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.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Trafficking
January 11th is internationally recognized as the "Human Trafficking Awareness Day" and I have to admit that I was not even aware of this until I moved to a part of the world where people are affected daily by the devastation that results from trafficking in persons. Peace Corps Moldova has an organization run by volunteers called Moldova TIP (Trafficking in Persons) which works as a liaison between local anti-trafficking groups in Moldova and Peace Corps volunteers. Because our position here as volunteers prevents us from getting directly involved in specific trafficking cases, Moldova TIP strives to gather and provide as much information as possible about the issue of human trafficking to PC volunteers so that we can, in turn, go back to our villages equipped with the necessary information in hopes that we can increase awareness and spread knowledge about the problem and methods of prevention among ourcommunities. For those of us in the education programs, this information is especially relevant since many of our students are in the age range often targeted by traffickers. I have attended some of the meetings of Moldova TIP and hope to continue my involvement in the organization as my service here continues over the next couple of years. There are many people here who are unable to find adequate means of support for themselves and their families, and as a result of this, they fall prey to trafficking schemes promising jobs abroad (jobs like nannies, waitresses, models, dancers, maids, etc). Some people are so desperate for a chance of employment that they overlook the warning signs and agree to work abroad with nothing more than a promise from a near-stranger. I have included a few links to some very interesting articles on the subject and I hope you will take the time to read them. These stories sound like the stuff of Hollywood movies, but for many here in Moldova, they are a reality...a devastating, daily reality.
The Countertraffickers
Rescuing the victims of the global sex trade.
by William Finnegan
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/05/080505fa_fact_finnegan?currentPage=all
This is an article from our very own Houston Chronicle, published in recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Day
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6808673.html
This is the US Department of State's Trafficking In Persons Report for 2009
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/
The Countertraffickers
Rescuing the victims of the global sex trade.
by William Finnegan
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/05/080505fa_fact_finnegan?currentPage=all
This is an article from our very own Houston Chronicle, published in recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Day
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6808673.html
This is the US Department of State's Trafficking In Persons Report for 2009
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/
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