Just A Bumbling American

I feel like I need to apologize to Americans everywhere. I seem to be representing Americans with everything I do. Every time I do something silly, Moldovans seem to blame it on me being American. I don’t think they realize that I’m just kind of an awkward goofball; so, needless to say, I do many foolish things regardless of my nationality.

For example, the other day, I was trying to open a can of pineapples. But I couldn’t figure out how to use the can opener. It’s that kind that just a hook, which you push through the lid and saw it around. I had never used this kind before, so it was taking me a little time figuring it out. My host dad walked passed and noticed. He then took the can-opener from me and opened the can, not without saying “Uff, America” before helping me.

And then another day, I ran into my host mom when I got home from school. She asked me if I was returning from school, and I told her I was. And then she congratulated me with a bit of an overly excited “Bravo”. I suppose she thinks me going to school is a monumental task for me.

When I try to describe myself to Moldovans, the word I want most to use is “silly”. However, there is not a direct translation for that word. The closest variant means stupid/idiotic and has a negative connotation. So obviously I prefer not to use this word since it does not help me in convincing them that I just do silly things and that I’m not stupid.

I also don't think they understand why I laugh at myself when I do something silly. I probably look crazy to them sometimes. But I sure hope they realize I’m more than just a bumbling American. It’s difficult to know with the Moldovans that don’t work with me first hand. But regardless, I will continue to not understand how things work and laugh at myself as a fumble with simple things. And I’m sure I’ll continue to hear “America” mumbled on their breaths as they laugh at my foolishness.

Mission Winter

Well, preparation for the cold weather has really begun. My host mom has spent all weekend and the last couple days bringing the outside plants inside. And if I couldn’t tell from the empty gardens or the lack of potted flowers on the porch, I can’t help but notice every time I run into a potted-tree on my walk to the bathroom.

In addition to walking into a tree on my way to the bathroom now, it is a dreadfully cold walk. I have the luxury of an indoor bathroom, but my host family hasn’t turned on the heat yet. They did provide me with an electric heater I can plug into my room, which has been wonderful. But the rest of the upstairs is as cold as outside. Showers are quite a pain. If the bathroom starts to smell horrific, it will be as if I’m living like a real PC volunteer.

The school of course, has not turned the heat on yet either. So everyone stays in their coats all day during lessons. And the teachers have started to ask the students to bring in packaging tape and cotton, and I’m sure I’ll see them filling all the cracks in the windows over the next couple days.

My favorite thing is coming home to all the chickens loose in the yard. My understanding is they are eating all the remaining vegetables/plants/seeds in the garden before my host dad clears everything out. The best is when the kitten starts chasing them. Well, she tries to; the chickens don’t seem to notice her or care. But she’s so cute as she tries to play with them.

I must say it is kind of nice being here for two years because I get a chance to see things once more. I can finally anticipate some things based on my experience last year. I kind of like saying, “Oh yeah, I remember that last year.” Makes me feel worldly.

Bring It On, Winter!

Well, I guess fall is finally here. And it feels like it came over night. Until today, I had been walking to school with no need for a coat or sweater, and I have been leaving my bedroom window open all day and night. But for the first time this season, it was too cold to leave my window open, even during the day. And when I left for school, I had to pull out my coat and scarf for my walk to school.

The cold air outside is nothing compared to the coldness of my school. Since it’s a large concrete building, the cold nights cause the school to get pretty cold, and the school remains very chilly during the day. Last year, they didn’t turn on the heat until after fall break, which was the first week in November, and we had our lessons in our coats and gloves. It was so hard to keep the students’ attention when we all were so cold. The administration made the lessons shorter because it was too cold to stay for the regular length of the day.

With this cold, I’m bracing myself for winter and all it brings. I’m starting to remember last winter with it getting dark by 4pm and the only form of vegetables to eat are pickled. Yikes. But it’s my last winter, and I plan to finish my service strong. So bring it on, winter!

Teacher's Day

Today, my school celebrated World Teacher’s Day. It is quite a lovely thing to see the students honoring their teachers. Back in the States, we had Teacher Appreciation week, which seemed to be sponsored by the parents and school systems. Here, the students take the initiative to thank their teachers. It’s wonderful to see the students show their teachers they care.

This year, the day began with a little assembly where a group of students thanked all the teachers. They presented each teacher (including me) with a rose and a certificate thanking the teacher for their hard work and dedication. The students even wrote my certificate in English.

The rest of the day had shorter lessons so we could finish the day by noon. During the lessons, the students would come to the teacher to give them gifts and thank them for being their teacher. At the end of the day, all the teachers walked out of the building with their hands full of flowers, kitchenware, and other miscellaneous gifts.

Once the lessons were over, the administration had a small masă for the teachers, where they thanked the teachers for their hard work and dedication. Overall, it was a really touching day honoring the teachers!

Motivating Students Is A Full-Time Job

With all the stress I’ve been experiencing while working with all my partners to set-up the English department room, I had started to forget how much I was looking forward to this new year. I mentioned my new plan about how I’m working with my partner as a resource teacher, meaning I will spend more time helping them develop resources to share in the English department. And even though Peace Corps haven’t approved my new work plan yet, it’s how I’m working right now. The school is still kind of chaotic since the class schedule isn’t finalized yet, so I’m working on resource development.

Early last week, I brought in a game I made for my 5th formers that encourages completing homework called “Homeworkopoly”. It’s a board game based on “Monopoly” that the students get to play when they completed their homework from the night before. There are various prizes that they can win throughout the game, most of which are privileges such as wearing a crown in class or sitting in the teacher’s chair. When I showed it to my partner Valentina, she was so excited. She said she loved it and couldn’t wait to use it. She was so happy to hang it in her classroom and she thought the students would love it. And just in case I had any doubt to the sincerity of her thanks, she gave me a hug for the first time as a result of me providing material for her classroom.

On Tuesday, we explained Homeworkopoly to the students, and their face just lit up with excitement. Positive reinforcement is not something typically seen in Moldova, so the students were surprised to hear they could earn prizes. They seemed particularly excited about singing the “Hokie Pokie” with me.

Today, we were finally able to really start playing Homeworkopoly. The students were so excited. They couldn’t believe they were being rewarded for completing their homework. The students who completed their homework were so proud to show it to me, and they would make the biggest grin when I would call them to come and play. There were several students who didn’t complete their homework, so they would worked on it in class and show it to me, hoping to get to play. I explained that they had to do their homework before class. Based on the responses today, I’m really hoping to see a lot more completed homework at the beginning of the next class.

Seeing my students so motivated was incredible. I don’t see that too often here. Since I was able to spend my time looking up ideas to use in the classroom, I was able to make something that is new and effective in the classroom. Hopefully PC will approve my new plan, and I can be working more with my partners to come up with these types of ideas this year. 

Hram

September 19 is hram (town’s day) for Criuleni. And since I didn’t have school, I was able to celebrate with the rest of the town. Hram in Criuleni was basically a small carnival. During the day, there were lots of carnivals-type rides for the children, such as a moon-bounce and bumper cars. And there were a couple venders, selling things like glow sticks and yo-yos. But the celebration really began in the evening. There was a concert, featuring lots of singers and dancing. The audience often broke out into hora circles, including yours truly.

It was lots of fun. I ran into a lot of students, who were all surprised to see me dancing the hora. I left around midnight, but I could hear the music back at my house, and it sounded like it continued until 3 or 4 in the morning. One thing is for sure: Moldovan’s know how to party. 

Sometimes It’s Hard To Work With Moldovan Priorities

I had mentioned how my school has given the English department a classroom to use, which will also be a place where I can work during and after school. And this past week, the priority of the English teachers was to prepare the room. When I first saw the room, I thought I would be able to have some freedom with setting up the room in a functional way so that resources are stored well and in a logical order. And since I would be the one working in there, I thought I would get to plan the basic set up of the classroom. I was looking forward to having a classroom to arrange and decorate with my partners.

However, things weren’t going as I thought (as with most things here), nor are they going so smoothly. My partners all have their own opinions about how the room should be put together, but many of their ideas collide with one another. And many times, they turn to me to take their side. This is the whole reason why I want my focus this year to be getting my partner teachers to work together. They don’t understand how to work together without just letting one person have her way.

Furthermore, I haven’t been able to express what I want with the room. My goal was for the room to have a library-like set-up: lots of bookshelves with resources and some tables to work at. Plus I was hoping to decorate it with lots of posters teaching English grammar and vocabulary. However, my partners are not showing any interest in my opinion. When they ask my opinion, they just want me to support their idea.

Since this is the English department’s room, not just mine, and my partners will (hopefully) continue to use it once I leave, I am trying to be compromising. But right now, it feels like I’m the only one not getting heard. I was hoping to have a room that reflected all of us. And so far, all the opinions I have expressed haven’t been honored.

Even though the opinions of my partners are clashing, the one thing they all agree upon is that the priority of the classroom right now is beauty. When I first started talking to my partners about what I wanted to do, I was talking about how to have bookshelves for materials, a place for the posters, etc. But they wanted to talk about what color the curtains should be. In fact, as I sit here writing this, one of my partner teachers sent two students to clean the plants.

I’m trying to be understanding since part of the reason they’re working on the appearance is because the director wants to show the room to some officials who are coming tomorrow. But it’s really hard to be understanding when I can’t express my opinion of how to efficiently store resources in the room. I keep telling myself that this is a room for them so I need to let them set up how they would like. But many Moldovans have poor organizational skills, and I was hoping to help with this room organization.

I just have to let it go sometimes. But the room is starting to lose some of its functionality because beauty keeps being prioritized. This makes me wonder what the purpose of this room is; to develop and store resources for the English department or to impress others with a pretty room. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to work with Moldovan priorities, and I often feel like I'm working against them. I am hoping that once tomorrow has passed, I can slowly start to change the room to be more functional while keeping up the beauty Moldovans value.