Glod

Moldova giveth, and Moldova taketh away. For the last few days it has been cold enough to wear sweaters and the streets have turned into huge mud puddles from the amount of rain. The little creek by my host family's house turned into a full on river because of the downpour we got. The local word for mud is "glod". Mult glod. Lots of mud everywhere you turn. The only pair of remotely sturdy shoes I brought with me is a pair of light weight summer tennis shoes. They are covered in mud. It should clear up soon though, we've been told this isn't normal at all for summer. I hope so.

Today we got to go to the cultural center and see a local dance group perform traditional dances and songs. Here's a picture. I tried video, but they won't upload. Probably too slow of a connection.



This group was very good and performed for about two hours. At the end they were dancing the Hora and came down into the audience and started pulling the volunteers into the dance with them until we were all going in a huge circle around the auditorium.

My host family's dog just had puppies. Most Moldovan families will have a dog stationed at their front gate as a kind of "door bell". She is so cute. For a week she barked at me angrily every time I came in the gate (she's chained up, so no danger). Then I started sneaking her salami and pieces of chicken from my meals. We're friends now. Her puppies are still too little to play with, but I have two more months here. It's a goal to play with them before I leave.

Mom would be proud

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. From what I know, most people here live on about $2 a day. But while food from the store is expensive, you'll never go hungry as a guest here. Most Moldovan families live on a micro-farm. My host family has their own chickens, ducks, and a large garden. And by large, I mean Michelle Obama would weep with joy at the size of this family's vegetable garden. They have onions, potatoes, squash, cucumber, grapes, cherry trees, tomatoes, and a lot of other plants I have no idea what they are.

Today for dinner I was served an egg scramble of some kind. It had a green veggie in it, still not entirely sure what it was. My host mom went and got one. I think it's some sort of squash. I ate it, and it was good.

You can't be a picky eater in the Peace Corps. I've gotten to the point of if it smells good and looks safe, I'll eat it. Mom would be proud.

Don't miss the bus

If you know me, you know that I usually go to bed late and get up late. That has changed. My new alarm clock is the family rooster (as well as a plethora of birds and chickens) who feels the need to tell everyone that the sun is up around 4am. It usually wakes me up and then I do a half-sleep until about 6:45. The good news is that I usually go to bed around nine now.

My host family is pretty well off from what I can tell. They have an inside bathroom, internet, tv, inside kitchen, etc. The water isn't working right now because repairs are being done to the town's pipes. They assure us it will be fixed tomorrow. Who knows when tomorrow really is though. :) So in the mean time, to shower, I use the outside solar shower. It is in the duck pen and the ducks love to try to get at the water while you're using it. Cheeky ducks.

The other morning the water ran out mid-shower. I told my host mom "Nu apa," no water. She went and got four buckets from the well and climbed the ladder to pour them in the barrel while I stood in my towel covered in soap. This didn't seem to alleviate the problem, so I finished using a bucket and my washcloth. Normally a bucket bath in Moldova would have been fine, nothing out of the norm. However, I had not allotted time for this side track of 20 minutes or so. This is what caused me, an exercise induced asthmatic, to be running down a dusty road, dodging chickens, in a foreign country, being that weird "Americanca" trying to catch my bus.
This is the good life. Este bine.

I am in Moldova safe and sound. Training is keeping us super busy. One of the current volunteers said that he had almost no time to talk to his family during PST, but now talks to them several times a week. My host family is amazing. They're pretty well off for Moldovians. They have an inside kitchen and a bathroom with a shower. It isn't working now because repairs are being done to the pipes. So I've been using an outside solar shower in the mornings, although I might switch to a night shower-er. The solar shower is through the chicken coop in the duck pen. Or geese, I'm not entirely sure which they are. They also have internet in my host sister's bedroom. I'm taking advantage of the fact that she's out with her friends now.

I'm exhausted and have to go to bed soon, so I'm just going to upload some pictures for you guys to see. They're of the New York City skyline, the airport, the volunteers who sat behind me on Air Moldova sacked out, traveling to Moldova, the welcome ceremonies, the church and the view from the church. Love and miss you all!

I am packed. It only took a few hours of laying things out, eliminating about 1/3 of what I thought I was going to take, my mom promising to mail me my winter coat, and switching suitcases when the seam on the first one turned out to be torn. I am now going to attempt before and after photos.
Before (ignore the cat and stuffed pig, they were not part of the planned packing):



After:

Not bad, if I do say so myself. My nephew even tried to help

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I'll put up the requisite packing list at a later date. Half because I need to sleep now, and half because I'm not entirely sure what survived the final cut. Goodnight!

Don't Panic

For the last few weeks I've been taking the advice of author Douglas Adams: Don't Panic. I feel like I should panic, just a little. Half excitement, half nerves. In two days I will be leaving my family, friends, and home to go across the world to a country that most people have never even heard of, Moldova. I don't speak the language and I feel grossly unqualified. I just graduated from college. With a degree in social work I should be joining the ranks of the under-paid and over-worked at DSHS or CPS. But instead I decided to take a sharp left turn in my life. I have a feeling this will turn out to be a wonderful terrible idea. Not lost, on an adventure. And hoping to do some good in the mean time.

One of my friends told one of her friends, who was born in Romania, that I was going to Moldova. The conversation went like this:
C: Jessie's going to Moldova soon.
A: Why? Who would want to go to Moldova? It sucks there!
C: Peace Corps.
A: Oh, yeah, they need it.
Thanks guys. Lol, should I be worried?

Here's a question. How do you pack for two years? I haven't figured it out yet. I have everything laying around my parents living room in a U-shaped pattern. It makes sense to me, which is all that really matters. I still need to do one last load of laundry and decided what I'm taking with me for sure.