Lentz lived for two years in a town of 12,000 in northern Romania. The area was a Hungarian enclave. As a result, Hungarian was the people's first language, followed by Romanian. School students learned English as their third language. As a Peace Corps volunteer, Lentz helped teach English to both middle school and high school students. But one of the Peace Corps' missions is improving people's cultural understanding of America, as well as the volunteer gaining a better understanding of his or her host country. One thing Lentz learned is that many people grow a significant portion -- if not a majority -- of their own food. He said he went out to help people pick grapes, which then were made into wine. Likewise, people picked raspberries, which they converted into juice, and they also went hunting for mushrooms. People had large gardens where they grew much of their own food as well.
Jonathan Lentz traveled to Romania as a Peace Corps Volunteer
Peace Corps stint turns into rich learning experience in Romania for G.I. native
By Harold Reutter
The Grand Island Independent
Posted Oct 18, 2008 @ 08:44 PM
GRAND ISLAND — When Grand Island native Jonathan Lentz traveled to Romania as a Peace Corps worker, some of his middle school students wanted to know if he knew the rapper 50 Cent.
Older students had a more realistic perspective about America, Lentz said.
But he added that much of what Romanians know about America comes from what people have "seen on TV or in the movies."
The Fox television series "Prison Break" was the most popular American television series in the community where Lentz lived.
"They thought that was the greatest show in the world," said Lentz, who noted he has never seen the show himself. He has no idea why that particular show has so captured the imagination of the people in that Romanian town.
American music -- both rap and rock -- also has a big influence on young people in Romania, he said.
In fact, there was a split between the young people who favored rock music and those who liked rap better, Lentz said.
However, there were gaps in people's knowledge about America. Asked if people who live in Romania know where Nebraska is located, Lentz had a quick answer: "No."
Lentz, though, said he told people that Nebraska is a flat state with very large, mechanized farms. The size of this state's farms provides a huge contrast with Romania's much, much smaller farms.
Lentz lived for two years in a town of 12,000 in northern Romania. The area was a Hungarian enclave. As a result, Hungarian was the people's first language, followed by Romanian. School students learned English as their third language.
As a Peace Corps volunteer, Lentz helped teach English to both middle school and high school students.
But one of the Peace Corps' missions is improving people's cultural understanding of America, as well as the volunteer gaining a better understanding of his or her host country.
One thing Lentz learned is that many people grow a significant portion -- if not a majority -- of their own food. He said he went out to help people pick grapes, which then were made into wine.
Likewise, people picked raspberries, which they converted into juice, and they also went hunting for mushrooms. People had large gardens where they grew much of their own food as well.
As for meat, many people raised chickens for both the meat and eggs they provided. Many people also raised sheep.
"I had lamb while I was there," Lentz said.
One tradition for many families was to raise one hog for a year, then butcher it when the weather turned cold. Lentz said he helped a family butcher a hog, a process that involved slitting the animal's throat.
He said that Romania joined the European Union in 2007, and that caused that slaughter method to become controversial. He said the E.U. requires people in member countries to use a stun gun to kill animals for meat. The practice of slitting an animal's throat is considered inhumane.
However, Lentz believes Romania has received a waiver on that rule for a year.
Regardless of the method of slaughter, there is a lot of work in butchering a hog, Lentz said. The bristles or hair on the animal's hide must be scorched away. People make blood sausage using the blood and meat from the hog.
Other portions of the animal are cut up into individual cuts of meat and then frozen.
People will dip into their freezers for pork, allowing them to use the animal to "eat for months and months," Lentz said.
He worked alongside the family in a process that took 12 hours before the hog was completely dressed out.
But Lentz did get something in return because he often shared a pork meal with the family.
He said it became something of a tradition to ask, "Is this Csancsi? (the name of the pig)" during the meal.
"It usually was," he said.
Lentz said he found there was very much a sense of solidarity in the town where he lived. He noted it was not unusual for him to be walking and see somebody out working in their yard.
"They'd invite me in for a cup of coffee and to talk," he said.
Lentz said that was an invitation that could be extended to anybody living in the town, not just to him, because people were curious about the American living in their midst.
"They have more of a sense of community," he said.
School teachers had the responsibility of teaching proper English, emphasizing grammar and spelling. As a native speaker, Lentz said, his job was to engage his students in conversational English.
One of his most satisfying experiences, though, was teaching a summer high school journalism camp to 37 students.
Lentz majored in linguistics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., but he wrote for the school newspaper and he also worked for a year at a Twin Cities weekly suburban newspaper called the Roseville Review.
Lentz said Romania had a Communist government. It now has competing political parties, but Lentz said most people believe politicians only enter government to enrich themselves. He said such corruption may have its roots from when the government was Communist.
Journalists sometimes are not much better, Lentz said. He was told some journalists who uncover official scandal use it as an opportunity for blackmail, not for a scoop.
The journalism camp was an opportunity to show how -- ideally -- the press should act as a watchdog that reports about corruption, well-intentioned government policies that go awry and even programs that work.
In Romania, that might seem like a radical concept, although Lentz said he wasn't pushing students to become crusading journalists.
"I wasn't trying to start a revolution," he said.
As for Lentz, he returned to the U.S. in early July and enrolled at Columbia University, where he is working on a master of science degree in journalism.
