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!)