Picture Time!

Glod (Mud)

I had to take a knife to cut through all the mud that was attached to my shoe...I'm going to take it as a cultural experience

One of my students - Moldovan's tend not to smile in their pictures..she's actually a very happy girl

Decorations for Teacher's Day





The classroom I share with Elena. The blackboard is behind me.

the blackboard in my classroom decorated by the students for Teacher's Day

The student's dancing the hora on Teacher's Day. This is the front of my school and the field where they do P.E is across the way

A rough translation "It is your day, dear teacher"

I tried to capture the essence of the work - basically you have to crank and wheel in order to mash all the grapes..so you put the grapes into that contraption above the barrel and crank away!

more mashing of grapes

As you can tell I really got into the whole mashing grapes business

some action shots of my host father mashing the grapes - keep in mind he's 68 years old

a bath-tub of grapes

one of about 15 bags of grapes that were picked by my host parents

the gangs all here- bag-o-grapes

My family's vineyard right before we ended picking the grapes

random picture of my house...

I just had to include the vecheo....

part of the chicken coop (not sure what you would call it)

more chicken action...this is also the area where we keep Florica, our loving cow

View of the forest from my backyard

The outdoor cooking area at my house

Getting ready for winter by canning food and putting it into the cellar (beci)




Me on a carousel ride in Balti

My room

My host mother's granddaughter. It's funny how children are the same wherever you go!

A view of Balti from the top of the carousel ride

My partner teacher Elena!

I've been neglecting my page and I feel bad since there have been so many changes here in Moldova! Autumn is quickly coming to an end here and most of the hard work is being wrapped up. For the most part the corn has been shelled and sorted, with the uneatable corn being used to heat the sobas now that it is getting cold. All the grapes have been picked, mashed and stored in the cellars. Houses are being repaired for the cold weather...all of these things have been such an experience in themselves. I will never drink another glass of wine without appreciating the hard work that went into making and storing it (and I only helped with a fraction of the work).

The following pictures can basically be put into 3 groups. I have pictures of my house here in Moldova, a lot of pictures of grapes, and some pictures from Teacher's Day which was in October. Teacher's Day was basically a holiday for teachers in which all the students decorate the classroom and give flowers and small gifts as appreciation for the work their teacher's do. I was actually surprised at how big an event they made it. At my school we danced the hora (national dance) and had a huge lunch for all the teachers.

Hope you enjoy!