Life Without Fluffy Towels

With Thanksgiving just passing, I can’t help but remember the things I miss being over here. I think it can go without saying (although I’m saying it anyways) that I miss my family and friends. And I miss just knowing what is culturally acceptable, or not acceptable. I miss my favorite products, and I miss the activities I used to be involved in. And I miss foods. But all of these things I tried to prepare myself for, so it’s not that difficult (most days) dealing with missing these things.

It’s the little insignificant things that I miss that can cause the most frustration sometimes. This summer, I really missed air conditioners. Ugg, it was so humid and gross. I also greatly miss having a dryer. Now that it’s cold, I really have to plan my laundry out. Whenever I need to wash clothes, I need to make sure I don’t need them for a week because it can take that long to dry. I also miss my towels be soft and fluffy. Towels that dried without a dryer are not very cozy.

Continuing the list, I don’t have a printer. I really miss the convenience of printing things the day before I need them. When I really need printed things, I can use the printer at Peace Corps headquarters in Chișinău, but it requires planning in advance. And I need to have more errands to do than just print things to make the trip feel worth it.

One thing I really miss is the luxury of showers. I am lucky to have a shower; however it is not much to brag about. The pressure is very poor, and the hot water doesn’t last very long. So I have to turn off the water when I’m not rinsing myself. This wasn’t too bad in the summer, but now that it’s winter, it can be kind of bone chilling. Sometimes, the hot water only lasts long enough to rinse my hair. I really miss the days when showers weren’t such a pain in the neck.

Oh yeah, and I miss ice cream that isn’t served on a stick.

My Stomach Is Singing

One of the goals of English Education volunteers is to help our partner teachers improve their English. And for me, this is one of my biggest goals. My partner teachers can speak English, but it is very poor. Many of our meetings take 3 times as long because my partner doesn’t understand the English.

Part of my partners’ English weaknesses is that they directly translated from Romanian. So even though they are speaking English, the wording is awkward, not quite right, or just not the phrasing we usually use. For example, they say “be attentive” instead of “pay attention”. Another phrase they say is “say me please” instead of “tell me please.” Or “put the students questions ” instead of “ask the students questions.”

I try to correct them, but it can be hard finding the balance of how often to correct them without annoying my partners. I can see some improvement so far, but this can be frustrating sometimes. However, I have found the silver lining. There are some fun phrases I have learned since my partners directly translate sometimes. Telling someone to check their zipper, they say “close the store.” My favorite is “my stomach is singing.” It sounds happier than “growling”.

Spoonfuls Of Pepper Jelly

Roman had a friend over for dinner tonight…which means a lot of drinking. How I sat and talked with 2 Russian speakers for 3 hours I’ll never know, but somehow I did. I am always surprised by how little you need to know of a language and still understand each other.

Tonight’s drink of choice: wine. I mistakenly thought that I would be done drinking with them when I finished my dinner. But no. Roman insisted that I keep drinking because the wine is natural. And of course, we had to be quiet because we didn’t want Parascovia to catch us. As the night went on (and Roman continued to drink), Roman wouldn’t let me put my glass on the table because it would make a sound.

For some time, Roman kept wanting to toast to California. I don’t know why, but eventually I reminded him that I’m from Virginia, not California. Then he became excited because he knew that Virginia makes cigarettes. I told him how Virginia is also known for growing peanuts, but he didn't care too much. He told me that he likes walnuts because Moldova grows walnuts, at which point he went into the cellar and grabbed a handful of walnuts for us to eat.

Soon, Roman wanted coffee. He asked me if I wanted coffee, and I told him that I don’t like coffee. But he still seemed to think I wanted coffee. Finally, he understood I didn’t want any. He told me that he wanted coffee so I needed to make some, to which I answered, “If you want coffee, you make it.” I don’t think he was expecting the Romanian-challenged American to give that answer, but he seemed to like it because I got a lot of handshakes for that comment.

Later in the night, I got the hiccups. This did not mean that I got to leave. Instead, Roman made me eat spoonfuls of pepper jelly to stop the hiccups. Not exactly the most appetizing thing, but it worked.

I really need to learn Russian to talk with Roman. Good thing Roman offered to teach me Russian. But somehow I get the feeling that my lessons will revolve around an alcoholic beverage.

Happy Dance

I’m tutoring two girls in my 10th form right now before I get an English club started, and one of the students mentioned she has difficulty with English in class. She went on to say that she was also scared in class. Not exactly the feelings I was hoping for. And I haven’t even started to become very strict yet. I’m trying to make change slowly so as the students and teachers adjust more easily. So I haven’t started becoming harsh for completing homework or not cheating with school work. Lordy.

But it’s all good now. We were chatting with the girls today, and they started to ask me about why I was here and such. When I told them I would be staying here for 2 years, one of the girls did a little happy dance. It was very cute. I liked getting this reaction better than hearing that I was scaring one of my students.

Familia Mea Gazdă

I love my host family. We seem to have a good balance with each other. Despite my poor Romanian, I think we communicate well with each other and we are a good fit together. I started to realize this recently. They were in America visiting their son (who married a Peace Corps volunteer, for those who don’t remember). They were there from October 11-30. And then I had training with Peace Corps in Chișinău from October 30 – November 5. So I really haven’t seen them for 4 weeks. It was a long 4 weeks.

I really care for them, and I enjoy living with them. So, I want to tell you a little about them, and I think today sums Parascovia and Roman up pretty well. Be ready…this is a long entry.

I’m getting over a cold right now. It’s nothing serious, just annoying. But I have a little cough. Anyways, this afternoon, I was coughing some, and Parascovia came up to check on me. She was saying how she heard me coughing and she was worried. And later, when I was going out to the bank (side note: I was typing this after I had been drinking with Roman, and I typed the Romanian translation for “bank” instead of the word “bank”. Maybe I’m not as bad at Romanian as I think I am) and Parascovia didn't think I had a big enough coat. So she gave me one of hers. She’s very motherly, and it’s kind of nice.

Then later tonight, I was eating with my family. Well, not really “eating with my family”, but rather eating “with my family”. Basically, they were in the kitchen while I was eating. First it was just Parascovia and I. She was preparing for tomorrow’s dinner, and she kept talking about her trip to America. I didn’t understand everything, but I was listening attentively and trying to understand all I could. I tried to contribute to the conversation as best I could, but I really didn’t say more than 2 or 3 sentences total. I love that she just kept talking to me.

Roman just makes me laugh. Right as I finished my dinner, he sat down with me and poured me a glass of wine (a real glass of wine, not a shot like usual). He insisted that I eat something while we drink (very Moldovan). So he kept handing me food while he was refilling my glass continuously.

At one point, I went to put food away in the fridge and Parascovia walked out of the room. So Roman took this as a chance to refill my glass before Parascovia or I noticed (I had already had 2 glasses with him at this point). Sneaky man.

Our Ukrainian and American “conversation”, which may seem a bit ADD…because it kind of is: Roman likes to smell dried fish (I don’t understand this yet; hopefully I’ll have an explanation soon). But he quickly understood my distain for it made evident by my face when he pulled out his dried fish to smell. After he got his euphoria from smelling the fish, he took the giant bowl of basil that Parascovia was preparing for dinner tomorrow night and smelled it as well. He continued to pick up the bowl of basil every 5 minutes throughout the rest of dinner, occasionally insisting that I smell it too.

Roman taught me the word ‘bug’ in Russian, which I promptly forgot as soon as he shook my hand and told me I was weak. He then noticed Parascovia cutting up carrots, which she had been doing the whole 20 minutes we had been sitting there. He pulled out a giant shank for her to use. She rolled her eyes at him and kept using her knife (Roman didn’t notice).

Next, Roman offered me tea or coffee. I told him tea, and he told me to make him some too. I couldn’t help but laugh. In Moldova, you can’t drink tea without eating something. So he told me to cut myself a piece of cake. I made my tea (and his) and cut my piece of cake. He was sweetening his tea and offered me the sugar. I declined, so he decided that I could use sugar on my cake instead. He took a spoonful of sugar and spread it on my cake. I reacted, and he quickly pointed to Parascovia and made a shhing face, implying that she must not know about this.

I find it quite humorous how he “sneaks” behind Parascovia’s back. Usually, it’s with the alcoholic beverages. And tonight, it was with the sugar on the cake as well. But I have a feeling that Parascovia knows exactly what is going on, and I think she finds his “sneakiness” just as humorous as I do.

I swear, you could make a sitcom out of our interactions. I don’t think I can do justice to the hilarity of our interactions with my writing. But honestly, after hanging out with my family, my abs hurt from laughing so much at our interactions.

Ode To Ben and Jerry’s

Today was a particularly difficult day. It’s not like it was really that different from any other crazy day. I think it’s just that I have been trying to not let things bother me that actually do bother me in the long run. All the little things add up. Straw that breaks the camel’s back kind of thing, you know?

All week, I’ve had no idea how long the classes were going to be because they would ring the bells early to end the school day early because the building is too cold. Then today, I tried to play a game of Memory with one of my classes for the first time. But it was a huge headache. The students only know how to behave with lectures. So when I introduce an activity, it can be kind of wild. Then half of my students in my last class were missing (there are only 8 students in the class total).

Usually, I have a lot of patience and stamina for this chaos. I actually am kind of proud of myself because I have become pretty good for letting things roll off my shoulder, which says a lot coming from this slight (okay, more than slight) control-freak. But apparently on my hard days, my newfound maturity and flexibility are out the window, and what is left of Maggie wants to jump out the window. Oh well. I guess I’m bound to have hard days. It’s just difficult having hard days in a foreign country.

When I had a bad day back in the States, I often turned to my good friends, Ben and Jerry. But they don’t have it here. I miss Ben and Jerry’s. They have ice cream here, but most of it is served on a stick. And it’s relatively cheap. It’s not the same. I miss good ice cream.

I went on a mission today after school to find ice cream that wasn’t served on a stick. It took a great deal of searching, but I found some in a carton at last. Unfortunately, there was only one kind, vanilla with caramel swirl. Normally, I need something with chocolate after a day like this. But beggars can’t be choosers. And in my current state, I really don’t care. I’m just happy to be able to eat ice cream with a spoon tonight.

Well, in my misery, I have turned to poetry to express myself. I dedicate this to you, Ben and Jerry, lifelong friends to those in need.

You are the ice cream with much flare.
For your taste I greatly care.
But since I moved to Moldova,
My life’s been all ova’
Since I can’t find you anywhere.

Yes, I realize I’m being a little (okay, more than a little) melodramatic. But can you blame a girl? I mean, I’m in foreign country having a bad day. Add in the fact that I haven’t had Ben and Jerry’s in almost 5 months, not to mention countless other things I miss (ode to Mexican food soon to come). For those who might not know me as well, have no worries. I’ll get my ice cream fix as I watch a sappy romantic comedy and I’ll be back to my semi-mature and capable self. But for now, I will moan and groan and complain.

Poftă Bună!

Poftă Bună, which is Romanian for bon appétit. You can’t have a meal in Moldova without being wished poftă bună! Moldovan food: it’s not that weird. There are lots of the same things as there are in the USA. Bread, pasta, lots veggies and fruits, chicken, pork, sausage, salami, etc. Most of the stuff I know and recognize. For me, the main differences are how food is served/prepared/portioned and what is served more frequently. For example, the butter is cut like slices of cheese, the cheese is cut like slices of bread, and bread is cut like, well, slices of bread (not everything is different). Tomatoes are eaten like apples. And if you don’t ask for a 3rd serving, people might think you don’t like the food.

The biggest struggle for me is the meat. Dad, I think you would love it here. The meat is mostly kinds of pork. Lots and lots of kinds of sausages and salamis. And fatty sausage and salamis at that. And if it’s not some kind of pork, whatever meat it is, it’s very fatty. Most of the time, the meat is served still on the bone. And many Moldovans eat every piece of meat…including the marrow. It was weird the first time I heard my host family eating meat and it was crunching.

But if there is one piece of information to remember when eating Moldovan food, this is it: never bite into anything assuming there aren’t seeds or bones. I only made that mistake 10 or 11 times.

Here are some popular Moldovan dishes, foods, and drinks that are new or interesting for me…

• Compot: boiled fruit with sugar or honey. Tastes like Kool-Aid. 
• Plicinta: mini pies filled with cheese, cabbage, potatoes, or fruit. Very tasty, and very common. The ones filled with cabbage are my favorite. 
• Mamaliga: cornmeal mash. Made from water and cornmeal. I like this a lot too. It reminds me of grits, which kind of makes it a comfort food for me. 
• Sărmale: rice and veggies (and sometimes meat) rolled in cabbage or grape leaves. This isn’t new for me; I had them in the States before. But I wanted to include it in the list because they seem to be at many masăs. Stuffed peppers are also very popular (they use the same stuffing as sărmale). 
• Răcituri: meat jello. When I first heard about this dish, even though I knew this wasn’t correct, I pictured a jello mold with pieces of meat floating in it. This is not correct. To me, it looks and tastes like congealed chicken broth. And it’s very salty. 
• Hrișcă: brown buckwheat. I like this very much. It is very oaty. Parascovia serves it with something very similar to spaghetti sauce on it. 
• Brînză: sheep cheese. It’s very similar to goat cheese or feta in texture. It can be sweet or salty. I really like the salty kind with tomatoes. 
• Pelmeni: meat ravioli/dumplings. Maybe I don’t need to include this on the list, but this is one of my favorite meals. So I wanted to mention it. It is basically mini dumplings, and Moldovans serve it with sour cream instead of soy sauce. And I really like it with the sour cream. Funny thing though, they are in the frozen food section. Wouldn’t it figure that the American’s favorite dish is a frozen prepared dish? 
• Salată de crabi: egg salad with artificial crab and potato. It’s very yummy. 
• Chefir: buttermilk (kind of). It’s like a chunky buttermilk. Very thick and sour. When my host family gave it to me to try, they insisted that it’s good for my stomach. I felt like I was drinking sour milk. 
• Păpănaș: small, dense pancakes. They are very sweet and yummy. Parascovia makes them almost every weekend, and I eat it with dulceață. 
• Dulceață: jelly with pieces of fruit. It is very sweet, with the juices and chunks of the fruit. It’s very dessert-like.