Snow Bunny Buffoon

Yep, this is my second winter in Moldova, and I still can’t walk in snow. I have to leave an extra 15 minutes early to get to school because of how slowly I walk. I have to wear YakTraks, which are like chains I put on my boots to eliminate some of the slipping, but unfortunately for me, not all of it.

And there really is no shoveling of the snow on the sidewalks. Since everyone walks so much, the snow becomes quite packed, but it’s uneven and still slippery. I guess I’m strengthening my ankles.

I can’t even begin to compare myself to the Moldovan. Not only do the women walk much better (and more gracefully) than I do through the snow, they do it in heels. Not to mention they all walk much more quickly. When watching me walk, it’s easy to tell who’s not from around here.

Beware of the Kitchen

Well, the snow has returned and with a vengeance. It was snowing quite hard on my walk to school; my face was stinging as the snow was blasting into my face. My whole walk to school, the snow was blowing into me. Good news is that my walk home was much more pleasant since the snow was hitting my back.

After I got home from school and warmed up a bit by the heater, I head downstairs to prepare some lunch. And Roman was in the kitchen, drinking glasses of wine to stay warm. Of course, he insists I join him. If Roman is in the kitchen (or comes to the kitchen when I’m there), he wants to drink. There’s no legit excuse for me to not drink. Once I’m home, he thinks I’m done with the day. Therefore, getting drunk at 2 o’clock is perfectly acceptable. This used to bother me a lot, but I’ve accepted that this is life here.

Today’s conversation was fun. He kept telling me my boobs are a nice size. FYI, you do not need to be able to translate Russian to understand when someone is talking about your boobs. He told me that small boobs weren’t good, and big boobs were good.

I don’t know which is worse: that he finds his behavior appropriate or that it doesn’t bother me any more. I’m going to need some serious help with integration when I return to America.

My Daily Obstacle Course

When we first got here, PC told us that the two greatest dangers to volunteers are walking and dogs. And it doesn’t take too long to understand how true that is. Out of all the countries with PCVs, Moldovan voluteers have the highest amount of injuries caused while walking.

Walking is the only way to get around. Volunteers are not allowed to drive cars, even if we had one available to us. Many of us don’t have a public transportation method that is worth taking to and from work. So we walk. Some PCVs are lucky and live only three minutes away from work. Others have a 40-minute walk. I have about a 20-25 minute commute.

The roads and sidewalks are very uneven, if there even are any. Many paths and roads are just a mix of dirt and rocks. And since I already have weak ankles, I can foresee several twisted ankles in my future. When I have to walk at night, I’m not worried about getting mugged or hurt by another person; I’m worry about not seeing what I’m walking on and falling.

And to make things more difficult, the weather adds another challenge to my walks. Rain makes it so muddy that I might lose a shoe while walking; snow hides the rocks and uneven roads, making the path more mysterious; ice makes everything slick. I pretend like everyday is a new obstacle course I must complete. I’m hoping that all this challenging walking is making my ankles stronger. Maybe this could be an Olympic event?

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Wow, over the last month, it has been very cold. Now I understand what all the fuss was about. For a while, I thought that maybe I was super tough or maybe others were more sensitive to the cold. But that’s a big, fat no. I was wrong; I just hadn’t felt the real cold yet. The last two weeks we have gotten got a lot of snow and a lot of wind. In fact, several events for Peace Corps were canceled because of the weather.

Right after that first snow, there was about a week or two of extreme wind. Wind is the worst. It is so have to deal with because no matter how many layers I was wearing, the wind could pass through them. It was torturous walking to and from school. Many errands didn’t happen because I didn’t want to go outside unless it was absolutely necessary.

After those weeks, the snow really came. We probably had at least a foot of snow. It wasn’t as cold as the windy weeks, but I had a foot of snow to walk through because there aren’t plows. Some people shoveled right in front of their gate, but that didn’t make a difference in my walk.

I think part of the difficulty with dealing with the cold is that it is always cold. I have to be outside a lot more because the only way for me to travel is by foot. And the buildings aren’t very warm either. When I sit still for some time working, I get very cold after about a half hour. Layered-clothes are a necessity. Showers are even less fun. The window in the bathroom has a layer of ice around it. And the backdoor has some ice on it in the mornings. Have I mentioned how cold it is lately?

Our Backdoor In The Mornings With Ice

The Water Tower

A Snow-Covered Cruileni

I woke up this morning to a beautiful white Criuleni. There has been a little snow here and there the last month, but nothing that was really sticking. This week though, the ground was frozen, and I had hoped that this meant snow would stick, which it did. It’s the perfect kind of snow, the kind that crunches underneath my feet. There is enough that it covers everything, but the trees aren’t hanging low because of how heavy it is.

The atmosphere seemed to change overnight. Criuleni was so happy today. December was a lot of rain and cold, so it was kind of dreary. But the snow brought lots of smiles and happiness. On my walk to school this morning, I saw lots of children playing together as they walked to school. As I passed the bus station, I heard a man singing loud for all to hear. During school, every boy spent every minute of every break outside playing in the snow. And on my way home, the students all ran and slid to see how far they could slide across the packed snow. I even saw an adult man trying to slide across the snow.

This snow was a perfect pick-me-up for all of Cruileni.