Merry Christmas from Moldova! You all should be jealous, my Christmas season starts on December 25th and goes until January 7th because of the Russian Orthodox influence in Moldova.
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| National Christmas tree of Moldova |
Two years is the minimum that I have committed to give to the Peace Corps, Moldova and my village in Moldova. But really, how long is two years?
By the numbers 2 years is: 24 months, 730 days, 1/12 of my life…..
I plan on completing my service sometime after the first week of August, 2012. When I think about 2 years in a US mindset it seems to be a long time. When I get back my youngest brother could be starting his first year of college, my sister will be in college or maybe in Central America as a missionary, my other brother will be doing something cool like college or a rock band or video game tester… I will miss going out with him on his 21st Birthday. I will miss high school graduations. I will and have already missed new children being born to friends and family. I will miss at least one wedding and probably more. My parents will be a little older, but I hope they will not have changed too much. The dogs at my family’s house will be a little older; Charley (a dog) has had some health problems so we will see if I get to see him again.
So, when I think in those terms, I feel like time is almost standing still and I will miss so much at home and in the US. But then again, if I was in the US who knows where I would be working, I might have missed these things even if I was in the US.
That was my thought process when it comes to thinking like someone in the US, but I am in Moldova and am working to think in a different way. So far I have been in country 6 of the 26 months I plan to be here. I have been in my village 4 of the 24 months I signed up for; I have completed 17% of the time I plan on being here…. That is crazy to me! What have I done in these 6 months? I have made some friends, learned an acceptable amount of Romanian, learned about a former Soviet Union country and made some contacts. I hope to accomplish a lot more like fluency in Romanian, projects to better my village and to share some of US culture with Moldavians.
When I look at time in Moldova, it seems to be flying by. I fear that one day, I will wake up, the two years will be over and I will not have accomplished much. But I think that is a healthy fear and will hopefully keep me motivated to make a difference. But who knows, maybe the only difference I will make is the way some Moldavians view American and to better understand who I am as a person… I think I will be happy with that.
It is amazing how the “speed of time” is in direct correlation with one’s mindset.
There are two churches in my village which is fairly uncommon. In Moldova 97% of people are Orthodox Christian, so to have an Orthodox and Baptist church in a village or 3,000 people is fairly unique.
The Baptist church has been in the village since 1926 but the building below was constructed in 1990 with the help of Eagle Rock Christian Church in Los Angeles, CA. This is the largest Baptist church in south-eastern Moldova and to my count can sit 200 people. The story is that the church has lost members, but the only reason is that they moved to the USA. I was also told that when the Soviet Union fell, a church donated a few thousand US dollars for them to build a church and at the time the exchange rate was great, so they were able to build a whole church for a few thousand dollars.
I have never missed gravity wagons more in my life. The manager of my partner organization also has a pasta manufacturing company. The other day I was helping him unload wheat at the local flour mill so they could make flour for the pasta.
In the US, a farmer would usually take his grain, by wagon or semi, to a local co-operative or business who would dry it and clean it, if necessary, then put it in trucks or trains to send to companies, such as flour mills, or possibly larger grain companies like Consolidated Grain and Barge, Cargill or other larger companies.
In Moldova, most grains are grown by small farmers will usually be used by the household and not sold to the market. All the corn my host family grew comes back to the house to be ground up for the chickens and ducks. In my village, the wheat is either taken back to the house to feed animals and people or taken to the flour mill.
Back to my flour mill story, generally in the US the semi or wagon unloading the grain will be weighed, then it will dump its load into a hole in the ground, which then the grain will be moved by an auger into a grain storage bin. Then the wagon will be weighed again to know how much grain was unloaded. Well, when I went to help the manager of my NGO unload his wheat at the flour mill, it was a three man job that took a couple hours.
The truck had a 8’x14’x4’ bed full or wheat. One man stayed in the bed of the dump truck and filled up 10 gallon metal pots, which another man and I each took a handle on each side and walked about 10 paces and up one step in the building to unload into a storage area so it could later be made into flour.
I started to think of ways to improve this set-up. If this mill had a place outside the truck could have just dumped its load of wheat in 10 minutes at the most instead of the 2 hours which it took us. But then I realized that the majority of people coming to the mill have the little amount of wheat they could raise on 0.5 hectors (1.2 acres) minus what they are feeding to their animals. Plus, the only reasons to make the mill more efficient in unloading wheat, is if the difficulty of unloading wheat is driving away customers and/or the mill wants to produce more flour.
So, for now I think the flour mill is working well. If they wanted to increase the ease of unloading I hope they come or I hear about it so that I can be involved.
Hram (dictionary translation: Feast day) is a like a city’s birthday but it is on the day of an Orthodox Saint. Each village has a saint, my village’s Hram is on the 22nd of May and our saint is Saint Nicklaus.
I recently visited a volunteer in my Raion (like a county) whose village was having their 600th Hram. Pretty wild if you think about it, a 3000 person village in Moldova on the boarder of the Ukraine is 600 years old. There were speeches, singing and dancing. Below are a couple of picture of a traditional Moldavian choir.
In Moldova there are four ways that I’ve seen to keep your house warm during the winter:
Electricity: I’ve seen small heaters around to keep rooms and offices warm, but I have not seen electricity as a means to heat an entire house.
Gas: My host family has a gas water heater which is used to heat the radiators and the sink water. This gas water heater does not have a larger hot water storage tank like many in the US; it heats the water as it is being used.
Sobă (wood stove): I would describe it as an enclosed fireplace/wood burning stove built into a wall. They usually have metal rings on the top of the stove, so you can use its heat to cook. People will burn wood, trash, corn cobs and the stalks of sunflowers for heat. Unlike a fireplace, it is completely enclosed with one door to take out the ashes and put in more material to burn. Depending on the size of the house, there could be 1 to 3 stoves because they can only heat the rooms which are on each side of the wall they are built into.
Fire heated boiler/outdoor wood stove: Generally just large buildings such as schools have boilers, but one of my friends has a small boiler system set-up at his house. There is usually a building outside of the building/home which has a metal cylinder which is where the fire is started (the fuel is usually wood or straw) around the cylinder with the fire is water being pumped in a larger cylinder, the heated water moves into the building and heats it through radiators and then returns to the boiler.
My host father was complaining that he could not eat fish without his glasses because he could not see the bones. But as my host mother was giving him her glasses he said that without glasses the only thing he can see are beautiful woman.
Needless to say, my host father did not get to use my host mom’s glasses for that meal.
FYI: My host father isn't a dirty old me, he just likes to get a reaction out of me and my host mother.
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| Bride and Groom standing on a towel with money beneath it |
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| A married couple who is suppose to give guidance during the couple's marriage |
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| Walking around the pulpit 3 times |
The last Sunday of November was an election day for the parliament of Moldova. The Saturday before a man was going around passing out fliers and trying to get people to vote. In Moldova, when someone visits your house, especially if you know them, it is common courtesy for offer them food and wine.
I was in the house working on a few e-mails and my host dad told me to come outside with some food and wine because a visitor came and he wanted to have a glass of wine with me. So I went outside and we talked, joked, ate and drank a glass or two of wine as a group.
I have decided that being a door-to-door anything would be difficult. This guy was trying to get people to vote in the village and a lot of the homes he would visit would offer him food and wine, and he could not say no without offending people. I do not know how many houses this man visited, but I bet by the end of the day he was extremely full and probably a little drunk.
A very interesting and in-depth description of the history and importance of the Republic of Moldova: http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20101118_geopolitical_journey_part_4_moldova.
Leia Mais…My mother was telling me about some friends of the family who were trying to view my blog but their internet provider blocks different things.
The first time they tried to access this blog it warned them that my blog discussed alcohol. Which is true, alcohol is a part of the Moldavian culture and I did visit a winery.
The next time they tried to access the site, it said there was foul language. Unless I misspelled a word, the only think I can think of is that the internet provider did not like the Romanian words I used.
So, I just wanted to let you know to be careful when reading this blog, according to some it is not for the faint of heart.
It is wild to think that this will be the second Thanksgiving away from Ohio of my 24 Thanksgivings. Last year I was in Colorado and today I am in the Republic of Moldova. I am defiantly not complaining, I do miss my family but I am enjoying my time abroad.
Here is a short list of things that I am thankful for:
I have been verifying my host sister’s English application to a university in Romania. After I was done she was very thankful and told me that she’s buy me a beer. This is the conversation that followed with my mom:
Mom: Is your host sister married?
Me: Yes, she’s 33 and living in the capital and has one son.
Mom: Good, I don’t like all these women buying you drinks.
Me: *thinking, what women have bought me drinks… and did I tell my mother this?*
I thought my conversation was pretty funny, so I told my host parents about their daughter saying she would buy me a beer and what my mom said.
Host Mom: Did you tell your mom that your host sister is married and has a child?
Me: Yes.
Host Mom: Why wouldn’t your mom want a woman to buy you a beer.
Me. Well, in the US it means… *started struggling with how to say ‘to date’ in Romanian*
Host Mom: That she wants to “make a friendship”? [in the Romanian language, if you say you are friends with a female it is assumed that she’s your girlfriend]
Me: Exactly.
Host Mom: It’s the same here.
And then we got into the conversation of how my mom would react if I got married in Moldova because my host family’s first volunteer had his wedding in Moldova. They also then started discussing women they know who I should meet.
I stumbled across these blog post by a Moldavian visiting Seattle, Washington. It is a very interesting to see the other side of the coin.
http://adeliq.blogspot.com/2009/03/usa-in-retrospective-curiosities-and.html
http://adeliq.blogspot.com/2009/06/usa-in-retrospective-curiosities-and.html
http://adeliq.blogspot.com/2009/10/to-laugh-or-not-to-laugh-usa-in.html
When I answer the question, ”If you had a superpower what would it be?” I always answer time-travel. Ever since I was young I have wanted to be able to stop time and/or travel back in time. I just really do not like making, what I deem as, incorrect decisions.
If I look back on my life, there are things I would change, but not what you might think. I don’t want to change where I went to college, that I was homeschooled, where I worked, what I drove, joining the Peace Corps…… The ‘big’ decisions I am OK with. The things I want to go back in time and change is how I treated people or the things that came out of my mouth.
There are people out there who could care less how they treat people or how those people felt after they interacted with them. But I am the opposite. What I hate the most is when I hurt someone’s feelings. Some may consider that a weakness, but I am a people person in that respect. I was raised to make people feel comfortable. As an example, I dislike flea markets because I do not like arguing over the prices of things because I don’t want to be mean to people or cheat them out of money.
So, if I had one wish on a genie’s lamp I would wish that I could go back in time to write my wrongs. But the question is, if I could go back in time and fix something to clear my conscious, would I learn anything?
Probably not…. Well, then I guess for my superpower I would want to have Spiderman-like powers. Or at least have a Mary Jane like girlfriend that calls me ‘Tiger’, ha ha.
My host parents and I are sitting around the dinner table chatting.
Stefan (host father): Tim, in Moldova sometimes young men will drink two or three glasses of wine to get courage to talk to a pretty girl.
Me: Yes, it’s similar in the United States except we usually drink liquor or beer.
Stefan: Hear that Maria? It is the same all over the world, people are people.
. . .
Maria (host mother): Did you drink wine before you talked to me?
Stefan: No.
I feel like a 10 year old boy again. My host mom washes my cloths, cooks all of my meals, sweeps my room, I take showers once a week AND I sleep on Spiderman sheets.
Leia Mais…My first birthday in Moldova was a lot of fun. Four other volunteers came down south to help another volunteer with a Halloween party/fundraiser in a village 15 kilometers away. So I spent Friday night with them and helped with the celebration. They brought my birthday package from my family that was sent to the Peace Corps office in Chisinau. After the party we went for pizza (as far as I know, only pizza place for miles) and cake.
Early on my Birthday they needed to go to Chisinau, so I was back to my site by 6am. I promptly got home and went back to bed. A few hours later I was working on the computer and my host father knocked on my door and said the normal, “Hai să mîncim” which means, “Come, we’re eating”. He then asked for my camera.
My host father was in the village talking to an older man who was finishing up making a bunch of wine.
Host father: Why did you make so much wine?
Man in Village: I don't drink water!
You may not believe it, but it has been said and I have observed that Moldavians do not regularly drink water, especially the older generations. It depends on the home, but in my home wine is on the table every lunch and dinner (unless we are having a dairy based meal). My first host family did not make wine, so alcohol was about as present in the house as it is for my family in the US.
The main way people stay hydrated here, is by having soup. It is uncommon if I do not have a big bowl of chicken based or beet based soup for lunch.
I guess I believe in the system, I don't carry a water bottle around anymore. But it isn't 90 degrees anymore and I do drink water and tea when I am at the house.
My host father likes to say: Noaptea veselă, ziuă tristă, aceasta este viaţa de artist.
Translation: At night cheerful, during the day said, this is the life of an artist.
I have spent a lot of time on a lawnmower in my life. At the highest point, I would be on my mower about 8 hours a week. What I enjoyed about mowing is the fact that my body was doing something but my brain could be thinking about other things. I enjoy driving for the same reason. When driving on the highway, as long as the cruise is set and you are keeping an eye out for other cars, it doesn't take a lot of brain power. They key for me, is to be doing something. Because if I am sitting in bed thinking, I feel like I should be accomplishing something.
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| Host father's office with map of the gas line sin the village on the desk |
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| There are around 300 gas 'splits' that feed surrounding houses that must be checked for leaks once a month |
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| Main gas line into the village |
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| Host father and assistant pouring tar to seal the pipeline |
One of the country roads outside of my village with a harvested wheat field and a sunflower field close to harvest time.
