Evan, Steph, and Inga (my host sister) raising our adult beverages to the wonderful successful that will be our Steak Dinner. 

I was in Chisinau over the weekend and stayed with my host sister. I had a few of my friends stay there as well, because it was cheaper than a hotel. On Saturday night we bought us some big chunks of steaks, mushrooms, and corn and whipped us up one hell of a dinner. We even had dessert and adult beverages. The food turned out amazing and we all felt energized after eating beef. We are ready to face the world again! 

Here is the final product of our wonderful endeavor Saturday evening. No, this is not a restaurant. Yes, we made it ourselves. 

My Chinquain to All

Mama-
grainy, soft, pure
fierbinte, usor, bun
round and round in the pot it cooks
-liga

Go Fish Sucka!

This week was my second go around with English club. The first week I had five students, 3 of which were younger than the 8-12 grades that I specified. At least they came right. So this time there were 17 students. I explained to them the game of Go Fish and wrote the different suit names and words they need to know to play the game. It was really great to have all the students speaking English at their own will, when they could speak Romanian easier. There was only two decks of cards, so students had to wait their turn. They were really patient waiting for their turns and then getting up to let someone else play. I put on some Love themed music (Valentine's was the day before). It was humorous to hear (Everything I'd Do) I'd Do it For You by Bryan Adams playing while Moldovan kids played Go Fish. So this week was a success and I am thinking the number of students will double for next week. So I better get crackin on things to do.

Happy V Day!

I knew the day was going to start off well. Walking out of my gate, an old man walking by, stopped to wait for me. I didn't know what he was wanting to do but he began talking to me. He had to be about late 60s or early 70s and I could actually understand him. Most old people here mumble their words and it is very difficult for me to follow them. But he articulated very well. He was talking about English and how hard it was to learn. He wanted to know if I would teach him English. I told him I was busy with school but if he saw me around I could teach him a few words at a time. On the walk to school we started with hello and goodbye. Simple enough. In the five minutes it took to walk to school this man knew two words in English. He was very happy and that made me happy.
Valentine's Day was great here in the good old country of Moldova. During our daily tea and cookies students were waiting for me outside with presents. One girl wrote a poem, copied from an English book, on really nice paper with stickers. The poem was about love and how my love is her life and my life is her life. It was sweet. My other students gave me an angel figurine. I loved them both. I had my studnets in 11th grade write valentine's to their family or friends. At the end of the class they all hand me their valentine's. They had written them to me! I am so lucky to have such sweet students. Or maybe they were just trying to sweeten me up...they are my worst behaved class.

Lights on for Safety

With the Odyssey of the Mind Competition called off because of undesirable weather (lots of snow and icy roads) I had a lot of free time in Chisinau. I got in on Friday and did not have an appointment till Sunday midmorning. Normally, I would have stressed out, worrying about where I would go, what I would do, who I would have sleeping in my room. Thinking I would be a failure if I did not do what was "acceptable" in the eyes of others. Success meant (in my head), being in a group of people, going out to eat, watching movies, drinking beers, maybe going to a club... Failure (in my head) was going to the hotel, reading a book, all by myself. Well that was what I wanted to do, and that is exactly what I did. I am slowly breaking through this notion I have in my head that says if you are not out with people, don't get invited places or have plans with other people, you are a failure. I am not one of those "people persons" that HAS to be around people all the time. Hell, I live in Moldova, right? But, when I am around other volunteers I feel the need to be around them and be accepted and liked. I don't compromise who I am or act differently, I know that would be stupid. I like being by myself, but I feel paranoid about being invited places and having plans with others. This is something I have to work on and I have plenty of time to do it.
Ok, on to better things. I hung out in Chisinau, drank tons of milk (not whole milk from the neighbor's cow), ate breakfast, watched the Olympics (we are an hour ahead...aren't you jealous America!!!), and vegged out. I got to spend time with Steph and Jess which always sets up my upcoming week for success. As always, I hate to leave Chisinau. But I didn't want to stay. It just takes effort to go to the bus station, buy a ticket, board the bus, and make the ride. I want to be home, but don't want to go through the means necessary to get there. My body was giving me the signs, I just ignored them.
I got on the 4.40 bus and off it rolled at its designated time. We went through all the normal villages and on our stop in Calarasi the driver noticed our headlights weren't working. He opened a box under the cassette deck and began tugging at some wires, while a cigarette dangled from his lips. He didn't seem to worried, although nighttime was closing in...it was about 6 o'clock. The other four people riding the Greyhound type bus loaded back on after having cigarette and pee breaks and we were on our way. Cars were passing, honking and flashing their lights at us, to warn us off our nonworking lights. It wasn't totally dark and thank goodness for the blankets of snow and bright full moon, we had a little light. I was calculating how much longer it would be till my village and how dark it would be then. And the bus's destination wasn't my village...it had another 45 minutes after Pirlita to get to Falesti. I wish I didn't have the seat in the first row as the bus climbed up steep hills where visibility was nil. I began text messaging my friends telling them that I loved them and to pass it on to my family and friends if the bus crashed. I have never been so scared riding in a vehicle. People standing along the rode could not see a huge bus approaching until it was right beside them. I hoped children hadn't decided to play in the street, their mothers warn them all the time. The driver seemed to steer the bus a little faster but dodged cars on the road, steering the bus into patches of untrodden upon snow, a little more than I desired. I nervously tapped my leg against the side of the bus and brainstormed plans in the chance of the bus leaping over a cliff after sliding along the road. My plan was to wrap my scarf around the metal bar in front of me that is used as a handlebar to board the bus and a divide. Obviously (or I hoped), it was bolted to the bus. I would then tie the scarf around my torso. This is all assuming, of course, I had at least a two minutes notice. The other option, if I had merely seconds, would be to wrap my arms around the metal bar running along the window down the entire bus and screaming the most offensive vulgar English word I knew.
Needless to say, I made it home safely, and almost broke out into a run after stepping off the bus. Thank you Mr. Moon for lighting the way for us. If it had been overcast or cloudy, we wouldn't have made it. I hope they reached Falesti.

Moldovan Superstar

Yeah, being stared at makes me feel special. I did not write the last web log to whine or complain or attempt to be rude or make fun of the great people of this country. They are amazingly helpful, hospitable and generous. As anyone that has been in a country in great contrast to their own can attest, being the center of attention takes its toll after a while. Most days I don't notice, as I went through many phases growing up that made me susceptible to long stares from passerbys. It is only the days when things seem to go wrong or I am agitated that I take note and detest it. Yes, sometimes I am being overly sensitive or easily disturbed. Rarely, in my going on eight months that I have been here have I been annoyed and this is a first for me. I do not find myself getting annoyed or getting pissed at my family members (my host family, that is). Ok, only when my host niece is screaming bloody murder for the fifth time in an hour...but those episodes are becoming rarer as she gets older. My co-workers are nice and I do not get frustrated at their counterproductive ways or annoying habits, as I did in America with the people I worked around. My friends do not wear down when I am around them. I appreciate and treasure the time we spend together (how cheesy, right) and have a tinge (alright, a touch) of sadness when I have to tear myself away from them. I am slowing stripping off the material things that defined me and helped shape me in America. With the layers of material, undesired qualities and behaviors surface but it is a lot easier to change who you when you have a bare bum.

Ma Doare Capul

Today has been weird. I went to one of my classes before embarking on my journey to Chisinau for the Odyssey of the Mind Competitions (which turned out to be cancelled). The snow started last night and is still going as I am typing this. When I got here I started noticing strange things. At the hotel, as I was trying to give my room key to the lady at the desk to hold on to, I noticed five guys standing there attempting to speak Romanian. I knew they weren't from Moldova/Romania and their attempt to speak a foreign tongue made me smile. They were doing a good job communicating and I hope I look that and sound that way.
At the statue of Stefan cel Mare while waiting for the OM group, that would never show, I saw five guys signing to one another and acting goofy. It made me smile that people were enjoying themselves in the snow. Now I am just sitting in the Peace Corps Volunteer lounge trying to decide what to do with myself until Sunday morning when I have a meeting. Maybe I will venture outside for a stroll in the snow...

What Are You Looking At?

This situation has come up numerous times so I finally feel the need to address it. Staring in Moldova. It may be that I look funny or am dressed strangely, but people in Moldova roam about freely, staring at people. I have not only noticed them staring at me in a rude manner, but also other people who are native to this country. While walking up a street, the people on the other end (who I am walking towards) stop what they are talking about (probably the price of vegetables) and stare for a solid minute. They don't try to be inconspicuous and don't care that you know they are staring at you. They just stare to their heart is content. It isn't just a normal glance, it is a good and long stare. It is as if I am a multiple facial piercing unnaturally colored Mohawk wearing person making out with my same sex lover in a church parking lot on Sunday blaring anti-semantic rap while chopping off the heads of baby kittens to make juice to sell to the parishioners after mass. But I'm not. I mean really people? Sometimes I smile at them as I pass, other times I walk past, roll my eyes, stick out my tongue, and make a noise, to myself to feel better.

Picture Day!

Last Thursday was picture day for the teachers, and students in the 9th and 12th grades. Also, the best students from each grade in the school had their pictures taken for a kinda "Who's Who" of the school wall. A teacher, the day before, was discussing the process and said that I could have my picture taken with different animals. In my head I am thinking, "why would I want to take a picture holding a stuffed animal squirrel?" like in my preschool and kindergarten days. Oh well, I have seen stranger things before.
Picture day came and I was supposed to have my picture taken but as in Moldova style, no one could tell me when that would take place. The consensus was, "they will call you to take your picture." I waited and waited, went home to eat, came back for my final lessons and still no one had called me to take my picture. I took matters into my own hands. Upon entering the lunchroom/auditorium/picture studio the table in the far corner immediately drew my attention. On the table were layed out live animals...a baby alligator, a chinchilla, a small spider-type monkey, an iguana, and an owl perched on a pole. Well I will be darned! To have you picture taken you had to pay 15-30 lei depending on if you wanted the picture on the spot or in two weeks. I decided I would think about it and instead went to the line where the students were having their headshots made. I was immediately spotted and told to move to the front of the line. "Why didn't you come earlier? You are late." the teacher assisting asked me. Ugh, go figure.
I eventually yielded to the idea of posing dangerously close to such wild beasts and decided I could not live without such a picture. I gathered the three girls I tutor and we had our pictures made, I held the baby alligator. It was a fun moment, holding an alligator and trying not to strike a Moldovan no smile look.

This one is cute of the picture of Jennifer and Joey/Steffy 

"This nice child wants to become a businessman because she likes to give many phone calls. 

Ah, vodka is seeping through the roof! 

Seductive "do you want to come use my outhouse?" look. 

Me trying to cross my eyes...unsuccessfully. 

On Friday my students wrote stories about photographs that I brought in. Here are some of the things they said 

Fun with my camera day! 

About my mama. 

My old kids, the 12th graders. They are a little more advanced in their posing. 

it's picture day and I brought my camera. i tried to have the moldovan look, but i wasn't too successful, seeming how I have a smirk on my face. this is my 8th grade class.  

Shameless Plug

This is a shameless plug for things that I need/want. Feel free to send them my way!

People Magazines - or other cheesy celebrity tabloid magazines. If you have a subscription, great, you can mail me your old ones
All Purpose Wipes
Teeth Whitening Strips - Walmart brand are perfect
Rent DVD
Narnia DVD
Any DVDs that would be good to show to my students for English Club
Board Games - Monopoly, CandyLand, Life, Sorry, UNO...The Classics
Play Money - American Dollars of course :)
Holiday Candy - This is a big one! My students LOVE getting them as prizes and rewards. Easter, Valentine's...whatever is out now.
Holiday Decorations - probably Easter, so they will get here in time
Stickers and other small knick knacks I can give out as prizes. Stuff in the party section of stores...small and simple.
Coucous Mix- love the stuff and I miss it dearly!
Peanut Butter
Starbucks Coffee - I am running a tad bit low
Happy Comfy Things - use your imagination!
Pictures!!!