Ok, so that last post was heavy. Therefore, it's time to discuss something a little more lighthearted.
Here is a list of some things that I find funny in Moldova:
*Every time an airplane passes by in the sky (about once a week), my host family looks up like the end of the world is about to happen.
* For some weird reason, Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do it For You)" is huge in Moldova now. (A little late, right?)
* A couple weeks ago, I helped my host brother wash the family car while listening to that "Applebottom Jeans" song, and literally every time the lyric came up, my brother got "low, low, low, low, low, low, low" while still diligently scrubbing the exterior.
* I continue to screw up my language. I have now said the following phrases at least a few times in regular conversation: 1) I gave birth to myself in 1983; 2) Every morning for breakfast, I eat myself; and 3) May I please armchair the computer? (The verb "folosi" means "to use" and the noun "fotoliu" means "armchair". Confusing, right?)
* Two days ago, my host brother literally took an hour to buzz my head and would not stop saying "des, des, des" the whole time. ("Thick, thick, thick")
* Most Moldovans believe that if there is a strong current inside (i.e. - if you have the window and the door open at the same time) you will get sick. During practice school last week in my 7th grade class, I opened the door to describe the verb "to pull" and this action was returned with "INCHIS USA, MR. MIKE!!!!!" which means "CLOSE THE DOOR!" (And yes, I go by Mr. Mike ... it's easier for the kids and I think it's kind of funny.)
* My efforts to eat more are going unnoticed. My host mother continues to talk behind my back to other host mothers of other volunteers about how I don't eat enough. The other day, I forced down 5 sausages, a bowl of pasta, sheep's stomach, 3 glasses of juice and 2 servings of tomato and cucmber salad and when I said "Gata!" (finished) I got 2 more sausages and more pasta. (Side note: I do love my host mom though. She's great!)
* Since I've been here, I have a secret strategy for getting rid of food I absolutely cannot stomach. When somebody leaves the kitchen, I immediately wrap the piece of food up in a paper towel and put it in my pocket. After dinner, I go to use the outhouse and drop the food down into the abyss. (Although, don't get the wrong idea here either. The food is actually quite good. Sheep stomach just starts to get to a guy though.)
That's all the funny news I have to report now. :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Making decisions... or not
There is a topic that has been on my mind lately: decision. Ever since I can remember, I was always making my own decisions. I believe my own family will tell you that I’ve always been a very independent person who at an early age took control of his own life. I’ve always wanted to control what happens to me. I think that many of us can relate to this. I really believe that this is a product of being an American. A couple weeks ago when we volunteers met our Moldovan school directors we had a conference where we discussed several topics. One topic was ranking our values as Americans and as Moldovans. Not surprisingly, the American group ranked “Individualism” as the number one value in America and “Tradition” as last. The Moldovans did the complete opposite: they ranked “Tradition” first and “Individualism” last. I cannot say that it was too surprising to see. After all, Moldova is a country torn between two worlds and is still recovering from Soviet rule where individualism was basically punished. And we Americans? We’re a country of immigrants without any sort of conventional tradition and we are conditioned in school to be the best we can be as individuals and to aspire to outshine others.
So where am I going with this? In the past couple of years, I have made a dramatic change in my life (albeit totally by accident) where I have just let things happen without interfering with my own wants or desires. I remember when I first got into Teach For America right out of college and being a little disappointed that I got Phoenix, my 2nd choice for placement. I mean, I actually considered not doing that great program because of something so trivial as location. And to be completely honest with myself, I think the ultimate factor in my actually doing Teach For America was the prestige attached to it. I knew that it impressed others. Granted, I grew to truly understand the value in teaching my students, but even during my time teaching, I still exercised an enormous amount of control regarding everything from my classroom to my social life. In short, I was incredibly uptight and as much as I prided myself on being open-minded, my mind consistently slammed shut on my own life.
Then came the recruitment director position with Teach For America. Many of you have heard me complain about this job a lot, and I’m sure I could still find things to critique about it until the sun comes up, but looking back I am extremely grateful that I had that opportunity to fail so miserably at something. Going into that job, I cared about nobody but myself. And what is so strange is that I, along with many of my colleagues, fooled myself into believing that I was doing something incredibly selfless. Being alone in Seattle, working all by myself on something that required so much independence, really allowed me the opportunity to peel back the layers of who I was and what I determined in my life. There were so many days that I would be sitting at a table at the University of Washington asking myself, “Why the hell am I here and what is preventing me from actually getting up and leaving?” That job ran it’s course and as many of you know, I did in fact eventually get up and leave. But, in retrospect, it was the evolution of myself – not the slow demolition of my career – that really surprised me the most.
Since being in Moldova, I have surprised myself many times with my true open-mind and willingness to relinquish of control. Even before coming here, I marked on my application (while in the final few months of my previous job, mind you) that I would be willing to go anywhere. It’s a big world, and now the admissions team over at Peace Corps headquarters could pretty much close their eyes, point to a map and send me to that country. Moldova? No, Moldova! And now I’m going to a random village that I had no control over choosing. But what is so wonderful about life is that no matter where I would have ended up going to, I know it would have been wonderful! You can’t let yourself get in the way of having truly incredible things happen to you. Sometimes you just have to let go of the reins and give someone else a try. It’s amazing once you let life take control the incredible things that can happen to you.
Ok, so I realize this is now beginning to start to sound a little too “Jesus, Take the Wheel”. However, for some people, it is religion that let’s them live their lives freely (while for others, religion might keep them locked up as slaves). Some may define the thinking as spiritual. I just define it as life. Life is going to happen regardless of how much you try to control it – so live it. And like The Beatles say, let it be.
No, I’m not missing the irony in all of this: that after coming to an incredibly restrictive and impoverished country, I finally feel truly liberated. I am grateful for this and I feel incredibly privileged to be doing the work that I am doing in this country. There may come a time where I feel that it’s no longer working out and decide to come back early, or it may be the case that my work is not done after two years and I stay two more. Regardless of what happens next, it will be the right decision. And same to you, whatever happens tomorrow, good or bad, it’s the right way because it’s what happened.
Life is all about attitude.
So where am I going with this? In the past couple of years, I have made a dramatic change in my life (albeit totally by accident) where I have just let things happen without interfering with my own wants or desires. I remember when I first got into Teach For America right out of college and being a little disappointed that I got Phoenix, my 2nd choice for placement. I mean, I actually considered not doing that great program because of something so trivial as location. And to be completely honest with myself, I think the ultimate factor in my actually doing Teach For America was the prestige attached to it. I knew that it impressed others. Granted, I grew to truly understand the value in teaching my students, but even during my time teaching, I still exercised an enormous amount of control regarding everything from my classroom to my social life. In short, I was incredibly uptight and as much as I prided myself on being open-minded, my mind consistently slammed shut on my own life.
Then came the recruitment director position with Teach For America. Many of you have heard me complain about this job a lot, and I’m sure I could still find things to critique about it until the sun comes up, but looking back I am extremely grateful that I had that opportunity to fail so miserably at something. Going into that job, I cared about nobody but myself. And what is so strange is that I, along with many of my colleagues, fooled myself into believing that I was doing something incredibly selfless. Being alone in Seattle, working all by myself on something that required so much independence, really allowed me the opportunity to peel back the layers of who I was and what I determined in my life. There were so many days that I would be sitting at a table at the University of Washington asking myself, “Why the hell am I here and what is preventing me from actually getting up and leaving?” That job ran it’s course and as many of you know, I did in fact eventually get up and leave. But, in retrospect, it was the evolution of myself – not the slow demolition of my career – that really surprised me the most.
Since being in Moldova, I have surprised myself many times with my true open-mind and willingness to relinquish of control. Even before coming here, I marked on my application (while in the final few months of my previous job, mind you) that I would be willing to go anywhere. It’s a big world, and now the admissions team over at Peace Corps headquarters could pretty much close their eyes, point to a map and send me to that country. Moldova? No, Moldova! And now I’m going to a random village that I had no control over choosing. But what is so wonderful about life is that no matter where I would have ended up going to, I know it would have been wonderful! You can’t let yourself get in the way of having truly incredible things happen to you. Sometimes you just have to let go of the reins and give someone else a try. It’s amazing once you let life take control the incredible things that can happen to you.
Ok, so I realize this is now beginning to start to sound a little too “Jesus, Take the Wheel”. However, for some people, it is religion that let’s them live their lives freely (while for others, religion might keep them locked up as slaves). Some may define the thinking as spiritual. I just define it as life. Life is going to happen regardless of how much you try to control it – so live it. And like The Beatles say, let it be.
No, I’m not missing the irony in all of this: that after coming to an incredibly restrictive and impoverished country, I finally feel truly liberated. I am grateful for this and I feel incredibly privileged to be doing the work that I am doing in this country. There may come a time where I feel that it’s no longer working out and decide to come back early, or it may be the case that my work is not done after two years and I stay two more. Regardless of what happens next, it will be the right decision. And same to you, whatever happens tomorrow, good or bad, it’s the right way because it’s what happened.
Life is all about attitude.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Teacher Wish List
Wow, you look EXCELLENT today... okay, I admit it - I want something from you (although I'm sure you are looking amazing!)
Today we had a session with some current volunteers who are teachers about limited resources in the classroom. Now, I have worked with limited resources before, but it's looking pretty bad over here in terms of securing things that can't be bought in country.
So, I was hoping that my friends and family could help out! I've prepared a small wish list of things that I would love to have as a teacher starting in September. Many of these things are very cheap and light weight, so wouldn't be too expensive to send. Also, many of my friends who are still teachers or who have recently finished will find that many of these things don't even need to be bought - if you're no longer using those teacher supplies, send them my way!
So here it is:
*Maps of America/any US state (these are free at AAA!)
*Postcards from any state (You can just send these with a message on the back for me for under a dollar- talk about super cheap!)
*Take out menus (these are great tools for English learners - Chinese takeout, Mexican takeout - kids over here apparently get VERY excited about these)
*Markers (preferably Mr. Sketch since they last long and smell fantastic!)
*Dry erase markers
*Masking tape
*Notecards
*Ziploc bags
*Any old magazines (I can catch up on celebrity gossip or world politics, then use them to cut out pictures and articles and students can read them to practice using their language.)
*Sticky-tack
*Playing Cards/UNO
*Chalk/Colored Chalk
*Pocket charts (incredible for teaching grammar! You teachers know what I'm talking about - send me old ones!)
*Used books in English (not like Sound and the Fury- remember, these kids are learning English. Think Harry Potter, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird.)
*Posters with grammar rules (again, teachers know what I'm talking about)
*The comics section from the Sunday paper
*Holiday decorations
*Pictures of American landscapes
*PICTURES OF YOU! I want to be able to show my students pictures of my friends and family and show them where they live on a map. Plus, I miss you! :)
*Weird request - laminated white pieces of printer or construction paper, plus small white board markers. (These will help my students form sentences over and over again and be able to correct mistakes without starting over.)
If you have other ideas - they're probably great! Send that too!
Anything and everything will be appreciated. I am very excited to start teaching again - and this time in a totally different way. I know many people feel that teaching English to students in a foreign country may be like a modern form of Imperialism. I get that - but I have also been in this country now for more than a month and see how English offers more opportunities for its citizens. I think as Americans, it is easy to take for granted that our native language is the most widely used professional language in the world. For Moldovans, English opens doors to new opportunities and sometimes survival for a family.
I miss everyone very much and hope your summers are going amazingly well! Eat lots of watermelon for me! :)
Today we had a session with some current volunteers who are teachers about limited resources in the classroom. Now, I have worked with limited resources before, but it's looking pretty bad over here in terms of securing things that can't be bought in country.
So, I was hoping that my friends and family could help out! I've prepared a small wish list of things that I would love to have as a teacher starting in September. Many of these things are very cheap and light weight, so wouldn't be too expensive to send. Also, many of my friends who are still teachers or who have recently finished will find that many of these things don't even need to be bought - if you're no longer using those teacher supplies, send them my way!
So here it is:
*Maps of America/any US state (these are free at AAA!)
*Postcards from any state (You can just send these with a message on the back for me for under a dollar- talk about super cheap!)
*Take out menus (these are great tools for English learners - Chinese takeout, Mexican takeout - kids over here apparently get VERY excited about these)
*Markers (preferably Mr. Sketch since they last long and smell fantastic!)
*Dry erase markers
*Masking tape
*Notecards
*Ziploc bags
*Any old magazines (I can catch up on celebrity gossip or world politics, then use them to cut out pictures and articles and students can read them to practice using their language.)
*Sticky-tack
*Playing Cards/UNO
*Chalk/Colored Chalk
*Pocket charts (incredible for teaching grammar! You teachers know what I'm talking about - send me old ones!)
*Used books in English (not like Sound and the Fury- remember, these kids are learning English. Think Harry Potter, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird.)
*Posters with grammar rules (again, teachers know what I'm talking about)
*The comics section from the Sunday paper
*Holiday decorations
*Pictures of American landscapes
*PICTURES OF YOU! I want to be able to show my students pictures of my friends and family and show them where they live on a map. Plus, I miss you! :)
*Weird request - laminated white pieces of printer or construction paper, plus small white board markers. (These will help my students form sentences over and over again and be able to correct mistakes without starting over.)
If you have other ideas - they're probably great! Send that too!
Anything and everything will be appreciated. I am very excited to start teaching again - and this time in a totally different way. I know many people feel that teaching English to students in a foreign country may be like a modern form of Imperialism. I get that - but I have also been in this country now for more than a month and see how English offers more opportunities for its citizens. I think as Americans, it is easy to take for granted that our native language is the most widely used professional language in the world. For Moldovans, English opens doors to new opportunities and sometimes survival for a family.
I miss everyone very much and hope your summers are going amazingly well! Eat lots of watermelon for me! :)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Site Visit
Before I start this post, I would first like to say happy birthday to my mom! Also, happy belated birthday to my dad (July 10) and happy belated birthday to my step-mom (July 2) and step-brother (July 5). Also, in case I forget, happy future birthday to my step-dad (July 19) and my cousin Jake (July 19). Yes, almost my whole family is born in July.
So this weekend, I went on my first visit to my future site in Moldova. Friday afternoon, we met our school directors and after some awkard introductions and greetings, we sat through a few sessions regarding our future placements in villages and towns across Moldova. (FYI - my town is officially a "village".) My school director is very nice, but I had some trouble understanding him for two reasons: a) I don't know Romanian very well and b) he mumbled a bit, so it was extra hard to really understand.
Saturday morning, I met my school director in Chisinau and he took me on a two-hour tour of the capital and pointed out several monuments (Stefan cel Mare, Mihai Eminescu) and important places (Government buildings, war memorials, etc.). We then walked across town to the Gara de Nord (North train station) and boarded a rutiera for our village. Well, we sat in our rutiera for an hour before it left and it was incredibly hot and sweaty. I have never been in such a tight place before where people just tolerate the heat and don't freak out. In a situation like this in America, I would have gotten off the bus and demanded a refund - but, alas, things in Moldova are different and I found that I was able to tolerate it all even if a little bit frustrated.
After an hour of waiting, we finally left Chisinau and headed for our village. Along the way our driver stopped no less than 4 times to check on smoke that was mysteriously coming from our van and each time kicked the tire, shrugged his shoulders, got back in and drove off without fixing it. Along the way, we saw several fields of beautiful sunflowers basking in the summer heat. Entire sides of hills were colored with the bright yellow of these magnificent flowers and I learned that sunflowers actually shift with the sun every day.
My school director pointed out to me when we were descending upon our village and when I looked up, I was pleased to see more sunflowers and two enormous hills covered in a forest of different shades of green. It was breathtaking and I had to let it sink in that I was actually going to be living here. When we got off the rutiera, I met one of the English teachers at the school with whom I will be working. She was very kind, is younger than me and was my tour guide for the entire weekend. She pointed out the mayor's office, the post office, the grocery store, the piata where fresh fruits and vegetables and clothing are sold every Sunday. We went to the Casa de Cultura where there is a small disco and many different organizations that create music and dance with local children. We visited the Casa de Creatie, which is a wonderful place where children can participate in different programs such as the National Scouts of Moldova where they volunteer to go out into the forest and pick up trash, in addition to summer camps and many other opportunities. I definitely foresee myself working here a bit.
I was able to really get a good taste for the village and I met four different women in the village who were offering a room for me in their houses to live. I have to choose this week with whom I will live and once that is all figured out, I will post it here. I also was able to meet with 3 12th graders at the school and they were very smart and eager to use their English with me. If the students at the school are anything like these 3, teaching them will be a snap! (Somehow, I doubt that this is the case, of course.)
All in all, it was a good weekend and I am very excited to be working with the people there. Picture this: Michael Moran in a village, taking bucket baths and eating fruit off of a tree. Who would have thought? Certainly not me, but I'm finding that anything is possible and I am actually looking forward to a simpler kind of life for a couple of years. I truly feel that I have a lot to learn from these wonderful people who have spent their lives in one spot in a country that many Americans have never even heard of. I feel very privileged to be here.
So this weekend, I went on my first visit to my future site in Moldova. Friday afternoon, we met our school directors and after some awkard introductions and greetings, we sat through a few sessions regarding our future placements in villages and towns across Moldova. (FYI - my town is officially a "village".) My school director is very nice, but I had some trouble understanding him for two reasons: a) I don't know Romanian very well and b) he mumbled a bit, so it was extra hard to really understand.
Saturday morning, I met my school director in Chisinau and he took me on a two-hour tour of the capital and pointed out several monuments (Stefan cel Mare, Mihai Eminescu) and important places (Government buildings, war memorials, etc.). We then walked across town to the Gara de Nord (North train station) and boarded a rutiera for our village. Well, we sat in our rutiera for an hour before it left and it was incredibly hot and sweaty. I have never been in such a tight place before where people just tolerate the heat and don't freak out. In a situation like this in America, I would have gotten off the bus and demanded a refund - but, alas, things in Moldova are different and I found that I was able to tolerate it all even if a little bit frustrated.
After an hour of waiting, we finally left Chisinau and headed for our village. Along the way our driver stopped no less than 4 times to check on smoke that was mysteriously coming from our van and each time kicked the tire, shrugged his shoulders, got back in and drove off without fixing it. Along the way, we saw several fields of beautiful sunflowers basking in the summer heat. Entire sides of hills were colored with the bright yellow of these magnificent flowers and I learned that sunflowers actually shift with the sun every day.
My school director pointed out to me when we were descending upon our village and when I looked up, I was pleased to see more sunflowers and two enormous hills covered in a forest of different shades of green. It was breathtaking and I had to let it sink in that I was actually going to be living here. When we got off the rutiera, I met one of the English teachers at the school with whom I will be working. She was very kind, is younger than me and was my tour guide for the entire weekend. She pointed out the mayor's office, the post office, the grocery store, the piata where fresh fruits and vegetables and clothing are sold every Sunday. We went to the Casa de Cultura where there is a small disco and many different organizations that create music and dance with local children. We visited the Casa de Creatie, which is a wonderful place where children can participate in different programs such as the National Scouts of Moldova where they volunteer to go out into the forest and pick up trash, in addition to summer camps and many other opportunities. I definitely foresee myself working here a bit.
I was able to really get a good taste for the village and I met four different women in the village who were offering a room for me in their houses to live. I have to choose this week with whom I will live and once that is all figured out, I will post it here. I also was able to meet with 3 12th graders at the school and they were very smart and eager to use their English with me. If the students at the school are anything like these 3, teaching them will be a snap! (Somehow, I doubt that this is the case, of course.)
All in all, it was a good weekend and I am very excited to be working with the people there. Picture this: Michael Moran in a village, taking bucket baths and eating fruit off of a tree. Who would have thought? Certainly not me, but I'm finding that anything is possible and I am actually looking forward to a simpler kind of life for a couple of years. I truly feel that I have a lot to learn from these wonderful people who have spent their lives in one spot in a country that many Americans have never even heard of. I feel very privileged to be here.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
I found out my site!
Yesterday, we had our site announcements and all the volunteers were there to share in the experience. It was really nice how our future sites were announced. Basically, the staff drew a huge chalk map of Moldova out on the blacktop of the school and had chairs set up where the volunteers would be dispersed throughout the country. Then, the country director drew names out of a hat and randomly announced our sites to us. (Just to clarify, our sites were predetermined by staff based on a variety of factors - only the announcement of our sites was random.)
Anyhow, the site where I will be for the next 2 years starting in just 5 weeks, is... a secret! Really, I'm not allowed to announce exactly where I am (at least, I think I'm not allowed to since we've been advised against it so many times), but I can tell you that if you look at this map, I am located in the Singerei raion (region), which is in the North Central part of Moldova. It shares a border with the Falesti raion and is directly connected to the 2nd largest city in Moldova, called Balti. I'm pretty much directly south of Balti near the Falesti border about 3/4 of the way down the border. Does that help you out? :)
Anyway, this is very exciting news for us volunteers since our current placements are not our permanent sites. We now know where we will be teaching and working to improve the life of Moldovans over the course of the next two years. My village is exactly that: a village! It has only roughly 5,000 people. I am very happy about this though, because I really want to immerse myself in Moldovan culture and be of use where I am most needed. I feel like this will really allow me that opportunity and truly give me a unique experience at living a life determined by the seasons, agriculture and survival.
This weekend, I am going to my permanant site for a brief visit for 3 days. I will check out potential host families and meet with the school director of the school where I'll be teaching. Expect more updates after the weekend!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Quick update
At last, I have some time to actually type an entry in real time. Today, classes ended early. We had language classes from 8:30am to 1:00pm and now we are finished for the day. We are supposed to do what is called "SDA", which means Self Directed Activity - but there's a loose definition to what that really means. After all, I am "self-directing" myself to do this "activity" of writing this entry right now. Works for me!
The language is coming by slowly. Today, we rehearsed a dialogue to use with our school directors when we meet them. "M-am nascut in anul 1983. In 2004, eu am absolvit universitatea privata in America. Dupa universitate, eu am lucrat doi ani profesor la scoala." That translates to "I was born in 1983. In 2004, I graduated from college in America. After college, I worked for two years as a teacher." Like I said, slowly coming along.
Tomorrow after our full day of classes, we find out our permanent site. For those of you who do not know, I am in my current village only for 10 weeks (I'm at week #4 right now) for training. Then, after the 10 weeks, I move to my permanent site for 2 years, which I will find out tomorrow. This weekend, I go to my permanent site to check it out and basically stay with 2-3 different families before deciding which family I want to live with for the next 2 years. It's exciting, but nerve-wracking as well, given my limited grasp of Romanian. Exactly how do you ask somebody details about their outhouse without really knowing the language. From a previous post, you can tell that that topic is important to me.
Anyway, all in all, everything is good here. I am having fun and learning a lot. I am excited to finally be teaching again and I'm sure everything will fall into place once I start actually working with students again. So excited for that.
Well, that's really all I can think of to post right now. Figures that when I get the time, I can't think of what to say. Hope everyone is well.
The language is coming by slowly. Today, we rehearsed a dialogue to use with our school directors when we meet them. "M-am nascut in anul 1983. In 2004, eu am absolvit universitatea privata in America. Dupa universitate, eu am lucrat doi ani profesor la scoala." That translates to "I was born in 1983. In 2004, I graduated from college in America. After college, I worked for two years as a teacher." Like I said, slowly coming along.
Tomorrow after our full day of classes, we find out our permanent site. For those of you who do not know, I am in my current village only for 10 weeks (I'm at week #4 right now) for training. Then, after the 10 weeks, I move to my permanent site for 2 years, which I will find out tomorrow. This weekend, I go to my permanent site to check it out and basically stay with 2-3 different families before deciding which family I want to live with for the next 2 years. It's exciting, but nerve-wracking as well, given my limited grasp of Romanian. Exactly how do you ask somebody details about their outhouse without really knowing the language. From a previous post, you can tell that that topic is important to me.
Anyway, all in all, everything is good here. I am having fun and learning a lot. I am excited to finally be teaching again and I'm sure everything will fall into place once I start actually working with students again. So excited for that.
Well, that's really all I can think of to post right now. Figures that when I get the time, I can't think of what to say. Hope everyone is well.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Moldova the unhappiest country in the world...???
Check out this link from CNN I read today: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/02/nations.happiness/index.html.
So far, I find this to be incredibly untrue. Most of the Moldovans I've met are pretty happy! True, economically and politically, things aren't great, but nevertheless, the people here are wonderful.
Take it with a grain of salt. :)
So far, I find this to be incredibly untrue. Most of the Moldovans I've met are pretty happy! True, economically and politically, things aren't great, but nevertheless, the people here are wonderful.
Take it with a grain of salt. :)
A Few Pictures from Moldova
Pictures from my first few weeks in Moldova!!! :)
(The gate to my house, where I do my business at home, some grapes in our yard, some ducks and a "cocos" which is a rooster)
Posts from my first few weeks (Part 3)
Third post I've been saving... careful, this one gets nasty.
June 17, 2008
Outhouses.
Let me first preface this post by stating that everybody poops. First we eat and then the way that our body naturally gets rid of waste is by releasing bowel movements. There’s even a children’s book about it. I think that Americans tend to be hung up or disgusted by the fact that we poop and often we hide it, disguise it, or even deny it. In Moldova, this is not the case.
My first encounter with a veceu (outhouse) was in the city I am living in on my first day in town with my host family. I just peed and it was really easy. I will admit it, I had to go number two, but was still a bit frightened at the thought and perplexed by the intricacies of squatting, that I really felt I could hold it in during the night. Well, turns out I was able to hold it in for a bit longer than that and by morning when I was ready to go, I couldn’t. My body was already rebelling against me for rebelling against its natural flow.
In the morning I went to ballroom dance practice with my younger host brother and my stomach was not bothering me or anything, so I went along fine expecting to just be backed up for a few days for being so American about pooping the night before. Well, again my body had different plans. Midway through T.'s impressive jive with his dance class, I felt pains in my stomach and an urge to use the bathroom. I held it in through the rest of the jive… and the samba, and the waltz. Finally, as casually as possible, during a break I asked T. where the outhouse was. He took me outside behind the building and walked me through the bush until we finally reached the outhouse. He showed it to me and I went in, but he was still standing there, so I motioned to him to go back inside and that I would be okay (I think I successfully played it off as “I don’t want you to miss your practice” as opposed to “I may be in here a while and I don’t want you to hear me pooping and then tell everyone that the American is pooping” – although he may have a different opinion on this.) Amidst the flies, rotten stench and dirt and mud (maybe not mud?) all over the floor and walls, I had my first Moldovan outhouse poop. It was not a pretty one, but it felt good. The only problem was I didn’t have toilet paper. But being the resourceful guy that I am, I managed to clean everything up with some leaves, a receipt and one of my old Teach For America recruitment director business cards that was magically in my pants pocket out of nowhere. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed that last wipe.
When it came down to it, the squatting thing wasn’t really an issue. At first, my body was fighting an urge to sit down on a toilet seat, but when I really had to go, my body’s natural instincts kicked in and led the way. Turns out you don’t have to try to hold onto the sides or lean against the back wall (in fact those are both terrible ideas).
Since my first Moldovan outhouse poop, I’ve had a couple of others. They’re not bad, but my body is still getting used to the whole thing. By the end of my 27 months here, I’m sure I’ll be a professional. Until then, all of you Americans, say a little prayer for your toilet and be grateful you have one. The next time it overflows or clogs or does something that just pisses you off (so to speak), just think of me squatting over a 15 foot hole in the ground trying not fall in… or don’t.
June 17, 2008
Outhouses.
Let me first preface this post by stating that everybody poops. First we eat and then the way that our body naturally gets rid of waste is by releasing bowel movements. There’s even a children’s book about it. I think that Americans tend to be hung up or disgusted by the fact that we poop and often we hide it, disguise it, or even deny it. In Moldova, this is not the case.
My first encounter with a veceu (outhouse) was in the city I am living in on my first day in town with my host family. I just peed and it was really easy. I will admit it, I had to go number two, but was still a bit frightened at the thought and perplexed by the intricacies of squatting, that I really felt I could hold it in during the night. Well, turns out I was able to hold it in for a bit longer than that and by morning when I was ready to go, I couldn’t. My body was already rebelling against me for rebelling against its natural flow.
In the morning I went to ballroom dance practice with my younger host brother and my stomach was not bothering me or anything, so I went along fine expecting to just be backed up for a few days for being so American about pooping the night before. Well, again my body had different plans. Midway through T.'s impressive jive with his dance class, I felt pains in my stomach and an urge to use the bathroom. I held it in through the rest of the jive… and the samba, and the waltz. Finally, as casually as possible, during a break I asked T. where the outhouse was. He took me outside behind the building and walked me through the bush until we finally reached the outhouse. He showed it to me and I went in, but he was still standing there, so I motioned to him to go back inside and that I would be okay (I think I successfully played it off as “I don’t want you to miss your practice” as opposed to “I may be in here a while and I don’t want you to hear me pooping and then tell everyone that the American is pooping” – although he may have a different opinion on this.) Amidst the flies, rotten stench and dirt and mud (maybe not mud?) all over the floor and walls, I had my first Moldovan outhouse poop. It was not a pretty one, but it felt good. The only problem was I didn’t have toilet paper. But being the resourceful guy that I am, I managed to clean everything up with some leaves, a receipt and one of my old Teach For America recruitment director business cards that was magically in my pants pocket out of nowhere. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed that last wipe.
When it came down to it, the squatting thing wasn’t really an issue. At first, my body was fighting an urge to sit down on a toilet seat, but when I really had to go, my body’s natural instincts kicked in and led the way. Turns out you don’t have to try to hold onto the sides or lean against the back wall (in fact those are both terrible ideas).
Since my first Moldovan outhouse poop, I’ve had a couple of others. They’re not bad, but my body is still getting used to the whole thing. By the end of my 27 months here, I’m sure I’ll be a professional. Until then, all of you Americans, say a little prayer for your toilet and be grateful you have one. The next time it overflows or clogs or does something that just pisses you off (so to speak), just think of me squatting over a 15 foot hole in the ground trying not fall in… or don’t.
Posts from my first few weeks (Part 2)
Second post I've been saving...
June 16, 2008
Well a lot has certainly happened since my last update. I could go back and explain many details related to our last 3 days in Chisinau, but what’s more exciting is what’s happened since moving in with my host family in the raion of Ialoveni (unfortunately, I am forbidden to tell you exactly where I am located.)
On Saturday afternoon, our host families came to pick us up to take us to their homes. Before this happened, our Language and Cultural Facilitators (LCFs) took us around Chisinau to buy flowers and gifts for our host families. I bought some chocolate bars for the boys in the family and some yellow flowers for my host mother. The bouquet was beautiful – until I was informed by some fellow volunteers on the cramped mini-van called a rutiera that yellow flowers were for funerals. My LCFs didn’t tell me this. First faux-pas – check!
Our host families came to meet us and I met my host mother and father. My father is 41, very outgoing. My mother is 39, very protective. When I met them, I shook their hands. Well, I had forgotten that shaking a woman’s hand, especially when first meeting her, is sort of taboo in Moldova. Faux pas number 2 – check!
My host father quickly threw all of my stuff into the back of his minivan and ushered me into the front seat of his Mercedes minivan (Mercedes is ubiquitous around here – it’s not as elite as in the States.) I complied and was pleased to see that there were seatbelts! I buckled mine, but nobody else did. From this point on, everything was in the hands of my host family. So we went to the market in Chisinau before heading to my site. On the way into the city where I am living, I was able to work around the feeble English of my host father to find out that he is a construction worker who goes to Dublin and London for 3 months out of the year and otherwise owns a local store. I am pretty sure my host mother works at the store during the week, but I have yet to actually determine if that is actually true. My limited Romanian is a huge hindrance, so I am truly putting all of my energy into learning this language so I can actually understand what people are saying to me.
Driving into the city where I am living, I noted that the countryside was “mare” which means “big”. My host father was impressed and let out a big laugh and uncovered a genuine grin that put me more at ease. This was the moment where I suddenly just knew I was going to be okay. I didn’t know these people, but I knew they would take care of me. As I was soaking in these emotions with glee, the chocolate bars I had bought for my host brothers, were soaking in the sun in my lap. Completely melted chocolate bars to hand to my host brothers as a gift – faux pas number 3.
After stopping at 2 separate markets in the city where I am living, we finally arrived to the house I will be staying at for 10 weeks. I met my host brothers first. C. is 18 and is a “professional videographer” who does weddings and parties. T. is 16 and is rambunctious and is a competitive ballroom dancer. T. also is great with sign language and really helps me out in sticky situations even though he knows NO English. So far I’ve gone with him to ballroom dancing practice (he is pretty incredible) and to his friends’ houses and to the market – okay, now that I think about it, maybe I’m following him everywhere.
My room where I am staying is pretty big. It has a queen sized bed, a dresser, a desk and 2 end tables. It’s nicely decorated (Moldovan style) and there’s even a lock on the door. A far cry from what I was expecting (isn’t the typical Peace Corps experience living in a grass hut in Africa?), but it’s nice nonetheless. For training, they have housed us with wealthier families in cities directly outside of Chisinau. We’ve pretty much already been told not to expect this kind of luxury when we actually move in with our permanent host family.
The food here is wonderful. Chicken is a staple with my host family (they raise and kill them on their own) and wonderful fruits and vegetables accompany every meal (also grown in their garden) along with bread. I’ve run into a few problems – hot dogs for breakfast, very heavy corn oatmeal, jellied meat – but overall the food is fantastic! I never liked tomatoes, now I love them. I never liked mashed potatoes, but these ones are wonderful. Cucumbers, raspberries – new additions to my diet that I’m indulging in. Raspberries are a snack that we pick off of the raspberry bushes ourselves. We also climb the cherry trees and sit up there and snack on the sour fruits and politely spit out the pits.
Since last writing I’ve also had my first day of language classes in the village. 4 hours today of straight Romanian – very intense, but very helpful. I went right home and practiced with my host brother T. and one of his cousins. Our teachers (LCFs) are great and are both Moldovans who are English teachers, so they are great to learn from.
I’ve made friends, but we’ve all been pretty much separated. We are in a group of 8 in our village and I think our group is really great.
Well, I better be off to bed before and early day of language classes again.
Pe curind! (See you soon)
June 16, 2008
Well a lot has certainly happened since my last update. I could go back and explain many details related to our last 3 days in Chisinau, but what’s more exciting is what’s happened since moving in with my host family in the raion of Ialoveni (unfortunately, I am forbidden to tell you exactly where I am located.)
On Saturday afternoon, our host families came to pick us up to take us to their homes. Before this happened, our Language and Cultural Facilitators (LCFs) took us around Chisinau to buy flowers and gifts for our host families. I bought some chocolate bars for the boys in the family and some yellow flowers for my host mother. The bouquet was beautiful – until I was informed by some fellow volunteers on the cramped mini-van called a rutiera that yellow flowers were for funerals. My LCFs didn’t tell me this. First faux-pas – check!
Our host families came to meet us and I met my host mother and father. My father is 41, very outgoing. My mother is 39, very protective. When I met them, I shook their hands. Well, I had forgotten that shaking a woman’s hand, especially when first meeting her, is sort of taboo in Moldova. Faux pas number 2 – check!
My host father quickly threw all of my stuff into the back of his minivan and ushered me into the front seat of his Mercedes minivan (Mercedes is ubiquitous around here – it’s not as elite as in the States.) I complied and was pleased to see that there were seatbelts! I buckled mine, but nobody else did. From this point on, everything was in the hands of my host family. So we went to the market in Chisinau before heading to my site. On the way into the city where I am living, I was able to work around the feeble English of my host father to find out that he is a construction worker who goes to Dublin and London for 3 months out of the year and otherwise owns a local store. I am pretty sure my host mother works at the store during the week, but I have yet to actually determine if that is actually true. My limited Romanian is a huge hindrance, so I am truly putting all of my energy into learning this language so I can actually understand what people are saying to me.
Driving into the city where I am living, I noted that the countryside was “mare” which means “big”. My host father was impressed and let out a big laugh and uncovered a genuine grin that put me more at ease. This was the moment where I suddenly just knew I was going to be okay. I didn’t know these people, but I knew they would take care of me. As I was soaking in these emotions with glee, the chocolate bars I had bought for my host brothers, were soaking in the sun in my lap. Completely melted chocolate bars to hand to my host brothers as a gift – faux pas number 3.
After stopping at 2 separate markets in the city where I am living, we finally arrived to the house I will be staying at for 10 weeks. I met my host brothers first. C. is 18 and is a “professional videographer” who does weddings and parties. T. is 16 and is rambunctious and is a competitive ballroom dancer. T. also is great with sign language and really helps me out in sticky situations even though he knows NO English. So far I’ve gone with him to ballroom dancing practice (he is pretty incredible) and to his friends’ houses and to the market – okay, now that I think about it, maybe I’m following him everywhere.
My room where I am staying is pretty big. It has a queen sized bed, a dresser, a desk and 2 end tables. It’s nicely decorated (Moldovan style) and there’s even a lock on the door. A far cry from what I was expecting (isn’t the typical Peace Corps experience living in a grass hut in Africa?), but it’s nice nonetheless. For training, they have housed us with wealthier families in cities directly outside of Chisinau. We’ve pretty much already been told not to expect this kind of luxury when we actually move in with our permanent host family.
The food here is wonderful. Chicken is a staple with my host family (they raise and kill them on their own) and wonderful fruits and vegetables accompany every meal (also grown in their garden) along with bread. I’ve run into a few problems – hot dogs for breakfast, very heavy corn oatmeal, jellied meat – but overall the food is fantastic! I never liked tomatoes, now I love them. I never liked mashed potatoes, but these ones are wonderful. Cucumbers, raspberries – new additions to my diet that I’m indulging in. Raspberries are a snack that we pick off of the raspberry bushes ourselves. We also climb the cherry trees and sit up there and snack on the sour fruits and politely spit out the pits.
Since last writing I’ve also had my first day of language classes in the village. 4 hours today of straight Romanian – very intense, but very helpful. I went right home and practiced with my host brother T. and one of his cousins. Our teachers (LCFs) are great and are both Moldovans who are English teachers, so they are great to learn from.
I’ve made friends, but we’ve all been pretty much separated. We are in a group of 8 in our village and I think our group is really great.
Well, I better be off to bed before and early day of language classes again.
Pe curind! (See you soon)
Posts from my first few weeks
So, internet hasn't been that reliable so what I have been doing is writing posts on my computer, then saving them to my flash drive to upload to this blog later on.
Well, do I have a lot for you.
Here is my first post after arriving in Chisinau, Moldova.
June 12, 2008
It is 5:30 am here in Chisinau, Moldova on Thursday, June 12th and a lot has happened in the last couple of days. As I listen to the roosters and barking dogs in the background of a city where the sun has already fully risen, listen and I will relay to you the first part of my adventure.
On Tuesday afternoon, all 38 of us (the Moldova 23s – that means the 23rd group of Peace Corps Volunteers to go to Moldova) left in a charter bus from Philadelphia to New York to fly out of JFK airport at around 1:15pm. There were two buses so each of us had enough room to stretch out in our own row. The bus ride was a little over 2 hours, all in thanks to NYC traffic and we arrived around 3:30 or so. We all piled off the buses and headed to check in for our Lufthansa flight leaving at 9:40pm. Yes, you heard me correctly. We arrived at the airport at around 3:30 and our flight did not leave until 9:40. The Peace Corps wanted to make extra sure that we were on time for our flight. No problems there.
During check in, it seemed that none of us were charged excess luggage fees even if we were over. We were all allotted 100 pounds of luggage total, but each bag could only have a maximum of 50 pounds. My big bag was about 53.5 pounds and it went right through. All in all, I only had about 75 pounds in luggage, which was way under the limit. Many people had well over 100 pounds and were prepared to pay the $50 fee, but the fee was waived on pretty much everyone’s bag. I have a feeling Peace Corps had something to do with that.
After getting through security, we all waited around for 6 hours before our flight took off, playing cards, eating and drinking and just chatting with each other. When the time finally came to leave, we got our passports ready and got on the plane. All buckled in, 9:40 came… and promptly passed. “Weather delay, 30 minutes,” came the pilot’s announcement, mind you all in German first. After a lot of flying in the past couple of years for work, I know that 30 minutes always means at least an hour and usually more like two. 10:30 rolled around, no update. Another update came around 11:00 and the captain said another half hour. We were teased a few minutes earlier when we pulled out of the gate, but we were then at a standstill for a while longer. Bored out of our minds, Suzanne, a fellow volunteer, and I started playing 20 questions. All of a sudden, we were finally moving. Close to midnight, we finally took off. Those two and half hours were the worst of the whole flight. I slept on and off for about five hours and we landed in Frankfurt, Germany after an 8 hour flight. We were expecting a 3 hour layover before heading out to Chisinau, but this was obviously taken from us given our problems with the weather in NYC that delayed our first flight.
Once in Frankfurt, all of us M23s organized ourselves and headed out to our next gate. After a bit of confusion, everything was figured out and two separate security lines later, we were rushed onto a bus that eventually took us to our unmarked plane that would be our transport into the country we will be spending the next 27 months in.
When we landed in Chisinau, we were taken off the plane and shoved onto a bus right away to take us to the baggage claim area. We probably waited on the bus for about 10 minutes and it was packed to the brim. The doors finally closed and the bus took off. About 45 seconds later it stopped to let us off. The bus only drove us probably a couple hundred feet, which we could have easily walked and probably gotten there earlier. Great introduction to Moldova!
We got our passport stamps, met the Country Director and got our luggage. 10 people had missing bags (so happy I was not one of them), but we were told to only bring with us a 3-day carry on bag anyhow to last us the rest of the time we’re in Chisinau. We would all see the rest of our luggage on Sunday. I packed two dress shirts, two undershirts, three pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks and one pair of dress pants to last me the next three days. Not very much stuff, I tell you, and I already smell, but this is the Peace Corps, right?
After leaving the airport we boarded a bus, met some of our mentors who are already serving in Moldova and were rushed to a school to have a quick meeting where we would end up meeting a lot of the country staff and find out about our schedule for the next few days. We were fed pizza at the school, but this pizza was probably not what you’d expect. The slice that I had was chicken, cheese, mushrooms, onions and… mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was actually pretty good on the pizza, but the mushrooms had to go, and as I sat there picking mushrooms off of my pizza, I already felt like a spoiled American.
After eating, we were then all shoved into 2 rutieras (pretty much just minivans that are like buses, but have only about 12 seats, but probably hold over 25 people), and driven to our hotel. After arriving at the Zarea Hotel, we scoped things out – we’re all on the 11th floor, there are 2 showers on the floor, a few toilets in the hall and a few sinks here and there as well. Our beds are twin beds, but I’m not sure they’re really beds and the setup in the hotel is very minimal, but the view is great!
Many volunteers decided to go out drinking after we got settled into the hotel, but I was way too tired and just decided to crash. First, I went to brush my teeth and wash my face though. We can’t drink the water here, so I just brushed my teeth dry, then I went to wash my face, but half way through, I got a whiff of how bad my armpits smelled, so I wiped off my face and headed for the shower instead.
All cleaned up and really tired, I finally rested my head. With the windows open and the dogs howling all throughout the city, I was lulled to sleep by noises that would keep most awake.
I will be the first to admit this – last night when we got into Chisinau and were rushed through the city and to the school to meet the staff, I had my first feelings of apprehension. What was this strange city and why was I here? What was I getting myself into? While I’m sure those questions will be answered in full during my stay, this morning many of the apprehensions were already put to rest. When I woke up on the 11th floor of a hotel building in the middle of a big city listening to dogs barking and roosters crowing, I know now that while this experience will certainly take some adjusting, this is going to be an unbelievable adventure.
Well, do I have a lot for you.
Here is my first post after arriving in Chisinau, Moldova.
June 12, 2008
It is 5:30 am here in Chisinau, Moldova on Thursday, June 12th and a lot has happened in the last couple of days. As I listen to the roosters and barking dogs in the background of a city where the sun has already fully risen, listen and I will relay to you the first part of my adventure.
On Tuesday afternoon, all 38 of us (the Moldova 23s – that means the 23rd group of Peace Corps Volunteers to go to Moldova) left in a charter bus from Philadelphia to New York to fly out of JFK airport at around 1:15pm. There were two buses so each of us had enough room to stretch out in our own row. The bus ride was a little over 2 hours, all in thanks to NYC traffic and we arrived around 3:30 or so. We all piled off the buses and headed to check in for our Lufthansa flight leaving at 9:40pm. Yes, you heard me correctly. We arrived at the airport at around 3:30 and our flight did not leave until 9:40. The Peace Corps wanted to make extra sure that we were on time for our flight. No problems there.
During check in, it seemed that none of us were charged excess luggage fees even if we were over. We were all allotted 100 pounds of luggage total, but each bag could only have a maximum of 50 pounds. My big bag was about 53.5 pounds and it went right through. All in all, I only had about 75 pounds in luggage, which was way under the limit. Many people had well over 100 pounds and were prepared to pay the $50 fee, but the fee was waived on pretty much everyone’s bag. I have a feeling Peace Corps had something to do with that.
After getting through security, we all waited around for 6 hours before our flight took off, playing cards, eating and drinking and just chatting with each other. When the time finally came to leave, we got our passports ready and got on the plane. All buckled in, 9:40 came… and promptly passed. “Weather delay, 30 minutes,” came the pilot’s announcement, mind you all in German first. After a lot of flying in the past couple of years for work, I know that 30 minutes always means at least an hour and usually more like two. 10:30 rolled around, no update. Another update came around 11:00 and the captain said another half hour. We were teased a few minutes earlier when we pulled out of the gate, but we were then at a standstill for a while longer. Bored out of our minds, Suzanne, a fellow volunteer, and I started playing 20 questions. All of a sudden, we were finally moving. Close to midnight, we finally took off. Those two and half hours were the worst of the whole flight. I slept on and off for about five hours and we landed in Frankfurt, Germany after an 8 hour flight. We were expecting a 3 hour layover before heading out to Chisinau, but this was obviously taken from us given our problems with the weather in NYC that delayed our first flight.
Once in Frankfurt, all of us M23s organized ourselves and headed out to our next gate. After a bit of confusion, everything was figured out and two separate security lines later, we were rushed onto a bus that eventually took us to our unmarked plane that would be our transport into the country we will be spending the next 27 months in.
When we landed in Chisinau, we were taken off the plane and shoved onto a bus right away to take us to the baggage claim area. We probably waited on the bus for about 10 minutes and it was packed to the brim. The doors finally closed and the bus took off. About 45 seconds later it stopped to let us off. The bus only drove us probably a couple hundred feet, which we could have easily walked and probably gotten there earlier. Great introduction to Moldova!
We got our passport stamps, met the Country Director and got our luggage. 10 people had missing bags (so happy I was not one of them), but we were told to only bring with us a 3-day carry on bag anyhow to last us the rest of the time we’re in Chisinau. We would all see the rest of our luggage on Sunday. I packed two dress shirts, two undershirts, three pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks and one pair of dress pants to last me the next three days. Not very much stuff, I tell you, and I already smell, but this is the Peace Corps, right?
After leaving the airport we boarded a bus, met some of our mentors who are already serving in Moldova and were rushed to a school to have a quick meeting where we would end up meeting a lot of the country staff and find out about our schedule for the next few days. We were fed pizza at the school, but this pizza was probably not what you’d expect. The slice that I had was chicken, cheese, mushrooms, onions and… mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was actually pretty good on the pizza, but the mushrooms had to go, and as I sat there picking mushrooms off of my pizza, I already felt like a spoiled American.
After eating, we were then all shoved into 2 rutieras (pretty much just minivans that are like buses, but have only about 12 seats, but probably hold over 25 people), and driven to our hotel. After arriving at the Zarea Hotel, we scoped things out – we’re all on the 11th floor, there are 2 showers on the floor, a few toilets in the hall and a few sinks here and there as well. Our beds are twin beds, but I’m not sure they’re really beds and the setup in the hotel is very minimal, but the view is great!
Many volunteers decided to go out drinking after we got settled into the hotel, but I was way too tired and just decided to crash. First, I went to brush my teeth and wash my face though. We can’t drink the water here, so I just brushed my teeth dry, then I went to wash my face, but half way through, I got a whiff of how bad my armpits smelled, so I wiped off my face and headed for the shower instead.
All cleaned up and really tired, I finally rested my head. With the windows open and the dogs howling all throughout the city, I was lulled to sleep by noises that would keep most awake.
I will be the first to admit this – last night when we got into Chisinau and were rushed through the city and to the school to meet the staff, I had my first feelings of apprehension. What was this strange city and why was I here? What was I getting myself into? While I’m sure those questions will be answered in full during my stay, this morning many of the apprehensions were already put to rest. When I woke up on the 11th floor of a hotel building in the middle of a big city listening to dogs barking and roosters crowing, I know now that while this experience will certainly take some adjusting, this is going to be an unbelievable adventure.
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