Peeing In A Hole Can Be Liberating

Yes, I said it. My toilet is a four sided wood and cardboard structure. In order to relieve myself I must pull my pants down to my ankles, squat, and aim my waste into a 6-inch by 6-inch hole. It isn’t as hard or inconvenient as it sounds. It is only one of the many adjustments I have had to make within the last week. It has only been a week here in Moldova, and yet I feel as if I have been here for a month or so. A typical day for me begins with my mama-gazda (host mom) knocking on my door and saying something like “Michelle (they call me Michelle, not to be confused with Meesha, which is a man’s name here) stand up, este ora !” I then struggle to wake up, get dressed while keeping in mind the 2km one-way walk to school and the weather, and make myself look somewhat presentable. I am just now waking up, but my mama-gazda has been up for at least an hour, doing chores and making breakfast. Breakfast is usually either an oatmeal or cream of wheat type food. It is made with butter and sugar, sounds like the American way, right? Of course, there is always tea, either plain ceai or ceai rosu (I believe that is correct). The ceai rosu looks like a red wine and tastes like a combination of wine and ceai. I asked if it was in fact wine and the response was “it is similar.” I am not sure what to think of that answer, but after drinking three glasses and not feeling any different, I decided it wasn’t that similar to wine. I then meet a fellow volunteer outside my gate and we proceed to the school. On the way we pick up a few more volunteers, all eager to make the approximate mile and a half groggy walk. We did manage to find a shortcut that involves climbing down or up (depending on if we are coming or going to school) a steep mud/dirt hill. It does manage to cut off about five minutes. All in all, the walk to school is about thirty minutes, depending on your desired speed. We then have to sit in language classes for about three hours with mini breaks in between. During those breaks we scurry to the café bar across the street to get snacks. It is a good time and fun to get to see everyone.
Being rustled from sleep by an earthquake isn’t a typical thing for me. The event somehow worked itself into my dream and I didn’t remember it until a fellow volunteer mentioned it herself. I am not familiar with earthquakes, but I would say this one was probably a 3 or 4. It shook the bed I was in a few times, but nothing fell off shelves or tipped over. Nonetheless, it was a very crazy moment, and none of the people in the village seemed to be flustered by it, so I tried not to either.
A first experience at a Moldovan disco capped off the end of an adventurous week. The inside of the dance area looked like a typical middle-end club in America, with the exception of the Romanian and Russian dance music. Every native was aware of our appearance in the club and made sure to get a glimpse of the typical American dance. Olesea said that us Americans dance very strange. In comparison to the step-clap/snap technique of the others, I would have to agree. Steph and I managed to do our own thing and had a great time. It was quite different though, to have a circle of guys around us watching our back ends bounce to the rhythm of the music. At least in America it was a half-circle.
Today was Duminica Mare (Big Sunday) and yesterday was Sambata Mare (Big Saturday). These are days for people to rest and visit with family and friends. You typically aren’t supposed to work or do anything around the house, but my family didn’t obey this rule. Mama and Tata-gazda were out in the community fields from 7am to 9pm, tending to the grapevines, corn, and tomatoes. They came back red from the sun and extremely exhausted. I learned how to do my laundry by hand and hang to dry on the clothes line. I also managed to distill and filter water for myself and draw water from the well several times. After getting 9 hours of sleep, I woke up and helped my mama-gazda make samarle (I think this is correct) for today. They are cabbage rolls stuffed with rice, dill, chicken, tomatoes, and other good stuff. I also helped in making pizza for the second time. This pizza is better than any I have tasted in America. It is made in a cast iron rectangle pan. Bread dough is laid in first and then it is covered with a mixture of onions, chicken, tomato sauce and oil. On top of that goes the brinza and coscaval (spelling error) which is cheese. Finally, sliced tomatoes are placed on top and it is placed into the oven. It is amazing!
There are many interesting things about Moldova and Costesti, too many to include in a web log. I love my host family, as they are a perfect match for me. I wish I had time to write to every person in my life, but I would have to have more money to pay the hourly internet fee and more time in which to write. Please email me and let me know what you are up to. I want to know what is going on in the big world of America, so keep me informed. Now I must study! Pe curand!

The Philly Experience

I must say that I am pleasantly surprised of the people that are joining me on my trip to Moldova. Going into this I was worried about the people that would be in my group and concerned on my animation-ness and excitement being too much for them. The people I am going with are awesome and are each fabulous in their own little way. We seem to get along very well and it was very natural and comfortable creating and holding conversations with them. We all have a common thread, which is wanting to serve our country by helping those less fortunate and in need of help. That probably explains why we all are getting along. Either that, or we realize that these are all the Americans (or at least most of them) that we will be in contact with for two years. We got to do fun things like make commercials about some of the policies in the Peace Corps Policy Handbook, make a blues song about fitting into the culture, draw pictures of our anxieties and aspirations…all in all, it was an excellent time filled with much laughter and insight.
There is also a group of about 33 people here that are going to Swaiziland, a country in Africa. However, we are not grouped with them during all of our staging here in Philadelphia. We stick with our own. J
So there are 35 people in our group, and this includes those going over for Health Education within the community and those teaching English (TEFL, which is me). I am leaving in the morning for New York City (on a bus) where I will fly high in the air to Istanbul. We will have about a seven hour layover and walk about the airport and attempt to communicate with the natives, or at least, get by. We can chose to pay for a day room which will allow us a place to rest and freshen up while waiting on our next flight, which leaves at 5:30PM. From there, we will head to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova…for two days. On Saturday we will be meeting our host families and heading to a small village around Hincesti, which is about an hour drive from the capital. That begins the 10 weeks of training, which involves extensive and dense language classes, technical, medical, and safety courses.
I am looking forward to experiencing a new country. I don’t think it still has sunk in that I am going to be gone for two years!

Oh yeah, I got to experience a Philly Cheesesteak, and it was mighty good!

Here are some things I am excited about:
Learning a new language (Romanian and possibly Russian…I am going to shoot for both)
Eating organic fruits and vegetables
Meeting Moldovans and conversing with them
Being TOTALLY immersed in a contrasting culture
Cooking with my host family
Walking to places and being outside

Here are some things I am nervous/worried about:
Getting through the airports without glitches or losing my luggages
Smelling funky due to lack of showers
Eating the dreaded chicken jelly
Getting lost
Being homesick

Well I will probably be leaving another message for you folks reading this when I get into Chisinau. Stay in touch, drop me some messages, and I love you all! Pe Curind (See you soon!)