Some Moldovan Culture and German Beer

This past weekend, my BiFFle, Matt Black, and I went to several museums in Chisinau. We met at the Peace Corps office and then headed out to the National Archeology and History Museum, the National Library and the National Museum of Fine Arts. Here are some pics from the National Archeology and History Museum:






The National Library (Check out those card catalogues):




The National Museum of Fine Arts:




Upon reflection I think that the exhibition of Military hats at the first museum we visited, the National Archeology and History Museum, was my favorite. There were hats from a variety of different Eastern European Countries and a whole bunch of hats from Moldova’s USSR days. (Really the only way this exhibit could have been better is if it was a shoe exhibition.) There were even a few military uniforms. I have to admit that it was nice to have Matt at a few of the museums because he was able to explain some of the rocks and bones and stuff that I would normally find completely uninteresting. Additionally, I hope all of you appreciate these pictures because we had to pay an extra 15 lei at each museum in order to take pictures!!! And if for some reason someone from Lonely Planet is reading my blog, you should really add information about that 15 lei photo charge to your guidebook. And here are some of the hats:






On Sunday, We wanted to start at the Puskin Museum, but I accidently directed us to the Open Air Army Museum instead. After a quick walk through of the Army Museum, we decided it made more sense to go the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History next. We followed the Map in the guidebook and ended up taking a lovely walk on some out of the way streets on the way to the Ethnographic Museum. The Ethnography Museum had some awesome stuff like dinosaurs and a giant relief map of Moldova. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died half way though that museum, but some of the pics I did take are below.




After a yummy lunch at Andy’s Pizza (possibly the most American restaurant in Moldova), we finally made it to the Puskin Museum. The Puskin Museum is located at the cottage where Puskin spent several months in exile from Russia. We had a tour of the cottage in Romanian. I think I only understood about 30% of what was said, but the museum was interesting nonetheless.

Overall, the weekend was tiring and I have the blisters on my feet as proof of the insane amount of walking that we did. The museums were interesting and I had the most delicious German beer on Saturday night, which really made the whole trip worthwhile!

Overnighter

Last week I spent two days with my friend Melissa, another PCV. The way this visit came about seems to be representative of my general work in Moldova: Hectic. Last Monday, my partner, Angela, told me that on Wednesday we would be going to a dried fruit business and then on Thursday we would be going the see Doamna Ecaterina in “a neighboring village.” We had worked with Doamna Ecaterina before on some seminars for women in rural areas, so I assumed that we were going to discuss something related to either her organization or our organization. As you will see, this turns out to be a completely incorrect assumption.

On Tuesday, I inquired about what time we were going to the dried fruit business and “the neighboring village.” Angela was not sure what time, but informed me that we would be spending Thursday night in “the neighboring village” and returning on Friday. Melissa comes to my town every Tuesday morning to meet for tea and a little chit chat. When I met her that Tuesday, she asked me about the class I was teaching at her school. Apparently, Doamna Ecaterina is also a teacher and I was teaching her Civics classes on Thursday. I informed Melissa that my partners and I were spending the night Thursday, but I had no idea where. Melissa kindly offered that I could stay at her house if needed.

When I arrive back at the office from my meeting with Melissa, I asked about teaching the class. Angela then told me that I was supposed to prepare a presentation about writing a project proposal. I then asked a series of questions about said presentation, to which a received a series of unhelpful answers. For example: Question: how long should the presentation be? Response: between 10 and 45 minutes.

I spent the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday preparing for my presentation. On Wednesday morning I was informed that we were no longer going to see the dried fruit business that afternoon. When I inquire as to what time I needed to be ready and where we were meeting the following morning to go to “the neighboring village,” Angela told me to be at the office at my normal time. I consider my normal time to be anywhere between 8:00am and 1:00pm, so this is not the most helpful information. I clarify by saying tomorrow at 8:00 and Angela says 8:00 or 8:30. Later Thursday night Melissa called to tell me that her host mom told her that I would be staying with them on Thursday night. I am still not sure who arranged that.

Friday morning at roughly 7:15, Angela called to tell me I will be going to “the neighboring village” alone and to get on the rutiera that stops on the street next to the post office at 8:00. The post office is roughly 30 minutes away and I had to go to the bank on the way, so I left my house immediately. To spite the fact that Angela’s directions were not all that clear, I ultimately made it the school in “the neighboring village.”

I then taught four classes in Romanian. I am pretty sure that the kids understood very little of what I said. Also the interactive lesson that I planned somewhat backfired. I asked questions to the students but then was unable to understand many of the answers that the students gave. I did feel that each class I taught went better than the last, so I view that as a positive thing.

I also had the opportunity the watch one of Melissa’s health classes and attend her health club. In the health club we did a team building activity: the human knot. This was actually the most interesting thing I have participated in Moldova. It was interesting to watch the Moldovan kids, who had never played human knot before. I feel like all American kids have done the human knot at least 100 times and they have it down pat, but this was not the case with the Moldovan kids. It took some extra explaining in the beginning and throughout the activity, but it was so cool the watch them work together and figure it out.

After the club was over, I was a little confused about what I was supposed to be doing the following day. Doamna Ecaterina asked me what I had planned for the following day, I said that I had nothing planned yet. I had sort of assumed that she had something that she wanted me to do and that was why I was staying the night. Again not the case, she had no plans for me. I could have returned home that afternoon.

After the school day was over, I spent a fun, but as it turns of completely unnecessary evening, with Melissa and her host mom. Melissa’s host mom went to town to by a microwave that day, and was really excited about it when she arrived home. We spent some time setting up the microwave, heating water for tea and then we watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

The following morning, I watched another on of Melissa’s health classes and then headed back to Hincesti. Overall, teaching the classes was a good experience; however, the rest of the experience was a bit hectic.

Peace Corps does not permit me to say the name of the small village in which Melissa lives. That is why I have referred to it at “the neighboring village.”

How I Ruined my Host-Sister’s Birthday BBQ and Almost Blew Up My Host-Family’s Kitchen...

I did not feel at all well on Sunday. I started out with a cold on Saturday and what ever I had progressed to my stomach on Sunday. I rested most of the day on Sunday because I wanted to feel better for the BBQ we were having on Sunday afternoon to celebrate my host-sister’s birthday.

At around three o’clock my host sister said that we were leaving for the padure (or forest) where we would be having the BBQ. By that time I was feeling almost back to normal, so I headed out with them. We packed up the car and were off. When we got to the forest, my host dad, host sister and I gathered some branches and my host dad started a small fire to cook the meat with. While he was starting the fire my host mom, host sister and I picked some berries that would be dried and later used for tea. After we gathered enough berries, we headed back to the fire and hung out while my host dad was preparing to cook the meat.

It was at this time things started to go down hill for me. My stomachache came back with a vengeance. When my host dad started cooking the meat, the smell made me nauseous. Finally, the meat was done and I had to deal with my host dad trying to force me to eat it. Not fun. I tried to hide my discomfort, but I eventually had to go sit in the car away from the food smells. Not too long after that my family packed up and we left. I am not sure if they were ready to leave, or if I just looked so pathetic that they felt obligated to leave, but we did leave.

When we arrived back home, I went straight to bed. About and hour after I went to bed, my host mom woke me up and told be to make some tea for myself. Although, I didn’t really think this would assist in improving my ailment, I thought that some extra liquids couldn’t hurt. I headed down stairs and filled the teapot up with water. Next I went to turn on the stove. We have a gas stove and the gas has to be turned on in two places. First the valve on the pipe has to be opened, then you have to turn on the burner and light it. I went to open the valve, but seeing as it was already open, I closed it instead. Realizing my mistake, I then opened it again and lit the burner. I just figured someone had accidently forgot to close the valve.

This turns out not to be the case. My mom was cooking something in the oven. I turned off the valve extinguishing the flame and then turned the valve back on allowing the oven to fill up with gas. Luckily, my host mom came down to check on what she was cooking a few minutes later, before I successfully blew up the kitchen. Let this be a lesson to all of you, leave me alone when I am sick or I might inadvertently blow up your kitchen.

I think this is the exact reason that Peace Corps gives our host-families a fire extinguisher...

Attention: This Blog Post is Not Related to Moldova

Go Gaints!!! World Champions!!!

The Peace Corps 5K Fun Run

Yesterday, myself, roughly 8 other PC volunteers and one Moldovan met at the park and participated in a 5K Fun Run. I came in LAST place!!!

To my credit, the invite said people could run or walk the race. I figured that there would be a few walkers, some run/walkers (like I planned) and some runners. Unfortunately (for me), only the hard-core running crowd showed up.

I felt that having gone for two runs, three weeks prior to the race, I was in prime running condition. I tried wearing some running tights and doing so serious stretching prior to the race in order to intimidate the other competitors into dropping out. My plan failed and I, Katie McNabb, came in LAST!

I have chosen two separate but equally effective methods of dealing with this crushing defeat. The first is to perpetuate the idea: “If you’re not first, you’re last!” (Thank you Ricky Bobby) This means that technically there were eight others who finished in the same position as me: LAST! The second coping method I have implemented is to tell myself that technically I beat all of the PCVs who did not participate. This means that I finished about 10th place out of 100 or so volunteers. Not too shabby!

Even though I came in LAST, I had a great time and I plan on participating again next year!

Boot Update:
After the run, I bought the $140 boots that I had been considering buying for a while now. I bought them, not because I was completely certain that they were the boots I wanted, but because I couldn’t handle any more of my host dad’s badgering about buying boots. Apparently, he does not consider the shoes that I have been wearing to be weather appropriate. Everyday he asks me what shoes I will be wearing that day and then proceeds to tell me that they are not warm enough and I need to buy boots. I finally gave in and bought a pair, just in time for it to warn up for a few weeks (according to the weather report.)

Travel Update:
I have booked my winter vacation! This December I will be going to Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), and Vilnius (Lithuania), or as I like to refer to it “The Baltic Extravaganza.”

Happy Halloween…

Sloe Gin: Made from the Worst Stuff on Earth!

Last Sunday after lunch, my family and I went to pick “porumbele.” When my family told me what we were going to do, I thought that we were going to do something involving corn, because the word for corn is “porumb.” Not the case! We drove to the forest and spent about an hour picking Sloe berries.

I have never encountered a Sloe berry before coming to Moldova (except in the form of Sloe Gin, but I don’t think that counts). I am not a fan! My first encounter was at Ross’s (another ARBD) house in Milestii Mici. My friend Nkosi and I saw a bowl full of Sloe berries in his kitchen. They looked like delicious blueberries and were just sitting there so innocently on the counter. We each tried one. Big mistake!! Their skin is dusty and tastes like chalk and their insides are bitter. Basically, they are like eating bitter chalk, but more disgusting because you expect them to taste like a delicious blueberry. Both of us were actually forced to spit them out. They tasted so bad then we began to wonder if they had been poisonous. We are both still alive, so apparently they are safe to eat.

So last Sunday when my host mom asked my to try another one, I was quite hesitant. I did, however, try a second Sloe berry. It will be my last!

Aside from how gross I find Sloe berries, I did have fun going berry picking. And Sloe berries do have two redeeming qualities: Vodka (which can be made from Sloe berries) and Sloe Gin.

Cheers!

Hramul Leovei

I recently went to visit my friend Matt to celebrate his town’s Hram. Hram is the day that is dedicated to honor or celebrate the town’s patron Saint. Leova's Hram was celebrated in the 27th of October. I think that it is also considered a celebration of the town’s birthday, but don’t quote me on that.

I arrived in Leova around 9:30 and it was cold, probably the coldest day I have had in Moldova up to this point. Matt though that the festivities started at 10:00, but it turns out that they didn’t start until 12:00, so we took the extra time to tour Leova. We went to the piata, the church and Matt’s office. The church is Leova is a lovely aqua color and I felt this color scheme is worth posting a picture of.



At 12:00 we went to the opening of the new stadium. The new stadium is a half sized soccer field surrounded by a huge fence. Even though the field is small, I was impressed that the field had artificial turf. It is the first artificial turf field that I have seen in Moldova. Apparently, this was the grand opening of the field because there was a ribbon cutting ceremony. Also, the Primar (Mayor) and the Raion Council President both gave remarks.





After all the ceremony concluded, there was a kids soccer game. We watched for a while and it appeared that “the green team” led by the “fat kid” was dominating. The highlight of the game was a kid getting hit in the face with the ball. This may sound mean, but it really wasn’t that bad and the kid (after some coercion from his mother) used it as an excuse to go home. I really wish that I knew how to say, “walk it off” in Romanian.

After the game we headed to lunch. We had some more of the popular Moldovan dish, pizza with mayonnaise. Although this sounds gross, after trying in numerous times it turns out that I don’t mind pizza with mayonnaise.

Later in the day we went to a concert at the Casa de Cultura. It was pretty awesome. I enjoyed when the singer sang “Feliculi Felicula!” and I have posted a video below so you too can enjoy it.



The most interesting part of the day was when I tried to head back to Hincesti. Although, I arrived early for the scheduled bus, it never seemed to come. Matt and I waited at the gara for an hour before I decided to hitchhike. Yes, that is right, I hitchhiked. Although this is something, I would never even dream of doing in the US, it is more than common in Moldova.

A lovely man (in a newish Mercedes) picked me up in Leova as he was dropping another passenger off. He was a taxi driver by profession and on his way to Chisinau from Cahul to go to a sauna. We had a lovely conversation and then he dropped me off at the corner by my house. I gave him a few lei for his trouble. I am not sure what the going rate to hitchhike in Moldova is, but I thought 30 lei should cover it.

Did I mention that every one in the town gets the day off for Hram? Unfortunately, my town’s Hram will be on a Sunday, November 21st; therefore, we already have it off. Boo!!! Everyone tells me that our will be “cel mai frumos” even though we don’t get an extra day off.

Until then….

Mold Expo

Before you ask, the answer is “no, Mold Expo is not a exposition of spores.” It is actually Moldova’s Exposition Center and a wide variety of expositions are held there throughout the year. This past week, I attended the “Farmer 2010” exposition with my partner Angela.

I wish I could say that this was super exciting, but the truth is that Farmer 2010 was very American. This probably means that the exposition is very exciting for Moldovans, but as an American it didn’t really live up to the hype. I don’t mean to take anything away from it, because it was a great expo, but I think my family and partners talked it up a bit much.

I went early with my partner Angela to help set up the Hincesti booth for the expo; however, there were so many people there that I really felt more like I was in the way. I fact she even asked my to go look around the other booths at one point, but I think she really just wanted me to get out of the way.

There were people at our booth selling honey, shoes, bags, pickled vegetables, treelings, and food; so, you can imagine how crowded it was. To illustrate the large social network that is the Moldovan community, I will tell you that the man selling trees in on the board of directors of the organization that I work with, the woman selling bags and shoes is friends with my mom and I had previously met her at the sauna (however, I didn’t recognize her with her clothes on), and the woman selling pickled vegetables was my host- sister’s God mother.

There was a lot of variety among the exhibitors. Many were selling farm equipment, such as tractors, automatic animal feeders, kit barns, etc. Others were selling products for animals, such as veterinary pharmaceuticals. And still others were organizations and locals selling their own products, such as honey, cheese, seeds, trees, bread, fruits and vegetables.











Vlad Filat, the Prime Minister of Moldova, said a few words at the opening ceremonies and then walked around to all the booths followed by an entourage of news media. With all of those people, I really just tried to stay out of the way when he came by our booth and I think I did so successfully.

At about noon, Angela left and I headed out for some winter boot shopping. I have been looking for winter boots for about two weeks now and have been quite unsuccessful. This is mainly due to the price. Boots cost the same amount here that they do in the US. When I finally found a pair that I like, they cost 1500 lei or about $140. Now, I have been known to spend a pretty penny on shoes, but not on a measly Peace Corps stipend. There are cheaper boots that can be bought at the piata, but I have been warned against buying those boots by several people, all of whom claim that they won’t last more than a few months and I will be buying new boots again before winter is over.

I discussed boot prices with my host mom and she told me that her boots that only come up to her ankle cost 1100 lei. She felt that 1500 lei is a fair price for taller boots and that if I found good ones then I should buy them. However, my tutor says that 1500 is expensive for boots. So, you see my dilemma. I think that I will probably end up buying the 1500 lei boots because they were one of only two pair that fit well. We’ll see, I’ll keep everyone updated on the boot situation.



Anyway, back to Mold Expo. There is a Mold Energy Expo in March. If any of you CPUCers think you can convince the State of California to send you, then you are more than welcome to stay with me.

Until next time…

Jewish Karma

Last Sunday, I went to help clean up the Jewish Cemetery in Leova. Leova is the next raion over from Hincesti and home to the fabulous PCVs Suzette and Matt. In spite of a few hiccups and a ton of rain, they did a great job organizing a worthwhile event.

I dressed for the rainy weather and left my house at 8:00am and headed to the gara (bus station) in Hincesti to catch a rutiera to Leova. Leova is about an hour drive on a good day and an hour and a half on a bad day. In addition to the varying travel times, the rutiera schedule seems to vary as well. Although there is a rutiera schedule it seems to only be loosely adhered to. My experience has been a rutiera can arrive roughly a half-hour in each direction of the time it is scheduled to be at the station. In order to account for all of these travel variables I left my house at 8:00 in order to arrive in Leova for the 10:00am start time.

The first mistake I made that morning was attempting to arrive on time. Everyone knows that nothing in Moldova starts on time. It is just a general rule here. After realizing this I have started arriving at work at 10:00 every morning instead of 8:00, and sometimes I still beat my partners in. My travel that morning went extremely well by Moldovan standards and I arrived in Leova at 9:15, forty-five minutes early!!!

I then began a series of waits. First I waited for the organizers, Matt, Suzette and Ohad, to meet me at the gara in Leova. They arrived at about 9:45 and then we were slowly joined by a few students, who are in Matt’s debate club. Together we then waited until about 11:00 for the bus from the Jewish center in Chisinau to arrive. When it did we all finally headed to the cemetery to get to work. Once at the cemetery, we discovered that the tools and workers that the Primaria (Mayor’s Office) was going to supply were not there, so we pulled weeds and picked up garbage with our bare hands until lunch.

At the cemetery, we also had what I referred to as the “safety meeting” before we got started. It probably would have been more accurately named the “soul safety meeting.” At this meeting we were all informed that only someone Jewish is allowed to pick up a fallen headstone and/or grave marker. I don’t know what the consequences of a Gentile picking up a headstone are, but I am sure they are “grave.” (Sorry!!!)

For lunch we were supplied with cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches. Luckily, the lovely Emily Getty kindly allowed me to share her PB&J. After lunch the tools arrived and it stopped raining, we really got to work. Matt let be borrow his work gloves, which turned my hands yellow. This led to my spending the afternoon saying I was jaundice and my liver was failing. I am not sure that everyone else appreciated this, but I thought it was hilarious. (As is the case with most of my jokes.)

I think that overall we did a great job. While there is still a lot of clean up left to do at that particular cemetery, but we made some progress and will continue come next spring.

Now many of you may be wondering why I would be interested in cleaning up a Jewish Cemetery, seeing as I am not Jewish. The reason is simple: Jewish Karma. (Yes, this is in fact something that I made up.) I have booked a trip to Israel in February with a group of other PCVs. I figure that in should start racking up the Jewish Karma to ensure that I have an awesome trip.

Here’s to the Chosen People…

PST Phase II

It has been a few weeks since my last post, but there is good reason for that. I spent the pat two weeks is Milestii Mici for phase II of my Pre-Service Training. It was really nice to be with all the other ARBD PCVs again. (That is Agriculture and Rural Business Development Peace Corps Volunteers for those of you that don’t know all the Peace Corps acronyms.)

We spent Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th at a Partners Conference in Chisinau. All the ARBD PCVs and their partners listened to two days of presentations before heading back to Milestii Mici. In Milestii Mici, we had 4-5 hours of Language training a day and another few hours of technical training. I won’t bore you with the details.

While I was in Milestii Mici, I fell down my family’s stairs and got a really gross bruise on my butt. I considered posting a picture of it, but decided against it. Your Loss!

After PST Phase II was over, I stayed the weekend in Chisinau in order to attend a PC Fun Run and the Moldova National Wine Festival. Due to Rain, the Fun Run was cancelled, but most of us still managed to make it to the Wine Fest. I was able to try a few types of wine that I had never seen is the US. The first was a Feteasca Alba which was a delicious white wine made from Feteasca Alba grapes (Surprise!) that are grown mainly in Moldova and Transylvania (And yes, I do believe it was Dracula's preferred wine, second to blood of course!). The second was a desert wine called a Kagor. I bought a bottle of the Kagor to take home and share with my host family in Hincesti. I think they really liked it.

I am attempting to plan a short trip in December. I am not sure where. It will probably be somewhere close to Moldova and cheap. Please email me if you have any good ideas, or would like to join me!

That’s all I have for now, sorry to be so boring.

Soroca Trip

Last Sunday, my host parents and I went on an excursion with a tour group. The group consisted of people that worked in my moms office and their friends and relatives. Apparently they go on tours twice a year or so. My host-sister told me that last year they traveled to the ocean twice. This trip, we went to Soroca. There we visited Cetatea Soroca, Monastery Soroca and Luminarea Recunostintei.

We left the house around 7:00 and shared a taxi with our neighbors to the center of town where we met up with my mom's co-workers. From there we took a rutiera to Chisinau. We arrived at the tour bus at around 8:30 and before long we headed off to Soroca. Our first stop was Cetatea Soroca.

Cetatea Soroca was built a really long time ago. And that is all I know about it because I couldn't understand what the tour guide was saying. At the Cetatea, they had some placenta, wine and champagne for us to eat and drink. After having a bite to eat, I explored the fortress and took some pictures.






After we left the fortress, we headed to the monastery. This monastery was not as nice or as interesting as the two monasteries that I went to before. It was smaller and the did not have beautiful gardens like Hincu and Capriana; however, the area surrounding it was much more naturally picturesque.





When we got back on the bus the tour guide was giving every one water, or so I thought. Turns out she was only giving this special water from the monastery to single women. Apparently, if you drink the water you will get married (Yes, I drank the water. I figure it's about the only shot i've got. Lol)

The last place we went to for the day was Luminarea Recunostintei, or that one church-like place with a bazillion stairs. Literally, the stairs continued forever, but once I actually made it to the top the views were beautiful! Here are some pics:







After all the sightseeing, everyone unpacked the food they had bought and we stopped on the way home for a masa. My we had all sorts of food, house wine, champagne, cognac, and visinata. I have to say that cognac is growing on me. When I first tried it, I though it was the nastiest thing ever, bit now I think it's kind of good. After all of that food and alcohol, I didn't have any trouble sleeping in the way back.

The tour bus dropped us off at the Gara de Sud. Where we would normally catch the rutiera back to Hincesti. Unfortunately, we were too late and had missed the last rutiera. We asked another driver if we could pay him to detour through Hincesti. But before we left someone found a rutiera that was going to Leova through Hincesti and we took it.

We finally got home a little before 10:00 and I was exhausted. It was a long day, but now I think I have seen more important places in Moldova than I ever did in America.

A Naked Blog Post

Last Thursday, I had the my most interesting experience thus far in Moldova.

On Tuesday during dinner, my host mom invited me to go to the sauna with her and her lady friends in celebration of her birthday. I had to have her both repeat the word sauna and explain the word sauna, just to make sure that I had understood correctly. I said that I would go and then I began to investigate what would be involved in the sauna trip and level of nakedness this event would entail.

I originally imagined a bunch of ladies sitting around in towels and maybe a few would choose to bear it all. Turns out that I had no clue what was actually going to happen.

On Wednesday, we started preparing food for our trip to the sauna. My host-mom prepared sarmale and a roasted chicken. We also bought meat, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers to make appetizer trays. In addition, we took grapes and pears to snack on as well as beer, wine and cognac to drink (Yup, we took alcohol to drink in the sauna).

Finally on Thursday, I left work early because we had to leave for the sauna in Chisinau at 3:00. On the way we bought some bread and we arrived at the sauna about 4:15. We took all the food to the sauna's kitchen and started putting it out on plates (Yes, the sauna provides plates). At 5:00, I actually got a peak into the “sauna.” There was a large room with a table for dinner, a room with some arm chairs and a pool table, a room with a bed (“wink wink”) and the bath area. The bath are consisted of a sauna, showers and a pool.

We had all our food an the table along with some contributions from the other ladies by 5:30. Also by 5:30, all of the other ladies had undressed and were wrapped in towels. We all ate dinner and the ladies went around giving toasting my host-mom. After each toast they sang a song or two. They had even changed the words to some of the songs so they would be about my host-mom. I gave my toast and then, upon request, I sang “Happy Birthday.”

After the dinner, the ladies told me to change so we could go in the sauna. I did so, wrapped myself in a towel and then came upon a dilemma: should I take off my panties? Then I saw one of the other ladies walking around completely nude and decided: Yes, I should take off my panties.

Then I went into the bath area where the rest of the ladies were all completely nude as well. For the next few hours everyone went from the sauna to the pool to the shower and back to the sauna. My host mom brought exfoliant and a home-made body mask for every one to use. By the time we finished, my skin was smooth and moisturized!!!

So yes, in short I spent several hours hanging out, singing and eating while naked with other naked ladies.

Just Call Me Daisy

The other day, I came home to find my family making moonshine. As exciting as this sounds, it may actually be one of the most unexciting things that has happened to me in Moldova.

My host-dad had set up a contraption, which I believe to be some type of still. When I came home he asked me if I wanted to try his “viskey.” At this point, my host-sister corrected him and said “vodka.” To tell the truth, when I actually tasted it, the flavor was not really reminiscent of either. Here are a few pics of the process:







I always imagined that making moonshine, would some how be like Dukes of Hazard. Turns out it is not. No General Lee, no Daisy, and no hot boys. (However, my host sister does sometimes wear a shirt with a confederate flag that says "Rebel.") It basically distills itself, so there is not much to do besides watch it drip into a jar. The most exciting thing was wondering if I would go blind or not after I tried it. Turns out I can still see (which in a way is kind of disappointing because if I had gone blind it would have made a great story).

My host-dad asked me if I had ever made “viskey” before. When I told him that it was difficult to legally make “viskey” at home in the US, he thought it was hilarious. My host dad is quite the patriot, but I could tell at that particular point in time he thought that it was even more awesome to be Moldovan than he had thought previously.

Imelda in Chisinau

I spent last Saturday night in Chisinau. I went to celebrate the birthdays of some of my fellow volunteers. To tell the truth, most of the trip was pretty uneventful for me. I had a few drinks, some cake, some McDonald's and that about sums up my part in the birthday celebration activities.

Before I headed back to Chisinau on Sunday Morning, I went to the Piata Centrala to do some shopping. I bought some bed sheets, sunglasses and (drum roll please)...

my first pair of Moldovan shoes (pictured below).



Shoe shopping in Moldova proved to be slightly more difficult than I had anticipated. The are so many women here who walk around in the most awesome heels. I thought finding a cute pair would be a cinch. Apparently, I am more picky when it comes to buying shoes for myself than when judging those shoes worn by others (this is even more surprising when you consider that “judging” is pretty much my favorite past time).

The piata is set up similar to a flea market. Every vendor has their own space and they sell every thing from basketballs to live chickens. There is a decent selection of vendors who sell shoes. As I walked from vendor to vendor inspecting to shoes, a pattern emerged: Rhinestones. Literally every pair of heels had some type of rhinestone embellishment. It was like all the shoes were from a misdirected shipment that had originally been destined for a show in Vegas. I love sparkles, but when it comes to them I take an all or nothing approach. I either want the shoes to be completely cover in, oh say, pink glitter or completely without sparkles. Nether of these seemed to be a viable option.

When I finally found a cute pair without sparkles, they did not come in a size large enough to fit my fat American feet. I wear an 8.5 (which is a 39 or 40 here), not exactly huge. So I went back to find a pair that I had seen earlier, which had only minimal sparkles and came in “Size Sasquatch” (the shoes pictured above).

People mainly speak Russian in Chisinau. I am not entirely sure why this is. I asked my sisters and one said that it is a political statement and the other said it was because they think it is cool. This Russian speaking is not a problem for Moldovans because most of them speak both Russian and Romanian; however for some one who barely speaks Romanian, this is not convenient in the least. In the past, I have tried to ask questions in stores in Chisinau, only to be responded to multiple times in Russian (yes, even after saying than I don't speak Russian). In spite of all of this, the communication through the shoe trying on process went pretty smoothly. The man who helped me try on the shoes talked with me a little in Romanian. His counterpart came and started talking to me in Russian, but when he realized that I didn't understand he immediately started speaking Romanian with me. Both of them thought that I was British, and I just let them think that. It must have been the Red hair.

To complete the whole shoe buying experience, I wore my new shoes the next day. My host mom complemented me on them and then immediately asked how much they cost. I am still always taken aback when someone asks me how much something costs, even though this is a completely acceptable and common practice here. The cost of my shoes was 300 lei. When I told my host mom, I was afraid she would think that I paid too much. Not the case, she simply said “Nu e scump (that's not expensive)” and we continued to work.

An Ambulance for Cars

I think that I mentioned in a previous blog posts that my host parents have the most awesome car ever. It is a four-door, blue Lada (pictured below):



It may not look like much, but it seems like a tough little car. And why shouldn't it be tough, it was made by the Russians.

I usually walk to work. It is only a thirty to forty minute walk. But sometimes it is raining or I just don't feel like walking, so I hitch a ride to work with the host parents. Every morning a man, Domnul Ion, comes overs, warms up the car and backs to car out of the driveway to the dirt street in front of our house. Then we all hop in. My host dad always sits in the front seat and my host mom and I (and sometimes a neighbor) sit in the back.

Before we can leave the first challenge arises, closing the door. You really have to slam the doors to get them to stay closed. I can now close the door with one slam, but when I first arrived it would take me about three tries. My host dad would yell that it was a Russian car and I wasn't gonna break it. Then I would slam it harder and harder until it would finally close.

The next challenge in the foggy windows. Domnul Ion drives us and wipes the windows with a towel at the same time. I gather from this that the car has no defroster, but the wiping seems to do the job. But, the real challenge comes when we try to turn onto the main road. Domnul Ion wipe the windows vigorously so he can see the traffic, then he watches for an opening and tries to prevent the car from stalling at the same time.

And finally, every once in a while his job even includes jumping the clutch on the way down the hill to get the car started, but this is a rare occurrence. When this does occur, my host dad pushes while Domnul Ion steers the car out of the drive way onto the street. At this point, we all get in and my host dad gives us a final push to get us started down the hill and then he jumps in. I wish that I could say this was a new and unique experience for me, but unfortunately I have bump started many a car and sport bike in my life.

One day on the way home from work, we decided stop by my host-sister's house. We were about a block away when oue car stopped right in the middle of an intersection. I thought it was the end of the most awesome car I have ever known, but alas we had just run out of gas. Now, I didn't really know what we were going to do. The gas station is a little way out of town. I estimate it to be about an hours walk, two hours there and back. I prepared myself for the worst. But in less than 5 minutes, this arrived:



I think that is basically looks like an ambulance and that is just what it is, an ambulance for cars. The drive brought us a 1.5 liter water bottle full of gas, and we were off. If only AAA could be so efficient!!

Now for the real question, why does Domnul Ion drive us everywhere? The answer is that I have no idea!! I don't think that my host mom knows how to drive, but I know for sure that my host dad does. When I find out, I will be sure to blog about it!! Until then....

Here's to my driver, Domnul Ion!!!

Hincesti Video

Because I have failed to post any pictures of my site, here is a quick YouTube video about the town that I live in, Hincesti. Enjoy!



Stay tuned, I am going to post more about my family's awesome car soon!

The Gift of Dance

My friend and previous colleague, Amy Baker, has in the past responded to emails with the acronym “TLTR,” which stands for “Too Long To Read.” And, if she were to give her input about the following blog post, I am almost certain that she would respond with “TLTR.” But, too bad I am going to post it anyway.

Last Thursday, my partner Angela invited me to her brother's wedding. I was really excited about the prospect of going to a Moldovan wedding (or a “nuntă” as it is called in Romanian). In Pre-Service Training, we learned about Moldovan wedding traditions and they sounded fun and interesting. The only problem was that the wedding was the following evening, Friday evening. Although, I had been verbally informed about the wedding the week before, I only received the official invitation the day before the wedding. That is what I call short notice.

Below in a picture of the wedding invitation. You will notice the continued difficulty with my name. To their credit, my name on the invitation is spelled exactly how Moldovans pronounce Katie: “Catty.”





Thursday night, I went home and asked everyone in my host family about weddings. I learned that I didn't need to bring a gift, because Moldovans give money at weddings. So, I inquired as to how much money I should give. My host mom said that it would be appropriate for me to give $50. $50!!! I am on a PC living stipend here!!! But, I sucked it up and decided the experience of going to a Moldovan wedding was worth $50.

The next day I went to work, but we only worked half a day because we all needed to go home and rest for the wedding. On my way home I accompanied Angela to the florist, where she carefully selected and purchased a lovely bouquet of flowers. I asked if I should bring flowers too. Angela gave me a round about answer about how she was a member of the family, so she was obligated to give more at the wedding and that it wasn't necessary that I bring flowers.

I then headed the rest of the way home, caught up on a few episodes of Top Gear and prepared for the wedding. To begin my wedding preparations, I shined my shoes. Having clean and shiny shoes is very important in Moldova. Almost everyone cleans, if not polishes their shoes pretty much everyday. I am not sure how they do it, but they also manage to walk on dirt and gravel roads with out getting their shoes dusty, scuffed or muddy.

After my shoes were reminiscent of the top of the Chrysler Building, I showered, flat ironed my hair, “put on my face” and made sure to put the battery for my digital camera on the charger. Then, I headed outside to get approval of my wedding outfit from my family. My host dad commented that I was wearing black to a wedding, but my host mom and host sister, both thought it was fine; however, they did tell me to put on nylons.

I then gathered together my “gift (aka $50),” my phone and my camera and called my partner Valentina to see when she would be by to pick me up. She said she would arrive at 8:30. Again with the Moldovan time!!! The wedding was supposed to start at 8:00. At 9:00, she finally arrived at my house in a taxi. When I got inside, she had purchased flowers for me to give to the bride. I can't help but think that it may have been communicated to her that I had not purchased to requisite flowers earlier in the day and instead of someone just telling me that I should buy flowers, they went out of there way to bring them for me.

No one attends the actual Moldovan wedding outside of the couple's parents, the maid of honor, best man, and the “nanaş” and “nanaşa” (which are to couples God parents). Guests only attend the reception, which is held at a restaurant. We arrived at the restaurant (the same restaurant that my host-sister's wedding was at) and were some of the first people there to spite being an hour late.

When guests first came into the restaurant, they gave the couple flowers and a small monetary gift (20-100 lei, which is roughly $2-$10). It was similar to a receiving line at an American wedding. I gave the bride my flowers and wished the couple “mulți ani şi mulți bani,” which means “many years and much money.” (It was at this point, when I tried to take a picture of the receiving line, that I realized that I never put the battery back in my digital camera, so I have no pictures to post. Sorry!) I sat down with Valentina and in about half an hour the rest of the wedding party and guests showed up. Angela and I then did some Moldovan dances. The only one that I know the name of in the “Hora,” but we also did several others. As soon as I sat down to take a break from the dancing, my favorite Moldovan child, Angela's daughter Sophie, came and wanted me to dance some more, so I did.

Then we all sat down at the tables and the happy couple and their “nanaşi” made there way through a tunnel of people holding flowers to the front table. After they sat down everyone chanted for them to kiss and then we started eating the cold meal. The man across from me poured my a glass of cognac, which I used to toast all the people who came around the tables and wanted to clink glasses. These people included the bride's father and any other drunk man (or woman) who felt like toasting everyone. (This was a strange turn of events, because I am usually the drunk that wants to toast everyone!)

After the cold food, we danced more of the Hora and other traditional dances. There was one dance that is like musical chairs but with women. In this dance there is one too few girls. When the music stops every one changes parters and the odd man out has to dance with a broom!!! I would also like to bring everyone's attention to the fact that a certain dance that in the US we call the Bunny Hop, is actually the National Dance of Romania!!

After the dancing, we sat down for the hot food. It was roughly 1:00 am by this time. During this meal, I witnessed several Moldovan wedding traditions. First, the couple broke a loaf of bread and each ate a small piece. Then the bread was passed around and all of the guests ate a small piece. Next, the bride's and groom's family brought them loafs of bread with blankets folded on top of them. After that the gift giving started.

The nanaş was the first to give his gift. He stood up, gave a short speech and then put $1200 Euros in the basket!!! Then the singer/MC of the wedding, the best man, made of honor and the nanaş all went around the tables collecting the “gifts.” Everyone stood up and said something to the couple and then put their money in the basket. And they all said how much money they were giving!!! The average amount given was $100-$200 per couple (not lei, dollars)!!!! When they came to me I said, “ Doar vorbesc puțin româneste. Voi vorbi limbă engleza,” which means, “ I only speak a little Romanian. I will speak English.” Then I wished the couple well in English and I may have forgotten to say how much I gave.

I thought that it would be a unique touch for me to give US dollars instead of lei. It is extremely easy to exchange money here. You can literally exchange dollars for Moldovan Lei, Romanian Lei, Euros or Russian Rubles on almost every street corner, so it wouldn't be difficult for the couple to exchange them if they needed to. Turns out this was not unique at all. About 20 other people gave their gifts in dollars, the majority of people gave euros and only a few people actually gave lei. Great idea Katie!!!

Along with putting their money in the basket, people also tipped the singer. When someone gave the singer a tip they then got to request a song. About five people requested songs. But, my favorite part of the evening came when a drunk man put his money in the basket, but then announced that as part of his gift he would also perform a dance for the couple. He, unfortunately, was no dancer. Everyone, including me, enjoyed the dance anyway. I couldn't help but wonder if this was some crazy Moldovan tradition and I started to feel bad for thinking it was so funny. Later, I questioned my host sister about this, turns out it is not a tradition, just some drunk guy who thought he was a good dancer. Guilt alleviated! Then, I thought it was hilarious that in America we talk about “the gift of dance” and here in Moldova, people are literally giving dance as a gift!!!

After everyone put their money in the basket, the bride and groom walked around and thanked everyone. They thanked me in English!!! After that Angela's brother-in-law gave Valentina and I a ride to our respective homes. I arrived home about 3:30 in the morning and I was one of the first people to leave the wedding. Apparently, Moldovan weddings usually go until 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. Moldovans really know how to party!!!

When I talked to my host parents the next morning, I told them that Moldovan weddings are a lot more fun that American weddings (and American weddings are pretty fun, so that says a lot). My host dad, who continually brings up the idea of me getting married to a Moldovan, said “If you marry a Moldovan man, you will get to have a Moldovan wedding.” And honestly, it is the most convincing argument that he has made thus far...

And a special thank you and congratulations to Nataşa and Oleg!!!!

But Mom, I Don't Wanna Go to School

Yesterday was the first day of school in Hincesti, as well as the rest of Moldova. This is a much bigger deal here in Moldova than it is in the US. In America, the biggest thing that happened on the first day of school was my mom embarrassingly walking me all the way to my classroom door, as opposed to dropping me off in front of the school like she would the rest of the year. (Geeze Mom!!) In Moldova, on the other hand, the first day of school is a big deal. Because both of my partners have school aged children, I was able to meet them at the school the experience the festivities.

Yesterday morning, my host-mom dropped me off at “Scoala Unu (It has a real name, but no one says it.)” to meet my partners and their kids. Nether of them was there when I arrived; however, my partner Angela's daughter, Sophie, was and she greeted my warmly. I love Sophie!! She is friendly and outgoing. She always tries to talk to me in Romanian and I usually understand what she says. She also is not afraid to try to speak English with me. I find a lot of Moldovans seem a little “timid” when it comes to speaking English with a native speaker, but not Sophie!!! She then told me that her mom and Valentina would arrive shortly.

Valentina and her brood soon arrived along with their “bunica,” or grandma. Then we waited about an hour for the festivities to begin. (They were running on Moldvan time I guess.) When the festivities did start they were adorable. First, the older students held the hand of the youngest students and paraded around. These youngsters were first graders, who would be attending “Scoala Unu” for the first time. The best part is they all wore suits, full three piece suits. They looked like little business men, or lobbyists. My partner, Valentina's son was one of the newcomers to the school. I tried to take some pictures of him and the little parade, but I didn't want to fight with the parents who were all jockeying for the best photographing position. This was the best that I could do (however, this is not Valentina's son):




The rest of the ceremony went on for about an hour and a half and included your run of the mill ceremonial things: color guard, speeches, introductions of new teachers, a few awards, and a girl who sang a mediocre song. I won't bore you with the details, except that the primar of Hincesti gave a speech and my partner again informed me that people refer to him as “Obama.”



At the end there was the ringing of the bell. One of the older boys carried a young girl on his shoulder and they paraded around while she rang a bell decorated with flowers. I have to say she was pretty adorable with her pig tails and bows that were roughly the size of her head.



After the bell ringing, school started (Big surprise!!!). All the students went to there respective class rooms, but Valentina's son, Augustine, did not want to go to school. So, she took him to his classroom and stayed with him for a while. And then we all met up at the office for a productive work day (Fun!!!)

Later in the evening, I watched the news with my host mom and dad. The first day of school was big news. The morning festivities that I had attended seemed to be identical to those that had occurred all over Moldova that morning. I need to do more research to find out of this is a Moldova thing, a Moldova/Romania thing or a Soviet thing. The answers should be interesting.

The Surge Protector and the Macaroni

Like the title foreshadows, this blog post unsuccessfully attempts to combine two completely unrelated events into one cohesive story. I apologize in advance.

The best purchase that I have made since my arrival in Moldova is a surge protector. This is not because it will protect my electronics from the countless electrical surges that inevitably occur here in Moldova (such as the one that fried my old computer), but because it allows me to flat iron my hair in my room. Let me elaborate....

I brought with me from the U.S. the best flat iron ever, but the problem is exactly that: it is from the US. It requires a hefty power adapter/converter to operate here in Moldova. The outlet in my room is behind my large and immovable wardrobe and there is not enough room to fit said power adapter/converter between the outlet and the wardrobe. So, each morning, I'd head down to the bathroom to plug my flat iron into in unobstructed outlet there. This was really not an inconvenience for me, but I worried that someone would want to use the bathroom for something important (say peeing or showering) while I was busy ironing my hair into submission.

Well, upon the arrival of my new Mac (I just love the sound of that phrase “my new Mac”), I purchased a surge protector to ensure that “my new Mac” did not meet the same fate as my old computer. Now I am able to plug the surge protector into the wall and then plug the cumbersome power adapter/converter into the surge protector. Victory! Now I can fry my hair in the privacy of my room.

All this leads me to a story that is actually only minutely interesting. On Monday morning, I was sitting in my room flat ironing my hair and my host sister, Irina, knocked on the door.

A little background on Irina. Irina lives in the US, in Gatlinberg, Tennessee to be exact. Between studying abroad, work and travel, and now having her green card, I think she has spent about 5 years in the United States. She now lives there permanently and plans to continue to live there for the rest of her live; however, she is currently visiting for a month.

When put down my flat iron and open the door, Irina says “Mananci macaroane cu lapte?” which means “Will you eat pasta with milk?” I think for a minute and then say “Yes.” At this she gives me a weird look and says “You realize that is spaghetti and milk?” I say “yes.” She then says “Do you like spaghetti and milk?” So, I go on to explain that I have never tried it, but I like both spaghetti and milk, so why not give it a try.

I go down to breakfast and sit down to a bowl of hot milk with macaroni floating in it. And it was delicious!!! The best thing I have eaten in Moldova. I put a small amount of honey in it like my host-mom did and about died and went to heaven. It was awesome!

All that I have had in Moldova is raw, but my family boils it and, basically, pasteurizes it themselves. Because of they have to boil the milk, they always seem to drink it hot. At first, I thought this was gross. I have talked to other volunteers that told me their families drink hot milk with honey. Again, I thought that was gross. Wrong, absolutely delicious!!!

This is one culinary delight that I am gonna bring back to America!!!

Ziua Independentei

This weekend is a 5-day weekend. In America we don't really have 5-day weekends. We maybe have a 4-day weekend here and there, but 5 days? Never! I think that we just love work too much in America. Well, call me un-American, but I never had the problem of loving work too much and the prospect of a 5-day weekend thoroughly excites me.

The purpose of this 5-day weekend is to celebrate Ziua Independentei, or Moldovan Independence Day (to dumb it down even further, I could say Moldovan Fourth of July), and Ziua Limbii Noastre, or Our Language Day. Seeing as Ziua Limbii Noastre is not until Tuesday, the rest of this post will be about the Ziua Independencii celebration.

On Friday Morning, my host mom and I headed to the Ziua Independentei parade. None of the rest of the family seemed all that interested in going (probably because they have gone to the past 18 Ziua Independentei celebrations). My host-dad said that he had to work in the garden. I think he had to get his gardening out of the way early because he wanted to go on an overnight fishing trip later in the day. My host sister, Diana, said she wanted to go, but her baby was sleeping. (Right, your baby is sleeping. Like I haven't used that excuse a million times.) And I am not really sure what my other host sister, Irina, did that morning, but it obviously didn't involve attending the celebration. So, mom and I headed to the plaza next to the Primarie (Mayor's Office), but not before getting some flowers from the yard to take with us. Apparently, at the end of the festivities everyone places some flowers on the Stephen Cel Mare Monument, so we took some lovely yellow flowers.



On somewhat of a side note, when I first arrived in Moldova and was picking out flowers to take for when I met my host family, I was told not to buy a bouquet of all-yellow flowers. All the new volunteers were told that all-yellow bouquets are reserved for funerals. I am not sure if the all-yellow bunches of flowers that we took were appropriate because we were going to a type of memorial or if we just chose to disregard the all-yellow-flower rule, but no one seemed to give our yellow flowers a second glance.

We took a taxi to the celebration and we were dropped of just outside the police barricade that was blocking off the street for the parade. As soon as we god out of the car, my host mom started greeting people that she knew by saying “sarbatoare,” which means celebration. She even gave a small child in a stroller, who's parents she seemed to know, 50 lei (High Roller!!). We then met up with some of the ladies she works with (in reality, I am pretty sure that all of these ladies work for her, but lets not split hairs).

At this point, the parade started. It was not a parade like we think of a parade. It consisted of several public officials, what appeared to be several different types of peace officers and then everyone else in attendance (including yours truly) following behind them. The “paraders” walked for about 200 meters (or yards) and then stopped in front of the Stephen Cel Mare Monument where the was a PA system set-up.





The presentation was set off by two young Moldovan children in traditional clothing who recited something in Romanian that I didn't understand. However, they recited it in a loud, clear and well-timed fashion. Everyone was very impressed (I am sure they would have been 4-Hers if they lived in the U.S.).



Then several public officials gave short-ish speeches. Below is the Raion Council President of Hincesti.



And this is the Primar (Mayor) of the town of Hincesti. My host mom referred to him as “our Obama” and then she said “because he is thin and black” and then she laughed. Ha ha. And then I laughed.



Also, a choir from Hincesti sang a song that was really good. A video of it is below. I am not sure what the song in entirely about, but I know they are saying the words thank you a lot. So I assume the song is about thanking someone(s). (Sorry for the poor video quality!!!)



After the presentations were over, we all put our flowers on the Stephen Cel Mare Monument. The police and a few of the general public, including my host mom, continued onto a different monument and placed some flowers on it as well.





And that was the end of the celebration for the morning. My host mom and I walked home and when we walked by the nicest restaurant in town, my host mom said “ That's where Diana's wedding was.” With out going into all I have learned about Moldovan weddings, I think this means that host-sister Diana had a really nice wedding.

There was a concert Friday night to continue the celebrating, but my family didn't go. We could, however, hear it from our house. I also stayed up all the way until 11:00 (a major feat for me by the way) to watch the fireworks. While we were watching them, my host-sister Diana informed me that she loves fireworks so much that she had them at her wedding. This just worked to confirm my suspicion that she had a really nice wedding. When the fireworks were over, my host mom said, “they must have run out of money,” laughed, and then we all went to bed!

As you may have suspected by all of the pictures in this blog post, I now have my new Mac. It is sooooo awesome!!!! AWESOME!!! I don't know why I didn't get a Mac a long time ago. I must have been crazy. Anyway, I am now available to set up Skype dates with, if anyone is interested in talking to me.

Also, I want to thank everyone for all the positive feedback that I have been getting on my blog. It is good to know that people who are unrelated to me are reading and it really motivates me to keep writing. Thanks.