102. Do you understand, do you hear?

A lot of people when talking to me will stop after a few sentences and say ‘do you understand?’ and some before starting a sentence will say ‘do you hear me?’  At first I thought that it was because I was a foreigner or because I had a funny look on my face when they were talking to me, but after a while of listening to other conversations I realized that it very common in conversations.

For a while I thought it was very strange, I didn’t understand why they would say those things.  We don’t do that in the US… or do we?

After doing some thinking, I think we do things similarly but possibly with a larger variety of phrases.  My host father will say, ‘Do you hear?’ or ‘Did you hear me?’ when he wants to talk to me (or anyone really) when I am not looking at him (because he knows that if I am not looking directly at someone, I am not usually paying attention and/or he wants to get my attention) which seems kinda rude, but it is no more rude that when in the US we get someone’s attention by saying:  Sir, the person’s name, hey, tapping someone on the arm, etc.

And when someone asks, ‘Do you understand?’ or ‘Did you understand?’ they aren’t being rude either.  It is like when we in the US say:  Got it? Right? See what I mean? Feel me? Etc.

Leia Mais…

101. Basketball in Moldova

I went to visit a friend in another village.  Luckily I was able to visit on a day that he plays basketball at the school where he is an English teacher.  I think we played three "full-court" games.  About five of the players were from the city’s team (who plays other city/village teams in their 'county'), so they were pretty good and all a little taller than me.

Of the three games, I was on the winning team once.  It was the first game, we needed a three to win the game and guess who shot and made a three-pointer?  Me!  It was about the ugliest shot I’ve ever seen, one of those that hits the backboard and then the rim and then gets a little air before it finally goes in.

As you can see, the gym is larger than the gym in my village (see post 97 for photos).

Leia Mais…

100. What is your hobby?

Me:  Is this money from Turkey (they country)? *Showing the coin I found on the floor to my host father*.

Host dad:  Yes.

Most Mom:  Aaron (first volunteer that stayed with my host family) collected coins from all over the world.

Host dad:  He had money from Poland, Germany, Israel, Turkey and others.

Host mom:  What is your hobby?

Me:  Well… I have a little coin collection from every country I have been too and…

Host dad:  Tim’s hobby is people watching, mostly beautiful women.

Me:  Well, I do enjoy that, but…

I do not like the question, “What are your hobbies?” even in English.  I never know how to respond, I work, sleep, eat, waste time on the computer and that might be all some days.

Leia Mais…

99. School Visit

I visited a friend who is an English teacher in a Russian speaking school.  I was very glad I was able to visit, because after I visited I have a totally new respect for teachers, especially Peace Corps teachers.  It is a lot of work to be a teacher and the teachers in Peace Corps probably have the best language skills on average due to the fact that they are surrounded by a lot of people daily and unlike you may think, do not always speak English.

I was able to watch 3 classes, 2^nd, 4^th and 7^th grade.  I was very impressed with the English that was spoken in these classes.  It seemed like a lot of fun to work with these students and teach English, it almost made me want to be a teacher… almost.

Leia Mais…

98. Volleyball

I found out in January that there is an open gym to play volleyball two nights a week at the local school.  I was a little rusty at first and always chosen last when they picked team.  But now I have proved myself and am generally a solid 3^rd round pick (of 6 rounds).

At first it was pretty awkward, because there was very little talking and celebrating.  Generally they would only give people a hard time if they did something wrong, but would not celebrate successes.  But after a while people became more outspoken, I do not know if they become more comfortable with me or if it is the mix of the group which is different every time.

It is very interesting to watch sports here.  It fills me with so many questions and my mind wonders wondering why they do things the way they do.  For one thing, during volleyball anyways, there is little physical contact between participants, no hi fives or pats on the back.  At least in my observations, this group of people is not very good at giving positive feedback.

Overall, I am pretty impressed with the skill of the players.  Moldova is a culture that, like all of Europe, is focused on soccer.  So anytime you see Moldavians play a sport where the feet are not used, you hope that you will have the upper-hand.  But that has not been true for me yet, ha ha.

Leia Mais…

97. A problem most PCV will experience

During our Peace Corps training, there have been a lot of discussions about how to be safe in Moldova. In my experience, I feel pretty safe but I also do not take unnecessary risks. Most of the trainings and discussions were common sense stuff, but one thing that a fair amount of volunteers have had problems with, is dog bites.

When I hear that dogs have bitten people, I laughed because I never thought that would be a problem for me. I always got along well with dogs and have watched the show 'Dog Whisperer' enough times to know how to keep my emotions under control and to establish myself as the pack leader.

But, I did have an incident with a dog. I was walking home and I was about 10 steps from the gate of my house when a knee-high black dog comes running from down the road and runs into my leg. He then walks past me and turns around and starts growling and barking. So I turn towards him to make sure he leaves me along, after 30 seconds or so he turns around and continue going the way he was heading. I go into the house and notice that my jeans and a boot has been ripped.  I just thought the dog ran into my leg, so needless to say I was not very happy.

I think part of the reason that dog attacks can be a problem is that there are a lot of dogs in Moldova. It seems like every home in the village has at least one dog, if not two. I would say the average in my village is 1.3 dogs per house. The dogs are generally used as doorbells/security systems and are generally not treated as pets.

Leia Mais…

96. Work & Travel

For university students in Moldova, work and travel programs are important and many take advantage of these programs. It is difficult to get a visa to go to the US but if you are doing a work and travel program it is much easier to get a visa to come to the US.

There are many businesses all over Moldova that help students and others find programs in the US. Generally the work is of a physical or service nature. I have talked with many people from Moldova that have worked all over. I know a guy that worked in Alaska who worked in a fish factory and then a hotel. Another woman worked in a hotel in Pennsylvania. I also know people that worked in Colorado, for Kroger’s, Flying J and Cedar Point in Ohio.

Generally, by American standards, the pay is OK. With the long house and that some programs provide housing, it is usually monetarily beneficial for the participants. Due to the strength of the US dollar, I know that some students work in the US for a summer and do not have to work during the school year because they made enough to pay for their classes and other expenses.

Leia Mais…

95. International Woman's Day

Today is International Woman's Day. It is much like Mother's Day in the USA. Is it a fairly big celebration in Moldova. It is a national holiday that people get off work for. This weekend and Monday all of my host's children and grandchildren came for a visit.

I wish all the women in my life good health, many years and happiness.

Leia Mais…

94. Phone Number

This is not something unique to Moldova, just to the older generation. My host parents are in their early 60’s and remember the phone numbers of many people in the village. We, as people, are becoming more dependent on electronics, in this case, cell phones. I am sure my host and real parents have more phone numbers committed to memory than I do.

The numbers I have committed to memory: Family’s old house number, youngest brother’s cell phone number (he has my old number), my Google Voice phone number, my Moldavian cell number and Jenny’s number…

Is it sad that I cannot call my mother from memory but can call a fictitious person?

Leia Mais…

93. Videos

Check out some videos that have been made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps by Moldavian volunteers: www.youtube.com/user/PC50inMoldova

This video was made in a village not too far from mine.  It is a quick look at a heath education volunteer's life in Moldova.  Plus, the song is good.

Leia Mais…

92. 50th Anniversary

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps! Happy Birthday, la mulţi ani.

Leia Mais…