The cold has begun. The Moldovans have a term for sunny days that are cold which basically translates to "sun with teeth," and today was definitely one of those days.
Now, you have to understand that I lived in Wyoming for five years while attending college. It regularly got down to -20 degrees F. People in Wyoming would wear shorts if it got up to +30 in the early spring because that was considered a heat wave. I believed that I could handle the cold once I got here.
What I didn't take into consideration was that, in America, our buildings have heat. The school I teach at is an old soviet style building, meaning large and concrete. It use to have heating at one point because there are gas heaters installed, but the funding is missing. Today it was colder inside the school than outside.
When I packed for Moldova it was the beginning of June and I wasn't really thinking about winter clothes. Sure, I set aside my winter coat that had gotten me through five years at 7200 feet and a pair of Under Armor leggings for my mom to send me later, but that was it. Now I realize that there exists a whole new level of cold that I could never have imagined before. I also realize that somehow I'm going to have to learn how to teach while wearing a giant coat and how to write on the chalkboard while wearing gloves.
This should be interesting.
PS: North Face gives Peace Corps volunteers a discount, I suggest to anyone who can to use it.
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