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!