we wait for you: voices from Romania

Forty-eight Americans fired with anticipation, free flowing adrenaline and serious anxiety, ranging in age from twenty-three to eighty two, touched down from Dulles Airport, Washington, D.C., in Bucharest, Otopeni Airport on June 16, 2001. We had volunteered to become United States Peace Corps volunteers in Romania for a two-year commitment. Our frazzled group was immediately bused to the city of Ploiesti, Prahova County, in south central Romania for language and cross-cultural training. We would be "trainees" for ten weeks and become "volunteers" upon completion. Who is to know, after weeks crammed together eight hours a day in classrooms how we would fare?