Russia's big warning to Moldova

In wake of the recent conflict between Russia and the Republic of Georgia, Russian President Medvedev had this to say to the Republic of Moldova, which possesses it's own conflicted, internationally unrecognized territory: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLP59197620080825?sp=true

It's official!

I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. Last Wednesday, I swore-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova and the same day I moved to my permanent village, XXXXX, in the north of Moldova. Well, let me tell you... this is a VIL-LAGE! They say there are about 5,000 people living here, but I don't see them. Maybe once school starts, that will change, but right now, it's like Ghost Town, USA... except not USA, obviously. I keep walking around the village trying to get situated and people keep talking to me in Romanian, and I really do try to talk back, but half the time I just end up saying "Imi pare rau, nu inteleg" which means, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." It's funny because while I don't know anyone in this village, they all seem to know me. At first I was confused and thought, well, I must stick out being the only American that lives here, but apparently I was on TV too and everyone keeps saying they saw me on TV. You see, at our swearing-in ceremony there were many TV crews, and apparently I made the 10:00 broadcast! :) Plus, the whole interview was in Romanian. What, what!

Ok, so otherwise, not much is going on. The relatively fast pace of PST is over and I am... bored! For the past two days, I've walked around, read books, ate with my host family, talked to some people from home in my backyard and... well, that's it. Not much to do. This is going to take a lot of getting used to. Although, I'm sure once school starts on September 1, things will start to pick up.

All in all, I'm still very excited about everything, although the prospect of doing this for 2 years is all of a sudden starting to seem kind of scary. I'm sure I'll do it, but I could see how the bore and loneliness might get to me. I'll just have to keep myself busy.

In other news, nothing. Yeah, I don't really have other news unfortunately. A lot has happened, but nothing too special. I don't have access to internet that much anymore (hence the long wait to post), but there is a little library where I can use the internet for a small fee, so I will likely do that every now and then.

Throwing up...

sucks. Especially throwing up "vin de casa" (house wine). I think the wine I had last night must have been bad. Ugh.

Shout out to Emily Kronemeyer though, who sent me a package that was also stuffed with Target bags. If it weren't for those bags, I probably would have puked all over the dog fur rug in my room (you heard me right). Thanks!

Now my nose and the back of my throat just burn, which is disgusting too because you have to realize if your nose is burning, then obviously you threw up out of there too. Gross.

In other news, only 1 more week until I move to my permanent site!

Some pictures from my training village...

Well, my last day in XXXXX (my training village) is rapidly approaching. Here are just a handful of some of the pictures I've taken since I've been here.

1) The first picture, please note the painting that hangs above my bed. My first day here, my host father pretty much said that any event that looked like this was welcome in my bed so long as it was with a village girl (Hmmm...)

2) My current reading list. Right now, I'm racing through The Poisonwood Bible - it's incredible! I finished Things Fall Apart last week. Very good book as well. Also, potentially planning some trips in the future.

3) The graveyard near my house.

4) A view from the hill. I live on top of this hill and have to climb down it every day for school, then back up to go home.

5) Some fields.

6) A gate that is pretty much torn down and useless, but I got a pretty shot out of it.

7) My 10th grade students and I.

8) The road to my house through the cornfields.

9) Me with some corn!

The End of Practice School

Asa ("ok, said with a sigh" in Romanian)... where to begin. Tomorrow is our last day of practice school and I will have finished a week and a half of teaching 7th grade and a week and a half of teaching 10th grade. It has been a lot of fun and I have enjoyed teaching so much. I am so happy to be back in the classroom; I seem to have forgotten how much I enjoyed it. The kids here are very well behaved, which is nice in terms of classroom management. However, teaching English is a whole other story - phew! Teaching a foreign language is massively different from teaching general subjects, but it is different a challenging and a good way. I am very excited about getting started with things once I get to my permanent placement.

Speaking of which, I will be headed to XXXXX (My permanent placement super disguised) on August 20th. We have reached the end of Pre-Service Training and I am shocked at how quickly it has all gone by. We will have a "Swearing-In" ceremony very soon and then I will no longer be a trainee, but a volunteer - huge upgrade, I know. :)

In other news, not much has happened other than practice school. Unfortunately my language progression has taken a hit now that I don't have all the time in the world to practice it, but that is okay because I know it will come with time.

It has been wonderful catching up with everyone in the States and I thank those of you have taken the time to send me letters (Emily A.) and those who have sent me packages (Mom and Emily K!) If there are more packages and letters coming to me, I will let you know when they arrive. I am truly grateful for everyone's generosity and it is great to see that so many of my friends are doing incredible things in the US as well. I miss you all very much! It seems that Moldova has made a bit more sentimental, but don't worry, I still don't really like hugs.

PICTURES!!!

Finally, pictures are here! Many of you have asked for them and alas, I have finally had the opportunity to upload them in the Peace Corps office. There are more, but I have run out of room on my flash drive, so more are to come.

They are not very organized either, and I plan to make captions at a later date. For now, guess what they are of! :)

Here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwmoran/.

Enjoy!