6 Months in Moldova!

December 7 was the 6-month mark for M32s here in Moldova. And as I typed that, I realize that that is officially the longest stretch I have been outside the U.S. Previous stints abroad, although collectively totaling multiple years, have never lasted for more than 5 months at a time. As I have said before, there are certainly some things and many people that I miss in the U.S., but I quite like living in Eastern Europe. Lucky for me, because of all the other time I have spent in this region, I already knew I would before I moved here. As the days and months pass and I meet more people, feel more confident about my language skills, and start to get projects going, I feel less stressed and more able to enjoy the experience. The first 6 months have been great, but also SO HARD. I was storing a lot of stress just from living in other people's space and timelines, and wondering what my work would entail, not to mention all the communication challenges. Nothing was individually very stressful, but all together it added up. I've had a cold off and on for a few months, due to not sleeping well, and I attribute that largely to all the small stressors. At the end of this week, I'll go on my first vacation since I arrived in Moldova, and I am ready to take a few days to relax and reflect on my first 6 months of service. I've got some great project ideas that I am excited to start working on when I get back, so I'm looking forward to being able to be fully engaged and energetic to get them started!

The only constant in life is change

I have lived in Cahul for less than 4 months, and already in that time I have seen so much change. Most of the main streets in town have been repaved and crosswalks and parking spaces have been added. New street lights have been installed, flower pots were added in the center of town, and gold shingles have been added to the domes on the church in the park. There are also billboards advertising new apartments that are being built. The stage in the community square is being demolished, presumably so it can be updated. Schools are being remodeled. A new theater building is being built. The piața, or market was renovated and repaved. Not long before I arrived here, the plaza in front of the university was also redone. The rapid changes I have witnessed here remind me of the breakneck pace of change in the hometown I left. As I was preparing to move to Moldova, Seattle had 68 major construction projects going on between SoDo and South Lake Union. It was mind boggling and extremely disorienting to watch my hometown evolve seemingly overnight. Now I find myself in a town that is also changing daily. But my feeling about the constant change is different here. I'm even involved in the planning of a project to do more renovations in town.

So I have been thinking about why I feel so differently about the change I am observing in Cahul. Maybe because it's not my hometown. Maybe because the changes feel like helpful and necessary improvements, rather than change for the sake of change, and money for real estate developers. Maybe because the reason I actually came here is to help enact change, albeit it in a more human capacity-building way than an infrastructural way. Certainly, I appreciate that the infrastructure is improving for those who will live here long after I leave. But it does make me wonder how the locals feel. I definitely understand what it's like for your hometown to feel like it's becoming unrecognizable. Already I have heard a rumor that the reason one of the cafes I liked closed was because the rent was increased. Having experienced it myself, I am very sensitive to the issue of people being priced out of their homes by economic factors. So far, I've heard a lot of good feedback about the improvements around town, but it's definitely something I will be paying attention to over the coming months. It makes me wonder how long the few remaining remnants of the USSR around town (a few monuments and murals) will last.

Stage in the community square being demolished

Gold shingles being added to the church domes

The renovated plaza in front of the university

30th anniversary celebration in the construction site of the new theater building

Unrenovated plaza outside the culture house building

Closeup of crumbling concrete tiles outside culture house

Soviet mural on the outside of the culture house building. 

The mural is dated 1986, only a few years before Moldova left the USSR. 

Let our hearts open wide

I came across this song recently, and the lyrics just so perfectly capture how I think many of us as Peace Corps Volunteers view our time in Moldova. 🇲🇩

We will call this place our home,
the dirt in which our roots may grow
Let the years we're here be kind, be kind
Let our hearts like doors open wide, open wide
Settle our bones like wood over time, over time
Give us bread, give us salt, give us wine
Smaller than dust on the map
lies the greatest thing we have
The dirt in which our roots may grow,
and the right to call it home

- "North" by Sleeping At Last

Bread and salt offered by Peace Corps Moldova staff to welcome M32s to the country.

Wine tasting at Milești Mici winery.

A year ago

1 year ago today, I was invited to serve in the Peace Corps. 5 months ago today I arrived in Moldova. With such concrete anniversaries, it seems important to mark them. It's interesting to note the passage of time and think about what has changed. Peace Corps is definitely one of the most challenging things I've done, but it's a challenge I enjoy. I feel like I'm constantly growing and learning new things, and I love that. And I get to be creative and help make things happen, and I love that, too. There are things - and mostly people - I miss in the U.S., yet I've always loved learning about other cultures, and I really enjoy being immersed in a different culture. I'm not really sure what to say here. I don't want to write something forced just because it's an anniversary. But I will note that my life has drastically changed in the year since I was invited to join Peace Corps, and it has been really hard but definitely worth it. Similarly, in the 5 months since I arrived in Moldova, I have had to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, learn to live with new people, eat different food than I am used to, try to build relationships with people in my communities, participate in events, create and host events, etc. I sometimes wonder if this place will ever really feel like home in the sense that I won't feel like an outsider. I'm guessing that I will always feel like an outsider to some extent, but I do feel like this town is much more familiar to me now, and that is nice. Reflecting back also makes me want to reflect forward, and I wonder how I will feel when I have been here for a year? Or two years? How will I feel when it's time to move away? As people, we can't help but look both backward and forward. I really appreciate that quote attributed to Socrates, "the unexamined life is not worth living." For me, at least, it's significant because I always want to learn from my experiences and let that shape the direction I go in the future. 

Today, as I was searching through my phone photos for the screen shot of my Peace Corps invitation letter that I took a year ago, I spent probably an hour scrolling through photos from the past 4 years. So many wonderful memories, and also some really terrible ones. Beautiful sights, good friends, delicious food, as well as the loss of a dear mentor, the loss of my job and home, career disappointment, and nostalgia for a hometown that no longer exists as I remember it. Scrolling through more recent photos reminded me of how much has changed, both in my personal life and in the area I called home for so long. Sometimes when I think about all the changes it just makes me miss what is gone. Then again, I have had so many wonderful experiences and made some amazing friends who I would not know if it weren’t for all of the changes. How do I find balance in looking forward and looking back? I'm curious how my experience in Moldova will shape who I become in the future. Only time will tell. For now, though, I'm just trying to appreciate each day as it comes. 

Baking cookies

Not a lot of discussion here. It took many weeks to obtain the supplies, and all the energy and language skills I could muster to make this happen, but the photos speak for themselves. I was VERY happy about this, and my host family also seemed pretty pleased with the results! First chocolate chip cookies in Moldova!

Sunt obosită

As of yesterday, I have been living in Moldova for 4 months. There have been a lot of really great experiences, and of course, many challenges. All in all I am happy to be here. But I am SO TIRED. Or in Romanian: sunt obosită.

My life in the U.S. before I came to Moldova was exhausting (I've posted about that before), and the 10 weeks of training were exhausting. I guess I thought it would get easier after that. But I am still so tired all the time. Trying to learn a new place, and build a whole new community of relationships, and think in another language, and create programs, and plan activities, and create lesson plans takes a lot of energy. I suppose I knew that but it's one thing to know something theoretically and entirely another thing to live it. 

This weekend it rained. Like really rained. Not super hard, but it has been raining for 3 days so far and is supposed to rain tomorrow, too. It was a good excuse for me to stay home all day today and just rest. I needed it. I have been trying really hard to learn Romanian and integrate into my family and community, but today I stayed home and watched American TV shows on my computer. 

One thing I have learned really well in life is that it's ok to rest. In fact, it's necessary. When I am rested I think better, learn better, and feel better. And I think especially as a Peace Corps Volunteer where we are being faced with challenges and new experiences every day, it is really important to take time to rest when we can. 

A Mossback's love affair with rain

This article has come around at the beginning of Fall the past few years. It resonates so much with longtime PNW residents. And here in Moldova I find myself missing the Seattle rain. It was a brutal summer here (for me): 4 months of hot, humid weather with many 90-100-degree days. On Sept 22, the first day of Fall, the temps dropped and I felt so much relief. The reason for that is largely because of what this writer discusses. Today, I walked to work under gray clouds and a few small drops of rain. It was glorious.


"It's not simply the arrival of rain, but the transition to a different environment and way of life. The drear has a certain dark beauty; a low-contrast softness. There's no need to squint or close the blinds. Even the sound of the rain on our house is music to my ears, a lullaby. 

...The best way to describe the feeling is "coziness." Home feels like a refuge from the elements; a place to relax and live life more slowly. Coffee seems to taste better when it’s raining."

Although the temperatures here in Moldova have gotten cooler with the arrival of Fall, the days have still been dry and sunny. I'm not complaining; Seattle's 9 months of rain do get to me after awhile. But still, it will take me some time to get used to not seeing the Fall rain I have been accustomed to for most of my life.