I think that at some point in our service, many of us begin to think that we have seen it all and that we have finally gotten into the swing of things here in Moldova. Seeing boxes of chicks and ducklings on overcrowded rutieras, being told to drink vodka to “clean our organs” when we are sick, and being propositioned by babas in the the village who have eligible sons or grandsons eventually cease to surprise us anymore. After a year and a half of service in the village of Bravicea (r. Cǎlǎraşi), I mistakenly felt I was done with those “I am living in Moldova!” moments that are all too frequent during the first months of service. A group of students at my school showed me just how misguided I was in this assumption.
Every year at the end of the first term, students from my school prepare a performance to celebrate the New Year. Each class presents about 15-20 minutes of songs, dances, and skits for their classmates, teachers, and parents. It gives them the opportunity to exhibit their various talents and creativity before the winter vacation starts.
This year, the 10th form is my direct taught English class and I have been able to develop a rather unique relationship with this particular group of students. As a result of teaching them alone, I have been able to connect with these kids on a more personal level than some of my other classes. A few months into the semester, I was approached by a couple of boys from this class and I was once again surprised (in a good way) by my life in Moldova. The majority of my students know that prior to going to university and becoming a Peace Corps volunteer, I was a professional ballet dancer. These 10th form boys decided to take advantage of my previous experience and asked me to teach them a particular part of the ballet, Swan Lake. When they first came to me with this idea, I assumed that they would want to learn the part of the Prince from the ballet…I was wrong. As if the fact that 2 Moldovan teenage boys were asking me to teach them ballet wasn’t enough, the part that they wanted me to teach them is usually performed by the 4 most petite female dancers in the company. For those of you have not seen the dance of the 4 Little Swans (or Danse des Petits Cygnes if you want to go the traditional French route), it involves a lot of fast-paced, repetitive foot work danced while holding hands.
I was honestly rather skeptical that these boys would actually go through with performing a ballet choreographed specifically for dainty girls in front of the entire school, but I agreed to help them in spite of my secret reservations – I am so glad that I did. My two students, Denis and Gheorge, were not only willing to learn ballet and rehearse after school, they actually enjoyed themselves thoroughly. At one point, it looked like the whole performance was going to be canceled, but they continued to come to rehearsals every day anyway. They told me that they wanted to finish learning the piece even if they weren’t going to be able to perform it for the school. Once it was established that the New Years celebration was, in fact, still going to take place, the rest of the students from their class started to work on costumes for the two boys. A few of the 10th form girls worked together to create tutus and headpieces for them from foil and these boys wore them with pride (and quite a bit of laughter).
Unfortunately, due to some scheduling issues at my school, the date of the performance was changed at the last minute and I was unable to attend the actual event. In the end, I was only able to watch a video recording of their interpretation of Swan Lake but I heard glowing reviews from many students, teachers, and even the director (who, believe me, is a tough lady to impress) from my school.
If you had asked me at the beginning of my service if I could imagine teaching ballet (especially a role danced by female dancers) to Moldovan teenage boys, I would have laughed in your face. This experience is definitely going to be one of the many that I remember and retell about my Peace Corps service throughout the rest of my life. It just goes to show that no matter how integrated we think we are and how “normal” things start to feel as we progress through our time here, this country and its amazing people still have a lot of surprises up their sleeves for us and there are many more “I am in Moldova!” moments still to come.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spring...almost
Today marks the first day of my Spring Break from school. As much as I genuinely love what I do here, this vacation has come as a welcome break from the daily grind of being a teacher (I know that many of you can relate to this). The past few weeks have been particularly challenging for a variety of reasons. One of these reasons is that one of my partner teachers has been out on sick leave for the past few weeks and another English teacher (who I don’t actually partner with) has also been out on sick leave. This means that I have been teaching the majority of my classes alone and have also been responsible for many of the other teacher’s classes as well. Needless to say, I was just as happy as the students when the bell rang at the end of the day on Friday!
Let me backtrack a bit to where I left off with my last blog post…I believe I was about to embark on an amazing vacation when I last wrote. My friend, Dan, and I traveled from Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) to Bucharest, Romania where we took a train to Belgrade and then on to Sarajevo. After visiting those 2 fascinating cities, we headed to Budapest for about 4 days. We met up with a couple of other Peace Corps volunteers there and together we welcomed in the New Year. I have to say that this was probably the best vacation I have ever been on. The cities we visited were full of history, traditions, and sights and I feel truly lucky to have had the opportunity to spend some time visiting them.
As I have mentioned before, the majority of Moldovans are Eastern Orthodox, and as such, they celebrate Christmas according to the old calendar on January 7th. Dan and I planned our trip so that we would be here in Moldova for both the “new” and the “old” Christmas. I had a great time celebrating both Christmases with my amazing host family at home in Bravicea. I learned about a couple of other Moldovan religious traditions that take place in January. Since there are 2 Christmases, there are also 2 New Years. Most people celebrate the New Year January 1st, but there are also many traditions surrounding January 14th which is “Anul Nou pe vechi”, or the Old New Year. This is one of the more interesting holidays in my opinion. On the eve of the 13th, many of the older boys in the village go from house to house chanting different rhymes about the new year and ringing bells. It is sort of like trick or treating in that they typically won’t go away until they are given candy or money. The next day, it is pretty common to be bombarded with bird seed by the younger kids in the village. Apparently, however much birdseed you are able to catch represents how many chicks will be born in the spring. January 19th is a holiday that celebrates the baptism of Christ. On this day, it is customary for women to take buckets and empty bottles to the church to get holy water. Many people keep holy water in their homes and drink “shots” (for lack of a better word) of it periodically. They believe that it helps maintain good health. The 20th of January is also considered a holiday in the Orthodox Church. This day celebrates Sfîntul Ion (Saint John…John the Baptist).
In February every year in Moldova, students represent their schools in academic Olympiads in their raion (district). One student from each grade (9-12) is chosen to compete at the regional level in each subject. I was asked to grade and evaluate the tests for English in my raion. In order to keep it fair and unbiased, the students’ names are covered so that we didn’t know who had written which test. I was joined by another volunteer and we spent the better part of a day grading grammar tests and reading essays written by about 20 students from all over my raion. In the end, the students from my school did very well…basically, they kicked some serious butt! My 9th form girl took 2nd place and the students from the 10th, 11th, and 12th forms took 1st place! This means that they will go on to represent our raion at the national level this week in Chişinău. I am so proud of their success!
This year I coached another team for the Odyssey of the Mind competition which was also held in February. The kids did really well again this year and were awarded with 1st place in their age division. They have been asked to participate in the Euro Fest competition that will be held in Poland this April. I am so glad that I have been able to be a part of such an amazing experience for these kids. Unfortunately for me, the dates of the competition conflict with my COS (Close of Service) conference. This conference is held every year for the group of volunteers that are leaving. It is an opportunity for sharing experiences and for taking care of some of the administrative stuff that goes along with finishing up our service here. Initially I was really worried about the conflict, but when I spoke to my Country Director, he was incredibly supportive and said that the decision was up to me. I thought about it and decided that while I would love the chance to meet with my fellow volunteers and bond over our time here, my first priority is my work with the kids in my village so I have decided to accompany my team to Poland instead of going to my COS conference.
The first of March is another important day in the Moldovan calendar. It supposedly signifies the first day of spring…now if only the weather would get on the same page! On this day, people exchange mărţişor which are little symbols made of fake flowers and red and white thread. There is a legend behind these mărţişor and you are supposed to wear one pinned to your clothes for the entire month of March. On the last day of the month you are supposed to pin it to a tree. March 8th is International Women’s Day and is celebrated here like our Mother’s Day. This past week at school, I was given many mărţişor as well as chocolates, flowers, and souvenirs in honor of both holidays. One of my good friends in my village is the main teacher for the 4th form class in my school. I teach English to this group of kids so when she asked me to help her put together a performance to honor the mothers of her class, I was happy to help. The kids presented a variety of songs, dances, poems, and skits for their moms on Thursday. It all went really well, with the exception of a brief loss of power (a very common occurrence in my village) in the middle of it. After the show, the moms invited my friend, Diana, and I to join them at a party they had organized in one of our local shops/bars. It was a really fun experience for me as I had not really met any of the moms before. It was also really interesting for me since most of the parties I have attended have been co-ed. Usually women are accompanied by their husbands, so this was the first time I had been to a real party that was just for women. Nobody seemed to be concerned with appearing ladylike and these women just let loose! It was so much fun to see a group of women enjoying each other’s company without worrying about appearances. They enjoyed their wine (and a bit of homemade vodka), talked, laughed, and danced together freely. At one point, a waltz came on and a few of the women paired off and danced together (these ladies can dance!). One woman explained to me that back during the war and then during the Soviet era, women got used to dancing together since there were rarely any men around.
I have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of weeks…as I said, it is my spring break and I am getting ready to meet my dad in Bucharest on Wednesday. We will spend a day or two there and then head back to Moldova. I had such an amazing time showing my mom and Isaac around when they were here last summer, so I am really looking forward to introducing my dad to my Moldovan life as well. On Friday, Vice President Biden will be speaking in the capital and he has extended an invitation to all Peace Corps volunteers in Moldova. I really hope that I will be able to attend the speech.
In my last post I mentioned that I had worked with a couple of my 10th form boys on a ballet performance for the New Years show at school. Well, that experience left such a strong impression on me, I decided to write about it. When I wrote the article, I was really just doing to record my experience and my thoughts and feelings about it…I didn’t really have any goal for it past that. I shared it with a friend of mine and she recommended that I submit it to the Peace Corps staff in the capital. I did so and it ended up being published in our monthly newsletter. I also went on to submit a shorter version of the article to our volunteer-run magazine that will be published in April. I will go ahead and include it in a separate blog entry for anyone that might be interested in reading about a couple of Moldovan teenage boys dancing Swan Lake.
I am also including a link to a website that I have set up to raise funds for my team’s trip to Poland. I hate having to ask for monetary assistance (especially since so many of you were beyond generous last year), but our other source of funding has fallen through and my kids are really struggling to find the money to make this trip happen. Any contribution, no matter how small, will help us immensely and will be greatly appreciated.
http://eurofest2010.chipin.com/odyssey-of-the-mind-euro-fest-2011
I have been given my official COS date and it looks like I will be heading back to the good ole Lonestar state on July 27th. I can’t believe how fast time is passing!
Let me backtrack a bit to where I left off with my last blog post…I believe I was about to embark on an amazing vacation when I last wrote. My friend, Dan, and I traveled from Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) to Bucharest, Romania where we took a train to Belgrade and then on to Sarajevo. After visiting those 2 fascinating cities, we headed to Budapest for about 4 days. We met up with a couple of other Peace Corps volunteers there and together we welcomed in the New Year. I have to say that this was probably the best vacation I have ever been on. The cities we visited were full of history, traditions, and sights and I feel truly lucky to have had the opportunity to spend some time visiting them.
As I have mentioned before, the majority of Moldovans are Eastern Orthodox, and as such, they celebrate Christmas according to the old calendar on January 7th. Dan and I planned our trip so that we would be here in Moldova for both the “new” and the “old” Christmas. I had a great time celebrating both Christmases with my amazing host family at home in Bravicea. I learned about a couple of other Moldovan religious traditions that take place in January. Since there are 2 Christmases, there are also 2 New Years. Most people celebrate the New Year January 1st, but there are also many traditions surrounding January 14th which is “Anul Nou pe vechi”, or the Old New Year. This is one of the more interesting holidays in my opinion. On the eve of the 13th, many of the older boys in the village go from house to house chanting different rhymes about the new year and ringing bells. It is sort of like trick or treating in that they typically won’t go away until they are given candy or money. The next day, it is pretty common to be bombarded with bird seed by the younger kids in the village. Apparently, however much birdseed you are able to catch represents how many chicks will be born in the spring. January 19th is a holiday that celebrates the baptism of Christ. On this day, it is customary for women to take buckets and empty bottles to the church to get holy water. Many people keep holy water in their homes and drink “shots” (for lack of a better word) of it periodically. They believe that it helps maintain good health. The 20th of January is also considered a holiday in the Orthodox Church. This day celebrates Sfîntul Ion (Saint John…John the Baptist).
In February every year in Moldova, students represent their schools in academic Olympiads in their raion (district). One student from each grade (9-12) is chosen to compete at the regional level in each subject. I was asked to grade and evaluate the tests for English in my raion. In order to keep it fair and unbiased, the students’ names are covered so that we didn’t know who had written which test. I was joined by another volunteer and we spent the better part of a day grading grammar tests and reading essays written by about 20 students from all over my raion. In the end, the students from my school did very well…basically, they kicked some serious butt! My 9th form girl took 2nd place and the students from the 10th, 11th, and 12th forms took 1st place! This means that they will go on to represent our raion at the national level this week in Chişinău. I am so proud of their success!
This year I coached another team for the Odyssey of the Mind competition which was also held in February. The kids did really well again this year and were awarded with 1st place in their age division. They have been asked to participate in the Euro Fest competition that will be held in Poland this April. I am so glad that I have been able to be a part of such an amazing experience for these kids. Unfortunately for me, the dates of the competition conflict with my COS (Close of Service) conference. This conference is held every year for the group of volunteers that are leaving. It is an opportunity for sharing experiences and for taking care of some of the administrative stuff that goes along with finishing up our service here. Initially I was really worried about the conflict, but when I spoke to my Country Director, he was incredibly supportive and said that the decision was up to me. I thought about it and decided that while I would love the chance to meet with my fellow volunteers and bond over our time here, my first priority is my work with the kids in my village so I have decided to accompany my team to Poland instead of going to my COS conference.
The first of March is another important day in the Moldovan calendar. It supposedly signifies the first day of spring…now if only the weather would get on the same page! On this day, people exchange mărţişor which are little symbols made of fake flowers and red and white thread. There is a legend behind these mărţişor and you are supposed to wear one pinned to your clothes for the entire month of March. On the last day of the month you are supposed to pin it to a tree. March 8th is International Women’s Day and is celebrated here like our Mother’s Day. This past week at school, I was given many mărţişor as well as chocolates, flowers, and souvenirs in honor of both holidays. One of my good friends in my village is the main teacher for the 4th form class in my school. I teach English to this group of kids so when she asked me to help her put together a performance to honor the mothers of her class, I was happy to help. The kids presented a variety of songs, dances, poems, and skits for their moms on Thursday. It all went really well, with the exception of a brief loss of power (a very common occurrence in my village) in the middle of it. After the show, the moms invited my friend, Diana, and I to join them at a party they had organized in one of our local shops/bars. It was a really fun experience for me as I had not really met any of the moms before. It was also really interesting for me since most of the parties I have attended have been co-ed. Usually women are accompanied by their husbands, so this was the first time I had been to a real party that was just for women. Nobody seemed to be concerned with appearing ladylike and these women just let loose! It was so much fun to see a group of women enjoying each other’s company without worrying about appearances. They enjoyed their wine (and a bit of homemade vodka), talked, laughed, and danced together freely. At one point, a waltz came on and a few of the women paired off and danced together (these ladies can dance!). One woman explained to me that back during the war and then during the Soviet era, women got used to dancing together since there were rarely any men around.
I have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of weeks…as I said, it is my spring break and I am getting ready to meet my dad in Bucharest on Wednesday. We will spend a day or two there and then head back to Moldova. I had such an amazing time showing my mom and Isaac around when they were here last summer, so I am really looking forward to introducing my dad to my Moldovan life as well. On Friday, Vice President Biden will be speaking in the capital and he has extended an invitation to all Peace Corps volunteers in Moldova. I really hope that I will be able to attend the speech.
In my last post I mentioned that I had worked with a couple of my 10th form boys on a ballet performance for the New Years show at school. Well, that experience left such a strong impression on me, I decided to write about it. When I wrote the article, I was really just doing to record my experience and my thoughts and feelings about it…I didn’t really have any goal for it past that. I shared it with a friend of mine and she recommended that I submit it to the Peace Corps staff in the capital. I did so and it ended up being published in our monthly newsletter. I also went on to submit a shorter version of the article to our volunteer-run magazine that will be published in April. I will go ahead and include it in a separate blog entry for anyone that might be interested in reading about a couple of Moldovan teenage boys dancing Swan Lake.
I am also including a link to a website that I have set up to raise funds for my team’s trip to Poland. I hate having to ask for monetary assistance (especially since so many of you were beyond generous last year), but our other source of funding has fallen through and my kids are really struggling to find the money to make this trip happen. Any contribution, no matter how small, will help us immensely and will be greatly appreciated.
http://eurofest2010.chipin.com/odyssey-of-the-mind-euro-fest-2011
I have been given my official COS date and it looks like I will be heading back to the good ole Lonestar state on July 27th. I can’t believe how fast time is passing!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Merry Christmas!
After quite a long absence from my blog, I have finally returned. I have no real excuse for my neglect, but I hope to get back into the swing of keeping this thing updated regularly.
I am days away from completing my third (of four) semesters of teaching here in Moldova, and the fact that I only have one semester left is slowly beginning to sink in. When I think back to my first few days of teaching English, I have to laugh at how utterly petrified, confused, clueless, and hopeful I was. Over the past year and a half, I have learned so much about my fellow teachers, students, and myself. I am also happy to report that when I go to teachers meetings at school now, I actually understand what is being said (at least about 93% of the time). I remember my first meeting at the school, which took place within the first couple of weeks of my first semester, and how I had absolutely no clue what was being discussed…there was a lot of smiling and nodding on my part.
Just when I think that I have figured things out here and that I have heard/seen it all, I hear a new story or I hear about a new tradition that just blows my mind. On December 13th, Moldovans celebrated St. Andrei’s (Andrew’s) day. I don’t know how I missed this particular holiday last year, but apparently I did. I had a very interesting conversation about the traditions of this particular Saint’s Day with my 10th form class. They informed me that it is customary for the boys in the village to go around on the night before the holiday and steal the gates from the houses of the marriageable girls that they like. For those of you who have never seen a Moldovan gate, let me tell you…this is an impressive feat. They are generally rather imposing metal structures that can’t possible be easy to maneuver. I have heard two variants of the following tradition…one involving a hairbrush and one involving a broom…either way, girls are supposed to sleep with either object under their pillows the night before the holiday in order to dream about their future husbands. My host mom told me that when she was younger, she would write all of the boys’ names she could think of on slips of paper and then sleep with those under her pillow. When she woke up, she would pull out one slip of paper and the name on her selection would be the name of her future husband. I am rather surprised these girls can sleep at all, let alone dream of anything, with all of that stuff under their pillows! My host mom also told me about one more tradition that she practiced as a young girl. She said that she and her friends would line up in a hallway and kick their slippers as far as they could to see who would get married first. It is rather interesting to see how many Moldovan traditions/customs/superstitions involve marriage. For instance, a single person (esp. a girl) should never sit at the corner of a table…if she does, she will never get married.
I was also educated in the etiquette of doing laundry in Moldova recently. I am not quite sure how the topic came up, but one day over dinner with my host mom, I learned all about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable while doing laundry. For most Moldovan families, it is the wife/mother who is responsible for all of the household’s laundry. There are, however, a couple of exceptions. According to my host mom (who is my primary source of information dealing with the customs and traditions of my adopted country) a wife should never wash her husband’s underwear, socks, or handkerchiefs. Apparently, those particular items are just too intimate and the man should be responsible for washing them himself.
Winter in Moldova is full of opportunities for me to experience new things. Remember that I grew up in Texas and was not exactly exposed to many wintertime activities as a child. As a result of this, I still get a bit excited every time it snows here (esp. since that means that the mud is frozen and I won’t have to clean my shoes 3 times a day). After our first real snow of the winter, I walked outside the school and immediately got bombarded by snowballs. I would like to say that what I experienced was a snowball fight with my students, but that would be putting it lightly…it was more of a massacre, and I was definitely not the victor. Later that day I definitely experienced one of those “wow, I am living in Moldova” moments. I had stayed after class to help my 10th form prepare for their holiday performance (more on that in a bit) and ended up leaving school at the same time as all of my 10th form students. I walked out with a couple of the boys and they told me to wait for our “taxi” home. I assumed they were joking and just wanted to wait for the rest of their classmates so I stuck around with them for a few minutes. All of sudden, out of the darkness behind the school, there appeared a horse pulling a sleigh. Now, when I say “sleigh”, I do not want to give you the romantic image of the kind of horse-drawn sleigh that Santa drives…what I saw that evening was more along the lines of a few boards nailed together on a couple of metal blades. It can’t have stood more than 3 inches above the ground. Well, the nearly the entire 10th form (it must have been at least 10-12 students) crammed onto the sleigh and I was dragged up on it as well. As soon as the horse took his first steps, we all went flying off the back. Luckily nobody got hurt, and we rearranged ourselves so that we were all either sitting or squatting on the sleigh. I was given the place of honor up in the front next to the driver (one of my students). This meant that as soon as the horse started galloping, I got a face-full of snow and ice. It was rather scary since we were so low to the ground and I couldn’t see around the horse…and because we were moving at break-neck speeds in the dark (my village doesn’t exactly have street lights). Anyways, we all eventually made it home safe and sound and I have to say that my first village “taxi” ride was pretty fantastic. About a week later, I was walking home with this same group of students again and suffered the consequences of being a girl. Apparently, it is customary for the boys to pelt their female classmates with snowballs the whole way home. The girls, for the most part, go along with it in a relatively resigned way…occasionally yelling at the boys if they throw too hard or mess up their hair. Well, as the new “girl” around, the boys soon switched their focus to me. This was ok at first and I managed to dodge some of their snowballs, but the night ended rather badly for me. I made the mistake of turning around to say something just as one boy hurled a snowball that was intended for my back. I managed to catch it right in my open eye….let me tell you, snow is not nearly as soft and fluffy as it is the movies! Needless to say, my eye was red and puffy for a couple of days. I felt a bit bad for the kid who hit me…he looked so embarrassed and guilty as he tried to dust the snow off of my face, head, and shoulder. His classmates still bring it up every once in awhile when they want to have a bit of fun.
Since Moldovans are Eastern Orthodox, many people celebrate Christmas on January 7th instead of December 25th. My host family, however, celebrates on both dates (but their main celebration is on the 25th). My host mom keeps talking about how only crazy Moldovans would celebrate Christmas twice, but I keep telling her that it is better this way. Who doesn’t want 2 Christmases?! I think she is going to start preparing food for the holiday tomorrow (it is a long process and everything has to be done right). I will leave Moldova for a trip the day after the first Christmas and will be back a few days before the second (I don’t want to miss either celebration!). I am going to Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Budapest with another volunteer and I am so excited! We will be in Budapest for New Years and I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience.
I am going to try my best to do a better job of keeping this updated for my last 7-8 months here in Moldova.
I will be thinking of all of you back home as I celebrate another round of holidays away from you…I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season with the people you love.
Crăciun Fericit!
Merry Christmas!
I am days away from completing my third (of four) semesters of teaching here in Moldova, and the fact that I only have one semester left is slowly beginning to sink in. When I think back to my first few days of teaching English, I have to laugh at how utterly petrified, confused, clueless, and hopeful I was. Over the past year and a half, I have learned so much about my fellow teachers, students, and myself. I am also happy to report that when I go to teachers meetings at school now, I actually understand what is being said (at least about 93% of the time). I remember my first meeting at the school, which took place within the first couple of weeks of my first semester, and how I had absolutely no clue what was being discussed…there was a lot of smiling and nodding on my part.
Just when I think that I have figured things out here and that I have heard/seen it all, I hear a new story or I hear about a new tradition that just blows my mind. On December 13th, Moldovans celebrated St. Andrei’s (Andrew’s) day. I don’t know how I missed this particular holiday last year, but apparently I did. I had a very interesting conversation about the traditions of this particular Saint’s Day with my 10th form class. They informed me that it is customary for the boys in the village to go around on the night before the holiday and steal the gates from the houses of the marriageable girls that they like. For those of you who have never seen a Moldovan gate, let me tell you…this is an impressive feat. They are generally rather imposing metal structures that can’t possible be easy to maneuver. I have heard two variants of the following tradition…one involving a hairbrush and one involving a broom…either way, girls are supposed to sleep with either object under their pillows the night before the holiday in order to dream about their future husbands. My host mom told me that when she was younger, she would write all of the boys’ names she could think of on slips of paper and then sleep with those under her pillow. When she woke up, she would pull out one slip of paper and the name on her selection would be the name of her future husband. I am rather surprised these girls can sleep at all, let alone dream of anything, with all of that stuff under their pillows! My host mom also told me about one more tradition that she practiced as a young girl. She said that she and her friends would line up in a hallway and kick their slippers as far as they could to see who would get married first. It is rather interesting to see how many Moldovan traditions/customs/superstitions involve marriage. For instance, a single person (esp. a girl) should never sit at the corner of a table…if she does, she will never get married.
I was also educated in the etiquette of doing laundry in Moldova recently. I am not quite sure how the topic came up, but one day over dinner with my host mom, I learned all about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable while doing laundry. For most Moldovan families, it is the wife/mother who is responsible for all of the household’s laundry. There are, however, a couple of exceptions. According to my host mom (who is my primary source of information dealing with the customs and traditions of my adopted country) a wife should never wash her husband’s underwear, socks, or handkerchiefs. Apparently, those particular items are just too intimate and the man should be responsible for washing them himself.
Winter in Moldova is full of opportunities for me to experience new things. Remember that I grew up in Texas and was not exactly exposed to many wintertime activities as a child. As a result of this, I still get a bit excited every time it snows here (esp. since that means that the mud is frozen and I won’t have to clean my shoes 3 times a day). After our first real snow of the winter, I walked outside the school and immediately got bombarded by snowballs. I would like to say that what I experienced was a snowball fight with my students, but that would be putting it lightly…it was more of a massacre, and I was definitely not the victor. Later that day I definitely experienced one of those “wow, I am living in Moldova” moments. I had stayed after class to help my 10th form prepare for their holiday performance (more on that in a bit) and ended up leaving school at the same time as all of my 10th form students. I walked out with a couple of the boys and they told me to wait for our “taxi” home. I assumed they were joking and just wanted to wait for the rest of their classmates so I stuck around with them for a few minutes. All of sudden, out of the darkness behind the school, there appeared a horse pulling a sleigh. Now, when I say “sleigh”, I do not want to give you the romantic image of the kind of horse-drawn sleigh that Santa drives…what I saw that evening was more along the lines of a few boards nailed together on a couple of metal blades. It can’t have stood more than 3 inches above the ground. Well, the nearly the entire 10th form (it must have been at least 10-12 students) crammed onto the sleigh and I was dragged up on it as well. As soon as the horse took his first steps, we all went flying off the back. Luckily nobody got hurt, and we rearranged ourselves so that we were all either sitting or squatting on the sleigh. I was given the place of honor up in the front next to the driver (one of my students). This meant that as soon as the horse started galloping, I got a face-full of snow and ice. It was rather scary since we were so low to the ground and I couldn’t see around the horse…and because we were moving at break-neck speeds in the dark (my village doesn’t exactly have street lights). Anyways, we all eventually made it home safe and sound and I have to say that my first village “taxi” ride was pretty fantastic. About a week later, I was walking home with this same group of students again and suffered the consequences of being a girl. Apparently, it is customary for the boys to pelt their female classmates with snowballs the whole way home. The girls, for the most part, go along with it in a relatively resigned way…occasionally yelling at the boys if they throw too hard or mess up their hair. Well, as the new “girl” around, the boys soon switched their focus to me. This was ok at first and I managed to dodge some of their snowballs, but the night ended rather badly for me. I made the mistake of turning around to say something just as one boy hurled a snowball that was intended for my back. I managed to catch it right in my open eye….let me tell you, snow is not nearly as soft and fluffy as it is the movies! Needless to say, my eye was red and puffy for a couple of days. I felt a bit bad for the kid who hit me…he looked so embarrassed and guilty as he tried to dust the snow off of my face, head, and shoulder. His classmates still bring it up every once in awhile when they want to have a bit of fun.
Since Moldovans are Eastern Orthodox, many people celebrate Christmas on January 7th instead of December 25th. My host family, however, celebrates on both dates (but their main celebration is on the 25th). My host mom keeps talking about how only crazy Moldovans would celebrate Christmas twice, but I keep telling her that it is better this way. Who doesn’t want 2 Christmases?! I think she is going to start preparing food for the holiday tomorrow (it is a long process and everything has to be done right). I will leave Moldova for a trip the day after the first Christmas and will be back a few days before the second (I don’t want to miss either celebration!). I am going to Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Budapest with another volunteer and I am so excited! We will be in Budapest for New Years and I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience.
I am going to try my best to do a better job of keeping this updated for my last 7-8 months here in Moldova.
I will be thinking of all of you back home as I celebrate another round of holidays away from you…I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season with the people you love.
Crăciun Fericit!
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Summertime Fun
It has been a while since my last post, and time has been flying! I had some issues with my computer, and while it is at least back in my possession, it is still not quite right (I am really trying to avoid having to buy a new one here because, aside from the money, any computer I buy here will have Russian Windows and that is just not fun).
My mom and Isaac were here for their visit in June and it was absolutely fantastic to see them both. You all know I am not exactly what most people would consider an emotional person, but when I saw them coming through the arrivals gate at the airport here in Chişinǎu, I have to admit that I got a bit teary-eyed. Within their first few minutes of being here, they got to experience the joys of Moldovan public transportation…something that quickly became my mom’s…ahem…favorite part of Moldova. Just ask her about the window policy. For the first 5 days of their trip, we stayed in an apartment in the capital. There are a few ladies that all of us Peace Corps volunteers know who have a few apartments close to the PC offices that they rent to us when we want to stay a night or two in the capital. We used the apartment as a home base and took trips to other parts of the country. It was nice for me too because, although I have been here for over a year now, there were still some places I hadn’t managed to visit yet. We spent some time exploring the capital and went to the history museum here…not sure that the museum really made the history of this country any clearer though (it is pretty complicated). We also took a day trip to Orheiul Vechi which has beautiful scenery and some really old cave monasteries. We trekked up to Soroca which has a fortress that is pretty famous and had a good meal there. The World Cup was in full swing so we went to the National Theatre in the capital one night because they had a huge screen and a bunch of tables set up outside. I think we were all surprised when it became clear that there were actually people cheering for North Korea. One night, my mom cooked a meal at the apartment and some of my PC friends came over. It was nice to be able to introduce my friends to mom and Isaac. That weekend, we headed out to my village so that I could show them what my life is like here. Isaac quickly charmed everyone (surprise, surprise) and picked up some Romanian phrases to impress the locals. My host mom had clearly been cooking and cleaning for some time because there was a huge spread ready for us as soon as we arrived. My mom enjoyed talking to my host parents about their lives and the history of Moldova…I was actually pretty happy with my ability to translate (except when my mom started trying to ask complicated questions after I had had a bit of house wine). I took them around the village and they got to see the school where I work, the primaria (mayor’s office), the hospital, the village library, the church, and the cemetery. That night, two of my former 12th form students took Isaac and I to the disco (a place I normally avoid since ALL of my students starting the 8th form go there every weekend). It was really fun and I think Isaac enjoyed seeing what people his age do in Moldova for fun. The next day we made some margaritas with the mix that mom brought from America. Nobody here had ever had tequila before (it is really expensive and not terribly easy to find) and they all loved the new drink. We took the rest of the margaritas to a bbq in the woods where mom and Isaac got to meet my partner teacher, Svetlana, and her family; my other partner, Ana; my old Romanian tutor, Diana; and another one of my former students, Petrea; and his father. There was a lot of eating, drinking (of course), and even some singing. Later that day, Isaac went with Sergiu (my partner’s son and my former student) and Petrea to the village’s sports stadium to play volleyball with some other kids. I think Isaac got a kick out of the tradition of drinking house wine every time they switched sides.
After a fun-filled weekend, we headed to Romania on a 13 hour overnight train. We spent 5 days in Bucuresti and just enjoyed spending time together. We took our time and managed to see a couple of things every day without stressing out over getting from place to place. One day we had a picnic in a beautiful park and took a row boat onto a lake…where I embarrassed myself trying to row, and another day we spent bar/café hopping because it was raining. It was wonderful to be able to just relax, talk, and catch up after a year apart. While we were in Romania, I took advantage of the many varieties of food options that were available (Moldova is somewhat lacking in that department). It was interesting for me to be in a country that at times felt very similar to Moldova, and at others, completely different. People speak the same language…sort of…but without any of the Russian influence that is so prevalent in Moldova. I found it much easier to understand what people were saying in Romania. There are also a large number of English speakers in Romania which explains why, though there are Peace Corps programs in Romania, English Education is not one of them.
When I got back to Moldova after the trip, I started helping out with the training sessions for the new volunteers. I have enjoyed leading some of these sessions because it not only gave me something to do during the time off from school, but it has also provided a good way to get to know the new English teachers. Seeing the new trainees as they adjust to life in Moldova and life as PC volunteers has made me think back to my own experiences at this time last year. It has made me realize how far I have come in so many ways and how much I have learned since I arrived last June. I am going to be getting a site mate here in my village in August. Her name is Crystal and she is a Health Education volunteer. She will teach some classes at my school and also work with the local medical center to put together seminars for the community. At first, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about having another American in such close proximity but I think it will end up being great. It will be especially nice to have another American around once winter hits and it is dark at 4pm and we are trapped in the village because the roads are so bad. We might also be able to collaborate on a project or two which could work out really well. She still has another couple of weeks of training before she moves here permanently, but I did have fun showing her around and helping with translating while she was here for her site visit. Helping her reminded me of how scared, intimidated, and absolutely clueless I was when I was doing this last year. Being sent to a small Moldovan village, dropped off at a strange house, and introduced to your new boss when you have only been studying a language for about a month is one of the scariest things I have ever experienced so I was glad that I could be there to help her out and offer her my support.
On a another note, while we were at the village hospital meeting people, a woman who was doing some paperwork apparently needed some help with math so she whipped out…wait for it…that’s right…an abacus. Yep. An abacus. I knew they didn’t have computers or anything, but I did assume they would at least use calculators. I then got to see how they keep track of medical records. A lady came in and asked for her child’s records. The nurse then opened up a cabinet that was full of little notebooks…the kind that my kids use at school…it appears each family has a notebook and their medical records are handwritten inside. It was very interesting to see how things are done in the absence of technology.
I know that I have mentioned this before, but one of the things that makes living in Moldova a constant learning experience is the fact that everyone speaks some combination of Russian and Romanian. This is a highly political issue here and people will get very heated about it. My host parents, for instance, both grew up after WWII and lived through the various stages of Soviet influence. During this time, they were forced to speak Russian, and are still completely fluent to this day. Neither of them speak it now unless absolutely necessary (they do use some words and phrases from time to time without even realizing it though). There are also people on the opposite side of things. They see Russian as the first language of Moldova and choose to only speak it. This is affected a lot by region, social standing, and education (there are some schools that are Russian and some that are Romanian). Many Moldovans speak a mixture of the two languages with a bit of “Moldovan” thrown in as well. There are certain words and phrases that are neither Romanian nor Russian and are used frequently in villages…and vary depending on the village. A lot of people don’t even realize which language they are using because everyone speaks both. My partner teacher has sometimes turned to me and spoken in Russian without realizing it and only after she notices my clueless face does she switch to either Romanian or English. The reason I bring this up is because I experienced a perfect example of this while waiting on the bus to go back to my village last week. A woman approached me and asked if she could make a quick call on my cell phone. I said yes and handed her my phone. She told me that she didn’t know how to dial and that she would just tell me the number. Up until this point, she had been speaking Romanian to me, but when she gave me the number, she said it in Russian. I stopped her and asked her (in Romanian) to repeat it in Romanian. She looked at me like I was crazy or stupid and repeated the number again…in Russian. At this point, I whipped out one of the Russian phrases I have learned here and told her that I didn’t understand Russian. The fact that she had been speaking Russian and not Romanian finally clicked in her brain (and showed visibly on her face). She honestly thought she had been speaking a different language! She then tried to give me the number in Romanian, but truly struggled to remember the Romanian numbers. We eventually got it done and she completed her call. This happens frequently with a lot of food and tools vocabulary. If you ask for the Romanian word for certain things, people have to really think about it before they can answer (and sometimes they just can’t remember at all). As the year progressed at school, and my Romanian became better, my kids realized that I understood them when they spoke to each other in Romanian (esp. during tests). Once they realized this, they switched to Russian.
I think that is about it for now. Hope all is well back in the US and that everyone else is having as great a summer as I am!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
School's out for the summer!
The month of June contains many significant milestones in my Peace Corps service in Moldova.
June 1st was our last day of school…I have officially survived my first year of teaching here! The last day of school is mostly ceremonial in Moldova. All of the teachers, students, parents, as well as the village mayor and some members of the national ministry of education met outside our school in the morning. I, along with a few other (more important) people, gave speeches and a variety of students were recognized for their achievements during the school year. The students I took to Belarus for the Odyssey of the Mind competition were presented with their medals and diplomas in front of everyone. I was really glad that their hard work and achievements were recognized in front of their classmates. The students in the 9th form were recognized for graduating to high school and the students in the 12th from were recognized for graduating from high school. After all of the ceremonial stuff, a lot of the students gave their teachers flowers and we all took a lot of pictures. Once the students had left, the teachers met to celebrate with my host mom who has officially retired after many years of teaching Romanian at the school. She has actually been considered a pensioner for the past couple of years - which means that she was able to collect a pension but still work part time at the school for a salary. Starting next year, the government has decided that pensioners have to pick one or the other so my host mom has decided to hang up her teaching shoes for good.
The week leading up to the last day of school was pretty much a joke. We had to turn in all grades the Wednesday before so student attendance trickled down to just about nothing by the end of the week. The Friday before the last day of school (which was a Monday) was considered a “Day of Health” at the school. Instead of having classes, all of the students went to the sports complex across the street to play basketball and soccer. Interestingly, the attendance for this particular event was significantly higher than that of my lessons during the days leading up to it. After the kids went home, a bunch of the teachers had a BBQ behind the school. There was a ton of food, drinks, and singing…it was a great way to celebrate the end of the year.
All of these festivities would have been a lot more enjoyable for me if I hadn’t been suffering from some severe stomach issues. Apparently I either fell victim to some toxic cucumbers (the general consensus of all of the old ladies at my school) or I finally picked up the oh, so lovely parasite that about 85-90% of volunteers here deal with at some point during service. Unfortunately I only made it through about 15 minutes of my host mom’s party before I had to hop on a bus to the capital to see the Peace Corps doctor. To make a long story short, after a few days of staying in the PC medical apartment in Chisinau and consuming only rice, tea, and Gatorade, I was finally able to come home.
The 9th and 12th forms have a series of very intense exams this week so I have been doing some last minute English tutoring with some of them. For the 12th formers, these test scores will determine whether or not they can go to university next year.
On Friday I am heading into the capital to meet up with some old – and probably some new – friends. The new batch of PC volunteers arrive on Thursday and Friday marks the one year anniversary for the M24’s so this weekend should be fun-filled. On Sunday, I am going to be meeting my mom and Isaac at the airport and I can’t wait!
I hope you all back home are enjoying the summer as much as I am so far :)
Be well.
June 1st was our last day of school…I have officially survived my first year of teaching here! The last day of school is mostly ceremonial in Moldova. All of the teachers, students, parents, as well as the village mayor and some members of the national ministry of education met outside our school in the morning. I, along with a few other (more important) people, gave speeches and a variety of students were recognized for their achievements during the school year. The students I took to Belarus for the Odyssey of the Mind competition were presented with their medals and diplomas in front of everyone. I was really glad that their hard work and achievements were recognized in front of their classmates. The students in the 9th form were recognized for graduating to high school and the students in the 12th from were recognized for graduating from high school. After all of the ceremonial stuff, a lot of the students gave their teachers flowers and we all took a lot of pictures. Once the students had left, the teachers met to celebrate with my host mom who has officially retired after many years of teaching Romanian at the school. She has actually been considered a pensioner for the past couple of years - which means that she was able to collect a pension but still work part time at the school for a salary. Starting next year, the government has decided that pensioners have to pick one or the other so my host mom has decided to hang up her teaching shoes for good.
The week leading up to the last day of school was pretty much a joke. We had to turn in all grades the Wednesday before so student attendance trickled down to just about nothing by the end of the week. The Friday before the last day of school (which was a Monday) was considered a “Day of Health” at the school. Instead of having classes, all of the students went to the sports complex across the street to play basketball and soccer. Interestingly, the attendance for this particular event was significantly higher than that of my lessons during the days leading up to it. After the kids went home, a bunch of the teachers had a BBQ behind the school. There was a ton of food, drinks, and singing…it was a great way to celebrate the end of the year.
All of these festivities would have been a lot more enjoyable for me if I hadn’t been suffering from some severe stomach issues. Apparently I either fell victim to some toxic cucumbers (the general consensus of all of the old ladies at my school) or I finally picked up the oh, so lovely parasite that about 85-90% of volunteers here deal with at some point during service. Unfortunately I only made it through about 15 minutes of my host mom’s party before I had to hop on a bus to the capital to see the Peace Corps doctor. To make a long story short, after a few days of staying in the PC medical apartment in Chisinau and consuming only rice, tea, and Gatorade, I was finally able to come home.
The 9th and 12th forms have a series of very intense exams this week so I have been doing some last minute English tutoring with some of them. For the 12th formers, these test scores will determine whether or not they can go to university next year.
On Friday I am heading into the capital to meet up with some old – and probably some new – friends. The new batch of PC volunteers arrive on Thursday and Friday marks the one year anniversary for the M24’s so this weekend should be fun-filled. On Sunday, I am going to be meeting my mom and Isaac at the airport and I can’t wait!
I hope you all back home are enjoying the summer as much as I am so far :)
Be well.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
May in Moldova
Today marks my 11 month anniversary here in Moldova. It is hard to believe that in just one month, I will have been here for a year. Even though I won’t officially be half-way through my service until the middle of the summer, the end of this school year has become a significant milestone in my time here. I only have about 3 more weeks of school left (our last bell is on the 31st of May) before our summer vacation. The past month was a busy time for me, and May seems to be continuing in the same way.
As I mentioned in the last post, I recently returned from a trip to Belarus with some of the students from my school. Organizing that trip was quite an arduous experience. With the help and generosity of so many people back in the US, I was able to raise enough money to fund the trip. After the money side of things was taken care of, I had to obtain the proper travel documents for all of the children and myself…let me tell you, this was no easy feat! We had to have documents signed by each student’s parents and a notary designating my partner teacher as the person responsible for their safety and well being while outside of Moldova. This was a bit tricky since a few of the kids don’t actually have any parents living in Moldova to begin within. Once we had all of those forms sorted out, I had to get a visa. Since my students are all Moldovan citizens, none of them needed a visa but I had to get one…that doesn’t happen very often. Anyways, we finally got everything organized and left on a rainy afternoon to meet with the other 4 teams from Moldova who were going to the competition as well. We all loaded up onto a big charter bus (there were about 50 kids and 12 or 13 adults). I would not wish that bus ride on my worst enemy…it took us about 32 hours to get to the children’s camp in Belarus and by the end of it, I would have given my first born child for a shower, a bed, and a toothbrush! It was interesting to travel through the Ukraine and Belarus…a lot of the towns and villages we saw reminded me of places here in Moldova. The camp we stayed at was really nice. It was in a forest and right by the biggest lake in Belarus. We were about 2 hours north of Minsk, and it was cold! I opened the curtains on the second morning there and was greeted by big fat snowflakes. My teams did well in the competition (but didn’t win) and got to meet a lot of new people from other countries. There were teams from Poland, Germany, Estonia, Switzerland, Romania, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and of course Moldova. There was supposed to be a team from India as well, but the volcanic ash prevented them from being able to fly into Europe. I found it very interesting that all of the Moldovan teams automatically supported the team from Romania (and vice versa)…even though none of the students knew each other prior to the competition. There was a talent show one evening in which a few teams from each country got to do a performance of some kind and then all the teams voted for the winner in the end. As soon as we found out we couldn’t vote for our own teams, all of our students immediately voted for the Romanian team (even though their performance was definitely not the best). The Romanian team returned the favor. Any time, throughout the entire competition, when the Romanian team was presented, our teams were their loudest supporters. I have seen in my time here in Moldova, that many people feel a strong connection to either Romania (Moldova used to be part of Romania, after all) or to Russia, but it was interesting for me to see my students make such a strong statement of their feelings on the matter. I was also a bit surprised at the Romanian kids’ unwavering support of the Moldovan teams. There was definitely a feeling of brotherhood and friendship between the two countries at the competition. On the way back to Moldova, we spent about half a day in Minsk and in Kiev. While we were in Minsk, it was interesting to see all of the preparations that were being made for the 9th of May celebrations. The 9th of May is celebrated as the Victory Day of WWII. This year is the 65th anniversary of the end of the war and there were banners and streamers everywhere…and I mean, everywhere.
After seeing the elaborate decorations and preparations being made for the celebration of Victory Day in Minsk, it was interesting to return to Moldova and see how many Moldovans feel about May 9th. For many people here, this holiday arouses very mixed emotions. While the day marks the anniversary of the end of a terrible war, it also marks the beginning of the Soviet occupation. Many people in Moldova suffered greatly during the years after the war at the hands of the Soviet government. There is a war memorial in our village (and pretty much every other village in Moldova) and on the morning of May 9th, many people from the community met outside the primaria (mayor’s office) and then joined a procession to the war memorial. Once everyone had gathered at the monument, the mayor said a few words and handed out medals to the only 4 surviving veterans of WWII from our village. The veterans from the war in Afghanistan and the conflict in Transnistria (the break-away region in the east of Moldova that considers itself to be autonomous but is not recognized by any other government in the world) were also recognized at the ceremony. After the speeches were done, everyone went and placed flowers on the monument. My host mother decided not to go to the memorial and when she was asked why, she responded that Moldovans lost the war and that she did not want to celebrate the horrific things that happened here as a result of the Russian occupation. She has told me many times that while she worked in Italy (she worked as a house keeper for about 6 months a few years ago to help pay for my host brother’s studies in Romania) she told many people there that they should be thankful that it was the Americans that liberated Italy and not the Russians. She also told me about her own father’s experience with the war. Moldova was caught in between Romania (who was fighting with the Germans) and the Russian forces coming from the east. The Russian army would go into Moldovan villages and draft the men into the Russian army. When my host mother’s father was sent to report for duty at a Russian base in the Ukraine, he hid some cured lambskins under his clothes. When he arrived at the train station, he happened to hear a man speaking “Moldovaneşte” (aka Romanian) to his horses so he stopped to talk to him. The man told him to go see a certain doctor who would, for a price, say that he was mentally unfit for the army. My host mom’s father did not want to be forced to fight against the Romanian army since that would mean he would be fighting against his own countrymen so he gave him the lambskins and was declared unfit. He hightailed it back to Moldova as soon as he could. After the war, many Moldovan families were shipped off to Siberia…especially if they refused to become part of the farming cooperatives that the Soviet government set up throughout the country. If a farmer refused to give up his land, crops, and animals, he - and usually the rest of his family as well - were sent to Siberia…where many died of exposure and starvation. I guess the holiday and the constant stream of Russian war movies that have been playing on TV as a result of the holiday have sparked a lot of conversations about the war and the effects of the subsequent occupation in my house. It has been incredibly interesting to listen to these stories about real people that my family here knew. It has definitely provided me with more insight into why things are the way they are here today.
The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty eventful for me. Wednesday is my host dad, Boris’, birthday. Despite the fact that he detests celebrating his birthday, his sister and niece (and maybe some other random relatives that I don’t know yet) will be coming over for dinner. Thursday marks the end of Easter here. Orthodox Moldovans (which is pretty much everyone in this country) celebrate Easter for the 40 days after Easter Sunday. During this time, you are greeted with “Christ has risen” instead of hello and are expected to respond by saying “True, he has risen”. I am not exactly sure what this celebration on Thursday will entail, but I plan to just go with the flow like every other holiday here. I am sure it will include lots of food and wine…and probably vodka too. On Saturday, my school is having its “Meeting of the Graduates”, which is basically like a reunion for anyone who graduated from the school. They host a presentation and a party for the classes that graduated 10, 20, and 30 years ago. The current 12th form class act as the hosts of the event and students from the school will put on different performances for the guests. My partner teacher, Svetlana, is also the adjunct director and is responsible for coordinating the event…she is also going to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of her graduation. She told me that last year the guests celebrating their 30th anniversary stayed at the school eating, drinking, talking, and dancing (of course) until 7 the next morning. I plan on attending the event, but I doubt that I will make until 7am! Next week, some of my students will be participating in a web conference (via Skype) with some students from Germany. They will be discussing the topic “Youth for a Healthy Way of Life” and will be doing everything in English. For the past week or so, I have been helping students prepare for this by helping with translations etc. I am looking forward to sitting in on the conference (I won’t actually be participating myself) and seeing how my students are able to communicate with their peers from Germany.
Once school lets out for the summer, I will have a couple weeks of complete freedom. While I am looking forward to some time off, I am a little concerned about getting bored…there isn’t exactly a whole lot to do in my village when I am not working. My mom and little brother, Isaac, will be coming to visit me in June and I can hardly wait. I won’t have seen my mom in a year and I won’t have seen Isaac since Christmas by the time they get here. We are planning on spending a week here in Moldova…a couple of days in my village and then the rest of the time we will stay in the capital and take day trips to other areas of the country…and then we will take either a bus or a train to Romania and do some exploring there as well. I am so excited to be able to show them where I live, where I work, and what I have been doing here for the past year. My host family and friends here are also excited for the “guests from America”…my host mom is already talking about how she is going to have to clean and cook to prepare for these honored guests. After my mom and Isaac leave, I will be involved in some of the technical training sessions for the new group of volunteers that will be arriving in June. During PST (pre service training), Peace Corps likes to involve the “older” volunteers in the technical training sessions. Last year, we had some volunteers that had been in Moldova for a year facilitate our sessions, and this year, I will be doing the same thing. I am looking forward to getting to know the new batch of trainees and hopefully it will occupy my time so that I won’t get bored over the summer.
I think that is about all for now. I have posted a few pictures from the Victory Day celebration and in my last post I included the link to the facebook photo album of my trip to Belarus. Hopefully you find it interesting!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Eurofest 2010 - Belarus
As most of you know, I recently took 12 students on a trip to Belarus for the Odyssey of the Mind EuroFest competition. The competition was a total of 5 days at a children's camp about 2 hours north of Minsk. It took about 32 hours on a bus to get there, and even longer to get back because we stopped in Minsk and in Kiev. I was really happy that we all got to do some site seeing while we were there. Both Minsk and Kiev seem to be really neat cities and my kids were happy to experience new places. I have included the link to the facebook photo album that I created of our trip...enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226313&id=777838447&l=b3c926c216
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226313&id=777838447&l=b3c926c216
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring in Moldova
I can now say that I am officially twitterpated. Shortly after writing my last blog, the weather took a turn for the worse and the warmer temperatures and sunny skies I wrote about disappeared. March 1st is a big deal here in Moldova and it marks the coming of spring. Everywhere you go, you can buy mărţişoare, which are red and white handmade pins of string, ribbon, and sometimes flowers. While I am not sure of the full story behind these accessories, I do know that people here wear them until the end of March when they are supposed to pin them to a tree. March 1st actually seemed to mark the beginning of spring…for a few days at least. Then, one day, I woke up to a nice new layer of snow on the ground. There is another legend here about a baba (old lady) who takes off one layer of her winter clothing every day and beats it to remove the dust and snow of winter. She does this every day from March 1-14th, and the snow that we see here during that time is due to her “spring cleaning”. I had been told that story by my host mom at the end of February and I chalked it up to an old wives’ tale until I actually experienced that 2 week period of sporadic snow showers. It seems, however, that spring has finally kicked winter’s butt and I could not be happier. It is amazing to see what a difference seeing the sun makes in my overall mental and emotional state!
During the first week of March, all schools in Moldova were on spring break but all English Education volunteers had to go to the capital for training on project development. While I was initially less than thrilled to spend my vacation in another training, it ended up being pretty interesting. It was great to be reunited with some of my other volunteer friends during the training. We all stayed at a hotel in the capital and were able to hang out and relax together like we all did during our Pre Service Training in Costeşti. Each volunteer brought a member of their community with them so the entire thing was bilingual. Some volunteers brought their partner teachers or school directors, but I was joined by my village’s librarian. Doamna Angela is also the mayor’s wife and mother to one of my favourite students so it was nice to get to know her a little better. It was rather mentally taxing since we worked together pretty intensely for 3 days and since she does not speak English, I had to bust out my Romanian (and a lot of hand gestures). The training was to better enable us to assess our communities’ needs, wants, assets, and resources. We also covered the basics of writing grant proposals. This was helpful information since many volunteers end up working on proposals to find funding for things like running water, new wells, desks for their schools, improved gymnasiums, etc in addition to their work as teachers. The health volunteer in my village built a sports complex across from my school that was finished a couple of weeks before I arrived at site (I have some big shoes to fill). I actually have some mixed feelings about doing a project like this myself while I am here. I have felt some pressure (as many volunteers do) to find something that I can build and then put my name on. I have actually been told by someone I work with that I need to find something to do so that I can “leave a legacy” after I go back home. This is the part I have a bit of trouble with. I want my work here with the students and the impact I hope to have on them as they grow up to be my legacy. My main goal when joining the Peace Corps was not to build something that can display my name after I leave…I came here to teach. I would rather make a difference in the lives of my students than build a new well or find money for new windows or floors. I guess the conclusion that I have come to at this point in my service is that if I find something that my community really needs, or if I am approached with a good idea for a project, then I will absolutely be willing to help…but my focus, time, and best efforts will continue to be on the kids I work with every day.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, my Odyssey of the Mind teams were asked to go to Belarus and participate in the Eurofest competition in April. While I am extremely excited about this amazing opportunity for my kids, there have definitely been some stressful moments while preparing for the trip. I have been amazed by the generosity of so many people and their willingness to help raise the funds for this experience. I really appreciate all of the contributions that people have made and I know that my students do too. The other issue that has been a source of stress for me lately is obtaining the proper travel documents for all of the kids. Travelling is not easy for Moldovan citizens, and although they don’t have to have a visa to go to Belarus (but I do), they have to get passports and official documents designating my partner teacher as their official chaperone while out of the country. The problem with this is that the document is supposed to be signed by both parents and I have quite a few parents who have one or both parents out of the country. One of my students was actually unable to obtain a passport because her parents’ official documents all have their family name listed with the Russian spelling, while hers has it listed with the Romanian spelling. In order for her to get a passport, her parents would have to go have all of their documents changed officially…this would cost too much money and take more time than we have before the competition. In the end, due to problems like this, I now only have 12 students going instead of the original 14. I think the next month will continue to be stressful as we prepare for the trip, but I know that it will be well worth it once we get there. We will spend 5 days on a campground in a forest north of Minsk and then, on the way back to Moldova, we will stop in Minsk and Kiev for some sightseeing.
We will have the first week of April off due to Easter (which is a huge deal here…my host mom has already started preparing for the meal) and then I will be gone for over a week later in the month for Odyssey of the Mind. That only leaves 2 weeks in April and then the month of May before the end of the school year. I can’t believe I have almost made it all the way through my first of 2 school years here!
I attended my first Moldovan funeral a week ago. One of the Romanian teachers from my school, and one of my host mom’s close friends, had been fighting cancer ever since I came to Bravicea. I never actually met her, but everyone I spoke to said that she was an amazing woman and teacher. On the day of her funeral, every teacher from the school, most of the high school students, and many other members of the community gathered outside of the gate of her house. She was placed in the front yard in an open coffin so that the priest could come and say some prayers before moving her. There is a tradition of giving presents to close friends and family members of the deceased person so each teacher was called into the front yard and given the traditional circular loaf of bread and a towel. Other people were given blankets, rugs, and towel sets. After the prayers were finished at the house, the coffin was carried to the school (her house was right next to the school) where the mayor, the school director, and one student all said some words in her honour. It was very emotional and everyone there was crying. After the speeches, a couple of women (I think they were the woman’s sisters) draped themselves over the coffin, wailed, and sang. I have heard that this is a tradition at Moldovan weddings. When the women were finished, the open coffin was then carried through the village to the church and everyone followed behind it. As we walked down the street, we met with another funeral procession that was taking place at the same time. I did not go to the actual church service or to the ceremony, but after the burial, everyone gathered once again at the school cantina for the praznic (funeral meal). Since we are in the middle of Post (Lent), none of the dishes contained meat. My host mom was in charge of the cooking for this praznic since she was such a close friend of the woman and she spent a full 2 days before the funeral preparing the food. Once everyone was seated, each guest was given another round loaf of bread and a candle. The tradition is to light the candle, kiss the bread, and then stick the candle into the bread and leave it on the table throughout the meal. Each person is also given a glass of wine with the bread and candle and it is traditional to drink in honour of the deceased person. This tradition is repeated throughout the meal. The whole experience was very intense and unlike any funeral I have ever attended before.
On a lighter note, after the funeral, I went to my partner teacher’s house to celebrate her birthday. There was a lot of food, drinking, and even some dancing. Svetlana’s son and daughter in law (the couple whose wedding I attended in January) came back to the village from the capital to celebrate with the family and there were a couple of other teachers there as well. I always have a great time with Svetlana and her family…like my host family, they have really made an effort to make me feel at home here which I appreciate immensely.
This past weekend, my host mom put together a workshop at the school about folklore and traditional food, handicrafts, and songs. It was based on the old tradition of women gathering together for a sort of sewing circle. While this tradition isn’t really practiced any more, my host mom wanted to teach some of the students about it. Some of the students and teachers brought in examples of different embroidery and other handicrafts that have been in their families for years. They were made by their grandmothers, mothers, aunts, godmothers etc, and it was really interesting to hear about the stories behind some of them. A couple of older ladies that were there sang some old traditional songs that they learned as children from their grandmothers. After the songs and handicrafts were presented, there was a meal. Each of the girls that came brought a traditional dish (again, since it is Post, there was no meat) that they had made. There was, of course, some wine to be sampled…but the students just got a taste. It was a really interesting event and I am glad I got to attend it. I have posted some of the videos that I took of the singing…I hope you find it as cool as I did.
During the first week of March, all schools in Moldova were on spring break but all English Education volunteers had to go to the capital for training on project development. While I was initially less than thrilled to spend my vacation in another training, it ended up being pretty interesting. It was great to be reunited with some of my other volunteer friends during the training. We all stayed at a hotel in the capital and were able to hang out and relax together like we all did during our Pre Service Training in Costeşti. Each volunteer brought a member of their community with them so the entire thing was bilingual. Some volunteers brought their partner teachers or school directors, but I was joined by my village’s librarian. Doamna Angela is also the mayor’s wife and mother to one of my favourite students so it was nice to get to know her a little better. It was rather mentally taxing since we worked together pretty intensely for 3 days and since she does not speak English, I had to bust out my Romanian (and a lot of hand gestures). The training was to better enable us to assess our communities’ needs, wants, assets, and resources. We also covered the basics of writing grant proposals. This was helpful information since many volunteers end up working on proposals to find funding for things like running water, new wells, desks for their schools, improved gymnasiums, etc in addition to their work as teachers. The health volunteer in my village built a sports complex across from my school that was finished a couple of weeks before I arrived at site (I have some big shoes to fill). I actually have some mixed feelings about doing a project like this myself while I am here. I have felt some pressure (as many volunteers do) to find something that I can build and then put my name on. I have actually been told by someone I work with that I need to find something to do so that I can “leave a legacy” after I go back home. This is the part I have a bit of trouble with. I want my work here with the students and the impact I hope to have on them as they grow up to be my legacy. My main goal when joining the Peace Corps was not to build something that can display my name after I leave…I came here to teach. I would rather make a difference in the lives of my students than build a new well or find money for new windows or floors. I guess the conclusion that I have come to at this point in my service is that if I find something that my community really needs, or if I am approached with a good idea for a project, then I will absolutely be willing to help…but my focus, time, and best efforts will continue to be on the kids I work with every day.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, my Odyssey of the Mind teams were asked to go to Belarus and participate in the Eurofest competition in April. While I am extremely excited about this amazing opportunity for my kids, there have definitely been some stressful moments while preparing for the trip. I have been amazed by the generosity of so many people and their willingness to help raise the funds for this experience. I really appreciate all of the contributions that people have made and I know that my students do too. The other issue that has been a source of stress for me lately is obtaining the proper travel documents for all of the kids. Travelling is not easy for Moldovan citizens, and although they don’t have to have a visa to go to Belarus (but I do), they have to get passports and official documents designating my partner teacher as their official chaperone while out of the country. The problem with this is that the document is supposed to be signed by both parents and I have quite a few parents who have one or both parents out of the country. One of my students was actually unable to obtain a passport because her parents’ official documents all have their family name listed with the Russian spelling, while hers has it listed with the Romanian spelling. In order for her to get a passport, her parents would have to go have all of their documents changed officially…this would cost too much money and take more time than we have before the competition. In the end, due to problems like this, I now only have 12 students going instead of the original 14. I think the next month will continue to be stressful as we prepare for the trip, but I know that it will be well worth it once we get there. We will spend 5 days on a campground in a forest north of Minsk and then, on the way back to Moldova, we will stop in Minsk and Kiev for some sightseeing.
We will have the first week of April off due to Easter (which is a huge deal here…my host mom has already started preparing for the meal) and then I will be gone for over a week later in the month for Odyssey of the Mind. That only leaves 2 weeks in April and then the month of May before the end of the school year. I can’t believe I have almost made it all the way through my first of 2 school years here!
I attended my first Moldovan funeral a week ago. One of the Romanian teachers from my school, and one of my host mom’s close friends, had been fighting cancer ever since I came to Bravicea. I never actually met her, but everyone I spoke to said that she was an amazing woman and teacher. On the day of her funeral, every teacher from the school, most of the high school students, and many other members of the community gathered outside of the gate of her house. She was placed in the front yard in an open coffin so that the priest could come and say some prayers before moving her. There is a tradition of giving presents to close friends and family members of the deceased person so each teacher was called into the front yard and given the traditional circular loaf of bread and a towel. Other people were given blankets, rugs, and towel sets. After the prayers were finished at the house, the coffin was carried to the school (her house was right next to the school) where the mayor, the school director, and one student all said some words in her honour. It was very emotional and everyone there was crying. After the speeches, a couple of women (I think they were the woman’s sisters) draped themselves over the coffin, wailed, and sang. I have heard that this is a tradition at Moldovan weddings. When the women were finished, the open coffin was then carried through the village to the church and everyone followed behind it. As we walked down the street, we met with another funeral procession that was taking place at the same time. I did not go to the actual church service or to the ceremony, but after the burial, everyone gathered once again at the school cantina for the praznic (funeral meal). Since we are in the middle of Post (Lent), none of the dishes contained meat. My host mom was in charge of the cooking for this praznic since she was such a close friend of the woman and she spent a full 2 days before the funeral preparing the food. Once everyone was seated, each guest was given another round loaf of bread and a candle. The tradition is to light the candle, kiss the bread, and then stick the candle into the bread and leave it on the table throughout the meal. Each person is also given a glass of wine with the bread and candle and it is traditional to drink in honour of the deceased person. This tradition is repeated throughout the meal. The whole experience was very intense and unlike any funeral I have ever attended before.
On a lighter note, after the funeral, I went to my partner teacher’s house to celebrate her birthday. There was a lot of food, drinking, and even some dancing. Svetlana’s son and daughter in law (the couple whose wedding I attended in January) came back to the village from the capital to celebrate with the family and there were a couple of other teachers there as well. I always have a great time with Svetlana and her family…like my host family, they have really made an effort to make me feel at home here which I appreciate immensely.
This past weekend, my host mom put together a workshop at the school about folklore and traditional food, handicrafts, and songs. It was based on the old tradition of women gathering together for a sort of sewing circle. While this tradition isn’t really practiced any more, my host mom wanted to teach some of the students about it. Some of the students and teachers brought in examples of different embroidery and other handicrafts that have been in their families for years. They were made by their grandmothers, mothers, aunts, godmothers etc, and it was really interesting to hear about the stories behind some of them. A couple of older ladies that were there sang some old traditional songs that they learned as children from their grandmothers. After the songs and handicrafts were presented, there was a meal. Each of the girls that came brought a traditional dish (again, since it is Post, there was no meat) that they had made. There was, of course, some wine to be sampled…but the students just got a taste. It was a really interesting event and I am glad I got to attend it. I have posted some of the videos that I took of the singing…I hope you find it as cool as I did.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Odyssey of the Mind EuroFest 2010...Please Help!
As most of you know, I am currently serving as an English Education volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in the Republic of Moldova. For the past few months, I have been coaching 2 teams of students from my village's school for the Odyssey of the Mind competition. This is an international critical / creative thinking competition that you might have heard of before. Both of my teams (one team is made up of seven 8th and 9th graders and the other is seven 11th graders) placed at the national level and have been selected to compete in the EuroFest competition this April in Belarus. I am incredibly proud of their hard work and achievements!
Unfortunately, Moldova has been listed as the poorest country in Europe, and as a result of this poverty and lack of resources, making this trip a reality for my students will be difficult for me...especially on a Peace Corps volunteer's "salary". Many of my students have at least one, and in many cases, both parents working abroad in order to support their families. These families do not have the disposable income to fund a trip like this and while the school and village administration might be able to contribute a small amount towards this endeavor, I am going to have to find the majority of the funding for this experience on my own.
I have not yet received all of the information about the cost per student for this trip, but at this point, I know we will be responsible for the following amounts:
$150 per TEAM for registration ($300 total for both of my teams)
150 Euros per STUDENT for accommodation and food during the competition (about $203.55 per kid)
Plus the cost of transportation to and from Belarus (still to be determined) and food on the road
So far, even before adding the transportation and incidental expenses, we are looking at a total of over $3,000.
With that said, I am asking your for your help in making this trip a reality for my students. This trip will provide a unique and valuable experience for 14 students who truly deserve this opportunity. Any little bit will help, and will be greatly appreciated. If you are able to give any amount of money to help the funding of this trip, please contact me (either on facebook or at abgraham85@hotmail.com).
Thank you so much and I hope to hear from you soon.
Unfortunately, Moldova has been listed as the poorest country in Europe, and as a result of this poverty and lack of resources, making this trip a reality for my students will be difficult for me...especially on a Peace Corps volunteer's "salary". Many of my students have at least one, and in many cases, both parents working abroad in order to support their families. These families do not have the disposable income to fund a trip like this and while the school and village administration might be able to contribute a small amount towards this endeavor, I am going to have to find the majority of the funding for this experience on my own.
I have not yet received all of the information about the cost per student for this trip, but at this point, I know we will be responsible for the following amounts:
$150 per TEAM for registration ($300 total for both of my teams)
150 Euros per STUDENT for accommodation and food during the competition (about $203.55 per kid)
Plus the cost of transportation to and from Belarus (still to be determined) and food on the road
So far, even before adding the transportation and incidental expenses, we are looking at a total of over $3,000.
With that said, I am asking your for your help in making this trip a reality for my students. This trip will provide a unique and valuable experience for 14 students who truly deserve this opportunity. Any little bit will help, and will be greatly appreciated. If you are able to give any amount of money to help the funding of this trip, please contact me (either on facebook or at abgraham85@hotmail.com).
Thank you so much and I hope to hear from you soon.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sun, Spinsterhood, and Odyssey of the Mind...Bring on Spring!
I hope that by saying this I am not jinxing myself, but I think that SPRING just might be on the way here in
Since my last entry, I got to experience another milestone in my service here…I celebrated my first birthday here in
Ever since I got back from my winter trip, I have been extremely busy with work. In addition to my regular lessons, I have been coaching two teams for the Odyssey of the Mind competition (one group of 7 8th and 9th graders and one team of 7 11th graders). Odyssey of the Mind is an international critical and creative thinking contest for students around the world. The national competition took place last weekend and in the weeks leading up to the event, I was staying at school until nearly 8pm every night with my students. While being at school for about 12 hours every day got a bit old, I think that this competition offers a great opportunity for the students and my kids were extremely motivated and excited about it. Both of my teams did very well at the national level of the competition on Sunday. Two of my students received 2 of the 4 individual awards for creativity and the younger team earned the highest score in the Spontaneous Problem portion of the contest. The younger team came in 2nd place over all and the older team in 3rd…both teams have been selected to go to the EuroFest competition in
Next week is our spring break and I get to spend the majority of it in another training for Peace Corps. The training is for “project development and management” and I will be going along with a member of my community. My school director asked our village librarian (who is also the Mayor’s wife and mother of one of my favourite students) to go with me and we will learn about grant writing and other long term project possibilities. It should be an interesting training, but I can’t say that any of us are too thrilled about spending our break from school in a workshop. Oh well.
That is pretty much all for me right now…Keep your fingers crossed that the weather here stays sunny!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Moldovan Weddings
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Last night I got to experience an entirely new set of Moldovan traditions…a wedding. Svetlana’s (my partner teacher) oldest son got married to his girlfriend, Ina, last night. Petru (the groom) and Ina are both students in Chişinǎu but are from my village so they had the wedding at our Casa de Cultura (the “culture house”). I had been looking forward to this wedding for weeks, and was not disappointed by the experience. Other than the fact that it was between -25 and -30°C and we were in an unheated building, I had a great time and am really glad I got to take part in the celebration.
The night before the wedding, I went over to the Casa de Cultura after work to help set up…I soon realized that “helping” really meant taking shots of homemade vodka or wine with the groom, his dad (Simion), and my friend Diana (she used to be my Romanian tutor). Other than blowing up a few balloons, I didn’t do much more than hang out. On Saturday afternoon, I took some fried mushrooms over to the Casa de Cultura and helped fold napkins. The food was mostly prepared by a few women from the village (they cook in the school cantina) and by a couple of other older women, like my host mom, who wanted to help. The majority of the decorating and set up was done by students from the school…since both the bride and groom are young and my partner teacher and her husband both work at the school, they were able to find lots of willing helpers from the upper forms.
The invitation said that the wedding was supposed to start at 6pm, but in true Moldovan style, when I arrived at 8:30pm, things were just getting started. The festivities were kicked off with a short civil ceremony that legally joined the couple together. After that, all the guests lined up to greet the couple and the godparents. In Moldovan weddings, the groom’s godparents play a huge role. They help finance and plan the celebration, act as the legal witnesses for the event, and usually contribute a huge amount towards the couple’s nest egg. After shaking hands and kissing everyone, guests present the couple with flowers, presents, or money. After this is all done, it is necessary to drink a glass of wine…throughout the entire first part of the celebration, there were a couple young people (the equivalent of bridesmaids and groomsmen) walking around with a tray of wine and a large amount of chocolates. As soon as everyone had greeted the couple, the dancing commenced. The traditional dance of Moldova is called the Hora. It is circular dance that has a couple different combinations of steps…I never really know which steps are supposed to go with which song, so I just kind of hop around a bit until I can catch on. In Moldova, everyone dances, and I mean everyone!
After some dancing, we all went into the main room for the first course of the meal. Traditional Moldovan meals start with a variety of cold dishes. We had cold meat, salads, salted fish, and the, oh so appetizing, rooster jelly. Each table had red wine, white wine, champagne, homemade vodka, and cognac. The bride, groom, and godparents went from table to table to toast all of the guests. After eating this first set of food, there was more dancing…which was the only way to maintain feeling in our extremities. I ended up dancing with some of my students and I think they found it very entertaining. After the dancing, we went back in to eat the hot part of the meal around midnight. We had meatballs, sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls) and lots more to drink. While we were eating, the godparents, bridesmaids, and groomsmen went from table to table with a big basket. Each person/couple said a few words of congratulation to the couple and then put money in the basket after announcing to everyone how much they were giving. It is customary for guests at a village wedding to give around 500 lei (if single) or 1,000 lei (if a couple). Some people gave money in American dollars or in Euro (because of the exchange rate). As an American, this part of the evening was particularly uncomfortable but it is a longstanding custom in Moldova so I am pretty sure I was the only one feeling awkward when my turn came around. The money given at a wedding goes first towards paying for the wedding, so in a sense, the guests pay for their place at the table. The money left over after paying for the celebration goes towards a house, apartment, car, furniture, dishes etc. Young couples here, like Ina and Petru, have nothing to start their lives together with so the money from the wedding is very important and greatly appreciated. After the basket made its rounds around the room (which took quite a while), both sets of parents made speeches and were then lifted up on chairs while music was played.
A couple of other rather interesting traditions took place after the main meal. A chicken stuffed with flowers was presented to the couple and the godfather had to bid for it. I was unable to get a straight answer from anyone as to the significance behind this custom, but I think it has something to do with always having enough to eat. Another tradition involves kidnapping the bride and making the groom pay a ransom to get her back. Typically, the bride is taken to the closest bar for drinks until her groom comes to collect her, but since it was soooooo very cold outside, they just hid Ina in another room for a few minutes and then Petru came to “buy” her back. Towards the end of the wedding (around 4am) there was the “undressing of the bride” which basically signifies the bride’s transition from girl to woman. The couple sits at a table and the godparents remove the groom’s boutonniere and the bride’s veil and put them on the best man and maid of honor. Then, they tie a scarf on the bride’s head (the kind that old ladies wear here all the time). After all of this, the godparents drape blankets, rugs, and other household gifts over the couple’s shoulders. Then, other guests come forward and present the couple with other gifts like dishes, cutlery, etc.
After all of the various traditional activities were done, there was more dancing, and of course, more drinking. I finally made my way home at about 6am. I am really happy that I got to experience a wedding here – it was definitely one of the most interesting things I have done since I came to Moldova.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
