La Mulţi Ani Rebecca

La Mulţi Ani (pronounce: la multz an) translated is Happy Birthday in Romanian. I have heard this a lot over the last week and I love this phrase. The literal word for word translation is At More Years.

This is the story of how my birthDAY turned into my birthWEEK:

My last birthday in Moldova was a spectacular one. Like last year, my birthday fell during the Autumn vacation week and I was in Chisinau for the English Education volunteers' IST (in-service training) Monday through Friday. The difference between this year and last is that I was not a participant in the IST, I was facilitating some of the training sessions. It brought back a lot of memories and when I first arrived at the hotel on Monday, I was a little sad that none of "my people" were there. I really like the new volunteers and this past week was a wonderful opportunity to get to know them better, but that first night was a bit odd for me because my EE (English Education) volunteers were not there. Plus my group of volunteers had recently lost two of my favorite people making some of my memories from last year a little bitter sweet. Thankfully, Jonathon a volunteer from the group before mine was there and we hung out.

The week went really well and by Tuesday I was joined by some other M24s (Moldova 24-24th group in Moldova). The days were filled with training and the nights were filled with fun. We could not have asked for better weather the whole week (typically around 65 degrees and sunny). The night before my birthday, a group of us went to dinner then to a bar where others had gathered to celebrate the birthday of one of the Health Education volunteers. After the bar we moved onto a karaoke bar. Last year during this week, I went to a karaoke bar and (very badly) sang with some friends. This year, I just sat back and enjoyed the show! But at midnight, the group I was with wished me a Happy birthday and sang to me. It was great, because some of the Moldovans who were at the karaoke bar joined in. And one even purchased a song to sing in honor of my birthday. My favorite part of that night however we a duet by Jonathon and Kelley. They sang Scorpion's "Winds of Change" and it was one of the most entertaining and funny renditions I have ever seen in my life. We all got home really late and I was happy that I was able to sleep in a little before my session.

When I got to the school where our training was held, I was greeted with congratulations, happy birthdays and singing in both English and Romanian. It was awesome! After the day concluded, me and a small group of my closest friends (Dan, Annika, Jonathon, Matt, Erika, Mackenzie and Lindsay) went to a restaurant called Tulip. They have amazingly good Thai food and I left very full of Pad Thai and very happy. Later we met up with more volunteers at a nearby bar where again, as I walked into the room I was greeted with the birthday song (Thank you Dan). It was great spending time with everyone. I was greatly complimented and a little taken aback when one of the M25s Alex pulled me aside and said "Becca, only you could get this mix matched group of volunteers all in one place to celebrate. They are all here for you." For me, it was one of the nicest things anyone had said to me and I was smiling the rest of the night (even bigger than I had already been). As the group dissipated and volunteers turned in for the night, those of us who are hard core and night owls, decided to move onto the karaoke bar AGAIN! So we hailed several taxis and descended upon the small, Russian Karaoke bar. We jammed ourselves into a corner, ordered songs to sings, beers to drink and danced our butts off. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my last birthday in Moldova. And as a side note-Dan Falknor, one of my closest friends here, was the party coordinator for the night and he kept me moving from place to place in a timely fashion. Gotta say it was pretty nice not being in charge and letting someone else run the show!

The next day in a very hung over and tired state I made my way back to my village with Dan and Annika. Later we were joined by Tom, Matt and Erika. It was another wonderful night and relaxing night with my friends over a little Mexican food and some Margaritas!! The next day our little group expanded to 16 people as other volunteers came into Floresti for my birthday celebration. The weather was gorgeous and sunny as we walked through the piaţa to purchase food for the party. We even enjoyed a game of beersbee (frisbee drinking game). I had so much fun making dinner for all my friends, sipping margaritas and talking with everyone. After dinner, so as not to make all my neighbors angry, we took our loud group out on the town. We played a little Russian billiards then moved on to the disco where we danced the night away (and I tried to avoid making an ass out of myself in front of many of my students who were there).

After a long, busy (and usually late night) week and weekend I was exhausted! Sunday afternoon everyone went home except for Tom and his girlfriend Virginia who helped me clean my apartment and get everything back in place. When they left I kicked back for the night trying to rest before the first day back to school.

As I got to school I was greeted with a few "felicitare" (congratulations) from students and teachers who knew my birthday had been the prior week. But during the longest break between classes, the bell rang three times signalling a meeting. So I went with my partners. There was the usual business: reminders about staying current in the grade book, arrival of a new student, and information about a parent meeting occurring the next day. But then my director turned to me, smiled and started talking about an important day that occurred last week-my birthday. She gave a little speech about my being part of the faculty, how the kids like me, that I am a beautiful and open person which in turn makes others more open and that the students and teachers are lucky that I am here. It was really sweet! Then she gave me a bouquet of flowers and a coffee serving set from the faculty (I've included pictures of all my gifts). It was a wonderful gesture and I love my gift. I also received gifts from one of the faculty members Tanea (pronounced Tanya) our music teacher, from my 11th grade class and from my partner Elena.

This could not have been a better birthday in Moldova!! I felt love from all of my Moldovan family as well as family and friends in America. My cheeks are hurting from smiling non-stop since last week.

All of the lovely gifts I received

Flowers from the faculty

A cactus from my 11th graders for my computer (to help absorb the radiation from it)

Lovely smelly stuff from friends and Tanea

My new coffee serving set-I love it!!

A new purse and scarf from Tom and Virginia

A handkerchief that my lil sis Sarah made for me

Whitewashing and October only means one thing...

...it's time for HRAM (and Autumn too)!!

October 14th is the day of Hram for Floresti. "What is this hram you speak of?" you may be asking. Well hram is the anniversary of when the village was blessed. Every city, raion, town and village in Moldova has one. Not all villages celebrate or really observe this day, but Floresti does. This being my second year in Floresti it was of course my second (and last) hram. For those that have been following along at home, I did write briefly about hram last October.

Last year's Hram was great. I ate a ton of wonderful food, attended a concert and carnival in the center of town, froze my ass off since it was the first really cold day of the year (and I was so very not prepared for it) and hung with Kyle, my sitemate at the time. I didn't know what to expect so it was all a surprise. But this year was great again because A) I had the day off; B) I enjoyed a big masa (dinner party) with my old host family, one of my sitemates (and little sister) Sarah and two other volunteers who came from other villages to enjoy the festivities; and C) Got to watch all my site mates enjoy the party for their first time like I did last year. After the masa we headed into the center of town where, like last year, we enjoyed a carnival and concert. We drank, we danced, we watched Moldovan teenagers ride carnival rides and we ate cotton candy! To say a good time was had by all would be an understatement.

Now, you may be wondering what "whitewash" has to do with Hram. For about a week before Hram, all the towns folk get to making the town pretty. The whitewash comes into play because the tree trunks and street curbs all get painted with it to brighten things up. All of the planter boxes throughout the town get a fresh coat and many of the buildings get a coat or two. Everything looks its best for the village anniversary!

My favorite part though about the whitewashing is how it contrasts with the gorgeous Autumn colors. As most people know, Autumn in Moldova is my favorite time. The colors here are so beautiful and fit so well with the weather! Even though the cold came earlier this year, I have been making myself go out (in many layers of clothing) to get pictures whenever I can in between rain storms. It was almost over night that the little splotches of yellows and golds overran the green.

A big event in October is also the annual International Wine Festival. Sadly this year's festival was not as fun as last year's because the weather was absolutely miserable. It rained most of the day and was freezing the whole day. However, a group of us did head over to partake in the festivities, if only for a few hours...did I mention the event is an outdoor event?? We stayed out in the lightly falling rain and mild gentle hurricane winds for as long as possible then moved on to a restaurant for dinner. For those of us who are doing all of these events and activities for the last time, there was no stopping us from seeing them. And like Hram, there was drinking of tasty wine and of course dancing!

Now I am working towards Halloween and am frantically making activities and gathering the needed supplies for games for our school celebration on Friday, October 29. I have made a whole wall in our classroom just dedicated to Halloween. Some of my younger students are drawing pictures, I created a poster with the "Trick-or-Treat" poem that all my students will learn and even made a vocabulary poster so that they can fluently speak Halloween!!

Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?!? Especially since I am not totally ready for the full on coldness of Moldovan winters. But I am happy to report that I now have heat in my apartment which has drastically bettered my home life!

Here are some pictures from my October so far!

Originally this picture was taken as a joke during our Hram Huddle, but it turned out to be a keeper! Clockwise from me (I'm at 3 o'clock) is Lindsay (she is in my raion in a nearby village and works at a school teaching Health Education), Travis (he is in Floresti and works at the Primaria-the Mayor's Office), Sarah L (she is in Floresti and works out the Consiliul-The District Council Office...and she's my little sister and she lives with my former host family), Sarah C (she is in Floresti, is married to Travis, and teaches English at one of the other schools here), and finally Katie (she is in a nearby raion center similar to mine and is a Business Development volunteer).

Me with my little sis Sarah!

Last year Kyle would never buy cotton candy with me so I made a point of buying some this year and sending Kyle a picture of me eating the last bite!

Me with several of my 12th graders. They all had cameras and I felt like I had been cornered by the paparazzi!

Katie just loved this cat mascot at the carnival!

Like I said, there was dancing..this is Lindsay with the shiny shoes

One of the bands that performed

Inna and Igor, two of my 12th graders, doing a Moldovan waltz

These were all taken from my apartment windows during and after a quickie rain storm that moved through Floresti earlier this evening.

Sunsets here are really amazing sometimes, just wish I had a camera that could more accurately capture them!

I'm pregnant!!!

Now that I have your attention...

I was visiting with a volunteer (one of the new volunteers) who lives in a nearby village. We were talking about the fact that I only have 9.5 more months of service before my group of volunteers can begin COSing (COS=Close of Service). I related that to a pregnancy. To which, Lindsay (a wonderfully bright and hilarious girl) says "It's like giving birth to America!"

I just had to share this with everyone because for me it is hands down one of the best quotes I have heard in the 2 years I have been here.

So thank you Lindsay!! And for all of you at home, I will be giving birth to America in about nine and half months and I can't wait to see her!!

As for other news:

The first month of school flew by and I can't believe its already October! This is shaping up to be a great month already. My students have finally settled back into the school routine and classes are going much better (most of my students are actually doing their homework!!) I have started my supplementary lessons with the 9th and 12th grades to prepare them for their exit exams at the end of the school year and my teaching partners and I have gotten into our groove.

As second year volunteers, we have to get a medical and dental check up to make sure everything is still how it should be. I got through my medical check (pregnancy free) and will have my dental appointment later this month.

Next weekend in Chisinau is the Annual International Wine Festival and I am greatly looking forward to the weekend. Saturday morning the PSN group (Peer Support Network) that I am part of is holding the 2nd Annual Fun Run fundraiser! We seem to have a lot of interest in it from the Peace Corps community and maybe even some locals who are friends and colleagues of Peace Corps volunteers and staff! Then it'll be time to enjoy the festivities and try a variety of delicious wines!

On October 14 my village will have its Hram (h-ram). This is the village anniversary and was incredibly fun last year. I am looking forward to the carnival, concert and celebrating in the center of town with my new site mates (pictures to come soon!).

Things will quiet down in October for about a week, then I slide into the Halloween festivities at my school and with Peace Corps volunteers. My main partner and I are working out the details for activities at our school and my students are already asking to practice the Halloween "poem" that they have to recite in order to get candy. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my 6th grade class???

The temperatures are already dropping here (it was still warmish this time last year). I have pulled out the sweat shirts, sweaters and extra blankets. I even contemplated the necessity of leggings under my jeans but decided to not wimp out so early into the colder season. I have read a few articles saying this winter will be one of the coldest on record in over a century for Europe. Fingers crossed it is similar to last year and not colder. However, I am happy that I live closer to school. Maybe this California girl will be able to survive the long, cold winter.

September Means School

I have found that with the more Romanian I learn, speak and write my English becomes weaker. I have had more moments lately when I can say a phrase or word in Romanian but cannot think of it in English. I find this very amusing, although I am worried that one day I am not going to know how to say something in either language at which point I will be screwed!

September 1st marked the first day of school (of my last year here in Moldova). It was wonderful to be back at my school with my students. Until I saw them, I had not realized how much I had missed them (especially my 5th graders from last year). Despite the dreary, cold, overcast day you could feel the excitement that accompanies the first day of school. During the 'first bell' ceremony I looked around the courtyard at the students and marveled at how much some of them had grown and matured during the summer. And I felt lucky to be seeing them again for this second (and last) school year.

As usual, the schedule for classes is still being worked out, but I think we have our final version now. I decided not to teach a class by myself this year. Last year's experience with that was not a positive one and I feel more productive and useful for my students and partners when teaching with a Moldovan teacher. I have also decided to teach more hours than last year. Another change for this year is that we had a 4th English teacher join us. Last year I started with 3 partner teachers. Unfortunately early into the first semester I had to change my schedule and was unable to work with one of them (Oxana). I knew coming into this year that I would be working with 3 partners, but it was not until I returned from my vacation in Greece that I learned of a fourth. Fortunately, this new teacher is someone I already knew. Alina is my former Romanian tutor and a friend. This year I will be working with all 4 teachers whereas last year I had only worked with 2. Working with 4 partners has made scheduling much more difficult because of coinciding classes, but I am hopeful this will get ironed out. I am teaching one class each with each of my secondary partners - Maia (one partner from last year), Alina (the new teacher) and Oxana (who I was unable to work with last year). My remaining classes are all with my primary partner (and good friend) Elena. In total I am teaching 22 hours a week. I was hoping to teach 24 hours per week but had to drop one class because of schedule conflicts. Like last year, I am teaching most of the grades between 5th and 12th (last year I did not teach 6th grade or 12th grade and this year I am not teaching 7th grade).

Another new addition to this school year was being matched with a teacher and classroom in America for a pen pal type of experience through the Peace Corps Cloverdell World Wise Schools program (http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/). I tried this last year with a match I was given, but the teacher had changed schools and was unable to participate. However, this new match has been great. He and his class have been excited about the prospect of communicating with me and my classes. He and I have talked about many possible projects we can have our classes do and I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for his students to learn about Moldova and Its people as well as giving my students the chance to learn more about America from peers (versus from me) and practice their English. His school is located in Southern California and his students are all 5th graders. He has 31 students in his class, so to keep the numbers relatively even I invited my 5th grade and 6th grade classes to participate since my combined total in those classes is 37. My 5th grade class is still shy about the idea of this, but seem interested. My 6th grade class is ecstatic about this opportunity and are coming to me with ideas of what they would like to do with their new American friends. These students are the truly brightest parts of my time at school!!

I started this new school year with a refined focus on what I now know I can do for my school and partners. Last year I tried a few different activities (English Club, private tutoring-kids and ,adults, group tutoring, national exam preparation, etc..). This year in addition to teaching, I will have a 12th grade exit exam (the Baccalaureate) preparation lesson, a 9th grade exit exam preparation lesson, English Club and supplementary group grammar lessons for some of the students in my lower grades who are struggling a bit more than others. I have decided that I do not want to do private tutoring and want to focus all my attention on my current students and my school. I have already started preparing materials and writing lesson plans for these extra lessons that will begin at the end of the month. I am also working on creating books for each of my partners that I will give to them at the end of the year with all of the materials I have created on my own or with them.

This year has definitely begun much more smoothly than last year. I knew I had learned to be more patient during my first year, but I had not realized how much until the start of the new school year. Having a better understanding of how schools in Moldova work, not having the stress of meeting new teachers and students, the jitters of being a new person in a new environment and having MUCH better Romanian skills has made this new school year easier and more enjoyable. In many ways, getting back to school was like coming home. And this last year that I am here I am going to do my best to enjoy each minute of it.

Here are some pictures and videos from the first day of school:

This is my main partner Elena and I right before we walked into the school for our first lesson

All of us standing in the courtyard around of the steps to the front of the school during the 'first bell' ceremony

This little girl is a new 5th grader in our school (and one of my students-Victoria) and she is preparing to sing "Buna Dimineata" (Good Morning). See the video below.

Some of the 10th graders standing together during the ceremony.

Now for some videos during the ceremony

This is my 5th grader Victoria singing

This is the ceremonial ringing of the "First Bell" for the school year. Two 5th grade students are accompanied by two 12th grade students. The 5th graders are the new incoming class while the 12th graders are exiting.

Musings, thoughts, and lessons of a year

I have been in Moldova for over a year now and am actually coming up on the one year anniversary of being an official Peace Corps Volunteer. Throughout the year I have seen and done a lot and have learned even more.

The following are thoughts I have been writing down over the last year on random bits of paper, in notebooks, in the margins of my language workbook or on handouts. Some are funny and not very serious, most are related to the weather oddly enough, while others are actually sincere. These are not written in any particular order-just typed as I found them.

I have also included pictures from this summer throughout the blog to break up the text. The pictures do not necessarily relate to the list.



Learning a new language is difficult for me. I'm too much of a visual learner and not enough of an auditory learner.

Food generally associated with dinner can be eaten at breakfast (e.g. rice, pasta-both in milk with a little sugar).

Boots are necessary from late autumn until early spring.

Camping clean is good enough.

I have muscles in my hands that are getting a work out from wringing out my laundry (I’m worried about having man hands by the time I come home).

Jeans are a pain in the ass to wash by hand.

Having to walk everywhere gives you the chance to really see your surroundings.

But I miss my car (especially the heater during the height of winter when my eyelashes get frosty and the AC during the height of summer when I am permanently in a state of sweatiness).

My concept of a short walk is VASTLY different than it was just a year ago…4 kilometers to the next village-No problem!!

There is a huge variety in the types of mud.

Living in a snowy city is not horrible (with the right gear and only for about 4 months).

Anything below 20 degrees is just down right COLD!!

Anything above 85 degrees with higher than 20% humidity is just HOT!! (And yes, I realize that 20% humidity is nothing for some of my fellow volunteers, but coming from a city where it can be 100+ degrees but dry makes it tough for me).

I miss the beauty of the Autumn because the end of winter is very bland and colorless.

Moldovan women are some of the strongest women I’ve ever met (physically and mentally).

Having a 2 hour conversation on a bus ride in Romanian can make your brain hurt, but your confidence soar and you make new friends.

Moldovan students could teach a thing or two to American students when it comes to showing appreciation to their teachers.

Pomp and circumstance in school can sometimes be very fun.

Flowers are awesome!!!

Hills are a great, natural way of making your butt look good.

You can go several days without washing your hair (so far my record is 1.5 weeks during the winter).

The most important person in a volunteer's life is the bus/rutiera driver. Make friends with them and they take care of you!!

Febreeze is wonderful and makes possible the multiple wearing of a shirt or pants.

Snow and the biting cold of winter makes Spring all the better and more appreciated.

Heat and humidity of the summer makes the random summer rain storms with the sudden (and too short) drops in temperature a blessing (until the mosquitoes come out to play)

Writing a letter by hand is fun and makes you think more deeply and slowly about your experience than writing an email or blog.

Photography is an easy hobby to get back into and I love reconnecting with this particular passion of mine.

Idle hands and the possibility of watching 5 seasons of a tv show happen in the winter time.

I miss my family and friends everyday that I am here.

Hot showers are a god send in the winter (and so are indoor toilets during the snowy days).

You can actually feel drier in a cold shower than outside on a hot Moldovan summer day.

Teaching English grammar makes native speakers re-learn grammar. There is so much about our grammar and speaking rhythm that I better understand now (For example: Did you know there is a specific order to how we list adjectives before a noun? I never really knew this until I had to teach it. But was glad to know that I intuitively say them in the correct order and when I tried to use them out of order it just felt wrong).

We take language and the use of it as a communicative tool for granted in America.

Food made from scratch tastes better and is not that much more work versus making food from boxed or pre-packaged stuff!

Traveling is good for the soul.

Learning about other cultures is great and at times very humbling.

The world is not as big as you think and people are fundamentally similar once you get past the surface differences.

Students think its easier to cheat with the American than with their Moldovan teachers (hehe, they are wrong).

Students hate exams and I hate proctoring them.

Schedule changes are a way of life and you just have to go with the flow.

Students are the same everywhere. No one likes homework; they prefer to play than learn; there is always the know-it-all, the quiet one, the talkative one, the disrespectful hooligan (I had 3 this year), the stubborn one, the cute one, the smelly one, the popular ones, the not so popular ones and all the others who are just along for the ride.

I’m not a parent, but I now better understand when they say they love all their children equally, but in reality have a favorite.

I miss the sun when its gone for too long, and get very giddy when it finally comes back.

I am just now beginning to process some of the experiences of my first year in Moldova. I can’t imagine how long it will take for me to process 2 years worth once I get back home to America.

I am accident prone on ice and in mud. Never thought I would have to relearn how to walk-thought I had conquered that particular feat when I was a child.

I actually like jogging now that its not as difficult for me (although I realize now that I need more structure in my schedule in order to stay with it).

Rutieras (mini buses that seat about 20 people) can actually hold A LOT of people. There is a joke about this: How many people can fit on a rutiera?....Always one more!

Having been on crowded buses and rutieras I have found that I can sometimes be a bit claustrophobic.

Beer and ice cream can be great together under the right circumstances.

Tequila is still bad! Tested this theory twice just to make sure.

I’ve started thinking in military time, the metric system and day-month-year (America needs to get on board with this-its just more logical).

You want water more often when you have to prepare it before drinking (e.g. distill then filter).

Moldovan women are magic. They can walk through ice, snow and mud without getting a drop on them (I on the other hand have to bring two pairs of shoes-one to wear in the mud/snow and the other to wear in class). In the heat of summer, they look as if they are followed by their own personal air conditioning unit (whereas I look frizzy and sweaty). Its amazing!

Teaching English as a foreign/second language is incredibly difficult when you do not fluently speak your students’ native language and I have a thousand times more respect for teachers who do this.

I still want to work with youth, but not necessarily in a formal classroom, teaching capacity.

Mullets and roller blades are very much alive and well in this country and I love every minute of it!

Walking in skirts and heels makes me feel more girly.

I don’t think the relationships I have formed with people in this first year will ever be the same as those I form with people at home because of the unique circumstances that prompted our meeting.

The Peace Corps experience is like a bubble. It’s this one time and place and very hard to truly explain to someone who is not here experiencing it, as much as I try.

I’ve realized that I’m not entirely sure that I want to settle back into American living when I am done next year. For the first time, I don’t really have a plan for what I will do after this stage of my life. While this freaks out the OCD planner in me, I kinda like the unknown of it too.

I still love the work I did at Fairytale Town and want to find something similar to doing that…but in another country (sorry Mom).

Swimming in the Black Sea at 4:45 in the morning while waiting for the sun to come up is a top 3 most memorable experience and I highly recommend everyone do it at some point.

This picture was taken at the Black Sea at about 5:05am

Sometimes there just aren't words to describe anything about this part of my life.

This list is not complete and probably never will be since there are a thousand and one other thoughts or experiences that did not get written down.