Grossest Blog Post Ever!!!

I tend to be somewhat of an "over thinker." If it is possible to think too much about something, I will probably think too much about it. Due to this over thinking disorder, my cleanliness habits have suffered here in Moldova. (Before you start to judge me for being gross, remember: I am in the PEACE CORPS, I am not supposed to be clean!)

When I first arrived in Moldova, I showered roughly every 5 days. Before you get too grossed out, let me say that I did wash the "important parts" in between showers. The truth is there is a lot of factors for me to consider upon deciding that I need to take a shower. I didn't know how often in was appropriate to shower in Moldova or at what time of the day my family members needed to shower. I didn't know if I should use the inside shower or the outside shower. I didn't know when there would be water pressure. I didn't know when my family was going to eat breakfast and/or dinner and I didn't want to be in the shower when they wanted to eat.

The language added another layer to the thought process. Should I say "Eu fac dus," which is the present tense and translates to "I do shower." It is pronounced "Yo fok douche." Now after saying this phrase for three months now, I can still barely say it with a straight face (I know, so mature!!!). I also wondered if I should say, "Eu voi face dus," which is the future tense and means roughly, "I will do shower." As I learned more Romanian, I also considered saying "Eu pot sa fac dus acum?" or "Am I able to do shower now?" Anyway, with all of these factors to take into consideration, I was only actually able to shower every 4-5 days.

Luckily for the people around me, I got used to my family's schedule and was able to figure out the best times to shower. I eventually settled into a showering every other day schedule, which I continue to keep even after my move to Hincesti. For this, I think I deserve a big gold star.

I would also like to take a moment to mention the awesomeness of the outside/summer shower that my family in Milestii Mici had. For some reason the awesomeness and freedom of showering outside, in collected rain water that is heated by the sun, cannot be beat! If people have to take showers in heaven, I guarantee that they are outside showers.

The second area of my cleanliness that suffered due to my over thinking was/is my laundry. Even in the US, I hated to do laundry. Well, it is not so much that I hate to do laundry as that I hate to fold laundry and put if away after it is clean. As a general policy, I do not wash clothes until I have no clean panties; I brought a ton of panties to Moldova!

At about week four my Milestii Mici Host Family and I came to the agreement that they would wash my clothes for me if I would buy detergent. I was a little hesitant about having my host-sister wash my undies, so I held off asking for my clothes to be washed. At around week six, I ran out of clean undies and the clothes washing commenced. Apparently, this was my ARBD group record for the person to go the longest without washing their clothes.

I would like to say that at this point I settled into washing my clothes at regular intervals, but that is not the case. I did not wash clothes again until yesterday! My new host family and I agreed that I would was my own clothes and, again, the over-thinking commenced...

What detergent do I buy? When does my family wash their clothes? How do I work the Russian washing machine? When is there water? Can I use the washing machine at the same time people want to take a shower? etc. You get the idea by now. Luckily, I ran out of clean undies at around the same time my host mom asked me if I needed to wash clothes. So yesterday, by sheer coincidence all the clothes washing pieces fell into place and the clothes washing again commenced.

My host family has a washing machine, but all the instructions are in Russian. My host-sister gave me the abridged version: the lower the number setting, the hotter the water is and the longer the clothes will be washed for. The numbers go from 1-8, so I picked 5 added my detergent (to what I found out later was the wrong place, but turned out not to matter) and started the machine. It takes about two hours to wash a load of laundry here.

There are no dryers in Moldova, everything hangs outside on the line. I am a little self conscious about this whole practice. I feel like everyone is judging me by my laundry. First, you have to hang your panties out to dry. Every one can see them. I can't help but wonder if people think my panties are too scandalous, not scandalous enough? Do I hang them correctly? Do I let them hang outside for too long. Secondly, I wonder if people judge the hanging technique that I use for hanging my clothes. Do they drive by and think, "Look at how that American girl hangs her clothes, they'll never dry that way!" How long is it supposed to take clothes to dry outside? I have no idea!!! I guess this is all a learning process.

So, at this point in time I am clean and I have clean clothes. I am on top of the world!!! Sorry if I grossed anyone out. I have a little bit of a tendency to over share.

On another note, my new computer has been purchased. My parents will send it on Monday, Yay!!! After I receive it, I will again start posting my own pictures on my blog again. I know you all have been waiting with baited breath!!