Exploring Cahul

As the year winds down, I am thinking about how fast the days are passing. Even though I still have more than 8 month left of my service, I know that every month will pass faster than the one before it. Each day now I feel the urgency of exploring the parts of Moldova I haven't seen yet before my time here ends. This week we had some beautiful weather, and I was able to explore more of Cahul.

When I arrived at my host family's house, there was a map of Cahul in my room. It doesn't have a publish date, but it has to be at least 5 or 6 years old based on the lack of renovation around the Piața Independenței. On the cover of the map is a photo of a church, but it is red with white trim unlike the yellow of the church in the park (which is currently under renovation). I have seen the domes and crosses on top of this church from a distance from various parts of town, and I mapped in on my phone, but I hadn't been able to walk to it yet. Finally today I decided to find this church. It's beautiful. It didn't have a sign, and it was locked, so I don't know what it's called and I didn't go inside. When I arrived the gate was open so I walked through it to take a few photos. As was was photographing, a man walked through the gate and said something to me in Russian. All I understood were the words for "our church." I apologized and explained in Romanian that I didn't understand. He said it again, and I told him "Я не говорю по-русски (ya 'ne gava'ryu pa'ruski)" - I don't speak Russian. He kind of shrugged and so did I. I walked out the gate and he locked it behind me. I hope to go back another day and see if I can go inside and learn more about this beautiful church. It's not far from the bus station, and maybe only a 20 minute walk from my house, but in the opposite direction than I go toward town.

By the time I got back to my neighborhood, the sun was setting and I knew it would be dark soon. But I have plans for tomorrow. Another site I learned about from the old map is a MiG-19 airplane that is supposed to be on the other side of my neighborhood. I've also wanted to see it since learning about it last Fall, but haven't had a chance yet. I am hoping to take advantage of the nice weather before it starts getting cold.

I never imagined that I would live in Moldova, but now it feels like home. I'm grateful for this opportunity to see a beautiful corner of the world.

25 years of Peace Corps Moldova

This is a little glimpse into the lives of PCVs in Moldova. I'm very thankful to be here, and to have these colleagues and friends. Bravo to the volunteers in this video (Sam, Fritz, Ellen, Jon, Alex, Anne, and Bartosz), and the rest of the M30s, M31s, M32s, and M33s I have had the honor of serving with in Moldova. 🇲🇩

Peace Corps Moldova 25th Anniversary video

Serving Under Conditions of Hardship

It's one of the first things you are told about Peace Corps, and you have to agree to it upon accepting your invitation to serve:

Expectation #3 of the Core Expectations for Peace Corps Volunteers states that PCVs must:

"Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective service."

Obviously, this means different things for each Volunteer, country, site, context, etc. Living in a town and in an Eastern European country means the hardships I face are different than the hardships faced by Volunteers living in rural contexts or other parts of the world. I really have no complaints about physical hardships in my site. For example, I don't have to chop my own wood or coal, I don't have to get my water from a well, I don't have to walk or bike miles to the nearest market. The biggest challenge I face here regarding resources is that twice a year my town turns off the water to clean the water pipes - which is happening this weekend, so I showered last night and have stockpiled bottles of water to use for the next two days while the water will be off.

However, there are non-physical hardships that all PCVs face: we miss our friends and families, we miss favorite foods, we miss events and experiences at home.

I have been thinking about this recently, as I have now been in Moldova for nearly 17 months. I've missed a few friends' weddings, I've missed friends' babies being born, I will miss the national convention of my sorority - which will happen for the first time ever in my hometown of Seattle, and which I had hoped to attend. And just yesterday, I found out that my favorite band will tour their new album in the Spring and I will miss the show they play in my hometown on my birthday.

But when we accept our invitations to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers, we understand that we are giving up the conveniences of home and that we might miss important events during our service. In my case, it was a choice I made with open eyes and willingly. Certainly, I am sorry to miss these experiences, and I absolutely miss my friends and family at home. But at the same time, what I have given up feels like a small price to pay for the extraordinary opportunity to gain new skills, knowledge, friendships, and experiences through my Peace Corps Service.

I am grateful for the people and communities that have welcomed me here in Moldova, and I would not trade this experience for anything.

A day in the life

Have you ever wondered what a typical day as a Peace Corps Volunteer looks like? Well, I'm not sure if there is a "typical" day. But I can give you a snapshot of one day. 

Today, I worked on my tri-annual report for Peace Corps, had lunch with a friend, taught an English lesson for kids along with my fellow PCV sitemate, tried to study language but ended up chatting with my sitemates instead, participated in the English conversation group organized by the Fulbright in our town, chatted with local kids on the way home (I love hearing them yell, "Hee-lar-eee!" when they see me, and seeing them come running over), ate with my host family, and helped translate a conversation between my host family and the PCV they hosted before me who is back in the U.S. now. 

I love that every day in Peace Corps is different and holds new challenges and surprises. The thing I love most is the opportunity to develop relationships and work on interesting projects with great colleagues.