Adapting!

I just received a note from my dear Aunt Anne that reminded me I haven't updated this blog in a while. This was not done on purpose, of course. But, I'm happy to say that I've been really busy with work-- and celebrating holidays with Moldovans.

Easter was in April, and I went to the midnight mass until 4 a.m. We stood the whole time, and after the service ended we went out to the street to have everyone's Easter baskets blessed. Moldovans makes their own sweet bread for Easter and home-dye their eggs. I actually took a nap for the first two hours of service and then showed up at midnight. Some of the students from school saw me come in and kept trying to talk to me to stay awake--- the babushkas all "sshhed" them!

That morning I woke up 8 a.m. for breakfast at my mayor's house. This past year has been kind of rough, in regards to my relationship with the mayor. I thought he couldn't understand me, didn't think I had any credibility. But, when I visited his wife at the library and she invited me to join them for breakfast, I couldn't say no! Breakfast was complete with chicken, pork, rabbit, and several salads. I sat next to the mayor and was shocked when he started clarifying some of my statements to his wife. I thought, "Wow, he really does understand me!" It was the first step in what is becoming a more fruitful working relationship.

After that, at noon, I was invited by my tutor's daughter to join her and her friends in the forest for a barbecue. I had never met her before, but she came over the night before to drop off an Easter basket from my tutor and invited me to join her when I told her I didn't have plans. I spent the afternoon eating a feast amongst the surrounding vineyards, playing volleyball, meeting all the young people from my village that now live in the capital city, and dancing the hora until midnight! I even met one 25-year-old who lives in my village.. we had never met before. She and I have since had several small get-togethers and I was happy to meet a new friend in the village.

The next morning I was called to come have a morning brunch with my favorite colleague, Nadia, the social assistant, and her friends and family. I ate, drank, and danced from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

On the ninth of May was Moldova's Victory Day, of the victory of Soviet troupes over the Germans. A state holiday, all villages had large memorial ceremonies. My mayor pinned a large Soviet/Russian army ribbon on my jacket. As an American, this seemed a little awkward, but I was happy to watch their ceremony. All students from the school recited poems, sang songs, and everyone took flowers up to the memorial and to the cemetery.

In between all this my Public Achievement group (my civic education group) had been preparing for their final presentations. They gave two presentations on the harms of alcohol to their peers. I've watched our group slowly get smaller and smaller, to four students, and I am so proud of them for putting together these presentations, and going against the trends in standing out and being leaders. Unfortunately, after the alcohol presentation, one of these students found out he had active TB. He is now in a hospital in Chisinau in confinement for the next 4+ months. Don't worry, I've been tested and I'm fine. All the other students are as well, but it's an awful situation for this young boy, one of the best students in school and who is without a supportive family and whose mother left to join her husband in Ukraine to work just after he was taken to the hospital. She left her two younger sons home alone. This is not a unique situation in Moldova. I digress...

I also was working with the others in the group for a "grand finale" in the last week of school. They were going to gather the middle and high school students together, lead them in morning aerobics, and talk about upcoming activities in the summer to stay active and out of trouble. I had been teaching them aerobics for two weeks, and unfortunately at the last minute the program got canceled do to final exam schedule differences. However, the coolest thing was seeing my girls' eyes open so wide when I instructed them in the many steps. They had never done aerobics before and were so excited.

I also just started a summer fitness/activity club with young kids. For our first meeting it was only girls, but there were 10 cute little faces that showed up to do aerobics and play lots of games. As I was planning the start of this program with the youth center director, my old host mom, she told me of a plan she had for the following school year. She wants to create an afterschool center for vulnerable youth. We would gather together some of the poorest kids from the worst situations (parents abroad, alcoholic parents, children home alone) and provide them an environment to do their homework, get tutoring, play games, sports, make crafts, and eat a good meal. We plan to recruit volunteers to help in exchange for career development courses. And, we plan to create a website for the kids to write about their lives and village news to see a way for them to be productive and benefit the community. When Elena told me about this plan, immediately I knew of a way to help with funding. The American Embassy Democracy Grant fund had been open until the 15 of June, so I started writing this grant and contacting everyone with grant experience to help me in writing and finishing this project. It's been my main focus for the past three weeks. Now I just have to wait and look for other funding options in the case we don't receive the funding. We also plan to sell jewelry online made by the kids to keep this program sustainable for the following year.

Through all of this, we welcomed a new group of volunteers to Moldova. I helped plan some of the activities with their arrival, and it's so great to meet all these new people who will soon become new friends and colleagues. At one picnic I planned, when we were taking the trainees back home to their village, we were welcomed into the home of someone who saw us waiting on the street. She proceeded to tell us to come pick her cherries, gave us coffee, told us to wait since she had food in the oven for us, and gave us fruits and jams from her cellar. Moldovan hospitality is truly genuine and second to none. What an experience for these new volunteers to this country!

Next week I have a 3-day softball camp planned with my village and the nearby county center with two other volunteers. One volunteer here, Kim, received bats, balls, gloves, and uniforms from America and started organizing softball camps all over Moldova this summer. Upon hearing about this I requested she come down and hold a camp here! We'll have one day with my village kids, one day at the other town, and then take my kids by bus to their town for a small competition!

So, now you've been caught up... for the most part. I've also had several fun stories of hitch hiking, running in the now-green fields, late night disco-teching with the village youth under the stars, and guests to my apartment recently. Recently I've been up from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. working on finishing other project plans and writing this grant. I felt so productive and that I finally matched Moldovans' productivity. When I mentioned how early I was up to my colleagues and Elena, they all had the same answer.. that they were up by 4:30 a.m. digging their gardens for two hours, then getting food ready for their families, then going to work, then coming home to more housework and two more hours in the gardens. I can't beat them! I believe that Moldovans are some of the hardest working people, and when I question how they recover from the nonstop celebrations and house work, I realize they don't recover. They just don't stop. They just keep going.

At Easter, Nadia's husband asked how long it has taken me to "adapt" to Moldova. I thought about it for a second and said, "Until after winter, and basically until now." It didn't take a long time to enjoy things or appreciate life here, but it took a long time to feel productive, to feel like I was contributing to society, and to be myself in another language. Now I've reached my 1-year anniversary here and I realize I still have a whole lot more to do.

I miss you all. xo.