Spring is here! Spring is here!

I have decided that the arrival of Spring in Floresti has nothing to do with the time of year but solely because I wrote about the lengthiness of winter. The day AFTER I posted that blog, winter went on hiatus and Spring finally, well...Sprung!!! And this girl could not be more happy.

The sun is shining, birds (other than crows) are chirping, baby lambs are being born, flowers and vegetables are being planted, people are coming out of their houses to work in their yard, Becca wore a skirt (yes, I know-topsy turvy world....Spring just made me do crazy things), I was able to dust off the sunglasses, and best of all-put away all my long underwear and wool coats!

Oh yeah, another reason I know Spring is here.....I have started sneezing and my eyes are constantly itching. Ah, allergy season - after the long winter, I have even missed you!

Everyone seems to be giddy with the vitamin D we have been lacking all winter. And I can't help myself either. I am smiling more, being more peppy and I've changed my walking music to Hip/Hop and Pop (you're all aghast-I know)!

I've also dusted off the camera and have been taking pictures of the glory that is Spring in Floresti (to date I have taken over 2250 pictures just in Moldova). Right now its all about the little spots of green and the beginning sprouts of plants, but I know that right around the corner the trees will begin to bud and Floresti will be colorful again! I have updated the Season Changes photo album on Facebook to include some of the new pictures I've taken of early Spring. The link is posted below the main picture on this blog.

Spring cleaning is also here. Yesterday (March 24) all of our students participated in a park clean up day after classes were finished. Check out the pictures I posted in a Facebook Photo Album.

After taking pictures of our students in the park, I realized that I have not really documented a typical day in school. So to fix this, I took pictures and videos in all of my classes today. Below are the pictures and videos! I'm so proud of how far my students have come!

A Typical Thursday

I begin with the 5th grade (which is a great way to start my day).

Here are three students reading a dialogue.

Cristian one of my best 5th graders

Practicing our pronunciation of the new vocabulary

This is video of some of my 5th graders reading sentences from their homework (and you'll hear me correcting a student-they always say "where" when they should say "their/there")

The next class is my 11th graders.

Here they are working in pairs on a vocabulary exercise.

Above is Cristi and Luida, then Igor and Cristina

My partner Elena checking attendance and writing grades in the catalog (grade book)

Cristi (I have 2 Cristis in this class), one of my 11th graders, comes in 15 minutes late while another student is getting ready to read. I ask him why and this is his response.

For my third lesson, I have the wonderful 7th grade class

Elena and I (although I am behind the camera) reviewing homework with the students

Gheorghe (George) reading answers to the previous night's homework assignment

Valentina reading a story in the text book

All of the students in the 7th grade are enthusiastic about giving answers (especially on the homework)

Again, its vocabulary time. These are the top three students in the class so while I pronounced the English version of the word, they would give the Romanian variant since they had already translated their new vocabulary at home the night before.

The fourth lesson is with one of my two 8th grade classes.

My top two 8th graders working on a writing assignment in class

The fifth lesson (and the last one for the day) is with the second of my two 8th grade classes. These classes are at very different levels (speaking, reading, writing and comprehension) even though they are the same age and grade.

One of my 8th graders takes his vocabulary serious. Look at the color coding between English, Romanian and Phonetic spelling of each word

Writing the Romanian translation of their new vocabulary as we go through the list

Using a dictionary to find a word he doesn't understand. I love how self sufficient my students in this class are instead of either ignoring that they don't understand or interrupting class by asking another student or us. This is his first year learning English-he was previously learning French and he's come along way!

This is Vasile one of my 8th graders reading an alternate version of "Little Red Riding Hood". The assignment was to put the various passages in the correct order. Again, you'll hear me correcting some of his pronunciation, but overall he did a great job!

I wanna send you a package...

I love that my friends and family want to send me things. I've said in past posts that packages are like Christmas year round. Everyone gets so excited to see what each volunteer gets from home. And I love when people tell me that they want to send me stuff, but I can never think of what to say to their next question: What do you need/want?

Honestly, most basic stuff I am able to get here (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hair product, etc.) And I am able to get some basic school supplies here (pens, pencils, binders, folders) but the quality is not always the best. But there are some things I am not able to get (Peanut butter, Dr.Pepper) or the quality is just not good at all. So I have started a list on the right panel of this blog under 'Send Me Stuff' to give ya'll an idea. Now please do not take this as me saying for everyone to send me a package. If you do, thank you I am super appreciative. But by no means is it required. And sending a package here can get pricey so I recommend the Post Office's flat rate box (I think from the Sacramento area its usually $40-$50)

Also I'm always happy to get fun teacher-y things. One of my students' favorite thing is a stamp from Staci and Sam that says "Nice Work". I use it with my 5th and 7th grade classes when checking their homework. They LOVE it.

The winter of MY discontent

So, apparently the weather in Moldova (at least in the Northern part) has not received the memo that Winter needs to move on and make way for Spring. Spring shows her beautiful face from time to time. But I realize now she is really just taunting us. Her and Winter are in on this together.

It has snowed everyday this week. Not very hard or even very long, but just enough to stick for a few hours. But the snow is not my problem, its the cold, cold wind even though we have blue skies and sunshine. This horrible phenomenon of icy cold temperatures, wind but gorgeous sun is called "Soare cu dinti" (Sun with teeth).

Spring, please hear my plea (cause I know you read my blog!) and push winter away. I don't want to wear multiple layers anymore. That is all I ask!

Over 6,550 hours in Moldova

This day 9 months ago (or as one volunteer put it-a pregnancy ago) I landed in Chisinau, Moldova to begin my Peace Corps experience. Man has time flown. This also means I have completed 1/3 of my service time. I like keeping the numbers big (e.g. More than 6,550 hours completed vs 274 days vs 9 months). On the flip side I prefer keeping the amount of time I have remaining in smaller amounts such as saying that I have 1 year, 5 months and 1 week vs 525 days or 12,600 hours.

I realize 9 months is an odd anniversary. But I celebrate each month here knowing that I am doing something I love (most days) and something I have wanted to do for several years. I know its a little odd to already be calculating how long I have until I complete my service. But as each day passes and I get closer to the end (which I do know is still very far away) I know I am fulfilling a dream and being part of an experience that is huge!

(Yes, this post is a little more sentimental than others-just wait 'til I hit the 1 year mark!!!)

Now for an update about a few things happening or that have happened this year:

1 - I was accepted as one of 5 co-directors for a teen girls leadership camp that will be held here in Moldova in August. I am super excited about this and am looking forward to seeing how things go. The organization is called the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Initiative. It used to be Camp GLOW, which the camp itself will retain this name, but we wanted to expand our mission so the name was changed. Now we are not only doing the camp for girls 15-17 years old, but we will travel around Moldova to various towns, villages and universities conducting seminars for adults and college students about creating GLOW programs in their own communities. We are hoping that by doing this, we will be able to reach out to more girls year round versus just the camp in the summer.

2 - I just found out today that I have also become one of the event coordinators for the volunteer run Peer Support Network. This is a group for volunteers and is exactly what it sounds like-its a forum for volunteers to reach out to others when they need. Last year the group hosted the Thanksgiving gathering, a Halloween party, a 5k run/walk and we have many more in store for this year!

3 - I booked my vacation for the Spring Break in April. I am heading to Vienna for 6 days with two other volunteers, Tom and MacKenzie. Also, Emily (the girl I met in Spain) will be joining us there for a few days at the beginning of the trip.

4 - This semester is going much smoother than the last. My Romanian is getting better (I still have plenty of days where I just don't understand anything). But my relationship with my students is getting stronger each day and I am starting to get a small feeling of actually doing something positive for them and making improvements to their education and of course English.

5 - At the beginning of April I will be moving out of my host family's house and into an apartment in the center of town. While I will be sad to leave my family (I'll be back to visit all the time), I am excited to be closer to the center and my school while having some independence. At times it has been difficult to go back to living with a family when I have lived on my own for the last 12 years. I'm also excited about the chance to be closer to the center because it will make working in the community (other than in my school) easier!

6 - The M25 volunteers (the newbies) are already starting to get their invitations and we are meeting them via Facebook! Its so exciting to see their reactions and read their questions. In someways it feels like a lifetime ago since I received my invitation to Moldova although its only been a little over a year since that day! I know that while we are sad that some of our new friends and mentors (the M22s and M23s) will be leaving us, it is fun to know that we will have some new faces this summer and that we'll be the Seniors rather than the Freshmen!!

7 - My Dad called me the other day to tell me that I am official...they received in the mail, my degree from Sac State!! While I already knew it was official awhile ago when it posted to my transcripts, it is nice to know that I have a physical piece of paper proving it as well!!

8 - In January my host sister-in-law gave birth to her second child, a daughter Anastacia (Ana-sta-ci-a). Almost a month later (February 7) was her baptism and I was asked to be one of the secondary godmothers. In the Orthodox church they have multiple godparents. I was really touched that they asked. Below is a picture of me with my new fina (fee-na) or in English-god daughter.

I have also included a video of when she was actually being baptized-boy does the girl have some lungs on her. But it was not a surprise, the church was cold and she was naked!!