Crăciunul Fericit ! Merry Christmas!

Wow! What an amazing few months it has been! Christmas and New Year’s celebrations are just wrapping up over here. Here is Moldova people have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas and New Years two different times in the year depending on which style calendar they follow. For example, my village celebrates what is called the Old Style Calendar. That means that the people in my village celebrate Christmas the 7,8 and 9^th of January. Other villages and cities here celebrate Christmas on the 25^th of December just like in America. For Christmas, it is common for children to get maybe one present. This is often fruit or chocolate. One of my students got a computer for Christmas, but that is very uncommon. Food is the main attraction here for Christmas. Families get together and hold “masas” which are like the meals we have at Thanksgiving. Many toasts are made for good health and prosperity. Carols are also popular at this time, although for my village carols were sung primarily on New Year’s Eve. The Old Style Calendar celebrates New Year’s on the 14^th of January. This is actually the day for Saint Vasile so both Saint Vasile and the New Year are celebrated at this time. New Year’s Eve (the 13^th) is really interesting here. Children go from house to house and sing carols, dance, and recite poems wishing their neighbors good health, prosperity and happiness in the New Year. It is sort of like Halloween because the kids go from house to house and their neighbors give them money, candy, and coloci (a round loaf of bread). Some of the boys can choose to wear masks, but none of the boys in my village did so. One thing that is similar is that families stay up until midnight and drink champagne to celebrate the new year. The next day which is New Year’s say, I still had to go to work….even though most of my students did not attend! For New Years Day, the neighbor children come over and throw seeds in your house and as I found out, on their neighbors as well! As they are throwing the seeds they recite words of (again) good health and happiness in the new year. It is a sign of good luck for the person to catch as many seeds as they can as your neighbors are throwing them at you! At school many of my fellow teachers and my director also threw seeds at me, but as I told many of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, I had a pocketful of seeds but no students! Even though school was officially open, most students stayed home, which was a little frustrating on the part of the teachers. Finally, Friday the 15th of January is the birthday of a famous Moldovan poet Mihai Emenescu. My school had a assembly to commemorate his work. Romanian is already a beautiful language, but it is so inspiring to hear it in a poem. It is also amazing how many of my students had memorized his work and were able to speak it so lyrically. I think that as an English teacher it is important for me to hear my students express themselves in their native tongue. Poetry here is very big, and many people here, especially teachers, are able to recite tons of poetry beautifully.
For Christmas (25th of December) I was able to spend time with some other volunteers and have more of a traditional American meal. The guy who hosted the party even bought all of us Christmas presents and had a little tree up in his living room. It was nice to listen to some Christmas music from home and spend some time just relaxing and catching up with the other volunteers. Then amazingly I was able to spend New Years in Rome! Me and two other volunteers went together. We took a rutiera (a 15 passenger van) from the capital of Moldova all the way to Bucharest (the capital of Romania). It was about a 10 hour trip and by the end of it I was aching in every part of my body. We left Moldova at about 5 pm and got into Bucharest around 3 in the morning. Then we took a quick two hour flight into Rome. It was like night and day over there! There was no snow, you could walk around with only one layer of clothing (though it did rain a lot), and most of the vendors spoke some English! We only ran into a few minor snags along the way. The major one was that in Rome we could not exchange Moldovan lei into Euro. Me and one of the other girls wanted to use most of our Peace Corps money to pay for the trip, but very quickly we found out that that was not going to happen. So anyone who is ever going to travel around Europe in the future, just remember - Moldovan lei is not taken in most other countries around Europe! Good to know :)
We were able to see the Colosseum, the Vatican, Palatine Hill where Rome was originally formed from, the burial place of Cesar, The Spanish Steps, The Borghese Museum, and many gelato bars and fine establishments where Italian wine and cheese are sold! I was very lucky to have traveled with two other girls who have more of what I would call "street smarts" than I. But overall, we all worked as a team to get to all our sites, and really with the metro system they have set up in Rome, it was very easy to get from one place to another. We stayed for about 6 days and we stayed in 2 different hostels. The hostels we stayed in where so interesting. They're extremely cheap and it was fun talking with the other people in the hostel, since most of them are from all around the world. One of the hostels we stayed in offered free breakfast and a few nights they also offered a diner.
I think the height of our trip was New Year's Eve. One of the reasons we chose to visit Rome was that one of the girls had a friend who was studying art in Rome. We met up with her and she then introduced us to all the friends she had in town. Ironically, all the people were from around the world. We met a few people from France, one from Germany, and a few from Romania. It was truly a cross-cultural event! For New Years we all bundled up under our umbrella's it was raining pretty hard) and headed out along with the rest of the city toward the Colosseum. There the city let off fireworks, people were dancing in the street and toasting to the New Year. It was a once in a lifetime spectacle. It was also so cool to see how everyone from around the world gathered together and celebrated this important night. It's like no matter where you are in the world, New Years translates into a fresh start and new beginnings.

So now I am back in my village and I am beginning my second semester as an English teacher here in Moldova. It was very hard to get back into the swing of things, but now that it is the end of this first week, I'm feeling a lot more comfortable and relaxed. There is fresh snow on the ground, the sound of chickens in the backyard, and a horse-drawn carriage sitting in the middle of our street...all in all I feel like I am back home.
I hope for all who read this a happy, safe, and exciting New Year full of new discoveries, patience, humility, and courage.

La Multi Ani Cu Sanate !(To Many Years of Good Health)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's strange, but in a lot of ways it doesn't feel like Christmas. Maybe because I'm not bombarded by advertisements for the latest gadget that "will make a great gift" or commercials blasting their half-off sales for everyone to hear, or even the fact that there are no Christmas trees to decorate. But I feel that in a way this is good, in that it can help ease the homesickness of being away from my family and friends for the first time during Christmas. One thing that I do have here in Moldova that I definitely did not have in Phoenix is snow!There have been a couple of mornings were there were a few snow flakes falling from the sky, but this morning was the first time that it actually stuck to the ground! I'm quite content with this amount of snow, but I know this is only the beginning. Luckily my host family's house is nice and cozy and my school is also very well heated. Besides the news about the weather, there are so many stories to choose from since the last time I wrote: so many emotions to recount; some of frustration and a feeling of a total lack of control, exhaustion, and of course the pleasant unexpected surprises. Which emotion and experience to highlight and focus on when documenting and recalling my time here is Moldova is a constant theme for me during my service. It's so easy to focus on the failures and the frustrations, especially when they are the emotions that you find your feeling mostly in a week, but I've found that my saving grace is always to take a step back and allow yourself to view the whole picture; to realize that that one lesson is not the defining factor in this experience, or that maybe this feeling of a total lack of control is a lesson in itself and one I should embrace rather than fight...but enough of that analytical/philosophical talk. Some of the highlights from these last months have been 1) the celebration of the 40th anniversary of my school here in my village and 2) the survival of my first site visit by my Peace Corps director.

I didn't quite realize the scope to which my school would celebrate the 40th anniversary. I knew that Monday that we would be having some sort of event on the weekend to acknowledge this occasion, but because of the language barrier that is still in affect, and partly on the part of some cultural issues, I was totally unprepared for how far my school was going to go to celebrate. That Friday I was told almost on a whim that we were only going to have the first 4 lessons and that the rest of the day would be spent preparing for the meal on Saturday. At first I was annoyed because I had already planned and prepared for all my lessons that day, and did not like the fact that we would again be setting outside events above lessons on the priority list..but I took a deep breath and just let it happen. Surprisingly, while lessons were cut short, I was able to find that this experience provided a great opportunity to integrate with the other teachers of the school. After the fourth lesson I went into the school cafeteria, not really knowing what to expect or what I would be asked to do, and I was immediately set to work. Some of the teachers were gutting these huge fish, I set off to stuffing apples with fruit and pealing carrots, other women were sifting through flour by hand in what seemed like dividing the good grain from the bad. Later, I joined about 8 other teachers and we all made sarmole. Sarmole is like stuffed cabbage with rice filling inside. It's extremely difficult to make because there is a specific way to wrap the cabbage around the filling. The ladies got a kick out of my lack of sarmole making skills, but after I was schooled by the math teacher, I finally got the hang of it. So imagine all these older women (and the lone American) sitting around this huge bowl of rice filling, dipping our hands into the bowl and wrapping steaming cabbage leaves (or actual dried leaves from trees) all the while gossiping about all the latest news of the village. It is a moment I will never forget. The celebration the next day was beautiful. It started at 10:30 am and lasted until about 6, when the
last of the teachers the dancing and drinking behind. We had some visitors from other villages and our neighboring raion who came with gifts and stories of teachers who had come and gone. The school even prepared a wall full of pictures from years past all the way to the present. Of course a Moldovan celebration would not be complete without dancing the hora! I absolutely love this dance. There are only a few variations of it, and it's extremely easy to learn (however, Moldovans will be extremely impressed if you can dance it). Here is a little video of some of my colleagues dancing it up. As you can see, people here are really into dancing and there is a real spirited nature about them when you get music going.

Real quick. I also had my first site visit by my director from Peace Corps. Basically she comes and views all the education volunteer to make sure that they are 1) following the guidelines of the project plan set down by PC Moldova and 2) to make sure we are volunteers have all that we need in terms of support in order to follow through with our service. It was extremely stressful because our project plan has set out some very strict, specific and challenging goals for us as educators. Since these things take time, of course my partner teacher and I have areas to work and improve on, but overall our evaluation of our classes went very well. It was nice to hear some encouraging words not only from my PC director, but also from my school director and fellow partner teachers. Of course, they focused on how well I can dance the hora, my increasingly adaptation of European dress, and my culinary education here in Moldova, but I figure that's all a part of the experience here!

Before I end this post, I would like to give a HUGE thanks to the ladies of Grace Lutheran who donated some amazing school materials. I would not to able to do half of my activities in my classes if it weren't for your help. I hope this finds everyone enjoying the holiday season and as I take my winter vacation to ROME :) I will be sure to take plenty of pictures to share with all of you back home!

It's All About the Little Things

As this extra week off of school is coming to a close, I've been able to reflect on all the events that have taken place since arriving here in Moldova. Part of this is due to the fact that Peace Corps requires us to write and comment on our activities, successes, and challenges that we have been facing during this first semester at site. For one of the prompts we had to comment on a major success story that has taken place since we have been at site. I was struck by the fact that I could not think of one major success that has taken place here and I started doubting how effective I have been since arriving here. But upon further reflection I've come to one conclusion, and that is that the "successes" I see here in my service are and will be small in nature and will take a lot of time and nurturing/perseverance before results can be seen.
This first half of the semester I've been working mainly one securing a positive and trusting relationship with my students and my partner teachers. While this will be an ongoing objective of mine, I feel comfortable now in my role as a teacher in my school. The nature of the English Education program here in Moldova has two main objectives. One is to increase students' English skills by providing a native speaker in the classroom, and the other is to work side-by-side with Moldovan teachers with the goal of providing them with alternative methods for classroom management, lesson planning, and creating efficient supplementary materials. This second goal speaks toward to sustainability of the project so that when the volunteers leave to go back to the states, the Moldovan counterparts will have one-on-one experience with the volunteer and hopefully have resources that they can carry on in the years to come. It is a great program, but tough to execute. I constantly try to put myself in my partner teacher's shoes. Here is this American who speaks very little Romanian, who knows very little about the culture here in Moldova, who has very little experience even teaching, and we come waltzing into their classrooms telling them how best to conduct their lessons... It becomes a very delicate dance when it comes to suggesting new methods to use in the classroom, but I must say that when it comes to being open to new ideas, and letting me try new ideas, I have the most amazing partner teachers! So I believe that the simple fact that I have these positive and workable relationships with my partner teachers is a success in itself. They know I am committed to teaching and they definitely know they can rely on me - and in turn I know they are open to suggestions and are even coming up with their own creative ways to teach the material.
So now that I'm feeling more comfortable with teaching, I'm hoping to start up an English Club with some of the more advanced students so that we can work more on civic responsibility and life skills. I have a few more ideas with what I want to do outside of the classroom so hopefully now that school is starting up again, I'll be able to see if there will be interest.
I guess the gist of what I've been thinking lately is that I might have to look carefully and hard to find the successes in my service. Sometimes I can feel them more than I can put words to them. My hope is that I never loose sight of the seemingly "small" things; the relationships formed and the trust created and to realize that even though they are expected parts of my service, that doesn't diminish the importance or power that they hold once formed.
Finally, one thing that I thing symbolizes the small things that truly make a difference when teaching here in Moldova is having a chalk board that actually works in the classroom. Recently one of my partner teachers was able to get a new chalkboard for our classroom and it was a huge deal for our school and for herself and I. Most of the chalkboards here are just pieces of wood that are painted to look like chalkboards, but are extremely inefficient. So the fact that we now have a new one will make a big difference in what we will be able to do during lessons.
I hope this entry finds everyone in good health first of all, and a wonderful state of mind! Never forgot the small victories in life and make it a daily practice to acknowledge each of every one of them.

Unexpected Break

I'm sitting here in my empty classroom on a Wednesday morning, wondering what to do with myself and worrying over the fact that another week off of school probably means another week that my students will go without hearing or speaking English. Last week we had a scheduled Autumn break that I must say was needed by both students and teachers alike. But due to the developments of the H1N1 in Europe, the Ministry of Education decided to close schools for at least one more week as a precaution against speeding the virus. Among the volunteers I talked with, it was a mixed response with some inviting the longer break as a way to work on projects outside the classroom, while others like myself were left wondering what we are going to do with ourselves with all this extra time. Plus the timing was a little off for us EE volunteers since we had just gotten back from a week long training session that refocused and re-energized a lot of us. I know I was ready to get back into the classroom and even start some secondary projects,but life happens while you plan. The trick now is not to loose focus on all the things I want to accomplish once school is back in session!

So far with this extra time my partner teacher and I hung a new chalk board in our classroom, rearranged and cleaned our classroom, I've worked on some paperwork for Peace Corps, visited with some locals at a nearby magazine, and even skinned and gutted 85 fish with my host mother on the floor of our kitchen. All in all I'm finding ways to occupy my time.

I also want to thank Bonnie Clark, my Mom and Dad, and Aunt Sue and Uncle Don for their amazing and much needed packages! I can't tell you Mom and Dad how excited I am that I have all those Ziploc bags! I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life!

Finally, here are just a few pictures from our little Halloween Party we had at my school. The volunteer before me started the tradition and one of my host partners organized it this year!

here was a competition to see who could turn their friend into a mummy the quickest

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!

Soba Time

Hello everyone! So autumn is definitely here and for me it actually feels like winter! Lately during the day it has been around 10 -12 degrees Celsius which is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. At night it gets around 1 -2 degrees Celsius, which is around 30 degrees Fahrenheit. My host mother has started to heat our soba during the night which makes our small house quite warm. A soba is like fire that they heat that travels through the walls of the house. But since I'm a total wimp when it comes to the cold, I'm usually wearing about three layers of winter clothes, and I sleep with my sleeping bag plus my comforter :)

School is going much smoother. It definitely still holds its challenges, especially since the first rounds of tests are taking place. One of my challenges here will be "encouraging" my students not to cheat during tests and on their homework assignments. It is a concept that is new for them and as a teacher I'm learning that a little tough love and perseverance can go a long way. However, this will be a challenge for me and my students probably for the whole two years that I'm here.

Since I'm getting more comfortable here, I'm starting to think about my secondary projects; those projects I do outside/after school. I've been asked to do an English Club and I've already corresponded with my best friend back home, who is also a teacher, about doing a pen-pal program. Right now it is just a matter of summing up more ideas and more importantly, courage, to start these additional projects. The great thing though about Moldova is that most are eager to participate - especially those students who might be living alone without parents. One that subject, a colleague of mine here in Moldova, who works with an NGO on social issues, sent us a little video about the issue of children who's parents are working abroad. This is a huge issue here in Moldova, one that affects all the volunteers and their communities. I attached the link below for anyone who wants to check it out.

Again, thanks for all the well-wishes and questions about what school materials are needed in my village! Till next time ~

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvc6X7cFPRo

Computer Problems

One of the realities I have noticed here in Moldova is that while there is access to technology, it can be more of a headache than a convienance to try to maintain them. Here viruses are very common and unfortunatley I got a really nasty one on my computer. I've been trying to contact people who might be able to help, but so far nothing has been able to work. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to fix it since I'll be in the capital and I'm meeting up with some other volunteers who know much more about computers than I do...keep your fingers crossed! As soon as I get this situation cleared up I'll be able to post some more pictures of my village. It is so beautiful here now in Autumn! In the mornings there is usually fog and all the leaves are changing colors and falling on the ground. I got to pick grapes with my family (which is a lot harder work than I thought it would be!) and the other weekend we shelled corn. There is a lot of work that people have to do in their gardens to get ready for Winter. A couple of the nights have been really cold, but for the most part it's been cozy and pleasant!

Teaching is still presenting itself as a challange - I'm finding that English Grammar is really hard to understand, even if you're a native speaker! I just hope and pray that I'm doing my best! Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and packages!