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.

Victory Day

Today, I had the day off from school, so I went to Chișinău to celebrate Victory Day. There was a concert and mini parades. And because of the history with Soviet Union, there were some small political protests as well. Some Moldovans see this celebration as too much patriotism towards Russia, while others counter and think of it as the end of WWII. Either way, the protests were peaceful that I was safe to be in Chișinău. And since there were celebrations all over Chișinău, it was no trouble having a good time.

I used this as a chance to see one of the WWII monuments. There was dancing and music. And there was an eternal flame in the middle of the monument where children kept throwing coins in.

I will say this for Moldovans: they take every holiday seriously. How many holidays in America do we just celebrate by not going to work without reflecting on the significance of that day? I’m going to miss actually celebrating every holiday once I leave.

Mugged Sorta

Well, I can now join the rank of Peace Corps volunteers who have been mugged. And the funny thing is that I was just talking to another volunteer this weekend about how I feel safe here. Theft is actually the predominant kind of crime against volunteers. Last year, there were 11 incidents reported. I guess I’m another number now.

After a fun-filled weekend in Chișinău, while I was waiting for my bus back to Criuleni, I was standing at a table by a kiosk near my bus stop eating a chicken wrap and drinking my Fanta. I noticed there was a man squatting a couple feet away from me watching me, but I ignored him because lots of Moldovans stare awkwardly at me and make me feel uncomfortable. After a couple minutes, he stood up and came really close to me. Some of the women working at the kiosk started yelling at him to go away. And as I took a drink of my Fanta, he tried to steal it from my hand! I started putting up a fight trying to keep my treasured soda, but soon realized that this Fanta obviously meant more to him than me and let him have it.

While I was standing there trying to understand what just happened to me, one of the women working at the kiosk came out and chased the man down to get the drink. At first, I was touched by her kindness. But as she was walking back to the kiosk, the other woman had to tell her that it was my soda. So obviously, she had only gone to all the effort to get the soda because she thought the man had stolen it from the kiosk. As she handed me my herpes-infested soda bottle, I thanked her and tried to continue to eat in peace, NOT drinking my Fanta of course.

My whole bus ride home I could barely contain my laughter as I was thinking about what just happened to me. Somehow I’m not surprised that I’m the PCV that got her Fanta stolen, even though I was carrying my iPod and a load of money in my bag. I should probably reported this right away so as others will not suffer such a traumatic ordeal as I have. So travelers be warned: if you decided to travel to Moldova, don’t worry about your purses and wallets; just be sure you guard your Fantas!

My First Conflict

I was on my way from Chisinau to Cojunsa tonight, and I was riding the trolley with Jim and Natasha to the bus stop we needed (we have to take 2 buses to get to Cojusna). While we were riding the trolley, we were talking to each other. After about 5 minutes of talking, a man yelled at me for talking in English and how he didn’t understand. It was clear he was not okay with us talking in English. Needless to say, we were quiet the rest of our trip.

But before we got off the trolley, a Moldovan woman came and talked to us, saying how we shouldn’t believe that all Moldovans are like that and that she was sorry for his behavior. He was a drunk man with stupid ideas. It was comforting to hear this, considering I was not comfortable with being yelled at.

When we got on our next bus to go into Cojusna, we sat close to each other and talked more quietly so as not to attract negative attention again. However, I noticed a man staring at me for a good 10 minutes. In Moldova, staring seems to be a bit more accepted. People don’t look away necessarily if you catch their eye. Even knowing this fact, it still makes me uncomfortable. And I was afraid a similar incident was about to take place once more.

He eventually began talking to us (in Romanian), and asked where we were from and what we were doing. We explained we were from American and working with the Peace Corps. He immediately smiled and wanted to know more (although we couldn’t understand him most of the time). He was also intrigued by Jim’s beard, saying it was European or Italian, I couldn’t tell which he was saying.

It was interesting to have both incidents happening almost simultaneously. The first event was unnerving, but since both a Moldovan woman apologized for his behavior and another Moldovan man was friendly and interested in us because we were Americans, it made things seem better.

And it reminded me of how there are people in America who feel that those who live in America should speak English. Now, I didn’t agree with this before, but being on the other side now, I can empathize better with those who speak another language in America. Besides, some people with prejudices should not reflect a people as a whole. It was comforting having those kind Moldovans remind me of that.

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.