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.