

The course will begin Friday, November 5^th, 2010 and run until Friday, December 10^th.  Classes will be held each week at the MedSan Building Training Center, Strada Ilie Macelaru nr. 28, on Fridays from 13:00-16:00.  Prior to each meeting, participants are invited to join together for a simple lunch of pizza and beverages, from 12:00-13:00.  Coffee & Tea will be offered throughout the afternoon, and free parking is available at the MedSan building.  

The cost for the 6-week course is 650 Ron ($215) per participant.  This fee includes the following: six three-hour classes (for a total of 18 instructional hours), lunch, coffee/tea, and hand-outs.    

If you have any questions or suggestions about times, dates, or content, please contact Marsha via email or cell.  Also, please inform Camelia or Marsha if you are planning to enroll in the course, and bring the enrollment fee with you on the first day of training.

Three Unforgettable Cups of Tea

As I finish up the book I'm currently reading, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin, and as the days start to get crisp and cold, I can't stop thinking of, and consuming, tea.  I think I've been averaging at least three cups a day, and it's not even November yet.

Now, I think I'll save my reflections on the book for another day.  For today, let's talk tea.

I'm pretty sure I've sampled hundreds of types/brands of tea throughout my life and across the countries I've visited and lived in.  Of all of those varieties, there are exactly three specific teas that stand out in my mind as the perfect cuppa.  Interestingly, none of these teas are expensive; they average about $3.50 per box of 20 teabags, but in general, they're unfortunately only available in certain places.  That's why I stockpile these favorites, buying as many boxes as possible when I get the chance, and then gradually using up my supply until my next trip.  It also makes me appreciate and savor each and every tea bag.

I tend to drink all three of these teas plain, with no sweeteners, although a bit of milk & sugar tastes particularly good in the morning, and lemon & honey are essential when I'm sick.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1.)  Ten Ren White Tea: http://www.tenren.com/whiteteabags.html or at 75 Mott Street in New York City's Chinatown.  White tea has less caffeine than green tea, and a very subtle, smooth flavor.  It's supposed to be extra anti-cancer-y, too: bonus.

2.)  Rwandan Black Tea:  http://www.rwandatea.com/spip.php?article3.  Granted, I'm biased.  When my Mom & brother came to visit me in Rwanda in 2007, we took a tour of the Shagasha plantation, near Cyangugu, not far from the source of the Nile and near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Despite the fact that we watched a woman sweep the leaves off of the "clean" concrete floor and put those leaves right back onto the conveyor belt, I stock up on boxes of Rwandan Tea every time I go back.  In Kigali, at our favorite restaurants, we're always served a big thermos of Rwandan tea, along with heaping bowls full of cane sugar and powdered milk.  There are a few different brands of Rwandan Tea, but the one pictured in my link is definitely my favorite.  (Just an FYI: Rwandan coffee is also among the best in the world.)   

3.)  Rooibos Tea:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos.  I don't have a particular favorite brand, although I have mostly bought "Five Seasons" Rooibos.  Since "discovering" Rooibos while living in Namibia last year, I've started to see it available throughout Europe and the U.S.  An Irish colleague of mine who has lived in Namibia for most of his adult life swears that this is not tea, but I beg to differ.  This "red bush" tea is naturally decaffeinated, so it's perfect to drink in the late evenings.  I feel a connection to this tea, too, since it kept me warm on Namibia's cold, desert evenings (in June-August), as I layered on sweatshirts and blankets in my apartment that had no heat.  Those evenings were all about hot decaf beverages and early bedtimes, in order to maximize the sun's heat early the next morning.  Regardless, Rooibos is delicious, and has been used for medicinal purposes in South Africa for centuries.

My Love for Live Music

Glamorous

Indie rock'n'roll is what I need

It's in my soul, it's all I need
Indie rock'n'roll, it's time
...It's Indie rock'n'roll for me  

-"The Killers", Glamorous Indie Rock

Cause she's an indie rocker
And nothing's gonna stop her. 

-"Archers of Loaf", Plumbline

I should have saved my ticket stubs.

We were 16.  It was my friend Erin's first time driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (and those tunnels can be pretty scary.)  We were visiting her older sister at Shippensburg, and one of our favorite bands, "Live", was playing that night.  The spotlight shined a beam directly onto Ed Kowalczyk's freshly shaven head, and chills went down my spine as I heard the first guitar rift and the lyrics that I had listened to on my CD player over and over: "And to love, the god.  And to fear, a flame.  And to burn, a crowd that has a name.  And to right, or wrong.  And to meek, or strong.  It is known, just scream it from the wall."  It was the mid-nineties, and I was experiencing my first ever real live rock show.

The following summer, I saw "P.J. Harvey", and a few weeks later, "Ben Folds Five."  There was no turning back.

During our first year at college, my best friend from high school, Julie, and some of her new friends traveled from Eastern College to Lehigh to watch a "Tori Amos" concert with me.  Later that Spring, I got to see "Morphine" play on an outside stage during a campus event.

But around my Junior year at Lehigh, when I became friends with a group of College Radio DJ's and a local Record Store employee, serious music aficionados who were willing to hop into a car and drive to Philadelphia or New York City to watch a show any day of the week, at any time of the day or night, my concert going stepped up to a whole new level.  From 1999 until graduating in 2002, live music, and mostly music played by bands who were on small, independent labels, played a huge role in my life.  I vividly remember the first time I saw "Built to Spill" (and the second, and the third.)  "Guided by Voices" was pure entertainment, with Robert Pollard consuming can after can of beer while copping "The Who" moves on stage, tossing out just enough gems to keep everyone cheering for more.  The hour+ drive to The Trocadero, Theater of the Living Arts, or the Electric Factory in Philadelphia was totally worth it to see, "Superchunk," "Idlewild," and "Belle & Sebastian."  I would have spent my last dollar (and did, on several occasions) to make the trip to Hoboken, park the car, and take the Path Train/subway into Manhattan and Brooklyn venues like Irving Plaza, the Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Williamsburg's Music Hall, Terminal 5, or the Knitting Factory to see "Stephen Malkmus" (from "Pavement") or "Yo La Tengo."

Post-college, I was able to catch "Calexico" in Boulder, Colorado, and saw an incredible "Modest Mouse" show at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver.  We caught "The Flaming Lips" while they were on their 'Yoshimi' tour (and I'll never forget how absolutely ridiculous they looked when their strobe lights, videos of Japanese gun-wielding school girls, and amps blew a fuse, and they were left standing mid-song in gigantic bunny costumes.)  Secretly, though, I still loved them.

As a young professional in my early twenties, the fun didn't stop.  Making frequent weekend trips from Madison, New Jersey (and later, from apartments in the Lower East Side and Queens), I got to see some more of my heroes perform live: "David Kilgour": (from "The Clean"), "Apples in Stereo," "Crooked Fingers" (featuring Eric Bachmann from "Archers of Loaf"), and the ultimate cool rock-geek, "Arto Lindsay."  I even trudged through a blizzard in foot-high snow to see "Yo La Tengo" play, part of their annual '8 Days of Hannukah' event at Maxwell's in Hoboken.  During the CMJ Music Marathon (oh, and by the way, let this post be a tribute to that great annual October event, going on right now in NYC), I predicted that "The Strokes" would never make it (oops; maybe it was because they were just a bunch of sloppy drunks on stage?) and saw "Animal Collective" when they were just a couple of nerdy rockers (albeit nerdy rockers with serious potential.)  Living in New York City was incredible for an indie rock lover; one day, I stumbled across a "Wilco" show in Central Park.  Another day, I recognized a favorite song and stopped in to watch "Calexico" playing a free show in the Virgin Records Megastore in Union Square.  

In 2006, I moved to Rwanda, then to Namibia, then to Romania... fantastic places to live for a million different reasons, but not exactly along the concert circuit of the average indie band.  Only now do I realize just how good I had it back then, living in, or close to, cities that regularly host amazing musicians. I was there!  I soaked in the music, and met some of my favorite singers, song writers, and musicians!  I still love their music, and follow the bands' updates online.  But man oh man, I wish I would have saved all of those ticket stubs, just to be able to flip through and remember the exact dates, the venues, the opening bands, even the prices.  

One of these days, I'll get back into the concert scene.  Live music is just plain too good to stay away from for long.  At the very least, I still need to see "Beck" and "Iron & Wine" and "Thom Yorke"/'Radiohead" and "Band of Horses" and...     

    

 

The World Through the Lens of a Basketball Girlfriend's Camera

AKA: A photo resume for Rob Thomson.

A rival one day...

*Gaz Metan Medias, Fall 2007

Gaz Metan Medias, Spring 2008

...a teammate the next.

U-Cluj, Spring 2010

*U-Cluj, Spring 2010

U-Cluj, Spring 2010

From Eastern Europe... to Western Europe...

*U-Cluj, Spring 2010

*Pau-Ortez; Pau, France, December 2009

.... to East Africa...

Democratic Republic of Congo, Spring 2007

...and back home, to Rwanda...(but not necessarily in that order.)

APR- Kigali, Rwanda, December 2009

Brothers...

Rwandan National Team, Angola, Afrobasket 2007

Rwandan Flag, Angola, Afrobasket, Summer 2007

...and sisters...

APR Women's Team, Kigali, Rwanda, Club Championships, August 2007

...and his biggest admirers...

U-Cluj, May 2010, Rob & his Mom, Jo-Ellen Thomson

Gaz Metan Medias, Fall 2007, with the sons of a teammate and a coach

Rwandan National Team- Kigali, Rwanda, Spring 2009

A rare chance to make a difference...

Cercle Sportif- Kigali, Rwanda, Spring 2009

...and to represent a country.

Rwandan National Team, Zone V Qualifying Tournament, Spring 2009

Amahoro Stadium- Kigali, Rwanda, Spring 2009

Rwandan National Team, Spring 2009

Kigali, Rwanda, Spring 2009

*A few of the above photos were taken by others (professional photographers in Medias, Cluj, & Pau.)  The rest are my own shots.

Newest Painting- a second Stefan Luchian replica

I finished this painting last week: my first completed piece since returning to Romania this Fall.  It's another replica of a painting by the early 20th Century Romanian painter Stefan Luchian.  It was a helpful study in shapes, and seemed fitting as the original work is displayed right here in town at the Cluj Art Museum.  I've also seen plenty of these traditional Transylvania ovens at Ethnography Museums located in Medias, Sibiu, and Cluj.

This painting should be my last watercolor for awhile, as I'm shifting to Acrylics and Oils for the next series of paintings.  (As with most of the pictures/paintings on my blog, you can click on the image to make it bigger.)

PWC + ESL = S.E. CPA

From mid-February through mid-April, for a couple weeks at the beginning of October, and throughout the rest of the year when I'm not traveling or painting or cooking, I'm in front of my laptop, corresponding with clients and completing U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns.  I'm a Certified Public Accountant and a Self-Employed business owner, providing some consistency to my life as I move from continent to continent.

If someone would have told me, back in 2004 when I left my job in the International Assignment Solutions Department of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Florham Park, New Jersey, that in a few years I'd open my own Tax Consulting Business, I probably would have laughed out loud.  It wasn't the numbers or the forms or the cyclical nature of working in the tax industry that bothered me; Corporate America just wasn't for me.  I was fed up with the monotonous workdays and the cubicles.  I had some great colleagues, but none of them seemed completely happy or satisfied with life.  I found myself constantly watching the clock or crossing off the days of a calendar until the weekend was here.

When I informed my boss that I was putting in my two-weeks' notice, he reluctantly accepted my Letter of Resignation and asked me where I was heading: to KPMG or Deloitte.  Needless to say, he was a bit perplexed when I told him that I was planning to move to Barcelona to get certified to teach English as Foreign Language.

But life has a way of twisting and turning in the most interesting ways.  I remember completing my own tax return in early April of 2007 in Kigali, Rwanda, halfway through my first overseas ESL teaching assignment.  Somewhere between Schedule C and Form 2555, I realized that I knew exactly what numbers went where, thanks to the countless hours I'd spent filling out these same forms as a PWC Tax Associate.  In the weeks leading up to April 15th, I watched as the Yahoo listserv for my organization at the time, the English Language Fellows Program, reeled with questions, concerns, and misinformation regarding all things income tax-related, as other EL Fellows attempted to figure out what they needed to do in order to fulfill their tax filing obligations.  An idea was born: why not help out these teachers, providing them with a service that could save them time, money, or grief with the IRS in the future?

The following year provided me with enough time to study diligently and pass the two remaining sections of the CPA exam.  (I'd passed the first two parts back in New Jersey, when my employer had generously paid for the materials, classes, and, perhaps the biggest draw: time outside of the office to study for the test.)  With the help of some fancy tax software, Skype, a good Internet connection, and some former PWC colleagues who are willing to answer tough tax-related questions as they come up in exchange for occasional email updates of me out and about in the world, hiking to see Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda or diving with the Great White Sharks in South Africa, I've been able to turn my idea into a fully functioning business endeavor.  And thankfully, there's no longer any need for me to wish away the weekdays.

Ristorante Il Caminetto Cooking Class

One of the best perks of living in Europe is having the rest of Europe at your fingertips.  I've had the good fortune of cashing in on this luxury many times in my life.  In 1997 (my first time overseas), three friends and I extended our month-long German Exchange Program to spend a week with my relatives in Vienna, Austria.  In 1999, my Study Abroad roommate and I spent our 2-week break in-between summer sessions backpacking through Spain.  In 2000, while completing a summer Accounting Internship in Frankfurt, Germany, I would head to the train station straight from work with an overnight bag that I had thrown together that morning, and look over the schedule to see where I would head that weekend.  Thanks to that method, I had the pleasure to explore Munich, Cologne, Paris, and the Italian Riviera. By 2004, when I was getting my Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate in Barcelona, discount airlines had popped up all over Europe, and I discovered that I could hop on a RyanAir or EasyJet flight to any number of European cities for less than $50 round-trip.

Soon after moving to Cluj, I started stalking the website of WizzAir, the cheapo airline that flies in and out of our airport.  Turns out that my American friend Jennie, who currently lives in Northern Italy, was doing the exact same thing.  And that's how we found a $57 taxes-included, round-trip flight to Bergamo, Italy and "cooked up" the plan for me to fly in for an Italian cooking class last weekend.

The cooking class did not disappoint!  From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Jennie & I, plus another dozen tourists, thoroughly enjoyed every technique, story, and tip that Chef Moreno shared with us at his little family-run Ristorante Il Caminetto in the adorable little Lake Como town of Varenna, Italy.  He discussed the importance of sharp knives and the differences between Northern & Southern Italian Cuisine, told stories about his parents, grandparents, and the nine generations of his family that had run that same little restaurant for centuries, described his philosophy on the use of garlic and spices ("use in small quantities"; "porcini must be the star"), allowed us to smell and touch at various stages of the cooking and taught us how to stuff our own tortelloni, and wowed us with his knife skills and the artistic way that he maneuvers a rolling pin to transform a pile of dough into some of the most delicious pasta I've ever tasted.  The day flew by as we drank a bottomless glass of red wine and watched intently as Chef Moreno prepared a three course meal made up of the following dishes:

1.) Tagliatelli with a sauce of tomatoes, pancetta, gorgonzola, cream, olive oil, garlic, and eggplant.
2.) Tortelloni stuffed with butternut squash, crushed almond cookies, freshly ground Parmigiano-Reggiano, and spiced jellied fruit, with a garlic, sage, basil, butter, tomato puree sauce.
3.) Bocconcini di Vitello (Veal Stew) with a mouth-watering Porcini Risotto.

And then, as if the day weren't already perfect, WE GOT TO EAT IT ALL.

Before hopping on our train back to Jennie's apartment, we caught a beautiful sunset over Lake Como-- just the right opportunity to reflect on how fortunate we are to have unbelievable European opportunities like this one right here at our fingertips.

Fall in Cluj- A Few Pictures from my Neighborhood

Maya's Art Studio

Here are some pictures of the world I step into to paint: Maya's Art Studio.  It's a typical construction for Transylvania: Outside Gate, Inner Courtyard, and a small cluster of buildings surrounding the courtyard.  You'll recognize the last building since it's something that I painted last Spring.  If my Right Brain has a gate and a courtyard, I'm pretty sure this is what it looks like.

Painting, then Basketball

Thursdays are busy days, comparatively.  The mornings involve tax work and usually an errand or two.  From 3-6 p.m., I go to painting class.  From 6:15-8:00 p.m., I play pick-up basketball.  Not sure if the 15 minute turn-around from watercolors to lay-ups marks an actual left brain-right brain delineation, but either way, come 8:00, I'm tired.  After playing, it's out to a local spot for a couple of beers, trying to follow and contribute to conversations in Romanian (and generally doing a passable job at it, but only if I focus in on the conversation from the beginning.  Jumping in halfway, listening in on someone else's conversation, or carrying on two conversations at the same time are skills that are going to require a good bit more practice.)

An American, learning to cook in Romania

I generally spend about 1-2 hours per day on food shopping and cooking.  By American standards, this is a lot of time, and it's probably a lot of time for the average 30-something Romanian as well. Yes, I cook because I enjoy it.  I also was very fortunate to have grown up with parents who made home-cooked daily family meals a high priority, something that undoubtedly shaped my ideas and values of food planning and cooking.  Mostly, though, I spend 1-2 hours per day on food-related activities because I strongly feel that it's a worthwhile use of my time.  If I were living in the U.S., I'd still spend a good amount of time in the kitchen, but there are several reasons why it takes significantly more time to put a good meal on the table each evening while living overseas:

1.)  Food shopping in Cluj, Romania is not particularly easy.  There are many big European chain supermarkets (Carrefour, Auchan, Billa, Metro) nearby, but these stores do not all carry the same products.  Perhaps they carry a different brand of pasta than the one I usually buy, or maybe they have different suppliers for their meats and vegetables, and therefore the selection and quality vary drastically.  If I want to buy ground beef, for example, I always go to Billa.  If I want to buy shrimp or salmon, Carrefour's the only way to go.  Billa's across the street from the Farmer's Market, which is within a walkable distance and very convenient, but Carrefour is a taxi ride away, on the outskirts of town, inside the mall. 

2.)  As is often the case in the U.S., the best place to get fruits & vegetables is definitely not the supermarket.  There are Farmers' Markets scattered throughout the city, and that's the place to go for seasonal, mostly local, less expensive, fresh produce that hasn't been treated with as many pesticides as the supermarket variety.  And for anyone who's lived in/visited Europe, you know that the markets here are the best!  Especially during this time of year, the markets are bursting with pears, grapes, apples, zucchini, eggplant, spinach, leeks, tomatoes (all grown in Romania), and peaches (which are imported from Italy.) There's a great sense of community, people know you by name or face, you can discuss what's in season or what's going to be available in the weeks to come, and here in Romania, individuals sell products that they've produced at home in small batches: tapenades, pickles, jams/preserves, hand-ground paprika, etc.  The last great thing about the market I go to is that there's both a little wine store and a fresh milk machine nearby; just bring your own container and fill it up with whole milk or locally produced wine for the equivalent of a dollar or two.

3.)  On any given day, the Farmers' Market or the supermarket may not have the product that you're looking for.  In the U.S., we're definitely spoiled (and I say spoiled in a good way; we're truly light-years ahead when it come to customer service, marketing strategies, shipping techniques, data mining, and inventory methods/technology- i.e. knowing what customers want, how much of it they tend to buy, installing and maintaining complex inventory software to re-stock shelves when quantities get low, thus ensuring that what we want to buy is ready and waiting for us, each and every time.)  Friends here tell me that if I'm disappointed in the availability now, I should have lived here in the 1980's, when the line for eggs was out the door before 6 a.m.  (They're right; I really shouldn't complain.)  But in the U.S., we go to the store with a shopping list, and 99% of the time, we leave with the recipe ingredients to make that evening's meal.  Not so in Romania.  It's taken me a long time to get over the frustration of going to Billa with the intention of having Stuffed Peppers for dinner, putting the peppers, the rice, and the tomato paste into my cart, just to discover that there's no ground beef today.  That means that I always have to have an alternative recipe (and know that recipe's ingredients) in mind, just in case.  Alternatively, I can just go to a given store with an open mind, see what looks good, buy it, and figure out how to cook it once I'm home.  Fun, but definitely not easy.

4.)  Even the best products I've found here don't have the same shelf-life and are usually not as tender as the U.S. equivalent.  If I buy chicken two days before I plan to cook it, there's a good chance I'll open my refrigerator to a terrible smell on Day 3 and find out that the chicken has gone bad.  Meats almost always need to be marinated or tenderized before cooking, something that's not necessary for a lot of meats in the U.S. anymore.  I've learned by trial and error that a Round Steak tastes great, but only if I bake it in tomato sauce for 3-4 hours (which takes some planning ahead.)  (As an aside, I haven't yet figured out if the U.S. or Eastern Europe has it right.  Granted, it's convenient to have preservatives in our food, but is this really the best long-term strategy for a society?)  

5.)  There is a small shop that sells the most amazing bread.  Of course, it's not located near any of the supermarkets/markets that I frequent.  And of course bread here lasts two days max.  But it's worth the extra trip/time spent since nothing beats a loaf of delicious, hot-out-of-the-oven, crusty white bread.

6.)  There aren't nearly as many easy/pre-cooked/pre-packaged options available here.  If you want to eat spinach, you buy it, soak it, rinse it again, and chop it; no pre-washed, ready-to-go alternative.  I might get laughed out of the market if I ask where I can find a plastic container full of peeled cloves of garlic.  There's no such thing as a can of Manwich or Hamburger Helper or Rice-a-Roni or a Taco Kit (not necessarily a bad thing, though I would totally buy an over-priced, imported taco kit without thinking twice since I crave Old El Paso taco sauce and Mexican food in general- I've been able to make my own tortillas, but just haven't found a replacement for good, old "American-style" Mexican taco sauce.)  Until I began cooking overseas, I didn't realize just how much we Americans rely on quick & easy products to assist in preparing a meal.  (And again, it is what it is.  This Post isn't here to judge whether the U.S./Romania has it right or wrong; I'm just saying that it's just a different ballgame over here!)

All this adds up to a lot of time and energy spent gathering the ingredients to cook a great meal, which can be exhausting.  On a positive note, however, I'm happy to be implementing many of the tips/suggestions given for healthy eating from a book I recently finished (and loved!), "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan.  By putting in the extra effort, I'm already well on my way to accomplishing the following: Avoiding food products containing unfamiliar ingredients and high-fructose corn syrup; Getting out of the supermarket whenever possible; Drastically increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, and especially leaves that I eat; Eating like an omnivore; Eating according to the rules of a traditional culture; Eating actual, prepared meals; and Not eating anything that my great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.      

So, what have I been cooking these days?  Here's a quick list of my typical week-night go-to dinners:

-Creamy Chicken Pesto with Penne
-Chicken with Sundried Tomatoes
-Spinach Salad with Bacon, Hard-boiled eggs, and homemade "sweet" dressing
-Stuffed Peppers
-Whole Stuffed Chicken- (leftovers get made immediately into Homemade Chicken Soup)
-Meatloaf; ("How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman's Recipe)
-Salmon with mustard & balsamic glaze
-Shrimp Scampi over pasta
-Chili & Homemade Cornbread
-White Bean Chicken Chili
-Leeks cooked with Proscuitto
-Butternut Squash Soup
-Eggplant Parm
-Round Steak in tomato sauce with cooked carrots- bone marrow included

Every meal includes some sort of salad (with homemade salad dressing), one or two vegetable sides, and fresh bread (if we happen to have it on hand.)  Oh, and a big thank you to my favorite Sociology Professor and person-who-inspired-me-to-blog Heather Johnson for many of these all-time favorite recipes.

Were we born with it?

When I first moved to Romania in October 2007, I met an inspirational woman named Maya.  Maya's a very accomplished painter, photographer, jewelry maker, art teacher, and a licensed psycho-therapist.  Just a brief visit to her website provides insight into the complexities and intrigue that make up this remarkable woman: http://www.mayarotaru.ro/ .

Two and a half years later, when I returned to Romania in March 2010, Maya contacted me and asked me if I'd like to take one of her small-group painting classes.  Prior to this spring, I had not picked up a paintbrush for at least fifteen years, or maybe more.  In March & April of this year, thanks to my International Tax Consulting Business, I was putting in ten to twelve hour days in front of my laptop, crunching numbers, corresponding with clients, interpreting financial documents, sifting through I.R.S. publications, and cranking out tax returns.  Painting lessons sounded like an awesome escape from the numbers, if just for a few hours, one day per week.  I had no idea how much I would love it.

Here's my first painting as a grown-up, a watercolor still life, a bit impressionistic (by accident), with tiny glimmers of hope for future painting success:

Since then, I've completed a few more pieces:  

This last one is a replica of 'The Laundress' by Stefan Lucian, a Romanian who painted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Here's his original work:

After viewing a few of my paintings, my aunt emailed me with the following observation/remark, "I remember that as a grade-school student you were very good at artwork, but then I imagine there was not much time for it with all your academics, sports and music."  REALLY?  I was "very good at artwork" as a grade-school student?  a.) I don't have any recollection of enjoying painting and b.) I don't remember being good at it (let alone very good at it.)  And I think point a.)- not remembering enjoying it is the part of this comment that nagged at me the most.  Regardless of whether I was good at painting or not, why do I have no memories at all of painting, or enjoying painting, or being interested in painting?  I'm sure I painted- we had some paints around the house and every American grade-school kid in my generation painted at least a little bit in elementary art class.  But standing in front of a blank piece of paper last Spring with a paintbrush in my hand did not evoke even a tiny bit of nostalgia or memory of enjoying painting in the past.

Are we born with the ability to paint?  To sing?  To dance?  Does every kid have it, but then it just atrophies if we don't invest time and energy into these endeavors?  Can we all rediscover these skills as adults, if we're just willing to battle through the failures that will inevitably accompany the successes?