After a head spinning amount of traveling I'm here! After a extensive staging session that took place in a conference room of a pretty swanky hotel in Philadelphia…don’t be too jealous…all I saw was the hotel. Our plane left Frankfurt on an unmarked plane. Welcome to Air Moldova :) In Chisinau (pronounced Keesh-now) we saw stray dogs running around on the airfield...little did I know how much this part of Moldovan culture would become a part of my life...Our group has about 30 people in it most of us are in our early to mid 20's with two adult women and two in their 30's. Most are Teaching English as a foreign language (like me) and some are in Health education....the PC has been in Moldova for 17 years and a very good system has been put in a place for just about every situation one can imagine. The staff greeted us at the air port and we were whisked away to a Hostel in the city center...(on a side note they made us leave our two big bags ...the hotel was too small and have only one small bag! I of course packed my shower shoes...and was forced to bath on a plastic bag...what fun!) Our first night was FILLED with the barking of dogs echoing through our soviet style (a.k.a no frills) hostel built to evoke a disdain of the luxury of travel. I’m embarrassed to say I had never woken up to a rooster crowing (which they apparently they do not just at sunrise but 2hrs pre&post sunrise…to be safe that they have indeed woken up every living creature within a 2 mile radius) Chisinau is similar to every country capital in the world….full of hustel and bustle of life…big buildings filled with important people…except it also has a aspects that one would not expect…a very rural feel to its dusty roads and markets is definitely there. Imagine a hybrid city/small rural community. We attended hours of classes on safety language and what to expect over the next 27 months. Up at 7 and into bed at 11, jet lag be damned. Our meetings included the security of the US embassy, the US ambassador himself, older volunteers, the head of the PC chief of staff world wide and of course the Moldovan PC staff. Everyone has been extremely supportive and I am extremely impressed with the support system that is in place. The medical staff has given us each a first aid kit…let me re phrase that..a personal pharmacy! We have medicine for every thinkable ailment and a book which I recommend everyone go out and by “Where there are no doctors” which instructs one how to do anything from give birth to pull teeth-Dr. free! Doubtful I will ever have to use it…I have a small army of doctors at my disposal…but what a read. Because we cannot drink the water…which come from wells (jack and jill style) we have all been issued a water purifier and brita filter. We also received a laundry list of foods we have been forbidden to eat…which of course I have inadvertently treated as a “recommended foods” menu…who could turn down home made strawberry jam? Who I ask you?!
Three days into our arrival in this country we were joined our host families and separated into small communities near Chisnau to continue our training. The event is worth recording. Flowers are very important in this culture so were taken to the flower market to buy a present for out new families ( I chose a cheerful pot of red gerber daisies)…then shoved into tiny buses filled with our previously missing luggage and now we had massive cellophane wrapped bouquets to jostle with…I’ve never seen so many frowning faces squished between such beautiful floral arrangements. After some minor rearranging in which I believe the jaws of life were involved we managed to unload the buses at the school where the mountains of luggage gave it a refugee camp feeling. All of the prospective host families eagerly awaited our arrival…nervous smiles were not hard to find. The PC placement staff went around pairing up the volunteers with the host families…two minuets after I met my mom and sister I was literally whisked away…it was more of a friendly kidnapping really. We drove away at such speed and with such urgency I was sure we were going to a hospital to rush to the bedside of a dying family member! Though it turned out our destination was a less dramatic charming house where I will be living for the next nine weeks. My host family is wonderful beyond words. The father passed away 5 years ago and the older brother lives abroad in London…My mama gadza is a sweet hardworking woman who I never see relax…the most important person in my life right now is Natasha my host sister…she is 20 years old who takes care of my every need and want…she speaks beautiful English, is full of interesting stories about village gossip and Moldavian politics. She answers my endless questions and patiently listens to my crumbly Romanian. I also have a 17 year old boy who the family has kindly taken in who is every bit a teenager (he was embarrassed to join us for my first meal here because he thought I would “stare” at him, hahah) who I‘m living with. Natasha hen pecks him constantly and I am often witness to some very loud conversations which end up with Dino pouting off to his room…what about I have no idea, even not speaking Romanian has its perks; ) My family owns a small magazine (shop) where everything from ice cream to toilet paper are sold…similar to Mexico (also similar to Mexico…dirt roads, latrines, lack of indoor plumbing, no flushing the TP…if you have the luxury of a flush toilett that is) Our house is a charming two story casa behind a bright blue fence with a full rose garden in the front, vegetable garden in the back…three dogs, two momma cats various kittens, chickens and geese in the back…I can spend hours just looking around. We have no plumbing which has been surprisingly easy to adapt too! The latrine is best o be avoided in mid afternoon when flies billow out of the dark recess below…this I have learned.
Soviet style motorcycles with passenger carts often zip down the road with anything from a family of four to a load of branches balanced on it. Stray dogs roam the village with heartbreaking hungry eyes. Older women with bright colored head scarfs shuffel to the market herding their goats or cows...all of this takes one back in time.
However this is a country of stark contrast…my host sister has a nicer cell phone than I have or will ever have! Tough the house phone is older than me and questionably works…Satellite dishes adorn even the most ramshackle of shacks…and while I may have to heat up water from the well in front to bathe ad run out back to “the hole“ to go to the bathroom…I also have a dsl connection in my room! We have been warned that the facilities in our village are not normal Moldova and not to become too comfortable before get assigned to our permanent cites…I see it as a chance to slowly acclimate myself
Language…ah yes language it is a surprisingly politically charged subject here…the majority are bilingual Russian and Romanian though what they choose to speak is determined my various factors and strictly held personal beliefs…part of the country the Transonista Region is currently trying to defect to Russia. While others believe the country should be absorbed by Romania. I recommend looking up this issue on the internet. All but two volunteers are learning Romanian.
We have been given a wonderful language training staff! My small group of 12 meets at he local squala (school) for four hours everyday to work on our language lessons and 2-3 hours of study/homework a night…Romanian is a romance language and very similar to Spanish and sometimes sounds a bit like Italian…but make no mistake it is a challenge…for me personally to keep up with the lighting speed the lessons go at. This is serious business.
I have been warmly welcomed and treated with kindness by everyone I have met thus far…while I’m apprehensive about learning the language and moving to a smaller village I am at ease with my decision to come.
Things I am SO glad I brought so far:
My galoshes-the road was sooooo muddy after a rain shower
My flash light-pitch dark muddy roads to navigate through
My watch-best spent $10 ever
My ipod shuffle-Jennifer you’ll never know HOW much I appreciated it and the thoughtful play list
My pictures
My computer…
Things to know: I have a cell phone! all incoming calls are free…skype is super cheap
I’m 8 hours ahead of OK time
I get taxed on packages based on a holding fee and what the customs label says the contents worth
Please keep me updated on your lives…I appreciate the e-mails
Sending love,
R
Three days into our arrival in this country we were joined our host families and separated into small communities near Chisnau to continue our training. The event is worth recording. Flowers are very important in this culture so were taken to the flower market to buy a present for out new families ( I chose a cheerful pot of red gerber daisies)…then shoved into tiny buses filled with our previously missing luggage and now we had massive cellophane wrapped bouquets to jostle with…I’ve never seen so many frowning faces squished between such beautiful floral arrangements. After some minor rearranging in which I believe the jaws of life were involved we managed to unload the buses at the school where the mountains of luggage gave it a refugee camp feeling. All of the prospective host families eagerly awaited our arrival…nervous smiles were not hard to find. The PC placement staff went around pairing up the volunteers with the host families…two minuets after I met my mom and sister I was literally whisked away…it was more of a friendly kidnapping really. We drove away at such speed and with such urgency I was sure we were going to a hospital to rush to the bedside of a dying family member! Though it turned out our destination was a less dramatic charming house where I will be living for the next nine weeks. My host family is wonderful beyond words. The father passed away 5 years ago and the older brother lives abroad in London…My mama gadza is a sweet hardworking woman who I never see relax…the most important person in my life right now is Natasha my host sister…she is 20 years old who takes care of my every need and want…she speaks beautiful English, is full of interesting stories about village gossip and Moldavian politics. She answers my endless questions and patiently listens to my crumbly Romanian. I also have a 17 year old boy who the family has kindly taken in who is every bit a teenager (he was embarrassed to join us for my first meal here because he thought I would “stare” at him, hahah) who I‘m living with. Natasha hen pecks him constantly and I am often witness to some very loud conversations which end up with Dino pouting off to his room…what about I have no idea, even not speaking Romanian has its perks; ) My family owns a small magazine (shop) where everything from ice cream to toilet paper are sold…similar to Mexico (also similar to Mexico…dirt roads, latrines, lack of indoor plumbing, no flushing the TP…if you have the luxury of a flush toilett that is) Our house is a charming two story casa behind a bright blue fence with a full rose garden in the front, vegetable garden in the back…three dogs, two momma cats various kittens, chickens and geese in the back…I can spend hours just looking around. We have no plumbing which has been surprisingly easy to adapt too! The latrine is best o be avoided in mid afternoon when flies billow out of the dark recess below…this I have learned.
Soviet style motorcycles with passenger carts often zip down the road with anything from a family of four to a load of branches balanced on it. Stray dogs roam the village with heartbreaking hungry eyes. Older women with bright colored head scarfs shuffel to the market herding their goats or cows...all of this takes one back in time.
However this is a country of stark contrast…my host sister has a nicer cell phone than I have or will ever have! Tough the house phone is older than me and questionably works…Satellite dishes adorn even the most ramshackle of shacks…and while I may have to heat up water from the well in front to bathe ad run out back to “the hole“ to go to the bathroom…I also have a dsl connection in my room! We have been warned that the facilities in our village are not normal Moldova and not to become too comfortable before get assigned to our permanent cites…I see it as a chance to slowly acclimate myself
Language…ah yes language it is a surprisingly politically charged subject here…the majority are bilingual Russian and Romanian though what they choose to speak is determined my various factors and strictly held personal beliefs…part of the country the Transonista Region is currently trying to defect to Russia. While others believe the country should be absorbed by Romania. I recommend looking up this issue on the internet. All but two volunteers are learning Romanian.
We have been given a wonderful language training staff! My small group of 12 meets at he local squala (school) for four hours everyday to work on our language lessons and 2-3 hours of study/homework a night…Romanian is a romance language and very similar to Spanish and sometimes sounds a bit like Italian…but make no mistake it is a challenge…for me personally to keep up with the lighting speed the lessons go at. This is serious business.
I have been warmly welcomed and treated with kindness by everyone I have met thus far…while I’m apprehensive about learning the language and moving to a smaller village I am at ease with my decision to come.
Things I am SO glad I brought so far:
My galoshes-the road was sooooo muddy after a rain shower
My flash light-pitch dark muddy roads to navigate through
My watch-best spent $10 ever
My ipod shuffle-Jennifer you’ll never know HOW much I appreciated it and the thoughtful play list
My pictures
My computer…
Things to know: I have a cell phone! all incoming calls are free…skype is super cheap
I’m 8 hours ahead of OK time
I get taxed on packages based on a holding fee and what the customs label says the contents worth
Please keep me updated on your lives…I appreciate the e-mails
Sending love,
R
3 comments:
your descriptions are wonderful..and your determination to wear the boots on the planewas worth it! Great!!
Your busy day...and your adventure make me smile...Love to you
Mom
Hurray! You started the blog, I've been checking regularly. Sounds like you are in good spirits and getting to see and learn a lot.
Miss you!
Hi Rebecca! sounds like you are having a great time and keep us updated on all of your adventures please..loved hearing them~jenni
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