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.
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.
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!
