Moldova Fashion

One of the things that a lot of volunteers worry about when packing is what clothes to bring. We all want to be culturally appropriate in our choices and tend to agonize to much over this. How do you pack for two years? It is a ridiculous task. If any M26s are out there blogger-stalking me, take heed; don't worry about it. Especially if you're placed in an education program. A lot of the women and girls in Moldova dress surprisingly immodest by American standards (yes, ethnocentric, I know). Another volunteer, Emily Getty, wrote a great blog post about the dichotomy between fashion and culture in Moldova. I recommend reading it.

It is not uncommon in Moldova to see a girl wearing an extremely short skirt, sky-high heels, and an ity-bity tank top walk by a church and cross herself. My partner showed up to practice school wearing cocktail dresses. A lot of female volunteers have been told our clothes are "Nu furmos" when we're wearing standard teaching fare for America.

That being said, there are some girls here who dress more conservatively than what is normal for this culture, and I have a special place in my heart for them. That's why when I saw a group of girls at my piata wearing long skirts, t-shirts, and head scarves it made my day. Then I got closer and was able to read one of the shirts (it should be noted here that Europeans sometimes tend to buy shirts just because they are in English, and don't always know what they say). She was wearing a shirt with a bar of soap on it that said "Rub me on your butt!". Oh, honey, so close.

For more on Chisinau street style, see this blog.

Maze

One of the things that volunteers in schools in Moldova are encouraged to do is innovative learning activities. Most of the time in schools here, kids just sit all day while teachers talk at them. So when Maria and I planned to do a lesson on helping others and communication I suggested this activity.

I set up this maze using the school's jungle gym and some ribbon.


Hijinks ensued, tears were shed, pretty sure at least one student got a concussion, and friendships tested. Altogether successful I'd say.




I was super impressed that this girl wanted to go through blindfolded while wearing a skirt.




Victor, one of my favorite students.




Cristin. I'm still trying to explain the concept of ADHD to my partners. This kid is a walking textbook example. It makes him trying to the other teachers, but endures him to me.



For some reason when it is summer in Moldova all of the men take off their shirts. So of course the little boys do it too, following example.


All in all it did turn out pretty well. We talked about verbal communication and why it is important to give clear directions to people. Why it is better to have one person talking rather than a whole group shouting. How it feels to be the person in need of help and no know what is going on. And why it hurts to bonk your head on the jungle gym.

Weekend in the Chis

Last weekend I got to hang out for a few days in Chisinau (affectionately called "The Chis"- pronounced like the egg dish quiche) with some other volunteers. Anita and I stayed at the hostel. The lovely lady is pictured below.


The hostel can be fun, there are always new people to meet. This time there was a man from France who was taking vacation time because he had been to every country in Europe except three and Moldova happened to be one. So all the volunteers who were hanging out there gave him tips on where to go be tourist-y.


The next day we found a festival on the way back to the hostel after some meetings. It was a festival for the European Union. Moldova is not yet in the union, but they're working on it.




Note the pirate balloon, very cool.



And cotton candy for 5 lei! Carolyn and I were super excited; good day.

Spring has come!

It has been almost a month since I last posted and in that time spring has finally arrived! It is sunny enough that I can start hanging my laundry outside to dry again. The animals are back. Goats are posted by the roadside again, cats and dogs laying in the sun, and the grandmothers have boxes of baby chicks on the buses.

We've also had a plethora of holidays. In Moldova there are two Easters. The first is your more traditional Easter, the second is "Easter of the Dead". On this day everyone goes to the cemetery to visit loved ones who have passed, get their food blessed by the priest, and have a picnic. Unfortunately, with my host parents out of the country on vacation, we didn't do much. Maybe next year I'll have pictures and more to report on this. In my village this happened on Monday, so I got a surprise day off from school. I also found out today that there will not be school next Monday either because it is Moldova's version of Memorial Day.



Mai departe (moving on): I've been in a bit of a hippie mood lately, so here's a music video for your enjoyment.