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.