POTD 17: Students’ Art

I found the art made by the students here unique. I can’t quite describe how it is different than the art I see made by children in the States, but here are some examples of poster students made for Teacher’s Day last year.

POTD 18: Gates and Fences

Moldovans take great pride in their gates and fences. I think it’s because they are the first things you see when visiting someone’s home.

There’s even a tradition of stealing gates on Saint Andrei’s day (Dec 14th). Traditionally, on the eve of the 14th, unmarried girls cast spells to find the man of their dreams, and it is said that they will see him in their dream that night. And boys steal the gates of the girls they like. Nowadays, everyone just steals from everyone, and they hide the gate. The next day, you have to look for your gate. Sometimes it takes awhile to find it, up to weeks.

POTD 19: Houses

I think the way Moldovan houses are set up is unique. Every room is separate, including the living room and dining room. They are closed off with separate doors (although you can’t tell from this picture). And in a lot of houses, there are multiple rooms that can only be accessed through another room. So often, you might have to walk through someone else’s bedroom to get to another bedroom. Luckily, the door to my bedroom lead only to my room.

POTD 20: Turul Moldovei

This year, we are celebrating Peace Corps being in Moldova for 20 years. And one of the many celebrations we’re doing is Turul Moldovei, a walking tour across Moldova. There is a group of volunteers starting in the south and another group starting in the north. Each group will walk for two weeks towards Chișinău, where both groups meet in the end for a big celebration.

Each day, the groups visit a different town or village. And today, the north group stopped in Criuleni. Over the past couple months, I helped organize their stop here. I worked with UNIT, the youth center here. We had a tour of Criuleni’s culture center as well as the town’s museum. Then we had a round table discussion, where we talked to town members about volunteering. Afterwards, we had dinner at a local café before heading down to the Nistru river for singing songs and playing games. We ended the night back at the youth center with more games. The next morning, we had breakfast at the café before the volunteers started on their walk to the next town.

POTD 21: Wells

Another common Moldovan structure is wells. They seem to be on every street. And like the crosses, despite the quantity of them throughout Moldova, each has its own unique look. Lots of people have their own personal one in their yard, and there are many publics ones as well. My host family’s house has indoor plumbing, and somehow the pipes never froze in the winter. So I’ve been lucky to not need to make daily trips to get my water from the well.

POTD 22: Crosses

One thing I noticed right away in Moldova is the presence of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It’s easy to see just walking around a Moldovan town with these cross icons everywhere. And even though there are probably thousands of them all over Moldova, each one has its own uniqueness. Many Moldovans make the sign of the cross whenever they pass one.

Although I may not share the same denomination, it is nice to see these icons as daily reminders of who inspires me to live a volunteer’s life.

POTD 23: Nistru River

I have loved living next to the River Nistru; it’s one of my favorite sites during the walks I take around Criuleni. On the opposite shore we can see Transnistria.

And today, Kerry and I decided to go swimming in it, and we found a beach area to hang out at. When we swam out to the middle of the river, we apparently went out farther than the Moldovan felt comfortable. Everyone on the shore gathered around to watch as a man wordlessly boated out to towards us, and followed us until we were in safe waters. And then, after we returned to the shore, another man came over to tell us that we shouldn’t swim that far out because it’s dangerous. Never mind the fact that we were swimming well, and for several hours earlier, multiple boys had gone swimming out in the middle as river as well, yet no the other Moldovans sent a boat out to them. It gave Kerry and me a good laugh for the rest of the day.

POTD 24: Color Festival

I love that Chișinău is easy to get to from my site. So when I need a break from my Moldova life, I can travel down to Chișinău and meet my friends for a good time. And Chișinău is really become a happenin’ place. Once the weather is warmer, all sorts of events are going on, and you never know what you’ll find. Today, an electronics store, Darwin, celebrated its grand opening with a color festival. It was so much fun, but I’ve taken two showers since then, and my skin is still stained while I keep finding paint everywhere.

POTD 25: Orhei Vechi

Orhei Vechi (“Old Orhei”) is a must see if you’re visiting Moldova. It’s an ancient monastery on the Răut River. The monks lived in rooms carved into the side of the rocks. I’m glad that I was able to see it before I left.

POTD 26: Căruță

One common site in Moldova, especially the rural areas, is the căruță, which is a horse-drawn cart. I can say that I have gotten to ride one. And bonus, it was driven by a man who served in Fidel Castro's army. It was fun riding around the village and stopping to talk (and drink wine, of course) with the neighbors.

POTD 27: National Costume

This is the best picture I have that shows an example of the Moldovan national costume. No celebration is complete without a group of Moldovan dress in costume doing the hora.

POTD 28: Balul Bobocilor

One of my favorite school concerts is called “Balul Bobocilor”, or the Freshmen Ball. This is a concert featuring either the 5th or 10th form, which are the youngest class of each school (middle and high school). The theme is ducklings. The class is split into two, and there is a cute competition between two groups. There’s usually a main couple (girl and boy) that represent each group, and each group presents a dance number, a singing number, and a skit, usually comedic. It’s actually pretty similar to most of the other concerts, but there’s the competition aspect and it’s usually a little funnier. At the end, the judges (usually 3 teachers) pick the winners.

POTD 29: School Concerts

At the beginning of each season or before a vacation or for a holiday, the students put on a concert. Usually, each concert just involves a few participating classes, not the whole school. But each concert is pretty similar; there are several dance routines, a few singers, and some comedic skits that usually involve boys dressing as women or lip-syncing. My favorite is usually the dance routine.

POTD 30: Swearing-In

On August 17, 2011, I officially became a Peace Corps volunteer. The ten weeks previous, I was technically a Peace Corps Trainee. It wasn’t until I swore-in that I was a full-blown volunteer. And right after swearing-in, I took all my things and moved to Criuleni to begin my two years as an English Education volunteer.

POTD 31: Homeworkopoly

This was one of my favorite classroom moments here: introducing Homeworkopoly to encourage completing homework in the 5^th form class. The students were so excited about the game and couldn’t wait to play. And when they saw that I wanted to take pictures, they couldn’t wait to get their picture taken with the game. And as long as my partner teacher and I kept up with using the game, a lot more students completed their homework this year.

POTD 32: Paștele Blajiniilor

Paștele Blajiniilor was my favorite Moldovan holiday that I got to celebrate here, from the priest blessing the graves to the raising of the alms to the heavens. I’ll never forget this holiday to honor deceased loved ones.

POTD 33: Cemeteries

I remember the first time I saw/visited a Moldovan cemetery. I couldn’t get over how different it looked with the cast iron cross or marble gravestones with craved pictures of the deceased or the picnic tables everywhere. I loved seeing something similar to our culture (burying the dead) being practiced so differently.

POTD 34: Moldovan Winter

I can’t reflect on my time here in Moldova without thinking about the winter. Black ice everywhere, snow up to your knees, tucking towels and rags in the cracks of doors and window to keep the cold out, the water tower freezing. I have never experienced winter like I have here. And it wouldn’t be so bad if houses and building were warmer. It’s just a fact; you will be cold all the time during a Moldovan winter.

POTD 35: The Roads

I don’t think I’ll miss the roads here; the roads after a rain are no fun. There are often frequent and large puddles and lots of mud. I feel like I’m playing a live version of frogger every time I have to walk through them.

POTD 36: WWII Memorials

I think every Moldovan village has at least one memorial dedicated to those lost in World War II. Here is the memorial in Criuleni, which I walked passed every day to school and now my apartment faces.

POTD 37: Loot Me

Because of the money constraints that come with volunteering, we have a room at our headquarters that we call “Loot Me”, where volunteers put their “gently-used”, unwanted items for others to have. It’s a nice place to check for extra winter clothes. Obviously, sometimes there are some very odd donated items. So of course, we sometimes have a fashion show of the great finds available in “Loot Me”.

POTD 38: Cojușna Students

My first 10 weeks here were really intense because they were the training weeks to prepare us for our 2 years in Moldova. For three of those weeks, we had practice school, where I taught students from my training site, Cojușna. Teaching these students gave me the encouragement that I need to start my time here and develop  the optimistic attitude that I took with me to Criuleni.

POTD 39: Stepping Off The Plane

Today marks the two-years anniversary of the day I arrived in Moldova. So I went back to the first moment I saw Moldova. This is the very first picture I took in Moldova. It may not be much, but I remember loving the site of my home for the next two years.

POTD 40: Football

I’ve seen a winery; I’ve seen a monastery; what else would make my time in Moldova complete? A European football game of course. I got to watch Moldova play Poland today, which was a lot of fun. The game ended with a 1-1 tie, which got cheers from the Moldova team and crying from the Poland team.

POTD 41: Monastery

Along with wineries, Eastern Orthodox Churches and monasteries are in abundance in Moldova. This past weekend, I visited a monastery with a couple friends and a group of Moldovans. It was kind of cool spending a Sunday morning at monastery. Some of our group even dunked themselves in the holy fountain, but I just listened to the church music that being sung in the church blast through the speakers outside.  

POTD 42: Wineries

A trip to Moldova wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a winery, and this is a picture from my second Moldovan winery. Moldovans are very proud of their wine. Sometimes I feel like my assignment to Moldova was wasted on me since I’m not a big wine drinker. Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed seeing the numerous vineyards along side the roads and visiting wineries. 

POTD 43: Animals Everywhere

I love going for walks in Criuleni. And one of my favorite things to see while going for walks is the animals everywhere. Other than the numerous stray dogs, most of the animals I see belong to someone, whether it’s cows, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, or goats. The poultry tend to flock together, although I don’t think they are too far from their home. The bigger mammals are usually chained up at random places for the day, like the goat here. 

POTD 44: Hora

No Moldovan celebration is complete without the hora. Each time I’ve seen it, it looks like different Moldovans dance it slightly differently. I’ve never been able to quite get the same rhythm as everyone else, but that’s never stopped me from joining in.

POTD 45: Host Family

Today’s my last day living with my host family. They are having family visit, and we decided it would be easier for me to move out. Host mom found a place for me and everything, and they’re helping me move out. It’s been nice living with them for the past 2 years. And despite some of the difficulties I faced living with them, I’ll miss seeing them every day.

POTD 46: EE Volunteers

My fellow EE volunteers that joined PC when I did and our program director and assistant program director, Nina and Lucia. My service wouldn’t have been possible without them.