Imagine this…you are walking through a garden filled with flowers. There is that clean and fresh scent in the air, evidence of a summer rain that had only happen a couple hours ago. The flowers seem to spray a burst of sweet floral mist as you walk past each kind, and you can’t help but smile at nature’s miracles. There is a small, brick building at the end of the garden. You open the door and a gust of warm summer air hits you.
You breathe in the air and your nose is suddenly filled with the foulest scent you can possibly imagine. You know that if you turn and leave, you won’t have to continue to experience this odor, but there is nowhere else civilized to do your business, so you proceed on into the building. As you shut the door, you take yourself to your happy place to escape the God-forsaken stench that seemed to grow worse at the mere action of closing the door.
As you sit there with your nose in your shirt to dull the smell, you wonder if you would be able to hold your breath during your remaining time in there, knowing full-well it would result in you fainting, making matters worse. When it is time to leave, you walk away from the viceo so quickly that you don’t even have a chance to smell the flowers of the garden you have to walk back through that you were so keen on noticing only moments before.
Okay, so I’m being a little melodramatic. There are a lot of viceos that are way worse than my family’s; in fact, there are viceos that are just holes in the ground (and I know that the title is inaccurate seeing as many others have to use viceos, but I thought it was clever). But there have been times when the smell in the viceo was so awful, I lost my ability to think reasonably and imagined my few minutes in there as such. On the really hot days, the smell is obviously worse. And on the days when it’s cooler from a rainstorm, the floral scent is stronger, making the contrasting scent of the viceo seems worst. One day, it’s bound to be less noticeable, right?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Criuleni Miscellaneous
Some much was going on this weekend, it was hard for me to fit in all into the last 2 blogs. So here are some other miscellaneous things that happen this weekend that I forgot to mention in the last posts.
My partner teachers mentioned yesterday that I look Moldovan. It was nice to hear since I am trying to integrate. Apparently when Svetlana was meeting Veronica and me, she didn’t think I was the American at first. It’s nice to know that until I open my mouth and butcher the Moldovan language, I blend in.
Although, I don’t know how well I will be able to dress Moldovan. Women here wear heels almost everywhere, despite the fact they need to walk up and down hills and on rocky roads. Since we were supposed to dress professionally this weekend, I wore my heels. My leg muscles were burning from walking so much, and my shoes rubbed blisters on my feet. Not cool.
I was also able to talk to my host family’s son, Feodor, and Sarah on Skype. Sarah assured me that my host family is a nice family to live with. And Feodor told me to watch out for his father. Apparently, Ramon likes to play jokes. I should also stay strong when I don’t want any more wine. Feodor said not to listen to Ramon when says things like “I don’t respect him” when I refuse a drink. It’s good to know because I’m not sure how well I will read his sense of humor in Russian.
Yesterday morning at breakfast, my host mom mentioned that there have been 3 PCV who married someone from Criuleni: Sarah (their daughter-in-law), David (the one Svetlana mentioned Saturday), and Lawson. Sarah and David had worked at the school and Lawson had worked in a bank. I don’t know the details because this explanation was given to me in Romanian, but she made it very clear that 3 PCV had married a Moldovan.
Add to to-do list: learn as many Romanian words as possible related around the topic of marriage to better approach this conversation in the future.
My partner teachers mentioned yesterday that I look Moldovan. It was nice to hear since I am trying to integrate. Apparently when Svetlana was meeting Veronica and me, she didn’t think I was the American at first. It’s nice to know that until I open my mouth and butcher the Moldovan language, I blend in.
Although, I don’t know how well I will be able to dress Moldovan. Women here wear heels almost everywhere, despite the fact they need to walk up and down hills and on rocky roads. Since we were supposed to dress professionally this weekend, I wore my heels. My leg muscles were burning from walking so much, and my shoes rubbed blisters on my feet. Not cool.
I was also able to talk to my host family’s son, Feodor, and Sarah on Skype. Sarah assured me that my host family is a nice family to live with. And Feodor told me to watch out for his father. Apparently, Ramon likes to play jokes. I should also stay strong when I don’t want any more wine. Feodor said not to listen to Ramon when says things like “I don’t respect him” when I refuse a drink. It’s good to know because I’m not sure how well I will read his sense of humor in Russian.
Yesterday morning at breakfast, my host mom mentioned that there have been 3 PCV who married someone from Criuleni: Sarah (their daughter-in-law), David (the one Svetlana mentioned Saturday), and Lawson. Sarah and David had worked at the school and Lawson had worked in a bank. I don’t know the details because this explanation was given to me in Romanian, but she made it very clear that 3 PCV had married a Moldovan.
Add to to-do list: learn as many Romanian words as possible related around the topic of marriage to better approach this conversation in the future.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Just Let Go And Fall
I’m such a worrywart. For those who don’t know me as well, I like to plan and think and understand. I like to know what is going on and understand what is to expect. So when I found out I was going to be visiting Criuleni last week, I want to plan the weekend. I wanted to know what I need to do, where I need to go, who I need to meet, how to fit it all into a weekend, what questions I have to ask, how do I get there, how do I get back, etc. Needless to say, I did not get the answers to these questions before this weekend. Yet it went well. I knew that going into the PC I would be get a chance to practice flying by the seat of my pants. I think I’m beginning to handle it better.
I met up with Svetlana, and she walked me to the school where we’ll be teaching together. We met up with Veronica and two of my other partner teachers, Maria and Valentina. Both women were very excited to meet me, and Maria greeted me by kissing my cheeks. There is one more English teacher, but she was out of town (I know, I know… I thought I had understood Veronica the night before saying there were 3 English teachers, but there are actually 4. Maybe that interview from yesterday wasn’t accurate?). We went into the school and they showed me their classrooms.
Then we went into what I think functions as the teachers lounge and sat and drank apple juice and ate chocolates. Veronica proceeded to update Svetlana, Maria, and Valentina about the Peace Corps and what I was doing in Romanian. It was weird being talked about right in front of my face and not understanding it, but oddly enough, it didn’t bother me.
After that, my partner teachers took me on a tour of Criuleni. It is beautiful. I love the wild flowers that grow in Moldova, and the gorgeous rolling hills in the background. Criuleni is located beside Nistru River, so we walked to see that. It’s wonderful here, and I can’t wait to be able to take walks through this town daily.
While we were walking, I found out that not only did Sarah marry my host mom’s son, but the last PCV was a man and he too married someone from the village. Svetlana asked me if I was married and I obviously told her no, to which she replied “don’t worry, you can.” She meant it as a joke, and I, of course, laughed.
I am starting to understand the warnings to single ladies in the PC about people in other countries expecting marriage. Now, no one has pressured me and I do not feel uncomfortable, but I have heard the word “marriage” more in the last 24 hours than it is said in a romantic comedy starring a single woman in her mid-30s.
I met up with Svetlana, and she walked me to the school where we’ll be teaching together. We met up with Veronica and two of my other partner teachers, Maria and Valentina. Both women were very excited to meet me, and Maria greeted me by kissing my cheeks. There is one more English teacher, but she was out of town (I know, I know… I thought I had understood Veronica the night before saying there were 3 English teachers, but there are actually 4. Maybe that interview from yesterday wasn’t accurate?). We went into the school and they showed me their classrooms.
Then we went into what I think functions as the teachers lounge and sat and drank apple juice and ate chocolates. Veronica proceeded to update Svetlana, Maria, and Valentina about the Peace Corps and what I was doing in Romanian. It was weird being talked about right in front of my face and not understanding it, but oddly enough, it didn’t bother me.
After that, my partner teachers took me on a tour of Criuleni. It is beautiful. I love the wild flowers that grow in Moldova, and the gorgeous rolling hills in the background. Criuleni is located beside Nistru River, so we walked to see that. It’s wonderful here, and I can’t wait to be able to take walks through this town daily.
While we were walking, I found out that not only did Sarah marry my host mom’s son, but the last PCV was a man and he too married someone from the village. Svetlana asked me if I was married and I obviously told her no, to which she replied “don’t worry, you can.” She meant it as a joke, and I, of course, laughed.
I am starting to understand the warnings to single ladies in the PC about people in other countries expecting marriage. Now, no one has pressured me and I do not feel uncomfortable, but I have heard the word “marriage” more in the last 24 hours than it is said in a romantic comedy starring a single woman in her mid-30s.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Destination Criuleni!
All around, today was a great day to follow a rather dreary week. Today I traveled to my soon-to-be permanent site, Criuleni. The day started out positive with me successfully going to the magazin and selecting a box of chocolate to give to my host family for letting me stay this weekend. The reason this was so exciting was because it was not a scripted conversation like those practiced in class. Mind you, it was only about a 60 second conversation, but it involved her showing me choices and me selecting the box of chocolate I wanted. So for those of you interested in traveling to Moldova and needing help buying a box of chocolate, I’m your girl!
I proceeded to go to language class, in which we had a progress report. It was an interview conducted with one of our LTIs, so it was testing our speaking and listening skills. Despite my nerves and self-consciousness of my Romanian ability, I didn’t do too badly on the interview. If I were to convert their ranking to grades, I would say I got a B. Svetlana was the one who interviewed me and she said that I’m doing great for where I am. It was nice to hear.
Team Cojusna then traveled into Chisinau to meet up with our directors/representatives from our schools. Veronica was the representative from my school, and she teaching Romanian at my school. She does not speak any English, so it was a real test of my Romanian skills.
I was able to successfully tell her that I had taught before, I currently live in Cojusna, and I’m the oldest of 2 sisters and a brother. I learned from her that Svetlana (a different Svetlana from my LTI) was my partner teacher, that there are 3 English teachers at my school, the younger grades (I didn’t understand how young) were in a different school, and that I have big shoes to fill because a previous PCV married a man from the community. It was somewhere in that part of the conversation that I started to get confused, and I think I might have accidently implied that I had a baby. Luckily, a current PCV was walking by and straighten the whole thing out (I hope).
Veronica then took me to Criuleni. She showed me where to catch the bus that goes to Criuleni and told me it was about 40 kilometers from Chisinau, so travel there is easy. The bus ride took a little more than an hour, but it didn’t feel like it. Now, I’m not one who really believes in signs, but I felt like the fact I was pretty much smiling the whole way to the Criuleni can’t be a bad one. The view the whole way was gorgeous, and I loved seeing all the animals everywhere. But my favorite part was the fields of sunflowers at the entrance of the raion. I fell in love!
Veronica and I got off the bus and met up with Svetlana. We walked to my host family’s house and had dinner together. My host mom’s name is Parascovia and my father is Roman. It was then I learned that the previous PCV in the town who married a man from the village is named Sarah, and she is their daughter-in-law. I’m pretty sure there will be pressure for me to marry someone here.
My host family is really friendly. Neither of them speak any English except a couple words, and my father only speaks Russian. Hmm, not prepared for that. But my host mom speaks Romanian, so it’s likely I will be mostly communicated with her. However, I didn’t catch on most of the night that he was speaking Russian (I know, sad, especially after I was feeling so pound of myself from my interview this morning), and I understood a lot of what he was saying (or maybe I should say what he was miming).
This is right.
I proceeded to go to language class, in which we had a progress report. It was an interview conducted with one of our LTIs, so it was testing our speaking and listening skills. Despite my nerves and self-consciousness of my Romanian ability, I didn’t do too badly on the interview. If I were to convert their ranking to grades, I would say I got a B. Svetlana was the one who interviewed me and she said that I’m doing great for where I am. It was nice to hear.
Team Cojusna then traveled into Chisinau to meet up with our directors/representatives from our schools. Veronica was the representative from my school, and she teaching Romanian at my school. She does not speak any English, so it was a real test of my Romanian skills.
I was able to successfully tell her that I had taught before, I currently live in Cojusna, and I’m the oldest of 2 sisters and a brother. I learned from her that Svetlana (a different Svetlana from my LTI) was my partner teacher, that there are 3 English teachers at my school, the younger grades (I didn’t understand how young) were in a different school, and that I have big shoes to fill because a previous PCV married a man from the community. It was somewhere in that part of the conversation that I started to get confused, and I think I might have accidently implied that I had a baby. Luckily, a current PCV was walking by and straighten the whole thing out (I hope).
Veronica then took me to Criuleni. She showed me where to catch the bus that goes to Criuleni and told me it was about 40 kilometers from Chisinau, so travel there is easy. The bus ride took a little more than an hour, but it didn’t feel like it. Now, I’m not one who really believes in signs, but I felt like the fact I was pretty much smiling the whole way to the Criuleni can’t be a bad one. The view the whole way was gorgeous, and I loved seeing all the animals everywhere. But my favorite part was the fields of sunflowers at the entrance of the raion. I fell in love!
Veronica and I got off the bus and met up with Svetlana. We walked to my host family’s house and had dinner together. My host mom’s name is Parascovia and my father is Roman. It was then I learned that the previous PCV in the town who married a man from the village is named Sarah, and she is their daughter-in-law. I’m pretty sure there will be pressure for me to marry someone here.
My host family is really friendly. Neither of them speak any English except a couple words, and my father only speaks Russian. Hmm, not prepared for that. But my host mom speaks Romanian, so it’s likely I will be mostly communicated with her. However, I didn’t catch on most of the night that he was speaking Russian (I know, sad, especially after I was feeling so pound of myself from my interview this morning), and I understood a lot of what he was saying (or maybe I should say what he was miming).
This is right.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I Am A Wet Sponge
So I think it’s starting to get to the point where the amount of work put on us is starting to get to us. The amount of information thrown at us each day can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Every time more information is given to me, I feel like I lose some piece of information I learned before.
Yesterday, I noticed a couple trainees getting annoyed with small things that would not normally bother them (or at least, they wouldn’t react to it so much). I felt like I had to really tread carefully yesterday. It was not fun, especially since I already have to pay such close attention to how my actions are read by Moldovans. I don’t like having to change my behavior because a couple people are in bad moods. But seeing as I have had my harder days, I can understand how they might feel. Besides, we are a team. We need to be able to lean on each other, and I will need extra patience from them on my harder days.
Having 4 hours of language class is proving difficult. My LTIs are incredible, and they have a great amount of patience with us (particularly with me and my terrible Romanian). Whenever I mess up (which is a lot), they seem to blame themselves when it is not their fault at all. I probably should explain to them how often I mess up with the English language!
Some of my Romanian mess-ups:
I was trying to conjugate the verb “can” to say “he can” and ended up saying “he smells.”
I wanted to say “I worked in a school” but ended up saying “I lived in a school.”
And my favorite, I was trying to say “In 2010, I decided to join the Peace Corps” but I ended up saying “in 2010, I died.”
Yesterday, I noticed a couple trainees getting annoyed with small things that would not normally bother them (or at least, they wouldn’t react to it so much). I felt like I had to really tread carefully yesterday. It was not fun, especially since I already have to pay such close attention to how my actions are read by Moldovans. I don’t like having to change my behavior because a couple people are in bad moods. But seeing as I have had my harder days, I can understand how they might feel. Besides, we are a team. We need to be able to lean on each other, and I will need extra patience from them on my harder days.
Having 4 hours of language class is proving difficult. My LTIs are incredible, and they have a great amount of patience with us (particularly with me and my terrible Romanian). Whenever I mess up (which is a lot), they seem to blame themselves when it is not their fault at all. I probably should explain to them how often I mess up with the English language!
Some of my Romanian mess-ups:
I was trying to conjugate the verb “can” to say “he can” and ended up saying “he smells.”
I wanted to say “I worked in a school” but ended up saying “I lived in a school.”
And my favorite, I was trying to say “In 2010, I decided to join the Peace Corps” but I ended up saying “in 2010, I died.”
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Drum Roll Please...
I found out my permanent site today. I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. I will only give the information I know for sure right now, and I’ll fill you in as I find out more.
For the next two years, I will be living and working in Criuleni (pronounced Kree-oo-lin). It is located about 40 km northeast of Chisinau. The population is about 9,000, which is classified as a large village or small town. I also found out that I am located close to Chisinau because I will be traveling into Chisinau to conduct seminars for English teachers throughout the year. More to come on that.
I will be traveling to my permanent site this weekend to meet my host family and partnering teachers, so I can fill you in on more once I visit.
For the next two years, I will be living and working in Criuleni (pronounced Kree-oo-lin). It is located about 40 km northeast of Chisinau. The population is about 9,000, which is classified as a large village or small town. I also found out that I am located close to Chisinau because I will be traveling into Chisinau to conduct seminars for English teachers throughout the year. More to come on that.
I will be traveling to my permanent site this weekend to meet my host family and partnering teachers, so I can fill you in on more once I visit.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Countdown Until Next Good Hamburger…364 Days
This weekend was lots of fun. I was able to attend a USA Independence Day celebration put on by The American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova. There was food and drinks and music.
The food was very good. It was hotdogs and hamburgers. When I first got there, only the hot dogs were out. And by the time I got a hamburger, I was so excited about having it, I gobbled it down before I could take a picture of it. I was told by some of the current volunteers that this celebration is the only time they get a decent hamburger. I’m already counting down until my next one.
It was so great to have American food. That is something I have been missing pretty much since I have been here. I feel like the 3-year-old who wants what she can’t have. As soon as I find out I can’t have hamburgers, that’s all I want no matter what else is offered.
I found the interpretation of the “American” food interesting. The meat of the hotdogs and hamburger were delicious, but buns were much larger then the pieces of meat and were very chewy. Everything else is not what I would generally think of as American. The sides were couscous and pasta salad; both delicious, but the flavors reminded me more of Greek. And the cupcakes were very dense cake with raisins in it. And although I enjoyed the food a lot, the Moldovan version of American food made me wonder about how much America probably butchers ethnic foods.
The food was very good. It was hotdogs and hamburgers. When I first got there, only the hot dogs were out. And by the time I got a hamburger, I was so excited about having it, I gobbled it down before I could take a picture of it. I was told by some of the current volunteers that this celebration is the only time they get a decent hamburger. I’m already counting down until my next one.
It was so great to have American food. That is something I have been missing pretty much since I have been here. I feel like the 3-year-old who wants what she can’t have. As soon as I find out I can’t have hamburgers, that’s all I want no matter what else is offered.
I found the interpretation of the “American” food interesting. The meat of the hotdogs and hamburger were delicious, but buns were much larger then the pieces of meat and were very chewy. Everything else is not what I would generally think of as American. The sides were couscous and pasta salad; both delicious, but the flavors reminded me more of Greek. And the cupcakes were very dense cake with raisins in it. And although I enjoyed the food a lot, the Moldovan version of American food made me wonder about how much America probably butchers ethnic foods.
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