Well, it has been a little over a week since I last posted, but soooooo much has happened. I am sure all of you are ripe with anticipation to know how the celebration for our Milestii-Mici host families went. It went great. I sang and danced my little heart out. Even our Moldovan rendention of "The House of the Rising Sun" went well. Another PCV, Tim, sang a solo with the actual lyrics and then we all joined in with the Romanian lyrics. Way to go Tim!!!! As you may have expected based on the picture above, we wore traditional Moldovan clothes. The whole event was actually a lot of fun and our home-made burritos tasted delicious.
On Monday of last week we had our final PST assesment interview with our Project Manager, Vitale. Then on Tuesday, we presented our final project to Vitale and our LTIs (Language and Technical Instructers). As far as projects go, it really was not my shining moment. We presented a business plan to create a Community/Recycling Center in our village. The cost of the center would be sustained by the proceeds from an annual wine festival. This project was purely hypothetical, which is good because in reality it would not have worked. But now the presentation is done, and we can move onto our real Peace Corps projects with our new partners!!!
Last Wednesday was our last day of language class. I am glad it is over, but I still feel like I don't know any Romanian!! We needed to pick one volunteer to give a speech in Romanian at our swearing-in ceremony, so I volunteered. I spent most of Wednesday afternoon working on my speech with my LTI, Doina. Then, I spent the evening packing in preparition for the move to my new site.
Thursday was our last real day of Pre-Service training. We had our LPI (Language Proficency Interview) in the morning. Mine was at 11:00, so I took some time before that to study (boring, I know). The woman that interviewed me was from Hincesti, my permanent site. Hopefully, she will be my Romanian tutor in the future!!! (I don't know how I did yet, so don't ask). After the interview, I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing my speech with various people. I also failed to pay attention to our afternoon session on safety because I was going over the speech in my head! Safety Schmafty!! (I actually think safety is very important!!!)
Friday!!! The big day!!! I became a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am not just a lowly trainee anymore. Below are some pictures of my ARBD group on the big day:
I must say we are so photogenic!!! Everyone who is anyone was there: The American Ambassador to Moldova, The Moldovan Vice Minister of Agriculture, The Peace Corps Country Director, all the members of Ozone. Well, Ozone was not there, but you get bonus points if you know who they are. I gave my speech toward the end of the ceremony. It went okay. I started out speaking too quietly and no one heard the first third of my speech. The MC handed me a better microphone and after that the last part of the speech went well. Below is a pic of me giving my speech (I am aware that this not the most attractive pic):
My partner, Angela, (work partner, not lesbien partner in case you were concerned) and new host-mom, Tamara, attended the swearing-in ceremony. When the ceremony was over, were headed to my new home. Myself, Angela, Tamara and our driver barely fit in the car with all my stuff. (When I say car, I mean awesome blue 80's-ish LADA!!! Go Russian Cars!) I finally made it home and .....
Took A NAP!!!!
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