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

First birthday away

The first week of November was autumn break for all of the schools in Moldova. I was excited since this happen to coincide with my birthday (the first birthday I've had away from family and friends). As it worked out, we (the English Education volunteers) had an IST-In Service Training that week as I have mentioned in a previous post. This meant that I would at least be with all my friends for my birthday!!

Sunday, November 1st found Erika and Matt (two of my closest friends in Moldova) staying in Floresti with me. It was a great way to start the autumn break. We three went to Chisinau on Monday together and I was able to see another friend Tom since he was still in town. Me, Tom and a few other volunteers went out that night to a bar which turned out to be a karaoke bar. Let's just say, Becca sang karaoke with Tom...it was not good and completely laughable!! (And before you ask, we sang Alien Ant Farm's version of 'Smooth Criminal'). There are pictures somewhere. If I can get my hands on them, I will post em!

The training did not start until Tuesday, but the few of us volunteers who were facilitating presentations/discussion topics had to be in a day early to prepare any materials and go over any last minute changes needed.

The training went well. I enjoyed that it was volunteer led and mostly discussion based versus lecture based. Made it all more interesting! It was also nice being back with my group of volunteers and hearing about their schools, partners and sites. We had a lot of fun being back together.

So, Wednesday was my birthday. After training that day, we all went to a restaurant for dinner and of course drinks. Afterwards, we headed to another bar. It was a really great night and was a good distraction from not celebrating with friends and family back home. Highlight of the night however, was getting to talk to Staci. She called and I was ecstatic that I got to talk to her!! I have posted pictures from that night on my Facebook page and will include a link.

First Moldovan Birthday!

The remainder of the week went well. Not too much to talk about that. Towards the end of the week we heard rumors about schools being closed the week of November 9-13 because of the N1H1 Virus. There was a big outbreak in Ukraine (and as of right now we are not allowed to visit Ukraine). So in response and to allow the schools to implement some precautionary measures, classes were rumored to be cancelled. This did take place. I have not taught for the last two weeks (vacation and school closures). On one hand it was nice to have a week off and feel like we got to have a vacation/break of sorts since the original was filled with training. But on the other hand, I am now bored and a little listless because of all the downtime. However, the week was not all downtime and boring. Dan, one of the other volunteers and a good friend, came for a visit for three of the days. I showed him Floresti and on his second day here, we went to Balti and met some others. It was really nice having a friend visit. I took pictures of the day in Balti and added them to the Moldovan Characters album on my Facebook page. I included that link as well, just go all the way to the end of the album.

Here it is Saturday. There were talks about extending the school closures one more week as the number of N1H1 cases has risen here in Moldova. But the official word now is that we will return to schools on Monday. From there we will just have to see how things play out. Now, this next part is mostly for my mother...Peace Corps will be providing all the volunteers with the N1H1 vaccine. It should be arriving shortly and I will make my way to Chisinau to get it. They have already given us the seasonal flu vaccine. So you don't need to worry about me MOM!! hehe

On another note. While I was in Chisinau visiting the medical office to get my flu vaccine and pick up some misc cold medicines (just in case since winter is here) I decided to weigh myself. I know that I have lost weight (about 4 pant sizes) but I was not sure of how much. I was astonished and even asked the doctor to double check that I had correctly used the scale. Since arriving in June, I have lost about 50 lbs!! This makes me very happy, but the doctor was concerned so she is going to monitor things for awhile. I am not too worried though. I eat throughout the day decent amounts of food. I just credit the 25 minute walk (one way) up and down hills to my school everyday! Trust me, that walk alone would make anyone lose weight.