A Mossback in Moldova

"April, May, June, and July they fly like a hummingbird...
Our time is now
Let us sing before our time runs out"
- Jon Foreman

I woke up this week and realized that we are now in week 7 of Pre-Service Training (PST). When we arrived in Moldova and PST started, it seemed like week 10 would never arrive. Each day is long and tiring, but suddenly there are only about 3 weeks of training left before we become official Peace Corps Volunteers and move to our permanent sites.

Each day and week has had ups and downs. Some days, like today, I get frustrated with the amount of Romanian language I still don't know. Just when I feel like I understand and remember something, I screw it up in class and get corrected. Sigh. But then other times, I realize how much I actually know, given the fact that I have only been studying this language for less than 2 months! I have to remind myself to take each day - even each minute - at a time, and to look for good things and learn from the frustrations.

These are some things in my town that brought me joy in the past week:

A free concert of classical music!

Roses outside the mayor's office

My favorite flowers that I walk by on my way to school every day

Kitties!

Gardens and fresh produce

(peaches, currents, plums, tomatoes from my host family's garden. yum!!)

The beautiful and expressive sky

It's near midnight and I'm wide awake. Because I fell asleep at 4:00 pm. Because the last week has been packed and I was exhausted. Last Thursday, we found out where we will be living and working for the next 2 years. It was exciting and, for me, felt similar to other experiences when you finally find out the result of something you have been anticipating. Which means the adrenaline finally subsided and I realized that I haven't felt relaxed in probably 6 months. Whew. Enter exhaustion. But there wasn't time to rest just yet.

After we found out our posts on Thursday, my group (Community Development) had language training on Friday and Saturday, and then went to visit our post sites from Sunday until Tuesday, followed by a conference with our counterparts on Tuesday and Wednesday, training all day on Thursday, and more language training on Friday and Saturday. Which is today. For the first time in a week we have some downtime, and I am grateful. The trip to my site took about 4 hours on a hot, crowded bus (when I say hot, I mean it was in the 90s and humid with no AC on the bus - ack!). Because of the language barrier, I wasn't exactly sure where to get off the bus. I knew I was supposed to get off in the center of town, not at the bus station, but had no idea where the center of town was. When the bus arrived in my town, it stopped and the driver got out to take a break and wait for people to get on. I went up and tried to ask him - in my broken Roman-glish - where the center was. Was this it? He muttered something and got off the bus. Not sure what he said, and not wanting to get off the bus at the wrong place, I went back to my seat and sent messages to my library partner (who would be meeting me) and a PCV who was in the town before me. I didn't hear back from either of them right away and eventually the driver got back on and started up the bus. In a few minutes we arrived at the bus station. I wasn't sure if I should get off the bus. Did I miss the center or would it be the next stop?? No one on the bus seemed to speak English. I tried a bit of Romanian with the woman sitting in front of me, but couldn't understand her reply. But then my phone rang! It was my library partner! She spoke quickly and I couldn't understand what she was saying. But finally she said "stai acolo!!" I hadn't learned the word "stai" yet, but I knew the word "acolo": there. So I inferred: "stay there!" I got off the bus and a few minutes later, a car pulled up and someone was waving at me. She had found my host dad and they had driven over to get me. Hurray! I couldn't understand most of what they were saying, but I understood that they knew I was the American because of my "rucsac" (backpack), and they thought it was really funny that I went to the bus station even though I knew I wasn't supposed to (at least I think that's what they were saying! haha).

We drove to my host family's house and met their 21 year old son. My host mom was still at work (she works at the health resort down the street from the house). We drank ceai (tea) and ate a snack. I was surprised that I could understand a lot of what was being said. My host dad had lived for a short time in Ireland and knows a little bit of English, and also knows some Spanish and French, and most people in Moldova also speak some Russian. Since I have been learning Romanian, have studied French, know a tiny bit of Spanish, and know a bit of Croatian/Serbian (and some Russian/Romanian words are similar), we managed to communicate better than I had anticipated, which was great! They were also willing to speak slowly for me and repeat things if I asked them to, which I really appreciated.

The town I will be posted in has had PCVs since Peace Corps came to Moldova nearly 25 years ago, so many people are familiar with Peace Corps. My host family just hosted a previous Volunteer for 2 years (he had just left right before I arrived, and will be moving to the Seattle area when he goes back to the U.S.!). My library partner had also had some PCVs helping with projects at the library until last month. All of the previous PCVs will be gone by the time I move there in August, but two were still around during my visit, so while I was there I had a chance to meet up with them and the other two trainees (one English Educator and one Health Educator) who will also be posted there. It was nice to hear about their experiences and get some tips from them. I'm also happy that there will be three Volunteers in my post because it will be great to be able to collaborate with them. When I got back to the house, my host mom was there and we ate more delicious food.

The next day, I went to the library and was warmly welcomed by the team there! My partner showed me around the library, which is on the third floor of the casa de cultura. Then we had snacks and ceai and spent some time getting introduced. I was able to understand quite a bit of the conversation, but am really looking forward to improving my language skills before I come back! They are a fun bunch of people, and seem really excited to provide opportunities to people in their community. They have lots of ideas for programs and projects, and I hope I can be a valuable help to them!

My partner then took me for a walk around the community. First stop was just down the street at the biblioteca pentru copii (children's library). They are doing renovations right now, installing all new windows and painting. It's going to look like a brand new place when I come back in August! They are fortunate to have a lot of space (many libraries in Moldova don't), so they are looking for ways to use it effectively. One project they are interested in doing is creating a space for very young children to be able to interact with tactile toys and develop creativity. I love that idea!

Next, we went to the museum. It is medium-sized, with several rooms of displays. They have some paintings of the Ottoman wars (in the 19th-century Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire, and having been part of the USSR, Moldova still has a lot of ties to Russia), a mammoth tusk/jawbone (ok, not really a mammoth, but similar - see my previous post about Deinotherium), some historical displays, and a collection of pottery and replica coins. They have some really interesting things! I was a bit concerned about the preservation (it didn't seem to be climate controlled), so that made me wonder if I could find out more about their preservation practices. The librarian is interested in having me translate the captions into English for foreign visitors, because right now they are only in Romanian and Russian. I think that would be a great project! Moldova has some really wonderful places and things to see, but the tourist infrastructure isn't very developed. I'd love to help make the country more accessible to visitors.

After this, we walked over to the biserca (the Orthodox church). My partner and I were surprised to find out that the priest speaks English! He described the church itself and its role in the community. He welcomed me and said he hopes that I will have a successful experience in the town. I really appreciate that and hope there might be opportunities for partnership on a project at some point. Another surprise came when we walked past the consilul raional (regional council office - like city council, but for the whole district), and encountered the council president. He walked right up and offered me his hand to shake. We had been told in training that men in Moldova won't shake women's hands, but several of the men I met that day offered me their hands to shake! He also welcomed me and said that he hopes I will have a good and successful time in the town. It was a great day, and makes me excited to see what will come in the next 2 years.

On Tuesday, I got up before 6:00 am and ate breakfast (clătite! or crepes - one of my faves! the previous day, breakfast was pelmeni! another fave!) quickly before my host dad drove me to the bus station. One of the staff from the children's library was waiting for me, as she would accompany me to the partner conference in Chisinau that afternoon. It was another 4 hour bus ride back, and still hot. Once we arrived in Chisinau, we had to get on a different bus to go to downtown, and then had to get on a different bus to get to the conference site. All in all, it took us about 6 hours to get to the conference. Over that afternoon and the next morning, we did some training and workshops to help us prepare for our partnership. It will be exciting to get back to my town in a month and see what kinds of things we are able to accomplish together!

For now, I will keep trying to improve my Romanian. :)