COS Conference

I just returned from my COS (Close of Service) conference: a sign that my time in Moldova is also through, which fills me with a mixture of happiness and excitement as well as sadness.

Acutally, I feel like I’ve been a Debby Downer lately. I think it is partly because I’m questioning my value here, and I’m wondering if how I want to help is actually the help my partners want. For example, I’ve been working on developing English resources for two years. And this year, I’ve organized a room to keep all the new resources I’ve gathered and made as a place where the English teachers can continue to share things since they don’t collaborate much. But when I talked to my partners, they are talking about divvying up all the materials, those defeating my collaboration idea. I guess a part of me knew this was the reality all along, but it still upsetting hearing that my goal with the room won’t be fulfilled.

When I realized my goal is not the same as my partner, I began to think about why I was here and why I joined Peace Corps. My primary reason was because I want spread God’s Word though my actions. I’ve always felt the most powerful way to show God’s Love is by leading a loving life yourself by spreading love and peace to others. So I’ve always wanted to show my love by helping those in need. And being a young, single woman, why not help those in need around the world.

Although I joined PC this spread peace and love, I never imagined the enormous effect it would have on me. Peace Corps has tested me in ways I could have never imagined. And with each test, I think I come out a little better of a person. With all the ways PC has helped me become a better person, I can’t help but wonder who is Peace Corps really helping: the host country or the Peace Corps volunteers?

Odessa and Iași

I was checking how many vacation days I have left and found that I had 9 days. And Peace Corps has several rules limiting my availability to use them. 1) No missing more than 3 days of school and 2) no traveling outside the country the last 3 months of service. Therefore, I have been doing these little long weekend trips before April 18 (three months before I leave Moldova). Kiev was the first of three. And I’ve just returned from my other two: Odessa, Ukraine and Iași, Romania. Both were beautiful places. And hopefully, these last little mini vacations will help me get through the last three months here.

Transnistria

So one of my worries about traveling to Kiev alone was not the being alone itself; it was because I was worried I would accidently travel through Transnistria on my way there.

Transnistria is a breakaway territory located on a small strip of land along the east boarder of Moldova and Ukraine that considers itself a sovereign country. You haven’t heard of it, you say? That’s not surprising seeing as it is probably one of the only “countries” that considers it independent.
Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), a state with limited recognition. It has it’s own money and passport, but it’s not recognized by other countries. It probably wouldn’t still be around if it didn’t have support from Russia. 

As Peace Corps volunteers, we are not allowed to travel there because there’s a lot of corruption. Many Americans who travel through there have reported difficulties at the boarder crossing, such as harassment, paying ludicrous ‘fines’, or filling out ominous form, which are written in Cyrillic script. You might be directed by law to show them all your money – a way for them to gauge the size of the fine they can impose. Sometimes, they pull you off the bus to complete the process, presumably leaving you stranded.

If you are interested, here is a video about Transnistria.

My First Solo Abroad Trip: Destination Kiev

This was just what I needed: a daytrip vacation to Kiev, solo style. And the memories started right away.

I left my site right after my classes finished on Friday and headed to Chisinau. My first step was to find the bus station that sold the tickets I needed. I had never been to this station before, so I asked a friend how to get there. Even though it’s walking distance, she suggested that I take a rutiera since I didn’t know where it was. But it was a nice day, and I decided a walk would be nice. Silly Maggie.

I walked to where I thought it was, and didn’t see it. So of course I doubted myself and changed directions. And then I walked a ways and decided to go a different way. I stupidly decided to embrace this new direction and walked quite a bit. Eventually, I stop and asked someone for directions, and she basically told me to head back towards the direction I had originally been.

So I started back tracking, and I decided that I should just be safe and take the rutiera. I found one marked for the bus station and got on. After about 10 minutes, I questioned why someone would say this bus station was within walking distance. And another 10 minutes later, I saw a Chisinau sign, which marked the city’s boarder.

I now realized I missed the stop for the bus station. I figured the rutiera ran on a loop, so I would just wait and it would go back. After 10 minutes, it was clear we were no longer in Chisinau. So I asked the driver about the bus station. He said we passed it, and it would be awhile before we were back.

So he stopped the next rutiera he saw going in the opposite direction. I jumped off this one and hopped on the other, not before confirming with the new drive that he would pass the bus station. I then asked him to please let me know when we get to the stop for the bus station.

When we got to the bus station, the driver yelled nice and loud for me to hear, even though I was sitting right behind him. And low and behold, it was the first place I had tried and sort of looked at the very beginning; I just hadn’t walked quite far enough. So walked the extra 100 feet I should have gone, and I was finally able to buy my bus ticket. Phew. Step one was complete.

I took an overnight bus. Not the best night’s sleep, but it got me to Kiev Saturday morning so I would have all day to explore. The day started out cold and rainy/foggy, so my morning pictures weren’t great. Good news was the rain stopped by about 10am. The bad news was my pants, shoes, and socks were already soaked by then, leaving me rather cold for the rest of the day. Besides being cold and damp, I had good time explore the city. It was nice to do exactly what I wanted. At the end of the day, I took another overnight bus back to Moldova, getting back in cold and exhausted Sunday morning.

Despite its size, this trip was a big trip for me. It was the first time I had traveled by myself to another country. I was stepping way out of my comfort zone, and I mean way out of my comfort zone; like into another country (hehe). And I’m so proud of myself doing this because now I know I can travel someplace if I would like. And I can do it when it’s cold and rainy and still have a good time. This time, one day in Kiev; next trip, one week Africa? Probably not, but I’m no longer closed off to the idea.

Alone Time

In PC, there is a lot of alone time. I have never had so much time to myself before. Even when I’m busy with things to do for PC, when I’m done, I’m alone at my site. Free time can become overwhelming since I usually have to spend it alone.

With all this alone time, it gives me plenty of thinking time, and I reflect on my actions and thoughts. As result, I think I have become much more self aware. For example, I’ll notice that I complaining a lot, so I work on it.

Furthermore, I’m trying to change the way I think to be a better person. For example, at the beginning of my service, I noticed that I thought I was better than my partners because I was here to teach them new teaching techniques and introduce new student-centered activities into their classroom. But I came to realize that they are teaching me, too. And I was making myself out to be some kind of martyr since I’m working so hard. But when I took the time to reflect on their lives, I saw how much more my partners do. This is not only an eye-opening experience for me, it’s very humbling.

The proudest way of thinking that I’ve changed is learning how to just accept differences without judging. Before, I would view Moldovan differences as strange or bad or wrong. But now, I see most of them as simply being differences. Since I don’t judge the differences as much, I’ve come to appreciate some of them. And it’s made me reflect on how my differences may be viewed. Unfortunately, this means I’m a little more self-conscious, but if it makes me judge less, I’m okay with that.

When I’m not in deep thought of self reflection, I try to find other ways to entertain myself. I’ll try out a new hairdo, or learn how to whistle. And it never fails to amuse me when I just make faces in the mirror.