143. Friends

So, everyone has heard, "show me your friends and I will show you your future."

I believe that your friends do truly and strongly affect your future.  To me it is interesting as I look back on my short 24 years on this earth and the friends that have influenced me.  I wonder what my future really does have in store.

Throughout my pre-college life my friends and those that influenced me were those in my family, church community, summer league baseball, 4-H (leadership and agricultural informal out-of-the-classroom education for youth) and lifelong friends of the family.  During college my friendship and influence included classmates, internship co-workers, stronger ties with acquaintances I knew before college and my fraternity.

After my formal education period my influences were those I worked with at the Ohio State Fair, Farm House International fraternity staff and fraternity brothers, and now the Peace Corps volunteers, staff and Moldavians.

Before my Peace Corps services my friends were not very diverse.  I had friends of different skin colors, political views, and religiouns but not too many.  I was only friends with a few gays, atheists and other types of people that differ from me in other ways.  Now, due to the Peace Corps I consider some of the people that I consider my good friends are gays, lesbians, atheists, hippies, Mormons, Jews, Moldavians and any other type of social, ethnical, and religious groups you can think of.  While I do not feel like I have changed my major views and feelings about life, religion, and politics, the Peace Corps more than my college experiences (which changed me a lot) is making me re-evaluate my ideals and thought processes.

I am excited to see what the future has in-store for me and how my friends from back home and my new diverse group of Peace Corps friends will affect me.  I believe that all of these experiences will make me a better person.  One example would be my new interest in more fully understanding the former Soviet Union and to see how it really affected its citizens compared to what I have always been told, learned and heard from the older generation and school in the US.  My time here has also helped me re-focus on educating myself about the world and the US, mostly because I get a lot of questions about the US and the world that I have no answer too.

Leia Mais…

142. Goes Together Like a Horse and Carriage

The last couple of weeks the subject for marriage has come up more than usual.  I had a conversation about marriage with my host family as well as with a good friend back home that is the same age as me.  Generally the subject of marriage just come up when I meet new people, the conversation generally goes like this?

New person:  Do you have a girl? (which asks if I am married or dating someone in the same questions)
Me:  No.
New person:  Why don't you have a Moldavian girlfriend?  Aren't they beautiful? 

OR 

New person:  Do you have a girl? (which asks if I am married or dating someone in the same questions)
Me:  Yes.
New person:  You can have one here too.  Aren't the women here beautiful?

A few days ago my host family and I were sitting down to eat a meal.  The conversation was started by my host mother because she sang at a wedding the day before and was saying how young they were.  My host that then said what he believes when it comes to the age you should get married.

Under age 21:  Lots of energy but does not know what to do or have opinions about many things.
22 through 29:  Smarter and understand the major things in life but is still learning, this is the time to get married.
30 and after:  The person is developed and probably will not change his/her vies, and is too picky to find a spouse.

This idea made me think of my freshman Sociology professor.  She was old (she taught my mom in college and was old then too), she lived as much time as legally possible in New York City without being a resident (she adored the city), and was steadfast in her views and opinions.  She believed that:

You should not marry anyone until after you reach the age of 28-30 depending on the person.  Studies show that the brain does not fully develop until around the age of 29, so she argued that if you get married at 25 you are taking a chance that as you and your spouse’s brain fully develops you two will become incompatible.

I think both ideas have interesting points, but I think marriage can work at any age, but the best time would be in the 20’s so that you can build the relationship and grow together while the brain/ideals are developing.

In Moldova, generally people get married fairly young, like after high school or during college (at least from what I have seen).  It is not too common to be a 25 year old unmarried woman in the village; the city is a little different.  Men generally get married a little latter (to younger women), so it is not uncommon to see single men up until the age of 28 or so.  But no matter if you are a man or a woman, after the age of 22, if not younger, the person will start to get a lot of questions about if they have a significant other and why they are not married yet.

Leia Mais…

141. Tutor

While it varies within the Peace Corps organization, in Peace Corps Moldova volunteers have about two months of language and technical training at the beginning of our service, after that we have around another month worth of technical and language training throughout our service.  Peace Corps does a good job of helping volunteers with the basics of the language, but if volunteers want to take things to the next level they must do it on their own (with Peace Corps’ resources).

Many volunteers develop their language by setting aside time each day to write in their journal, read a book, watch TV and talk to locals.  Another way that is highly popular among volunteers is finding a local person to tutor us in our new language.  Tutors can be extremely beneficial in a volunteer’s life, not only do they help increase the language skill of a volunteer, but they can also be another connection into the community.

My tutor is a French and history teacher at the local school (she teaches classes in elementary up through high school level).  Not only is she a great teacher and she has greatly improved my Romanian, but she is my main connection to the school.  Since I am a volunteer that works with an NGO that works to develop the community and businesses I have little interaction with the school.  If it was not for her, I would not have been invited to be a guest lecturer for a history class about America’s independence.  That is just one example, another is that after the last class in the afternoon, I come to the school for my tutoring session which allows me to interact with teachers and students.

She has also helped me better connect with the community because she always informs me of events and services within the Baptist Church.  My host family is Orthodox Christian, so with my tutor and my host family, I always know what is going on religiously in my village.  As many volunteers have found out, churches are a great way to connect with many people in the community.

I would have to say that my host family, the people I work with and my tutor have been the most important people in my life when it comes to integrating and networking in my community. 

Leia Mais…

140. Peace Corps 50th Anniversary

Here is a little song that I along with a few other volunteers wrote to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps.

You may have to turn up your volume a little.  Enjoy!

Lyrics:

One day I met this girl

Was gonna change the world

She wanted to explore  

So she joined the Peace Corps

Now she’s in Moldova

Close to Romania

Her family, she misses   

And remembers their kisses

Chorus:

You could be like her

And fly across the sea                    

To live in harmony

Cu  Moldavanii [Translation: With Moldavian]            

She speaks to those she’s among

In their native tongue                   

She desires to share her story    

She lives with a host family         

Experiences life daily

She loves spending time with them

It’s sublime, does it have to end?

*Chorus*

She’s assisting her new community

With projects of many varieties 

This girl has the desire

To help put out the fires

She keeps a blog and writes

To shine a new light                 

On her new land

So the US can understand

*Chorus*

Hai, hai davai (x4) [A phrase used a lot by Moldavians 'hai' is Romanian and 'davai' is Russian]

She told her family goodbye

She wanted to explore

So she joined the Peace Corps

She joined the Peace Corps

So she, could, explore

Leia Mais…

139. TV

Most Peace Corps volunteers do not watch much TV, but in my household it is common for us to finish of evening meal and then watch TV for an hour.  I like watching the news because it keeps me up to date on what is going on in Moldova, it is also good for my language because there is writing on the screen and video which helps me understand/learn words I do not know.

I think most volunteers do not watch TV because the majority of the programming is in Russian or, when it comes to movies, is dubbed in Russian.

I do not see a lot of TV sitcoms on Moldovan/Russian/Ukrainian TV, I do not know if they are not popular or it is more the fact that my host family does not watch them.  I have seen billboard ads in the Capitol promoting House, the Simpsons, Prison Break and other US TV shows.

The shows my host family enjoys the most are game shows, dancing with the starts type shows, Wipeout/challenge shows, performance/singing/karaoke shows, talk shows, dating/marriage shows and other reality type shows.  Many of these shows are made in Russia, I find it interesting that many of these shows have an international flair to them, one talent show I was watching that was made in Russia had participants from many of the former Soviet Union states.

Leia Mais…

138. Toaster and Shopping

I have bought a few things while in Moldova, but one of my larger purchases to date was a toaster.  My host mother makes some pretty amazing breakfast sandwiches (I think a past volunteer taught her how to make them) with eggs, bacon/smoked sausage, cheese, greens and spicy ketchup.  Usually she fries the bread in oil to make toast, so I thought that I would buy a toaster which would help me eat less oil and be a little healthier in the long run… plus I do enjoy toast.

Before I bought this toaster I had been to grocery stores, small shops, a second hand store and large open markets, but this was my first time in an Electronic store. 

The grocery stores in the capital are much like US stores, except you have to put your large bags/backpacks in lockers (much like a bookstore on a college campus) to limit theft.  But otherwise it is the same, clean stores, clearly marked items, multiple checkout counters and you can pay with cash or credit cards.

There are many small shops and they carry the same sort of supplies as many gas stations in the US (besides gas).  You can buy bread, some canned vegetables, smoked meat, frozen meat, candy, beer, fish and other things like that.  Usually the options are fairly limited, but generally where ever you are, you never have to walk more than ten minutes to find the local store.  Generally, other than drinks, you must ask for what you want to buy because most everything is behind the counter, which was frustrating until I was more comfortable with Romanian.  The majority do not accept credit cards in the city and you probably will not find anywhere in a village with credit card capability.

Large open markets are a lot of fun if you are not leading a large group and/or there are not too many people around.  At the central market in the center of the capital is large and you can buy anything from glue to bicycles, tea to meat and purses to china plates.  There are many vendors who all seem to sell the same thing, I do not know how people make any money with so much competition.

The electronic store I visited had almost all of their products in the back of the store.  It took me a little while to figure out that I had to ask the salesman to go in the back to get the product.  He then filled out a slip of paper and I had to take it to the front of the store to pay, then I took the receipt back to the salesman.  The other interesting thing was that they opened everything that was purchased to check if it was working.  The salesman unpacked the toaster and plugged it in to see if it worked.  Unlike in the US where you have to mail stuff to the maker for a warranty the store personally guaranteed the toaster, so I signed a form, they stamped the date on it and attached the receipt.  So if there are any problems, I just bring the toaster and the receipt to get it fixed/replaced.

Leia Mais…

137. Easter

I know Easter was a long time ago, but it was such a big event and so interesting, that I think the story is better told late than never.

My host family’s house was full for Easter.  Easter is one of largest celebrated holidays in Moldova.  There were some interesting differences, but the main reason of celebrating this holiday was the same here and in the US.

I am use to going to sunrise services, but my host mom was at the Orthodox Church from 11pm Saturday night through 5am Easter Morning because she is the choir director.  I went a little later, at about 2am, with my host brother and host brother-in-law.  First we went to the church and participated in some of the service.  It was beautiful because there were candles everywhere and the church was full of people.  At about 4am, the service ended and everyone lined the streets in front of the church with food set out to be blessed.  The priest and the choir would walk up and down the street singing, praying and spraying holly water to bless the people and the food.

Blessed food

After that, we all went home and I was crawling in bed as the sun was rising.  Easter morning there was not a lot of movement in the house until close to noon.  Easter day we did not eat any hot food.  All of the food was prepared the day before.  The food was great, we ate rachituri (see past post), lamb, sausage patties, boiled eggs, beet salad, egg and crab salad, and a few other things.

I was happy to see the colored eggs are also made here, but I was slightly disappointed to find out that they did not do Easter egg hunts.  But, they do have a different tradition that I never took part of.  Two people eat take an egg, one person wraps his hand around the egg with only the top showing, the second person then hits the other egg once and tries to crack it.  In my family this activity was for fun, but I have heard of other families that had a prize for the last egg standing unbroken.  The morning of Easter it is also traditional to wash you face using a colored egg. 

Easter meal

Leia Mais…

136. Orhei Vechi

One of the many interesting places to see in Moldova is called Orhei Vechi which according to Wikipedia.org comes from a Hungarian word which means 'fortress'.  This place is special because of the monastery that is here, but it is also the site of a lot of history.  Some of the oldest things found here were from a fortress built in the times before Christ by the Geto-Dacian's.

Throughout these hills are caves where monks use to live

Below this structure are some caves where the monks use to live

In the foreground you can see the foundations of an old fortress

Leia Mais…

135. Rain

It has been a rough couple of weeks.  We have had high winds and a lot of rain.  Some volunteers I know did not have power for four or five days.  My side of the village had electricity but the center of town did not for four days.

Another thing that will affect Moldova is that a lot of wheat that was blown down.  It looked like the wheat would be harvested very soon, but now the fields are very wet and so much of the wheat has blown down the harvest will be less and slower than it should have been.

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I will be celebrating by helping build a shelter for my community's new park and spending time with my host family.  I would not have it any other way.

Leia Mais…