TARACLIA “AIN’T” JUST CHICKENS AND DONKEYS

I have posted plenty of pictures of donkeys and chickens but let me introduce the modern side of Taraclia.

Such an interesting mix!

My co-volunteer said she’s seen so many changes in just one year she’s been here, including great sidewalks throughout town.

We now have 2 new grocery stores, it has changed my life. I am eating 10 times more healthy and making food I love – mostly cooking for myself now, host mother is making only 2 meals (we pay per meal). I suspect I will be gaining some of the enormous amount of weight I loss (good but not so much, I wouldn't recommend this way to anyone, I spent about 6   months sick and unable to eat!)

GRAND OPENING! Big party in town!

 

 

Little did I know another was opening in 3 weeks later! As great as this, I have a feeling all the little markets are going to have a tough time competing.

I prefer that one, more choices but more importantly they weigh fruits and veggies for you! The other you’re on your own, the scale requires you to know the code for that item, it’s on a list but of course I can’t read it. Oh by the way, these stores are Romanian chains, the means lots or Romanian labels. This leaves my partners (one fluent in Russian the other doing great learning) at a disadvantage – WELCOME TO MY WORLD PEOPLE – ISN’T FUN IS IT!?! I know that the experience of opening a package with a different product than what I thought it was will someday make me good shopper, and hopefully a passable cook – as best as I can with only a hotplate, but really, I can get almost any ingredient I want, just gotta figure them out (forget Mexican spices – they do NOT like spicy around here). Thankfully brother Jim and Sharon have sent me chili spices, this allowed me to make FAJITAS the other night.

We have Snickers, M&Ms, Lipton Ice tea, Activia yogurt,  cakes and ice cream (oh nooooo!!!),bags of frozen veggies, Ramon noodles (not such a good thing but they're handy), and lots of soft toilet paper, paper towels, "spounge bob square pants" napkins, sensodine toothpaste, all kinds of fancy makeup and lotions.... too to name just a few things. But the most exciting thing is the VEGGIES and FRUITS! Until now the small markets had a limited variety as well as a limited supply. It may have just a few plates on top of the deli with a handful of oranges and Bananas that won’t be there the next time you visit Now LOOK AT THIS!

 

My first green salad, HEAVEN ON EARTH! There is real lettuce here! For some reason, despite the soil that is known to be some of the richest in the world, they don’t have it. We are fed cabbage until it’s coming out our ears and it is the base “greens” for salads. There is still a huge lack of salad dressing, word is there is one store in the city that has it, I will stock up next trip.  They use mayonnaise EVERYTHING, including as salad dressing. Yuck. Fortunately there are marinated carrot and pepper salads that have enough of a dressing and I throw in some oranges and apples – oh what a joy.

Also notice the pork chop. Up until now I have not used a fork and knife ever. Everything is ground!!! I often wondered where are the chicken breasts? Pork Chops? Steaks? Figured they grind them up but ooooooh the other body parts make it onto our plates, the chicken foot in my soup was my favorite (no I didn't eat it!!!). When there is something with a bone EVERYTHING is eaten off of it. Clean as a whistle. When they see how much us Americans leave on the bone they look at us crazy and say “you’re done?” Understandable, how much hunger has this part of the world seen over the centuries?

If there is one lesson I hope I forever hold onto from this experience is to never ever forget the pure joy of finding a bin of mushrooms or a package of lettuce. Shopping with Sylvia and Marjory, oh the ooohss and aaahhhs of us finding these simple things.  It is easy to understand the joy an orange brought to a child on xmas 100 years ago.

So here is TARACLIA (and introduction to Moldova) located way down south and almost on the Ukraine border on the East, not far from Bulgaria south of us. The west borders Romania. Recently we were banned from traveling in the Ukraine, lots of tension and riots there, many want to join the European Union but Russia is fighting that. Not sure why…. But Russia threatened to shut off oil supplies to both Ukraine and Moldova should they join the EE. Peace Corps keeps an eye on this very closely making sure we all will have heat should this happen. At this time we are allowed in the country but must stay out of the capital where the problems are. I plan on visiting Odessa at some point, it’s on the Black Sea and is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. It is about a 4 hour trip from here.  I also want to spend time in Bulgaria. The language is similar to Russian, but even more importantly, some of you many know, I taught myself Bulgarian for over a year at home!! May be able to use some, if I remember any of it, Russian in one ear pushes Bulgarian out the other.

TARACLIA is about 1/2 way between the bottom and where the country spreads out to the east.

The capital is Chisinau and it is in the center of the country, 3.5  - 4 hours away, that is where Peace Corps office is. One floor of the PC office is just for PC volunteers, lounge, shower, library, as well as several other rooms. It is great if you visit, just sitting around and you meet people from all over the country. I don’t know if I’ll ever go Northern Moldova, there are many people up there  (I’d love to see) but it’s pretty far for me..

LANGUAGE is such a huge part of who people are in Eastern Europe and wars have been fought over it. There is a section of the country we are not allowed in, too much tension still. They want to break away and be part of Russia. Presently they have a different government than “Moldova” government.

My town is considered a Russian/Bulgarian town. There are groups of Russians throughout the country (this is the only Bulgarian one)  the second largest city, Balti, up north, is mostly Russian. Now interesting, there is a prejudice against us Russian speakers. I am told that though many people know it they won’t admit it. This makes it difficult for us Russian speakers in the city since they officially speak Romanian. I witnessed this prejudice twice so far. And here I try SO HARD to speak the Russian! Only to be ignored several times!

OK, so…. modern Taraclia

COMPUTER STORE!

 

This store has every kind of home supply you need; towels, blankets, kitchen supplies.... and they  know me now and know I don't speak the language. they are wonderful, make sure they say a few English words and understand  me when I "act out" what I want.

This store has refrigerates, microwaves, toasters, furniture... limited supplies!! It's  interesting, often their items are a bit "old" designs. The microwaves have the old fashion knobs that turn.

 

Lots of banks in town. My bank is on the right. Try explaining, in Russian, "my ATM card was sucked into the machine"!!  The left is a book store, one of a few that sells office supplies and school supplies. there is SUCH a limited selection of these things. I try to buy them when in the city but I have to use my own money so it's hard to find a balance. Luckily my partner has a printer (NEVER throw away paper that still has a blank side-her husband works in an office and takes home used paper for us) tests can be two per page, cut in half, or just written on the board, since students write in their "bluebooks" there is no need for students to all have one.  Flashcards, also done on the back sides of used paper, 4 per page (usually hand-drawn) or even 6! Students see well enough when you hold them up, or walk around the room.... always think think think, what is a way we can do this without using paper of as little as possible!  

 

 

Government building where Mayor's office is

Sylvia and I meet here every Saturday for PIZZA!!! AND it is AWESOME!

 

Our police cars are SO CUTE! Don't ask about ambulances - they're interesting to see, from small vans to "station wagons" I peaked in one that had a door open, there was a cot and a blanket. That's it. Sylvia was in a horrible accident, while she waited at the side of the road for the Peace Corps to come to her she watched as they piled about 20  people in, no neck braces, boards to carry them, nothing.

Behind him is one of our "mini-malls" with a bank and stores.

 

House of culture where performances are

 

In center of town is  beautiful  monument for WWII

 

 

Now add in our internet park, library, post office, hospital (not too sure of the quality care), hospice (where Sylvia works), university, outside market, coffee shops (Sylvia and Marjory and I  meet often at one)...

 

...well I've said this before and I'll say it again, WOW DID I GET LUCKY to be in this town!! Life is hard sometimes but there are lots of little luxuries to help get through them.

 

HAPPY  NEW YEAR! May 2014 bring all of us happy times, good fortune, great health, and plenty of fruits and vegetables - oh and M&Ms (written in Russian but the same dancing peanut M&M guy on the front). For us in the US there are so many things that we take for granted, such as supermarkets and all the food available to us all year round.  Please, do me a favor, on your  next visit just stop for a moment and be thankful  for those things we have an abundance of when so much of the world DOES NOT!  Look at that bin of mushrooms, that pile of lettuce, and smile and feel the joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS IN MOLDOVA!

Well anyone that actually reads my blog may have noticed I haven’t kept up,  teaching 18 classes devoting an additional 2 hrs to each of them outside of class (as all teachers know leaving class doesn’t mean you’re done), Russian studying and tutoring, 2 hours to do hand-washed of laundry, sometimes no hot water –  an hour to heat water and wash, an hour back and forth to the store, and a constant sterilizing of my kitchen due to mice well not much time for blogging…. I am on break until Jan 8^th and will now make sure I catch up. Heck I don’t know if anyone reads this thing but oh well, it make a good way for me to keep a diary.

My Moldovan Christmas

They celebrate xmas on the 7^th, orthodox calendar. They have fake xmas trees and many decorations in stores (American decorations) and this week I see REAL xmas trees and even Christmas branches for sale. However, they are called New Year’s trees. Sorry folks, call it what you want, Santa is xmas not new year's, deal with it.

My host mother put this little tree up,

I was Skyping with my good friend Lori, I brought “her” out to see our tree. Maria (host mother) showed here a santa clause (see him on the bottom?), however she was calling it Mickey Mouse! I don’t know if she was kidding or not but it was pretty funny.

 I was shopping and caught myself singing “I saw Mommy kissing Santa clause…” I realized the store was playing it, surrounded by “xmas” decorations I stopped in my tracks and looked around and thought “uuuhhh where am I?”. A surreal life-moment  - here is another surreal moment – in my bedroom I felt eyes on me, I opened my curtains and there were lined up 4 turkeys looking at me (two were camera shy and jumped off).

 
SKYPING is so cool, how did PC members survive without it? Lori was cracking me up, what are these?? CHRISTMAS GHOSTS! No… they’re just choir boy candles. Skype is cool.

And oh so special to say HI to family, they wouldn’t appreciate this photo that is not-so -flattering but hey, they put me on BIG SCREEN TV – I bet every wrinkle on me looked like crevasses (that's me in the bottom corner)

 

Christmas turned out to be a lovely day (lovely, did I just use that word, lordy I’m getting old). I am SO BLESSED to have site mates, most people don’t share their site with anyone. Marjorie invited Sylvia and I over for - GOD LOVE HER HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE -  It was to DIE FOR. Her first experiment making American food, sautéed Brussel sprouts, salad, fruit, and to top it off HOMEMADE BUTTERY COOKIES and HOMEMADE BANANA BREAD!!

Christmas music and eating next to the fireplace….. 2 tiny candy bars for a gift and taking home some tangerines, then a lovely walk home on a beautiful day. Running into students “MERRY CHRISTMAS KIDS” (a boy sang “we wish you a merry xmas….to me in English, wonderful…)  now THAT  my friends is all you really need to have a happy, heartwarming, Christmas. An amazing Peace Corps moment….. Please friends and family, learn from this KEEP IT SIMPLE – it’s not about gifts, it really isn’t.

 

 

BEFORE XMAS

Normally I wouldn’t go to the city, horrible ride (last one 2 people threw up – that is how bad they are) on Marshrukas (vans with 18 seats and 35 people crammed on, not kidding) and add in the fact that Sylvia had a god-awful accident in one (they are death traps and you hear about accidents all the time they are , indeed death traps, most accidents result in numerous  deaths) It takes a LOT to get me on those things for a 4 hour ride  Oh, and when we were in training we had a speaker from the embassy, he actually said “make sure you wear a seatbelt and don’t sit up front” OMG want to hear a room of people die laughing? SEATBELT!? WTF IS THAT? CHOOSE A SEAT? CHOOSE??? You are lucky if you get pushed into ANY seat that opens up! He admitted he had never been on one (no kidding) oh, and be sure to watch your bags and pockets. ARE YOU KIDDING? Bags, they fit wherever your body can find a space. POCKETS? There are stranger’s body parts on top of you you, under you, against you. Someone wants to pick pocket you? If he can MOVE HIS ARMS ENOUGH TO DO THAT then hey he deserves a reward from the closest pocket he can get to.

It’s expensive to stay overnight, to eat, do some shopping buying special supplies to lug back,, and using up a precious vacation day. My best friends were there for the week, their final week, they moved back to America. Their situation was simply intolerable, worse than any of us. . They stuck it out 7 months, pretty amazing considering what they were living with. But I watched our bubbly, always happy Janet, sinking fast, and sick a lot, the PC simply wouldn’t accommodate a move, what a disappointment, two terrific volunteers who gave up so much, going home to the unknown. And for me? ABSOLUTELY heartbroken, they have been my rocks, Janet my pal, who I texted all day when stupid or hard things happened, we Skyped almost every night (still doing this a lot from  the states).

 

I'm not in the habit of taking pictures of skyping  but the Marilyn in the back was priceless and they needed to see what I saw.

 

But low and behold… small miracles DO HAPPEN. I developed a TOOTH ACHE! Not a happy thing but NOW I HAD TO GO IN!!! Turns out my fear of a root canal was for nothing it was a minor problem! Was done so quick I was able to meet them at McDonalds before they ordered! What a miracle if you ask me. Too much of a coincidence.

We went to a really nice restaurant with another volunteer, Lynn. YYYUUUMM CHEESECAKE!!

 

 

When we came out the snow was gently falling. We went to see xmas lights in the city, stunning…

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS JANET AND KC MISS YA TONS

 

 

My cousin said I look Russian in this photo - nnnaahhhh I don't have a fur hat or vodka in my hand

 

 I then shared a luxury hotel apartment with them for the night, I was in HEAVEN.  A tub so deep I stayed in until I shriveled, my hair has not felt so clean since I arrived. My bed was like clouds. And best of all  I was blessed to be with them. Oh and strangely I didn’t know I missed this but WALKING BAREFOOT ON CLEAN FLOORS! That is unheard of here, people are obsessed with slippers, and even the kids leave their shoes at the door and wear slippers to classes. Oh the small luxuries in life. Oh and by the way, though to us, using Moldovan Lei, it was expensive, converted to $$ it was about $49 a night! And this place was AWESOME I swear with the little money i have in the bank I could live very comfortably over here without working for a long time.

Happy holidays to everyone . And to those of you that read these things, thanks for following my story. I hope SOMEONE is reading them, they take a  long time to do! :-)

PS. Dang, my “mama maria” came in and I spit out some short sentences in Russian instead of just grunting an unconjugated verb – (me to eat, you to go to husband house, me to have lots of work)). 

She did say с новым годом! Happy New years, guess it’s a pretty big deal, me I’ll hide in my room.

с новым годом to all of you!!!

 

 

 

 

 

no one said teaching was easy (or fun much of the time)

School
Going from teaching 0 hours to 18 has been a big adjustment, to say the least. Days seem to be filled with teaching, grading, lesson planning. As I listen to my co-volunteers doing so many projects I just pretty much get through the days. Although to be fair to myself many of them aren't teachers, they work on community projects.

When I started teaching my partner had not yet been assigned 2^nd and 4^th grade so I was assigned 5-9 two sections of each. However she sometimes teaches 2 and 4 in between our classes so I sit in the back at a table working on lesson planning.  

 

 

2^nd - From the moment they walk in the door they wrap themselves around me and line up for hugs.  With their little black and white dresses and bows in their hair and the boys in suits and sweater vests (imagine THAT in USA!) they are ADORABLE!  They also wrap themselves around Maria’s waist, which is tiny, they only make it around my legs. I love to watch them being taught, 1 clap 2 clap clap 3 clap clap clap…..

Now the 4^th? They aren’t so different than the 2^nd only they have the ability to say in English “Hello Miss Sandra how are you?” And I swear, they do a better job at it than the older kids. They too wrap themselves around me though they are taller. The only way I can move is to shuffle. After class I had an adorable girl hanging on tight to my hand and I pointed to the door telling her “class” which sounds the same in Russian meaning “go to next class”. She just looked at me and shook her head “Nyet”. Huh… now what do I do……. I walked her to the door and nicely pushed her out and said “class” and looking dejected she marched on down the hall.

 

Now we move on to the 5^th. Each time they walk in I am surprised at just how small and young they are, I just forget sometimes. Once as I sat at the desk I felt something in my hair. Imagine my surprise when I reached up I found a little hand stroking my hair as I turned the little girl said “Miss Sandra you are so beautiful” (OH MY GOD HOW CUTE IS THAT) I love this age, when I went for a certificate to learn how to teach English this is the age I chose for my class to be during practicums.

On Teacher's Day a little girl left me a note on my desk "Mrs Sandra I wish you happiness and love that you will never hurt! I congratulate you with all my heart! Happy Holidays By Tony".  I brought it home and hung it next to my mirror to read every day so when the going gets tough, and oh it does, it will remind me that its for kids like this that I'm here.

 

6^th, still doing great, not so different than the 5^th. One of the fun things about this age, and the 5^th , is they are easy to entertain and they laugh at anything. Maria and I love to be silly acting out vocabulary words and putting on little skits using new vocab words, to make a long story short… I pulled a little ghost out of a box that Maria had made out of a ball and cloth (yes that was a vocab word!). I threw it to them and yelled AAAHHH GHOST!!! Their faces as they watched that thing fly across the room, that is an image I will always treasure, very very funny.  Here is a word “lizard” –  I don’t think I’ll ever get the image of Maria out of my head trying to get across “lizard” without words, pretending she had a tail, then picking it up between 2 fingers making “ick” faces. She finally had to give in and draw it on the board. I stood there just watching her as amused as the children were.

Yup still pretty cute at this age...

 

 These kids are great, that young man in the green sweater is by far one of our best students.

Uh huh... isn't she just so innocent and sweet? This young gall is the trouble maker of her group. sweet as pie outside of school NON-STOP with me saying "STOP IT TURN AROUND"

Two more of our best students, I tell you at this age? They work hard... then the 7th hits...  This young man on the right with the big smile, no matter the question his hand is up in the air, he holds his arm up with his other hand, I finally understand why, it gets tired from being in the air 45 minutes. I hope he keeps his enthusiasm. (OH PLEASE DON'T BECOME ONE OF THEM....)

And this one... he is one of my favorites (oops did I say that? Am I not supposed to pick favorites?) , excellent at English and so polite, sweat and friendly


 

 

Now we move on to 7. I was going to say they're still doing pretty good, but I changed my mind after today. Now the troublemakers are starting to show their true colors. But they’re manageable…. mostly they still respond to reprimand. But lordy I wish I had a dollar for every time I yelled STOP TALKING TURN AROUND. I think of this as the “middle class” because next comes 8….

 

8th - And NOW the troublemakers really show their true colors. Now in addition to yelling STOP TALKING TURN AROUND I have to add in STOP CHEATING GIVE ME THAT CELL PHONE!! Exhausting. One day we had enough. Maria marched them to the director’s office (principle). When they came back Maria made an announcement to the class and up marched 8 girls to the front, some of our best students.  Then the 2 groups were off, Maria and I stood watching as the girls scolded them, we let THEM yell at them. And they had to remain standing until they gave an acceptable “I’m sorry”.  NOW THAT is some awesome class management… peer pressure.

Let me introduce Nakita. He is probably my number 1 problem, sort of. I've developed a bit of a liking for this dude.... he's smart, hard working, he has so much potential, it's hard to watch a kid like this, he is caught up in the "pack". I spend a lot of one on one time with the hopes it will make some kind of impact, who knows....  I think what makes him different is that despite him being a "problem child" unlike the others he does his homework! And he participates in class.  We selected 4 kids to create a charity to present to class, then the class would choose which one they would donate to if they were a millionaire  (the name of the lesson is " Millionaire" the next is "Lots of Zeros" and covers rich people, game shows, money money money. THIS to the poorest country in Europe, teachers can not figure what the board of education was thinking making these books) . Well his face when I picked him well THAT was worth a million dollars. But sure enough, he did it. He named it "Happy" a charity to make people HAPPY! How can you not love a kid like that....

 

The girls working hard....

 

 

The boys not so much...checkout the body language of these kids.

 

Let me tell you what I did for 10 min. in class with that tall sweet looking child in the stripes. As he continuously smacked the kids in front of him, I wrote him a note, drew a picture of a birthday cake. I  told him to translate as he pretended he didn't know what I was asking, 8th grade, didn't understand 'how old are you?" REALLY? MISS SANDRA AIN'T STUPID. They pull this "I don't understand" all the time. I finally got across to him my message "what are you 10 years old? No you're fifteen? Really? Because you act like a 10 year old ACT YOUR AGE". One of the first things I learned to say is  ты меня понимаешь (do you UNDERSTAND ME). classroom management - pull the "grow up" card.

Don't get me started on this one.... sure is nice to me outside of class.. but oh... in class.....

And then here they come… the 9^th…. What can I say….. well I’ll tell you what I say over and over and over…. STOP IT TURN AROUND STOP CHEATING GIVE THAT CELLPHONE TO ME NOW MOVE TO THAT DESK…. It goes on and on…. They snicker, they laugh at me, they are disrespectful, I especially love the mimicking, if I cough one will “cough” under his breath. If I clear my throat… on and on it goes. They ruin every class for the students that want to learn. One made kissy noise at me so I stopped the class and said, pretending I was confused, “Maria, what does KISSKISS (noises) mean in Russian?” “what?” she said. I said “ this boy is saying KISSKISS (noises) what does that mean in Russian he’s trying to tell me something, can you translate?” his response “oh it wasn’t for her I was just making it”. Classroom management – embarrass them.

 

NO PHOTOS - NO WAY WOULD I PULL A CAMERA OUT.

 

I started a new rule, I take your cellphone and if you want it back you apologize “REPEAT AFTER ME… I AM SORRY” “(I am sorry)” “LOUDER I CAN’T HEAR YOU” (“I AM SORRY”) “FOR INTERRUPTING THE CLASS (FOR INTERRUPTING THE CLASS)”. J  One day I made a chart in the corner of the board, each time I grabbed a cell phone  I marched up to the front loudly whooping and marked the board saying “ONE FOR MISS SANDRA….” this went on until I hit 4. At the end of the class I said “MISS SANDRA WINS STUDENTS LOSE” classroom management… make them look like idiots (or me, not sure which)

Today, Maria took a cell phone, what did the class do ? They announced "NUMBER ONE!"  Gotta laugh at these kids sometimes though. Interestingly enough, still trying to figure this one out - a child called me to his desk and HANDED ME HIS CELL PHONE! WTF??? Pardon my language but HUH? He wanted me to take it before class??? WHAT does that mean, anyone???? ideas?

 

This week? I will stop the class each time I find one, they will stand up (and they are taller than me I try not to let them see me shaking in my shoes)  and apologize on the spot to the other students, new classroom management - triple  whammy -  embarrass them, make them look like idiots, peer pressure… all at the same time. Yahoo… Miss Sandra winner, student loser.  

 

 

But seriously, I had enough this week, I told Maria “THAT IS IT I’M DONE WITH THEM and I want OUT I want to go to the 4^th”.  “What will I tell them” she said.  “Tell them truth I don’t care” I said. I reminded her I’m a volunteer, I came to help kids that want help. I gave up too much and came too far to deal with this.   This is not fair to the kids who CARE, but that's it, I also don't need to get upset every day for the next 2 years. I agreed to one more week as a trial. Maria called them all to come for a meeting today after school. She is talking to them about good ol' Miss Sandra, "she wants to transfer to 4th grade because she's tired of wasting her time with you do you want her to stay or not?"  so we'll see what they said.

Funny  side note. Maria was standing at the front and I mumbled quietly "they will drive me to drink" she said "what did you say" "The will drive me to drink!" well did she think that was the funniest thing!!! I also used "they are driving me nuts" and she got a kick out of that one too. Now we say she'll bring the nuts I'll bring the drinks.  Maybe that will get us through some of these classes. I have said it before I will say it again, I have the VERY BEST  PARTNER in the world. I think we sometimes have the same brain split into two. The things we come out with at the same time...

She's beautiful right? All the woman are.... you want to have low self-esteem? Move to Moldova....

 

When I walk into town, especially through the park, I am swamped with kids around me “HELLO MISS SANDRA” and they follow me around, 3 followed me home yesterday and questioned me all the way. SIDENOTE: Every bag is extremely thin and you can see through them. I thought I’d splurge and buy “heave duty” trash bags, black… well they are so thin you can see through them, so gray is a better description. In fact, I talked to a friend on skype THROUGH one to show her. And yes, she could see what I was saying. Point is… no secrets as to what is in your bags.  I tell you, I can’t make a move in this town without someone seeing me. A child came to me in school “miss Sandra you like M&Ms?” “yes” I said thinking “huh…how did she know that”. “I saw you eating them yesterday”…. YIKES…. where I don’t know, I was eating them on the way home. And another “Miss Sandra you like ice cream?” Ugh… “yes” I said, where did she see me? Even walking home they are knocking on their windows looking out and waving to me. I won’t be doing drugs or drinking in town for sure. God help me if I get a boyfriend….

 

Today I had a group of 7^th and 8^th grade BOYS (ugh) around me in the park, and funny, often it’s the kids that are the trouble makers in class that are the nicest. Ugh.. kids figure them out…. they were circled around me I had to PUSH them back so I could breathe all talking at once! The other day, what a nightmare, I cut through the park and immediately saw a line of 9^th graders sitting along a wall, though I stopped in my tracks I though “SH#! I can’t let them see me turn around” I held my head high, cranked up my music on my IPod and looked down and marched along.  “HELLO MISS SANDRA” I heard, I turned and yes, they were all smiling and waving “HOW ARE YOU TODAY MISS SANDRA”? HUH??  Where they laughing at me? I don’t know…. I would rather not know…. but I will NEVER take that short cut again.

 

Did I ever think it would be cute to be "Miss Sandra" all over town? REALLY? no matter where I go... side street thought no one would be there, 4 4th graders "MISS SANDRA"!!! walking with me, playing with  my ipod shaking their behinds dancing, ok, that was cute....

 

But ok, at home? knock on the door, a student, bringing MISS SANDRA flowers! :-) And asking, "will you start an English club after school???" Holy cannoli... this is tiring.

 

Today a girl asked me if I had a BIG house at home. I explained that not all American’s have big houses you only see them on TV and in films.  She insisted “yes American’s all have big houses”.   I THINK I got across to her the facts, before she left she said “Miss Sandra (everything she said started with “Miss Sandra”) are there poor people in America?” “Yes there are” I said. “Miss Sandra, are there hungry people in America?” “yes there are” I said.   Well I hated to burst her little bubble but it is part of my job as a Peace Corps member to teach them about who Americans are, and yes, there are poor and hungry people in America.
 

As usual, thanks to any of you reading about my experiences. Some good some not so... there are still many days of struggle but I am truly blessed to have been placed in Taraclia, Moldova ("Miss Sandra, do you like Taraclia?" Yes I say -  Я люблю Тараклия)

 



I

cultural festival and a bit more

Well I must say there are some real signs that I am truly adapting to Moldova. I know longer think twice about walking through a gaggle of geese, they get out of the way.

 

I no long flinch when a car comes within 2 feet of hitting me while going around pot holes, really fast. I now understand though you CAN’T cross the road in front of cars there is a good amount of time to do it so in front of donkey carts. 

 

 I am no longer shocked at the site of coverless manholes.

 

 

I no longer stop at unusual sites of things happening I don’t understand.

 

This is a good thing I guess…. Oh, and who knew Moldova is on an earthquake fault line! Woken up last night by two good tremors. I now take my “evacuation bag” we are told to prepare much more seriously.

 

CULTURAL FESTIVAL
What a beautiful day

Went to a wonderful cultural festival, Moldovan, Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Gaugazian (I’m sure that is not spelled correctly but who will notice, they are people with a Turkish background and their own language) and Roma (gypsies). The music and dancing was fantastic and just wonderful to watch. I had a moment where I was swept with a kind of joy, this is exactly what I pictured myself doing on my Peace Corp journey.  I felt like I had foreseen this whole thing, 

 

 

 

 

And the other thing I pictured were  many cute children coming to me! Hello “miss Sandra”!!  and that is what they did, handing me balloons, flags, taking my picture, adorable…. I felt that no matter what happens in life THIS memory  can never be taken away from  me, a perfect moment I will always treasure. This is the stuff  I need to hang onto when the going gets rough, and as much as things are settling down, there are still some rough days to get through. I'm sure being sick all the time is not helping... my hope is that by the time I  hit 6 months I will have adapted to my new world and stop being sick!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, my two PCV  partners, Sylvia and Marjory

 

 

 

 

  

 So after running back and forth to a kitchen with  no heat, and it is COLD OUT, making the strangest concoction I've ever made (includes canned corn, tomatoes, onions, a carrot, pasta and hot dogs) it is time for me to eat. I can't taste anything since I am sick  so it doesn't matter really how it tastes.

 

I am now cooking on  a hot plate, I think that's it for what I get from my host family for 2 years. But no problem, there are microwaves, toaster ovens and even crockpots in town to buy.

 

Oh, and thanks to Sharon and Jim for the wonderful boxes of supplies they sent full of food that only  needs water added. :-) They will come in very handy allowing me to go in and out of the kitchen real fast to cook them!

 

Over and out from Moldova. :-)

 

PS. I can't taste it but I can say the  texture is a bit unusual!