Last Friday, all 500 Fulbright recipients around the world received the following notification from the American State Department.

ECA strongly advises all current U.S. Fulbright participants to make arrangements to depart their country of assignment as soon as possible.

The 500 include 28 in Romania, and five in Timisoara plus dependents and partners. The Romanian Fulbright Commission – located in Bucharest – has handled this situation with candor, transparency, and sensitivity. They have made it clear the decision is up to each of us and they will support us as best they can if and when we decide to leave. Regardless of whether we stay or leave, Fulbright benefits will continue and the expectation is we will fulfill our university and other commitments in whatever ways possible from wherever we are in the world.

For now, Rebecca and I have decided to stay in Romania.

We started out sharing with each other our initial reactions to the notification. We then looked carefully at the Romanian Fulbrighters’ email thread and the reasons given for why others were staying and leaving. Both of our families were brought into the conversation through Whats App, FaceTime and messaging. From many voices and perspectives, we slowly began to coalesce around the ‘stay’ option. Why?

We both have individual projects to complete. Rebecca’s project is to learn Romanian in the best way possible, by interacting with Romanians. She has committed hours of study for months on Duolingo and now is the time and Timisoara and Romania is the place to fulfill this dream, of truly learning a ‘foreign’ language.

My project, for which I also have prepared for months, is to teach Romanian students and other audiences about American democracy. West University of Timisoara has suspended all on-campus classes and other activities until March 22 and the arrangements I had been making with community groups for lectures have also been postponed. On-line teaching will go on and lecturing to community groups could go on, regardless of my location. However, like Rebecca, my project is best done in this place, at this time.

We have a partner-project to complete. We pride ourselves on being travelers and not tourists having been schooled well by wonderful tour guides including Nino Giovanetti in Rome, Mohammed Oujrid in Morocco, Michael Cooper in Ireland & Northern Ireland and Liviu Samoilă in Timisoara. Each reinforced the idea that to be a traveler means to connect with the people in a new place and immerse ourselves in the culture of this new place.

Our individual and partner-projects pull us toward staying in Romania. What magnifies this centripetal force are both the people we have met, welcoming and friendly, and the attitude toward the things that happen in the world that are outside the control of any of us, an attitude described by one of our Romanian friends as “shit happens.” Understandable in a country with Romania’s history, with invader after invader. This is so refreshing to Rebecca and I who, as Americans, tend to be personally offended whenever bad things happen, as if America and its people are immune to history. This humility is an antidote to our reflexive arrogance.

The spectacle of lines at American airports and the slow response to the pandemic by America’s government is a centrifugal force pushing us away. We feel safer here for now. We also know that Americans, not uniquely or even exceptionally, like Romanians, will respond to this crisis in enlightened self-interest ways that will eventually flatten the pandemic-spread curve.

Over the past week or so I have been thinking about one of my favorite stories, about a farmer and his horse. One version written by Dennis Adsit is repeated below.

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy for what they called his “misfortune.”

“Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

I carry the sense of this story with me wherever I go. It seems especially useful in difficult times. I wonder if the COVID – 19 pandemic will give enough people in the world an experiential opportunity to practice the discipline and sacrifices that will surely be necessary right around the corner, with the looming consequences of global warming. Is the COVID – 19 pandemic only a bad thing? “Maybe”