This morning I was one of the best. My high school group that is working with me to submit a grant has come up short, about $4,000 short, in completing our grant budget for bathroom renovations in the school. One of their ideas was to go to the village controller and ask him if he can meet the difference. When Vasya called me this morning to meet them I was in a hurry and not ready to speak in Russian just yet.
Nevertheless, I met him and two of the girls in our group. I asked them questions and tried to prep them for this important meeting and proposition. When we went upstairs to his office I could see how nervous they were to talk to this man. He is well-known to be the richest man in the village and he isn't very accessible. He is close friends with Vanya (my colleague Nadia's husband), and I celebrated Easter and Christmas with them all last year. When I saw how nervous the students were I offered to knock on the door first and talk to him and make an introduction before pulling them inside.
When I knocked on the door I was surprised to see him sitting at a table at 10 a.m. with a friend sharing a bottle of cognac and having a small sort of celebratory snack. Valentine greeted me with kisses and was happy to see me. I wished him happy new year but embarrassingly had to explain to him that I wasn't there just to wish him happy new year, that my students wanted to speak with him. He was embarrassed because he was "occupied." So we agreed the students could come back after lunch. Then I told the students I was going to go back in to talk with him a bit more... I sensed it was the perfect opportunity to catch up with such an inaccessible and important man in the village.
The other man I found out is a bank president from my raion center. His name is Fornasava. We shared cognac shots and snacks for about an hour. All the while joking about America, Moldova, that they think I am too skinny. I said I will gain the weight when it is time to be a babyshka. Near the end we talked some politics. Valentine has visited America and he told me how he loves how proud Americans look when we pledge allegiance with our hands over our hearts.
After three shots before 11 a.m. the bank president left. It was just me and Valentine and he asked me what the students wanted to see him for. I was prepared for the perfect pitch. I told him how we had been working all semester on this health project that will improve hygiene at the school, that they will teach health lessons to the younger kids, and that ultimately they want to reconstruct the sewage and bathrooms inside the school. I explained that we just recently found in our estimate of work that the grant we are applying to falls short, and this is what the students wanted to ask him. All the while he was writing our project budget and grant numbers down, calculating it all. He asked if I would mind him also asking Fornasava for support as well. He then said he would talk to him and see if together they can solve our issue and "close" the difference.
I'm not sure how any of this will all pan out, but I am hopeful. Most importantly, what my students learned today is that it never hurts to ask and the importance of being prepared when an opportunity presents itself. This morning I felt like I had perfectly integrated into the Moldovan business culture, making proposals and agreements over shots of cognac and minimal details being discussed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment