Okay, Maybe I’m A Little Slow, But…

Okay, maybe I’m a little slow but I’m finally starting to understand things here. For the past 3 weeks (yes, I have been in Moldova for 3 whole weeks!), so much information has been thrown at me and I’m busy trying to figure things out. But I think things are really starting to stick. Let me explain some of the successes I have had over the past week.

Success 1: I successfully told my host family the other day that I was going to my friend’s home for dinner that night at 4:00…in Romanian! I’m sure I just completely butchered the language, but they understood the overall message. Language, by far, is not my strong suit, so this was a giant step for me.

Success 2: We did a peer-teaching lesson this week. Basically, each of us in the EE program planned a 45-minute lesson for a particular grade. Then we taught the lesson to a small group of our peers in 20 minutes. Not only was my lesson well received, but today the EE leaders used my lesson (along with another guy’s) as an example lesson for the rest of the class. Mind you, he and I are the only ones with past teaching experience, so it’s not completely fair to compare our lessons with those who have never written a lesson plan before. But I hadn’t taught English language before, so it was still nice to hear I had a good lesson. But don’t worry; I won’t get too cocky about this. I came home to an email from my dad correcting my grammar in my blog. I can take comfort in the fact that I know I have parents that won’t let me get a big head.

Success 3: I was able to drink Italian vodka and not pass out. If you don’t remember from me saying this before, Moldovans drink wine like shots. So I can have several “glasses” of wine and be fine. Consequently, I think my host father has gotten used to me accepting my wine glass being refilled. So he automatically poured me a shot of Italian vodka the other night. I had my one shot, and I learned that “vodka” in Moldovan means a slightly sweet-tasting paint-thinner. By the time I got to my room and sat down at my computer, the words were spinning on the screen. It was a good thing I had finished my homework.

Things to come: Fourth of July celebrations Moldovan style (I’m going to two celebrations this weekend), my permanent site placement (I find out Tuesday), and food in Moldova (I’m putting together a list of common foods eaten here).

When Will Schooling Be Done?

So here’s a break down of my week. I get up every morning at 7 to get ready. I get ready, and then I eat breakfast with my host family and get my lunch for the day. I leave no later than 7:50 because I’m kind of far from where my classes take place. It’s about a 35 minute walk to class, sometimes longer on really hot or rainy days.

I have classes from 8:30am to 5pm Monday through Friday, and then 8:30am to 12:30pm on Saturdays. From 8:30-12:30 is language class (Romanian for those who don’t know what language I’m learning, or at least attempting to learn).

I have technical training from 2:00 to 5:00, but it’s in another village, so the break is used to travel to the village and lunch. The PC drives us to the other village, we finish class at 5pm (sometimes later if the teachers talk a lot), and drive back to my village at the school where we take our language classes. We don’t get back until about 5:30, so I don’t get home until 6.

One day a week, every PCT travels into Chisinau for hub site day. This is when we get general training for the PC, such as safety issues, gender roles, and anything else the PC wants us to know to integrate well. These are particularly long days. My training group has to leave Cojusna at 7:30 to be in Chisinau by 8:30, and we usually don’t get back until 6ish.

Weeks are very long, especially since I only get one day off. I miss the days of weekend being two days. Sigh. And technical training can be kind of hard to sit through sometimes. This training is teaching us how to teach. And while I know it’s necessary and all since I will be teaching, it can be kind of repetitive since I went to grad school for this and I taught. But I’m trying to keep an open mind. Afterall, I have never taught a foreign language. And I have gotten a lot of activity/game ideas to use in the classroom. And with all the talk about different strategies and activities, I have been remembering more things I learned in grad school that I can use as well.

We are also learning a new format for our lesson plans. And it requires a lot more details than I’m use to including in my lessons. For example, in addition to include an outline for the lesson (which is all I needed when I taught before), we need to include the names of the methods and approaches we use in the lesson. It can be hard stay motivated to do something that I never really needed to do when I was teaching last year.

But I did learn recently that we will leave our lesson plans with our cooperating teacher when we leave PC. So the lesson will be a reference for someone else even after we’re gone, making have more details more important. So I think knowing that the work going into my lessons will be less for me and more for a teacher here will give a greater value to the work I put into it.

High School Graduation Moldovan Style…And I Mean Style

Today I attended the high school graduation ceremony for the village of Cojusna. And let me tell you how much way cooler it is than American graduation ceremonies. First of all, each graduate walks in to the theme of Star Wars. Enough said.

Then the graduates sang several songs and read poems (I think they were reading poems. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but that’s my guess of what was happening).

Next the graduates danced a waltz. It reminded me of a princess scene from a Disney movie. Once again, I was jealous.

After the mayor of Cojusna spoke for a bit, the graduates were given their diplomas. Following that, the graduates danced again. This time, one of the students sang “Once Upon a December” from the Anastasia movie.

Then they danced the hora!!

They ended the ceremony with a song, and this time I could hear the men singing. Beats an American graduation by far! Note to self: next graduation take place in Moldova.

Silly American

Okay, so I deserve a good smack in the head. I realized something today that took too long to realize. So, I’m use to the fact of Moldovans not understanding me since I don’t speak their language. And somehow in my comprehension of this fact, I began to assume Moldovans don’t understand. If that’s too confusing to understand, let me explain what happen…

If I am paying $11 for something and I have a $1 bill and a $20 bill, I give $21 to get a $10 bill back. Well, I have wanted to do that type of thing when making purchases here in Moldova, but I haven’t because I thought they wouldn’t understand and would give me weird looks. But when I was riding the rutiera and I owed 6 lei, I realized that just because I can’t speak their language and Moldovans don’t understand my language doesn’t mean they don’t understand math. So I gave the driver a 10 and 1 lei bill, and he gave me back a 5 lei bill without thinking twice.

I could just kick myself. I had unknowingly been thinking that since they don’t understand me, they didn’t understand simple math or something. I might as well had been thinking they were dumb. Growth opportunity one…check. Now to continue to get rid of more of my stupid ways of thinking. Good thing I have 2 years ahead of me!

The Unmentionables

Okay, I’m going to lay it out for you…the bathroom situation. I’ll try to keep it pleasant (as it can possibly be). Before I left for Moldova, I was warned that I was more likely to have internet than plumbing, which is mostly true. It’s a good thing I was warned, because I think it prepared me for my situation.

The good news: my house has an indoor shower, a bathroom sink, and a kitchen sink. The indoor shower was the best discovery. I can pretty much shower every day, if I chose to, which I don’t. I have been told that our living situations now are a lot nicer than where we will end up eventually, so I’m trying to prepare myself (get my body use to less showers). Plus my family does not shower everyday, and I am trying to integrate. So right now, I just shower every other day. I’ve heard stories from current volunteers of not being about to shower for 12 days. I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet!

The reason I was grateful for the warning: At my house, I have a viceo (outhouse). Basically, my bathroom is a permanent porta potty located about 100 feet from the house. There is a giant hole in the ground, and a concrete toilet built around it, with four brick walls with a door and a roof. I am luck to have electricity run out there, so I can see at night (some don’t have light and need a flashlight or headlight to see when they go at night).

With the electricity out there, I thought I might have one of the better bathroom situations compared to the other PCTs. But as it turns out, I am one of few with outdoor toilets; most have indoors. Oh well, it will make it easier for me to get use to whatever form of toilet I have in 3 months. Some places only have a hole in the ground. I guess I’ll get a workout for my legs.

Something new, the TP does not go in the toilet. There is a separate bucket or trashcan for used TP. This is true for all bathroom, especially indoors toilets because the plumbing system can’t break down the TP. It was weird at first, but you do it everywhere, so it does not take long to get used to.

One thing I’m not sure I’ll get used to is the smell. I won’t describe that part…I think you can guess. Just think porta potty times 100. And home to many flies. I tried to count them once, but there were too many. Even though I don’t think I’ll get used to it, the smell is a little dulled now. I don’t have to hold my breath the whole time I’m in there now. However, I’m not looking forward to being sick (even more so than normal)!

Side Note: This morning, I noticed Chupa (the family dog) munching away on something. Check out the picture and guess…

Chicken feet!

Mel Brooks Is My Grandfather

So week 1 is complete. Even though I have been here more than a week, according to the schedule, this was the first week of the 10-week training period. And I have officially completed it.

I was reviewing the Romanian I have learned since I have been here and a lot has been covered. One of which is the names of family members. Nadia made a family tree using pictures of people from magazines to represent the members of a family. So we practiced saying each members name while pointing the members on the family tree. She tried to not use anyone famous, but Mel Brooks was the grandfather. In addition to learning family members, we have learned numbers, months, days of the week, telling time, basic introduction of oneself, describing our family members, and definite and indefinite nouns. I have not mastered everything yet, but I can sometimes pick out a word my host family is saying to each other!

Last night, the Cojusna trainees were invited to a masă with Lauren’s host family. Masă literally means table, but it’s used for feast too. And a feast it was. The food was yummy, and the company was great. My favorite part of the whole experience was despite the fact there was difficulty in understanding each other sometimes due to language, there was still a lot of laughing and fun. For future reference, always say yes to an invitation to a masă.

At dinner today, I was actually starting to understand some of the Moldovan. At the beginning of my time with my host family, I felt awkward sitting at the dinner table with them without being able to contribute anything except if they were looking for an English word. Now, I do not feel that awkwardness. And I listen to what is being said to try to pick out any words I know. Sometimes, I’m very proud of myself cause I can figure out the topic of the conversation. Other times, I doubt my understanding of Moldovan, because there was a point tonight when I thought “monkey” and “aunt” were said in the same sentence. But maybe they have a phrase like “a monkey’s uncle”!

Host Family 101

Can I just say how much I love my host family! I realize now that I have not really described them for you. So let me paint a mental picture for you.

Vladimir, my father, is the cutest little man. He’s about 5’3”, and he is always a shade of pink from working outside. He use to be the mayor of Cojusna (from 1999 to 2007). He has a little potbelly, and reminds me of a short Santa Claus without the beard. He speaks Romanian, but also knows Russian and I think German. He is of little help with translations into English, because whenever Diana and Daniel are searching for an English word, he gives the Russian or German translation. I really appreciate his sense of humor; it’s simple and cross-cultural. Today at dinner, he was focused on eating. Immediately upon finishing, he sat back, rubbed his stomach, and let out a big sign. I also love how much he smiles. It’s funny how far a smile goes.

Tatiana, my mother, is wonderful. She’s about 5’5”, and has short hair dyed a honey-brown color. She’s very tan, and she is always smiling when I see her. During my first week, she barely spoke to me. And whenever I had a question, she would barely let me get a word out before for she hollered (yes, hollered) for Diana. But now, she is determined to teach me Romanian. So she speaks to me more (I, of course, usually have no idea what’s going on), and she fusses at Diana whenever she talks to me in English.

Daniel, the brother, is 32 years old, and he speaks English well. I believe he works full time because I see him around the house less. He watches a lot of tv, and even though he and I interact less, he is very inviting. For example, he invited me to watch “Twilight” the other night (which I didn't really want to see, but I’m up for anything when it comes to spending time with the family). He also made it a priority to get me internet, which was thoughtful.

Diana, the sister, is 26 years old, and she currently works as my translator. She is very hard on herself about her English, but I have yet to have a conversation with her that I could not follow. She often has to search for the English word, and states “how you say” while thinking. And if Daniel is home, she will holler (unless he’s in the same room) for his help with translating the word. I love how she shouts his name, Dah-nul (which she has spoke 6 times while I write this).

I can see now that I have a lot to say about my family, and yet I have a lot more. And I understand how hard it might be to understand from my description why I appreciate my family so much. But it’s their personalities that make me smile. I will enjoy my next 9 weeks with them.

All You Need To Know Is “Noroc!”

Ahh, Sundays. The day of rest. It’s nice to have the day off today. I was able to get all of my unpacking done finally, and finish setting up my phone. I discovered a flashlight on the phone, which will be useful on midnight runs to the outhouse. The best part was the sleeping in.

Some members from my training group and I walked around Cojusna for a little bit. It really is a beautiful village. I was able to get lots of pictures.

This afternoon, my host family invited me to their weekly picnic that they have with their friends. And even though I didn’t understand anything that was being said, I really enjoyed the cultural experience. The women and men stayed separated except during dinner. But even then, the men sat on one side of the table and the women on the other. There was lots of pointing towards me and lots of comments directed at me. I think they continually forgot that I don't speak Romanian, because once they remembered, they yelled for Diana. And they were very proud of me when I said “Noroc” as a cheer (“cheers” in Romanian).

And I have experienced something new while there. The PC has warned us about how Moldovans try to be good hosts by making sure plates and glasses are full. They mentioned how the host often fills the glasses without asking. I had not experienced this with my family; they are very understanding when I say “I’m full” or “No thank you”. However, whenever my glass was empty or not completely full, it was filled. Moldovans drink their wine in shots, so even though I had 7 glasses of wine, it’s not as much as it seems. But I’m glad this is not a daily feeling.

This picnic is apparently a weekly thing. Since it was such an enjoyable time without understanding anything, I can only imagine how much I would enjoy it if I knew more Moldovan. Motivation for studying!

There Are No Sensitive Butts In Moldova.

Today was the first time we had our lessons in Cojusna. It’s in the village’s high school. It was not the most comfortable thing sitting in chairs that are meant for younger children for the 4-hour lesson. I guess I’ll get use to it.

After my lessons, my host family took me to pick strawberries. Even though we can do this in the states, I never had. It was gorgeous, and the strawberries were so very tasty. I don’t know if I’ll need any dinner tonight. The best strawberries were getting hit with the sun, so they were warm and would melt in my mouth as I ate them. There was a thunder storm in the distance, but I seemed to be the only one concerned. I guess they’re use to it in Moldova. After all, it has rained every afternoon that I have been here.

I love the view from my window. I get to see it every time I sit down to write. It’s a little escape from reality. My time in Moldova reminds me of Under The Tuscan Sun. There is going to be a lot of hard times and feeling of loneliness, but there is lots of beauty in the scenery and the people.

I also hung out with Diana and 2 of her friends. Her friends don't know English as well, and they had a much harder time finding what to say than Diana and Daniel do. The best part was when they told me that I was boring, when they meant that I was bored since I didn’t know Romanian as well. At least, I hope they meant that I was bored. And they want to me to go to the disco in Chisinau next Saturday. I actually want to go to the disco eventually, but I don’t feel comfortable enough with my Romanian to relax and enjoy myself while I am there. Hopefully in a couple of months. Despite our difficulty in understanding each other, they were very pleasant and understanding of my Romanian handicap.

Day 2 Moldova (aka Sarah’s Birthday, Which I Had To Miss And Had No Way Yet To Communicate To Her That I Was Thinking About Her)

Today begins training! Woot! It started with going into Chisinau by public transportation, and meeting at the Peace Corps headquarters. From there, our PCT mentors walked us around Chisinau. They showed us the piazza, where I could find anything I would want (mostly) to buy. We continued to walk around seeing various town sights before returning to the PC headquarters for a lunch with all the trainees, PCV, and PC staff. For the afternoon, we were introduced to Moldova and a little about how our finances work.

Between breaks, I was able to bond with Andrea over some of our anxieties. After talking with members of my training group, I was a little more nervous about things. Many of them speak another language and have study or traveled to other countries. And they were catching on to Romanian fairly quickly after only one night with their families, while I was still trying to figure out how to plug my electronics in. It’s unpleasant feeling like I still need to ask the questions everyone else already knows the answers to and needing to hear new words many times before remembering them, not just once from my host family. Andrea was feeling the same way I was, and it’s nice to not be alone in this feeling.

Afterwards, we had our first language lesson. The focus: the Romanian alphabet. We also practiced a few phrases to communicate with our host families. We were also given some of our immunizations.

When we returned to our village, Holly’s host mom was not home, so my host family invited her over to wait. Holly and I hung out on the families “deck” and related our anxieties (are you beginning to see a pattern in my conversations?). I told her how I wish I had more language experience like her so that learning Romanian would be easier. She told me of her anxieties of teaching since she had never taught before. Overall though, we both know we are going to enjoy our time here and look forward to what’s to come.

I met Daniel today. He speaks English as well as Diana. I enjoy hearing Diana and Daniel converse. It reminds me of my siblings. And it’s amusing hearing them consistently yelling to each other to help find the English word they are looking for.

After today, some worries have disappeared and many have developed. But it’s nice to know I’m not alone in my anxieties, and I have people to relate them to.

Goat In The Street

Very long day. We left Philly to drive to JFK at 9 am. We made it through security by around 1, when we then waited around until our plane started boarding around 5:15. We then flew for 8 hours, arriving in Munich, Germany around 8am. We had to book it to our gate because our next plane was leaving at 9:15am. We left a little late, and the plane was too small for all of the luggage, so some of it was flying over later.

We arrived in Chisinau (pronounced Ki-shi-now) at 12:40 pm. We went to pick up our luggage, at which point I was relieved to find both my bags. Here is what I saw when I walked outside of the airport.

The Peace Corps picked us up and took us to a high school next door to the Peace Corps headquarters to get an introduction to that night. We were then told a lot of information of which I do not remember anything except that we will be told everything again so we didn’t have to remember it. Lack of sleep does not flatter me. I picked up my months allowance, my cell phone and calling card, my first aid kits, and my room equipment (fire extinguisher, carbon monoxide/smoke detector, and brita fliter).

A van drove training group pink, which consisted of 7 trainees, to neighboring villages where our host families live. My town is Cojusna (pronounced Koh-shew-shnah). My favorite part about the drive to our village was the goat that crossed the street on our way into the village. There was a chain around its neck, but no owner around. That is something I’m hoping to continue to see, perhaps without the chain.

Our host families picked us up at the village center square. My family consists of the father, mother, daughter, and son. The father’s name is Vladimir. The mother is Tatiana. The daughter is Diana. And the son is Daniel. Diana and Daniel are both grown (26 and 32 years), and Diana speaks English well. It’s a little broken and she still searches for words, but she know all the English necessary to communicate efficiently. I have not met Daniel yet. The family is very hospitable and polite.

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyways), it was a very long and productive day. Since I hadn’t slept in 31 hours, I went to bed at 9pm. Ready for day 2 Moldova.

I Love How Trees Look Like Bunches Of Broccoli From An Airplane…It Made Me Hungry!

Arriving to Philly went mostly smoothly. The plane actually left early, and it was only a half hour trip. Not bad, right?

Once I was in the Philadelphia airport, I had to find the shuttle that went to my hotel. I made arrangements to get picked up at 10:40 am. The shuttle didn’t get me until 11:40am. That was boring while I was waiting around for it. Not to mention I was on the shuttle for another hour while the other passengers were dropped off first. If there is one thing the Peace Corps will teach me, it’s patience (if I hadn’t already learned it with the application process).

Staging has been fun. The other volunteers are just as eager and anxious as I am. And everyone is pretty friendly. It’s so nice to be with fellow volunteers. As if I didn’t know already, this is going to be an awesome experience with awesome people.

Mom, I Misread My Email...It's Not Moldova, It's Montana!!

Well, I'm leaving for staging tomorrow morning. My plane is scheduled for 9:30 am, destination Philly. The nerves are really starting to hit, but it's the good kind. The I'm-excited-to-start-this-new-chapter-in-my-life kind of nerves. There are some I-can't-believe-this-is-actually-happening nerves in there too.

It's been quite a long month. Saying good-byes for over a month can be a little depressing. Every time I left someone, I had to say good-bye as if it were the last time I would see him/her for 2 years. And even though I took a month off of work to get all my good-byes in and prepare to leave, the time passed by way too quickly. I've been kind of frantic in getting everything done, this weekend in particular. When I was double checking behind everything, I realized that I had misread one of my emails, and Daniel made fun of me (the title of this post). Don't worry, the Peace Corps isn't sending me to Montana.

For those who didn't know, I celebrated my 25th birthday last Sunday. One of my reactions to this was, "Goodness, I'm a quarter of a century old!" But as I reflected on my life this week, I realized how lucky I am, and how much I have to be thankful for. And I can't imagine a better way to start the next quarter of my life than by serving in the Peace Corps. It's going to be one exciting adventure. Lots of ups. Lots of downs. And a whole lot of in-betweens. But it will be so worth it. So let the adventure begin!