Today my partner, Maria, and I taught lectures on self-confidence for the ninth and eight grade classes. I am also getting to the point in my language where I can actually sometimes understand what the students are saying and don't just have to smile and nod along with Maria. One of the parts of the lesson plan involved a list of activities and the students would write a plus if they can do it well or a minus if they can't and then write why. The point of this was that it is important for people to know what they can and can't do well. Anyway, one of the activities was playing football, or soccer. A girl in the first class wrote that she can't play football well because it is a boy's sport.
I immediately thought of two women: my sister and Mia Hamm. Since my sister, although wonderful in her own ways, is not world famous I decided to go with Mia Hamm and gave impromptu homework. I told them, the girls especially, that over the next week I wanted them to access the internet. I didn't care if it was at home, a friend's house, the school, the library, an internet cafe, just find the internet and search youtube for "Mia Hamm". Next week they're supposed to tell me who she is and what they think about her. This ended up being homework for all of the subsequent classes. Now I'm just debating whether or not to take my computer with me next week since I know not all of the kids will look her up and I'd like to do a short discussion about her. I'll ask Maria what she thinks.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
And now I'm sticky
Monday I was walking back around the house from putting my clothes out on the line to dry and saw my host family picking grapes. I asked if I could help and was handed a bucket. My host mom and I started with the ones we could reach on foot. Pretty sure this is because I wasn't going to be trusted with a ladder. Good call on their part. After a while my host mom, who has a cold, went inside for a nap and I was left to my own devices. It went pretty well, I have to say. I got all the grapes I could on foot and then was allowed to graduate to a chair. About half way through this my host brother got home from the city and started to help. But since my host dad and sister had the ladders and I had the chair, he was reduced to using a barrel. Now, this wasn't a nice, steady barrel. This thing was old, rusty, busted in, and had a hole on the top. But he could jump up and down from it like Tarzan. He was also designated to be my helper for (I think) two reasons:
1. We only had three buckets
2. I needed the help
They also showed me where the juicer was in the garage. Once a bucket is full, we take it to this big machine, pour them in the top and grind away. The juice from the grapes goes into the barrel of this contraption and there is a spicket at the bottom where the juice comes out. Don't ask me what happens to the stuff in the buckets that are not fruit (like vines and leaves) because I have no idea.
I'm not sure what the next few steps are, but I've been told that in a few weeks (maybe it was months?) we'll have house wine. Yay!
1. We only had three buckets
2. I needed the help
They also showed me where the juicer was in the garage. Once a bucket is full, we take it to this big machine, pour them in the top and grind away. The juice from the grapes goes into the barrel of this contraption and there is a spicket at the bottom where the juice comes out. Don't ask me what happens to the stuff in the buckets that are not fruit (like vines and leaves) because I have no idea.
I'm not sure what the next few steps are, but I've been told that in a few weeks (maybe it was months?) we'll have house wine. Yay!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Eating good in the neighborhood
I've eaten more new things here in the last three or so months than probably the last few years put together. Moldovans definitely have some dishes which can only be described as "interesting". This includes a dish that is pretty much cold, gelatinous chicken- "interesting". But, there are other dishes that are super tasty. One such dish is named "Sarmale," and I thought I would share the recipe with you all. If you're feeling cooking-adventurous, I would highly recommend you try this out. I will definitely be making it even after I return to America.
Sarmale
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups boiling water
1 white onion, minced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 cup ground pork
1 1/2 cups broth and/or tomato juice
1 large cabbage
Parsley and dill
Salt and pepper to taste
Vinegar
Lemon salt
Boil water and pour it over the rice and let it soak for 30 minutes. Was cabbage and then boil in water with vinegar and lemon salt to make them pliable; set the cabbage aside. Mix the rice, carrots, onions, herbs, and pork together for the filling. Pull the leaves off the cabbage one by one. Place 2-4 tablespoons of the filling mixture into the center of one leaf, fold into a small, tight form (like a burrito). Place the stuffed and folded cabbage leaves all together in a large, oven-proof pot like a Dutch oven with the seam-side down. Pour broth/tomato juice over the sarmale and cover the sarmale with more flat cabbage leaves. Bake at 350 degrees for one to one and a half hours. Can also be cooked covered on the stove top.
Notes: Some recipes call for a beaten egg to be added to the mix to help hold it together. Other recipes call for minced garlic, currents, or paprika to be added, but this might depend on the region you're in. Also if you're a non-pork eater, ground turkey can be substituted, or left our all together if you're a non-meat eater; it would might work with some sort of meat substitute if you're determined to add in protein. You can also clean and separate the cabbage leaves at the beginning if you wish.
So, there you have it: sarmale. Super tasty. Good for big groups of people or if you want leftovers. It is usually served on holidays, birthdays, and at weddings. But I recommend you break with tradition and whip up a batch if you feel up to it. The results will be worth it.
Sarmale
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups boiling water
1 white onion, minced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 cup ground pork
1 1/2 cups broth and/or tomato juice
1 large cabbage
Parsley and dill
Salt and pepper to taste
Vinegar
Lemon salt
Boil water and pour it over the rice and let it soak for 30 minutes. Was cabbage and then boil in water with vinegar and lemon salt to make them pliable; set the cabbage aside. Mix the rice, carrots, onions, herbs, and pork together for the filling. Pull the leaves off the cabbage one by one. Place 2-4 tablespoons of the filling mixture into the center of one leaf, fold into a small, tight form (like a burrito). Place the stuffed and folded cabbage leaves all together in a large, oven-proof pot like a Dutch oven with the seam-side down. Pour broth/tomato juice over the sarmale and cover the sarmale with more flat cabbage leaves. Bake at 350 degrees for one to one and a half hours. Can also be cooked covered on the stove top.
Notes: Some recipes call for a beaten egg to be added to the mix to help hold it together. Other recipes call for minced garlic, currents, or paprika to be added, but this might depend on the region you're in. Also if you're a non-pork eater, ground turkey can be substituted, or left our all together if you're a non-meat eater; it would might work with some sort of meat substitute if you're determined to add in protein. You can also clean and separate the cabbage leaves at the beginning if you wish.
So, there you have it: sarmale. Super tasty. Good for big groups of people or if you want leftovers. It is usually served on holidays, birthdays, and at weddings. But I recommend you break with tradition and whip up a batch if you feel up to it. The results will be worth it.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
There's a bus?
Today we do not have electricity, I'm not sure why since the magazine down the street and the medical center have it. Probably there is a very reasonable Moldovan explination that I have yet to discover. However, when we do not have electricity we do not have running water in the house because the pump from the well is electric. I wonder when it will come back...
Today I made it down to my medical center again. Getting there is about an hour on foot, but I had to talk to my partner about the seminar in Chisinau in about two weeks and get some stuff taken care of. I decided to walk today because it looked like rain and I have not yet developed the ability to ride my bike while using an umbrella. So when I finally got there my partner looked at me and said "You know there's a bus every hour between Drochia and Șuri that comes right by here and costs 1 leu, right? Why don't you ever take the bus instead of walking?" So when I went home I caught the bus and my travel time was cut to about 25 minutes, which will be even less without mud.
They say you learn something new every day. Yesterday I learned where the sidewalk is on one road, today I learned there's a bus. Good to know.
Today I made it down to my medical center again. Getting there is about an hour on foot, but I had to talk to my partner about the seminar in Chisinau in about two weeks and get some stuff taken care of. I decided to walk today because it looked like rain and I have not yet developed the ability to ride my bike while using an umbrella. So when I finally got there my partner looked at me and said "You know there's a bus every hour between Drochia and Șuri that comes right by here and costs 1 leu, right? Why don't you ever take the bus instead of walking?" So when I went home I caught the bus and my travel time was cut to about 25 minutes, which will be even less without mud.
They say you learn something new every day. Yesterday I learned where the sidewalk is on one road, today I learned there's a bus. Good to know.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
First day of school
The first day of school was today and it was way different than any other first day of school I have ever had. First though, before school even started, my host mom declared that I wasn't dressed-up enough and went through my closet with me to find better clothes. She, being the wonderful Moldovan woman that she is, choose the only blouse I have with me that has sparkles on it as the shirt I should wear. Then she made me give her the clothes I was going to wear that day so she could iron them before she would let me leave the house. Thank you, mama gaza, for looking out for me. I was then also told that there was too much mud from the rain and that my host dad would be driving me and my host brother and sister to school today (they go to the high school, I work at the elementary school).
I got to school at a little before 8am, the time my partner told me to be there. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, except that I had been told we didn't have any classes to teach today. So I went to the director's office hoping to find out where to go. One of the teachers told me to just take a seat in the office and wait. While I waited I studied the schedule and found out that, at that time, I was only slated to have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After a while things kicked off and the director told me to follow her.
Apparently, the first day of school in Moldova includes a school assembly, outside, with all of the students and their parents, the teachers, the mayor, and a police officer. Everyone gave speeches, even me (mine was about who I am, what I did in America, and why I'm in Moldova), and the retired school director presented the geography teachers with three new maps for his classroom. Then the kids recited poems and sang songs and gave all of the teachers flowers.
After this I was asked if I would like to observe a homeroom class. Yes, yes I would. I was taken to the eight grade room and listened to a lecture about the Moldovan national poet who recently passed away. The students recited a bunch of poems, seemingly from memory. I'm not sure if they were given a heads up about the topic today or if they all just knew these poems.
After this I went back to the director's office where the schedule was now posted for all of the teachers to see. This is one thing that has been bugging me for about a week. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to know what's going on well in advance. It's taken a lot of patience for me not to freak-out about the fact that the school didn't have a class schedule until the first day of school. I've also been told to expect it to change throughout the year.
While there I finally got to meet my new partner. I'll be teaching one health class a week with her to third graders. She took me up to meet the class, all of whom stood when I walked in, something way different from schools in America. We then proceeded to teach a health class, on the fly, without any lesson plan. Holy crap! Go-go-gadget Romanian language skills. Did get the kids to have a class discussion about why it is important to learn about health, some basic health knowledge, and what they wanted to learn about this year.
After that I was told I was done for the day and that I should go home and be back at the school at 10am the next morning for class. Walked home, took the long rout to avoid as much mud as I could, didn't succeed, and took a nap. I woke up about an hour later to my partner calling to say that our class schedule had already been changed and we don't have classes tomorrow, be at school on Friday for classes, but she doesn't know when they will be yet.
Okay. Learning to go with the flow.
I got to school at a little before 8am, the time my partner told me to be there. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, except that I had been told we didn't have any classes to teach today. So I went to the director's office hoping to find out where to go. One of the teachers told me to just take a seat in the office and wait. While I waited I studied the schedule and found out that, at that time, I was only slated to have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After a while things kicked off and the director told me to follow her.
Apparently, the first day of school in Moldova includes a school assembly, outside, with all of the students and their parents, the teachers, the mayor, and a police officer. Everyone gave speeches, even me (mine was about who I am, what I did in America, and why I'm in Moldova), and the retired school director presented the geography teachers with three new maps for his classroom. Then the kids recited poems and sang songs and gave all of the teachers flowers.
After this I was asked if I would like to observe a homeroom class. Yes, yes I would. I was taken to the eight grade room and listened to a lecture about the Moldovan national poet who recently passed away. The students recited a bunch of poems, seemingly from memory. I'm not sure if they were given a heads up about the topic today or if they all just knew these poems.
After this I went back to the director's office where the schedule was now posted for all of the teachers to see. This is one thing that has been bugging me for about a week. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to know what's going on well in advance. It's taken a lot of patience for me not to freak-out about the fact that the school didn't have a class schedule until the first day of school. I've also been told to expect it to change throughout the year.
While there I finally got to meet my new partner. I'll be teaching one health class a week with her to third graders. She took me up to meet the class, all of whom stood when I walked in, something way different from schools in America. We then proceeded to teach a health class, on the fly, without any lesson plan. Holy crap! Go-go-gadget Romanian language skills. Did get the kids to have a class discussion about why it is important to learn about health, some basic health knowledge, and what they wanted to learn about this year.
After that I was told I was done for the day and that I should go home and be back at the school at 10am the next morning for class. Walked home, took the long rout to avoid as much mud as I could, didn't succeed, and took a nap. I woke up about an hour later to my partner calling to say that our class schedule had already been changed and we don't have classes tomorrow, be at school on Friday for classes, but she doesn't know when they will be yet.
Okay. Learning to go with the flow.
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