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.
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.
