Busy bee

A million apologies for my inability to stay current with this blog. When I first got to Moldova I didn't understand why so many volunteers were not keeping current on their blogs, I now understand. Although, I will say that while it may seem that I have neglected this blog, it has been on my mind and I have been writing a special posting for my 1 year anniversary...coming June 11!

It has been a very busy two months. In addition to moving into a new apartment, I also had to say good bye to Kyle my site mate. It was tough saying goodbye and his departure has left a void here in Floresti. April marked the first wave of volunteers leaving from the M22 group. By May they were all gone. Now volunteers from the M23 group are preparing to leave. Their departure will begin in July. I still remember them saying to us on our first day in Moldova "One year ago today we arrived!!" Now we will be saying that to the new group set to arrive on June 10.

Our M24 group is already planning the 1 year celebration for sometime in July. While its not at our one year mark, July just worked best for most everyone. I'm really looking forward to that weekend. I will have not only the 1 year celebration, but also my host sister's wedding (which will be my first Moldovan wedding). Knowing how we as volunteers celebrate and hearing how Moldovan weddings can be, I expect to get no sleep that whole weekend!

This past weekend, my friends and I had commented on how amazed we all are that we have been here for almost a year already. This first year has flown by at a blurring rate. I'm told the second year goes faster. Part of me is happy that it does go fast as I am anxious to see my friends and family again, but Moldova has become home so I want to soak up as much as I can while I am here. And my departure from here next year will definitely be bittersweet.

I have found that since moving, I have been about 200% busier since now its up to me to do everything necessary for living on one's own (e.g. cooking, cleaning, shopping...). But I'm enjoying it and making friends with my neighbors.

Today marked that last day of my first school year. The 12th graders and 9th graders "graduated" and three 5th graders rang the final bell. It was a great ceremony filled with all the pomp and circumstance I've come to appreciate here in Moldova. Afterwards, there was a concert in the center of town for all of Floresti's students and graduates.

This past weekend, I invited some volunteers to my apartment for a "End of the Year" celebration. A good time was had by all and I found myself giddy like a kid in a candy store the day before everyone came. It was so great to have an apartment filled with my closest friends here. We spent part of one day at the lake and two nights at some of the bars and one of the discos. I swelled with pride as I took everyone on a tour of my town. I foresee more gatherings here throughout the summer.

With school done for the summer, I am turning my attention to preparations for Camp GLOW in August and training for the incoming M25 volunteer group. Its amazing to me that in a matter of 11 days, a new crop of volunteers will be here and I will be celebrating 1 year in Moldova. I also plan to take this time to visit other volunteers' sites as well so I can see more of Moldova. This actually begins tomorrow with a trip to Telenesti where my friend Neal lives. I had not planned on any major trips this summer other than to Odessa, Ukraine with some volunteers for two days and possibly a trip to Bucharesti, Romania to visit Jackie the girl I met in Vienna, but Dan a fellow volunteer would hear none of that. So now I have added a week in Athens, Greece to my summer agenda and I couldn't be more excited!! It will be a great way to end my summer right before the new school year begins.

The New Digs

First thing-I have added some new pictures to the Floresti Seasonal Changes album on my Facebook page-just click on the link above this post under the blog title.

Also, I uploaded pictures from my Vienna trip. It was fabulous and I want to go back to Vienna again. It is a wonderful city and there is still so much that we were not able to see or experience in the 4days we were there. Here are the links to the albums:

Vienna Part 1

Vienna Part 2

My battery died so I stole Tom's camera

As some of you know, I was finally able to move into a new apartment, by myself. I like my host family, they have been really good to me, but I have lived on my own for so long I just wanted to have my space again. And fortunately, my host family was very understanding and supportive. It also helps that my new apartment is a 5 minute walk to my school versus the 30 minute walk that I had.

The apartment search was relatively easy for me which makes me feel a little guilty because I know of other volunteers who are having a very difficult time finding an apartment. There are no classified listings in the Sunday paper or Craigslist for Moldova. Its all word of mouth and asking if anyone has a place they'd be willing to rent for a year. The cultural phenomenon of everyone knowing the business of everyone else in the village helps this word of mouth though!!

My apartment is owned by the parents of my school director's daughter-in-law. They are incredibly nice and seem happy that the apartment which has been sitting empty will now be occupied for the next 14 or so months. It helps that they live just down the street so if there are any issues I can reach them easily. Another bonus (as far as safety is concerned) is that right across the hall from me is a family I know. My host sister-in-law Ina's sister and her husband and daughter are my new neighbors. They are very nice and I'm happy to have a close connection right across from me to my host family; its also just nice to know that I have familiar faces so near.

I moved in yesterday (Saturday, April 24) and I was giddy like a child. But I will say, it was definitely one of the easiest moves I've made-no furniture! I am on the third floor and I have windows on both sides of the apartment with great views (I took pictures). The apartment has 2 rooms-one is the bedroom (but I need to a get a bed put in there) and the other is a living room (which is where my sofa bed is now). It has a big entryway that is screaming for some piece of furniture haha. I also have an enclosed balcony area that runs from the living room to the kitchen. It has a great view and is where I will hang my laundry to dry. I do believe this apartment is twice the size of the studio I lived in when I was in Sacramento. My first night was great although I did realize that I have a lot of things I need to buy-least of them being utensils (forks, spoons..). I was the quintessential college freshman last night eating Ramon noodles from a big measuring bowl with a measuring spoon since I don't have bowls or utensils yet. I see a trip to the piata (pi-at-za) on this rainy day to buy a few essentials!

I am excited to have guests over. There is plenty of room and

Below are pictures from the big move!

My bags sitting in my room the night before. Many more were added.

Galina waving goodbye from behind the many many bags I had

Some of the 8th grade boys moving my sofa bed to my apartment

It was really heavy so they took a break

View from the balcony window

The kitchen

The Living Room

This is a chair that when folded out can be a bed. And its actually not too bad.

The Bedroom

The view from the Bedroom window

The Entryway

This is on the door of my Shower room. I love it!!

The toilet is in one room and the shower and sink in another.

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!!

Long overdue vacation post

Hello dear readers, my apologies (especially to Rachel F-thanks for the reminders) for not writing since December. I haven't been much in a writing mood (plus my space bar is not fully functional which makes this frustrating at times-never know how much you use a key until its broken). Also, things have been busy here lately (as evident that I started writing this post on February 14 and I'm just now getting it posted online March 10. This post was written in several parts!)

I last left you with tales of my Christmas. And I know some of you have been waiting to hear about my New Year's (or more specifically my trip to Spain!!) so here you go.

December 29: Moldova to Bucharest, Romania

I left Moldova on December 29 with 3 of my friends - Erika, Dan and Casey. Dan and Casey were spending their NYs in Romania, but we were all heading to Romania on the same day so we decided to take the overnight bus to Bucharest together. It was actually a good trip and surprisingly comfortable considering most bus experiences in the States and here in Moldova. The only downside of the trip was getting through passport control at the Moldova border, then again at the Romanian border. A few hours later and we were back on the road and in Romania.

December 30: Bucharest, Romania to Barcelona, Spain

The boys jumped off the bus before us since they were staying. Unfortunately, we were not entirely sure where we needed to get off but met an incredibly nice and helpful woman who told us which stop to take. Our dumb luck we missed the stop not realizing it was so close. The nice woman I mentioned earlier was kind enough to help us at the next stop (which happen to be her stop). She was being picked up by her boyfriend and they offered us a ride to the nearest local bus stop so we could get a ride to the airport. After a few twists and turns and wrong ways as we walked around Bucharest (and getting to meet one of I'm sure few Canadians) we finally found our way to the airport. In hindsight we were both very glad that we had so much time in between when we arrived in Bucharest and when we had to check in at the airport. Bucharest was great and we were excited that at the end of our trip we would have a full day to do more exploring.

When we landed in Spain the weather was FABULOUS!! By the time we got out of the airport, it was already getting dark,but we were able to walk around the city in just a t-shirt and light sweater! I could have cried I was so happy. We finally found the hostel (with some help from a gentleman who watched us walk up and down the street with our luggage). The staff was great and I highly recommend this hostel if you are in Barcelona (Yellow Nest Hostel). I have found the beauty of staying a hostel versus a hotel (other than saving a ton of money) is the chance to make new friends. We made 3 new friends while staying at the hostel! Two guys are from India but are getting their PhDs in Ireland. The third is an American woman who is living and working in Poland as an English teacher. The guys joined us for our New Year's celebrating after we picked Matt up at the airport (but I am jumping ahead of myself).

Back to our first night in Barcelona. The beauty of Spain is that people don't begin eating dinner until close to 10pm (by the way-I LOVE this about Spain. Those who know I am a night owl will understand this). This late night eating actually worked great for Erika and I because we were exhausted by the time we checked into the hostel and it gave us a couple of hours to rest before we went out in search of sustenance. Finally about 930pm we went for a walk around the city looking at cafes and pastry shops for the morning as well as a restaurant for dinner. We ended up at a little cafe where we sucked down 2 coca colas and had sandwiches (which were absolutely delicious). Then we strolled back to the hostel and promptly passed out from exhaustion.

December 31: Barcelona

The next day Erika and I agreed to just hop on and off the metro. We had no real plan other than seeing whatever we could. I liked traveling with her because she is so laid back and mellow. Neither of us wanted to structure the days trying to cram in all the touristy stuff. We simply wanted to go exploring and drink lots of good and yummy coffee!! So we filled our morning with a nice walk (and ride on the metro) around Barcelona. Along the way we some really amazing graffiti, cool store front doors, lots of blue skies and sun, and a fun park where kids played soccer. It was definitely a great start to our vacation. Alas, the time came for us to make our way back to the airport, but this time it was to meet Matt. When we got there we decided it would be fun to make signs for him. It was great fun since her sign was in English and said "Handsome Pants" which really threw departing guests off.

Then they would look at my sign in Romanian which said "Băiat cu faţa magice" (The boy with the magical face) its an inside joke. My sign really threw people off because I don't think anyone could understand what it said. Matt saw us and simply shook his head at our silliness, but did enjoy the signs.

We all headed back to the hostel, relaxed a bit and came up with a plan for that night. We decided that none of us wanted anything rowdy so we settled for some restaurant/bar hopping to kick start the New Year's celebration with some drinks and a little food. At the second restaurant our two new friends from Ireland joined us. After a few more drinks, from there we set out for La Rambla.

It was perfect-lots of happy festive people, but not so crowded you can't walk down the street and lots of cafes, bars and restaurants!

This is where we rang in the New Year with big lovely glasses of sangria, yummy tapas and paella! As a side note, I spent the whole New Year evening in a tank top and t-shirt! It did get breezy and eventually I started getting a little cold, but totally worth it! The only thing that was missing for me on this New Year was seeing my friends back home. But overall a very very good way to ring in the new year. I highly suggest Spain for your next New Years. Eventually we made our way back to the hostel and caught the tail end of the party that was happening in the lounge and game room. I hooked up with Emily (our third new friends we made). She and I made plans for her to join us for a little city exploration the next day then we all headed to bed.

January 1 (a new year and decade): Barcelona

It was nice to sleep in but we had exploring to do! We grabbed a little breakfast and of course some more yummy coffee (coffee will be a theme throughout this whole vacation because there is sadly a lack of really good coffee here in Moldova. To be fair, there are one or two decent places in Chisinau). After breakfast, we set off for La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. This was designed by Antoni Gaudi and is still being built today using his original specs. It was amazing. We wanted to go in, but when we saw the line to get into the cathedral wrapped around 3 blocks we decided to take pictures from the outside and make a mental note to come back in the future (preferably not on New Years day when everything touristy in the city is closed for the holiday!) we walked around a little more and made our way back to La Rambla to see it in the day light. Similar to our first day in Barcelona, we just meandered from place to place. At one point Emily and I decided to head out on our own. But as I mentioned before, EVERYTHING was closed, so our exploration was mostly limited to just walking around and getting lost a few times. But I have found that is the best way to see a city. Just get lost!

We later met back up with Erika and Matt, had a little dinner back at La Rambla (we just really like it on that street!!) and called it a night since we had to head to the airport at 5am the next day.

January 2-8: Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca (remember in Spanish 'll' sounds like 'y')

And that 5am came REALLY early. But we were on our way to the Metro and the airport despite little sleep. We were just excited about getting to the island plus we could catch a cat nap on the 30 minutes plane ride. Once we landed we were picked up by the taxi service I had booked before we left for vacation. It was kinda nice having a car service already set up. We got to the apartment/resort, checked in and quickly turned to children in a toy store. It was so great to be back in something that was more similar to being home. The apartment had two bedrooms, two bathrooms (with WONDERFUL showers) and a full kitchen and washing machine (yes-clothes were washed). We spent the week resting, reading, watching movies, drinking, eating lots of yummy food that we prepared ourselves, walking around exploring the island and shopping. It did rain a few times, but it never really hindered us and was actually nice at times. It was a wonderful way to end a fabulous vacation.

January 8: Palma de Mallorca to Barcelona to Bucharest

Sadly, our wonderful trip had to come to an end. Our end began at 5am when the taxi picked us up to take us back to the airport. We hopped our flight to Barcelona with just a small window to make our connection back to Bucharest. Matt however head back to Austria then to Moldova so once again it was just me and Erika. We arrived in Bucharest around 3:30pm then hung out at the airport for another volunteer Tom until about 530 when his flight arrived. It was great, we made a sign for him (similar to what we did for Matt) and surprised him outside of baggage claim. he thought he was meeting us at the hostel. The three of us took a bus to the hostel, relaxed for a bit from a long day of travelling then headed out on the town in search of food and beverages. We found a cute little Irish Pub...which ended up being out of all their Irish beers and food. But we were not discouraged, we stuck it out for some decently good food and a couple rounds of beers. Afterwards, we walked around a bit then hopped on the metro back towards to hostel where we promptly passed out for the night.

January 9: Bucharest to Moldova

Tom left us early the next morning to head back to his village in the south of Moldova. Erika and I slept in late, then explored Bucharest since our train did not leave until 7pm that night. We had no clear plan or itinerary, we just walked around or metro hopped throughout Bucharest stopping at small cafes throughout the day whenever we got too cold and wanted to warm up with a coffee. It was a great way to relax and see where the day and the city would take us. Later we checked out of the hostel (which had a wonderfully nice staff) and headed to the train station to meet up with Erin again. The three of us loaded onto a train bound for Chisinau at 7pm. We found our sleeper car which would normally sleep 4 people, but luck was on our side and it was just the three of us. The train was a really great Soviet era sleeper train and the three of us had a good time (lack of sleep can make everything funnier and more interesting!). I was surprised at how comfortable the beds were and the slow rocking of the train made it easy for me to sleep and sleep well! Around 1am we reached the Romanian border and were woken for the passport check. This experience was much nicer than our bus experience and I will always pay the extra money to take the train whenever possible (it only runs from Bucharest to Chisinau on odd numbered days and Chisinau to Bucharest on even numbered days). The longest part of the trip was changing the tracks as the train moved into Moldova. The train tracks in Moldova are leftover from the Soviet rule and are a different gauge than those in western Europe and Romania. The change took about 2 hours. But by 9am on January 10th, we were back in Chisinau and Moldova.
That about sums up my trip. Apologies again for taking so long to post this. This year has been a busy one already-without much effort to make it so on my part. I will try to be better and in fact, already have a new post lined up. I will have that up in a few days.

Wanna see photos? Check out my Photographic Essay about Spain I also have pictures from Bucharest that we took during our one full day and our train trip, but haven't posted those online yet. But here are a few videos I took.

A brief glimpse of La Rambla after New Years

The ocean and a sunny day makes Becca a happy girl!

What Matt thought of us Northern Californians after getting into the so called "cold"ocean water. I had to explain that it was just like the ocean in NorCal!