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!

Officially A Volunteer

Here a few pictures from the last few weeks/months here in Moldova. The children in the picture are some of my students from the practice school that was held for a few weeks during my training. I can officialy say that I am a volunteer and have passed my training! Now off to the hard part! The chruch and the scenic picture are from my perminant site. Everyone here is extremely friendly and inviting. My village is fairly small and very cozy. I can already tell the weather is cooling down and the days are getting shorter! I've been extremely busy these last few weeks and school has officially started. I can tell it will be a challange since I'm teaching 7 different grades with 4 different partner teachers. I just hope I have the strenghth and the right attitude to get through this first year here. But I know that each week will get easier and easier. I now have internet access in my house so I will be able to update much more on this blog! Hope all is well to those reading this blog and I think of you all often!

Finished With Practice School

Hello everyone. So I survived my first experience teaching here in Moldova. It was extreemely challenging, not because the students, but just because this was my first time teaching in front of a group of kids who knew little english, along with creating lesson plans and making ALL my materials by hand! I taught 5th form the first week and it was an eye opener. Most of the children knew very little or no english at all. However, I had to teach the 5th form which assums that these kids have a pretty good understanding of english. However, the textbook had some good exercises for me to use. The 9th form was more challenging in that I had to teach astronomy! So here I was trying to explain the Big Bang Theory and the difference between an meterior and comit (which I don't even know if I know the difference!). My students were really advanced though. We were able to have a debate the first few days of class about different theories concerning creationism, and as the week went on we did a few other creative activities. For this second week I worked with the co-teacher I will be working with in my perminant site for the next two years. I can tell we will be a good team in that we have the same ideas about creativity in the classroom along with dissipline issues.

So the next challenge will be getting through the lat two speaking assessments. The first assessment was really relaxed and comfortable. Basically we had to have a conversation with one of the language teachers along with acting out a situation like buying a present for a friend. On Tuesday we wil have another assessment like this. The last assessment however, will be more formal. Also all the trainees have to prepare some Moldovan songs for our swearing-in ceremony. So that will be interesting to say the least!

Hopefully this coming week I'll be able to download some pictures from practice school. Only one more week or so of training before I can actually call myself a volunteer! It's been the most challenging and unique experiences I have ever had and I have a feeling that this is only the beginning!

Just A little Hello!

This next week is going to be very challenging and exciting. We are starting practice school, which means that all the English Education volunteers will be paired with a Moldovan teacher who will act as a mentor and help us compose lessons for practice school. I will be teaching 5th grade and 9th grade. As far as I know 25 5th graders from the local village will be in my class. Children from the local villages signed up to take part in the practice school. We all were given the correct textbooks and every day we will teach a 45minute lesson in english. I am so nervous and also excited to finally start teaching (even if it is just for practice!). Practice school will last for about two weeks. Wish me Luck!!

Site Visit to Perminent Site!

This weekend I traveled to visit the village that I will be teaching at for the next two years after my training here in Costesti.My new village which is in the north west part of Moldova, has about 5,000 people and the school that I will be working at has around 614 students, 500 of which learn English. The trip there was pretty eventfull. On saturday I met with my school Director in Chisinau (the capital) and we took a buz straight into the village. I had to travel into Chisinau by myself and for anyone who knows me, it won't come as a surprise that I got a little lost. The Peace Corps set a place for us to meet our directors but the map they gave us to find them was hand drawn and for those of us who are directionally challenged, it was difficult. (plus my director does not speak english, so when I was late to getting to our meeting place, you can just imagine how our conversation went on the phone!) But with the right attitude and with a little help from above we finally met each other.

The ride was by bus and it took around 2 hours to get there from Chisinau. Once I got there I got to meet one of my partner teachers and some of the students who go there! My school seems so wonderful. They have a lot of computers with internet for the teachers and the students to use, and they have a seperate English library. I was very impressed with my partner teacher and my director. They were so open to my ideas and it seems like the students are very involved in extra curricular activities. (eventhough some are raising their sibblings by themselves along with taking care of the family garden and house!)

My host family consists of a retired couple. My host mother is 60 and her name is Elfimia and my host father is 67 and is named Nicolaie. It will be a very different experience from my family here in Costesti and I know I will miss my family here very much. But my new host family seems very reseptive and VERY generous. The conditions of the house are very simple and I do not have an indoor toliet like I do here in Costesti..but they gave m the biggest room in there house, and I could tell that they have been preparing for me to come for sometime. It's so amazing how generous people are here, even when life is difficult and they might not have a lot to give. Since my new host parents do not speak any english, our conversations were limited so hopefully in a few months that are left in training I can improve on my romanian.

Later that night, my partner teacher and some of my future students took me out to the center of town and showed me all the buildings and most importantly the disco!! So before I left Chiscarine, I got to dance the hora (the national dance) with most of my future students! Interesting to say the least!

So coming back I got lost again in Chisinau - where it should of taken me 2 hours to get back to Costesti, it took me 4...but my host mother pointed to the word in our english/romanian dictionary that night, which meant to me that the important thing to remember is that I managed and made it home safely without TOO much trouble.