Site Visit

This week has been an incredibly busy week-- I found out where I will be placed to live and work for the next two years. I'm working in a "primaria", the mayor's office in a small village in the south of Moldova. A large majority of volunteers are in the central and north... so I will be more isolated than most, but it's a great opporutnity to work on my Russian.

As for Russian, my village is Russian-speaking only, which is GREAT! My new host family is young, two parents in their 30s with two small girls, ages four and six. They are adorable and I can understand most everything the youngest daughter says. The older daughter, Abagail, is very smart ans speaks a million miles a minute, so I think I have a lot to learn from her. :)

The drive to the south was gorgeous-- unfortunately my camera is "missing" and I will most likely be out of pictures until I get a new one. But to describe it.... the road started with rolling hills of vineyards that slowly moved into corn fields and then into a never-ending sea of yellow.... Sunflowers! They are a main export of Moldova and so far the best setting I've seen here. Everyone cooks with sunflower oil and I'm always surrounded by people eating sunflower seeds...

After I spent the day at site meeting people in the school, kindergarten, stores, and mayors office, I have a really great feeling about this village. It's small, but the people seem so excited to meet me and about the work I will be doing there-- which I still am not sure what that will be :)

The old ladies I met asked if I was married and then told me that I will definitely get married there... ha!

I also met the priest of the Orthodox church and had tea with him, his wife, and five children-- very nice people. He gave me a small icon as a gift. After the work day I was invited to a "masa" which is a large dinner that extends into the late hours of the evening with lots of food, wine, and family and friends. I spent a couple hours at one masa to then be taken to another masa of my new colleague. They were celebrating a saint's day-- but I forgot which saint, sorry.

The table of food didn't seem to end... it was full of sausages, cabbage rolls, chicken, fish, crepes, cookies, chocolates, vegetable trays.... wine, fruit juice, cognac, vodka.... I was there late into the evening somewhat entertaining people with my limited Russian. They wanted to talk about immigration and how difficult it is for Moldovan people to get visas to the U.S. The grandfather joked, "I'm waiting for my personal invitation from Obama..." haha!

It was a very good visit that has me very excited to move there... in 3 weeks!