172. Lasagna

My host family, my tutor and I had another “Tim’s Favorite Food Night”.  I was going to call it American food night, but so far the only things I have made for the family is Skyline Chili, tacos and now lasagna, I guess one out of the three is American but I would say they are all part of our culture.

I, with the help of my tutor made lasagna, it was not I have ever had but it was fun making it and making substitutions for ingredients that are not in Moldova, I could not find or I forgot to buy.  I think everyone enjoyed it and it defiantly reminded me of home.

Leia Mais…

171. Necropsy

Back in the spring my host family purchased and brought home a medium sized pig.  When we got the pig home we tried to take it out of the tractor and put it on the ground softly, but it started thrashing around and fell to the ground.  We hoped that he was OK and it did not affect his movement or growth, so we thought everything was fine.

A few months later we butchered the pig (see post here).

The other day we were eating lunch and my host dad finished eating a rib and noticed that it was broken, but it healed up before we butchered the pig.  He looked at me and said, “I guess he did break a bone.”  Nothing like a necropsy at the table.

Leia Mais…

170. I know but you do not

Host nephew (3 years old):  I know the word for cucumber in Romanian, Moldovan and Russian.
Me:  Do you know how to say it in English?
Host nephew:  Yes.  I know but you don't.
Me:  You do not know.
Host nephew:  Yes I do!  I know, but you do not.  I know but my grandmother said that I could not tell you.

Yes, he is one of those phases where he is always right.

Leia Mais…

169. Tractor on a Hill

You may wonder, why is this tractor sitting on a hill?  It could roll away, it could hurt someone or it could be blocking the path.  But more than likely the battery and or starter do not work, so the easiest way to start it is to park it on a hill and then when you want to go let it roll down to 'push start' the tractor.

I have seen more cars and tractors push started in Moldova than in my entire life in America.  I think that is mainly because in America a huge percentage of cars are automatic and cannot be push started but the other obvious point would be that people can save some money by not bothering to fix the starter/replace the battery by push starting.

One tractor I came across had a very small motor (like that on a string trimmer) that was used as a starter for a tractor.  My host dad uses a welder run through a converter to operate the starter so he does not have to use a battery.

Leia Mais…

168. Confidence

There are many different things that I have learned or strengthened my knowledge about during my time in the Peace Corps, many of those things are not quantitative or easily explained.  One of the main things that have strengthened is my confidence.

The other day I was helping a fellow volunteer conduct a Halloween party.  The party had music, face painting, ‘pin the tail on the cat’ and other fun and competitive activities.  The main volunteer who planned the event set everything up and was working the front door, which was a good place for her to be because she knew many of the participants.  The other volunteers were pretty happy talking to each other and helping with the different activities.  The party started out real well but after a while the participants just sat and listened to the music.

I asked the Moldovans that were helping to welcome everyone to the event and to show/promote the different activities that they could take part in, but they were shy high school students.  I, with my still fairly poor Romanian, got on stage and tried to welcome everyone and show them the activities available to them.

This shows two things, that I am getting more confident in my language and that I am just more confident in myself general.  I knew that we could get the youth more active by giving them their options and no one else wanted to do anything, so I had to try.

What will it be like for me when I return to America?  Will this newly strengthened confidence follow me to America or will it stay in Moldova?  If I am in a future social/work situation that is difficult I hope I will find more confidence by remembering that I am a native speaker of English, at least I do not have to fight that battle, so why should I be afraid?

Leia Mais…

167. Picking Grapes and Making Wine

This year I got to see and help my host family with all of the wine making process.  Last year I was at a training and missed harvesting of the grapes (see last year's post).

The first thing that is done, is to clean the barrels which the grapes will be placed while fermenting.  We just used water and scrubbed the outside and the inside of the barrels.  After the barrels were clean we boiled water with Walnut tree leaves and poured the water into the and covered the barrels, the mixture disinfected the barrels.

 Then the fun part comes, picking the grapes.  Three of us picked 70% of the grapes in one day.  It was not difficult, but it took a little while and my back did hurt the next day.

When all of the buckets were full, we took a little break to crush the grapes.  After that the grapes would sit in the barrels for an amount of time based on the temperature outside.  If it is warm outside the grape juice ferments more quickly than if the weather is cool.

You can check out my last year's post to see the next steps in the wine making process:  2010 blog post.

Leia Mais…

166. Birthday

My second birthday in Moldova was enjoyable.  It was not at all like last year (see post) but I had fun.  I was in the capital city because I had to be in the next day for a medical checkup.  I hung out with some Americans, went to a youth group housed out of the Jewish center which prompts and learns about different cultures, had dinner with a bunch of European volunteers and a Japanese volunteer and then had a few beers with a friend in the capital.

When I got back to my village Monday I was surprised with a nice meal, homemade sheep's wool socks and some shampoo with the Russian was of spelling my name.  It was a nice, low key birthday and I enjoyed it.

Leia Mais…

165. Thanksgiving

While there is no national holiday called Thanksgiving in Moldova, churches throughout Moldova celebrate Thanksgiving.  In the villages Thanksgiving really is thanking God for the weather and the food that was grown, so many rely on food they personally grew.

Here are some photos from the local Baptist church and their celebration.  There were many people from villages around that came to celebrate this event and invited everyone there to their own Thanksgiving celebrations.

After the service the church invited everyone to have a meal.  It was a lot of fun to see so many people and celebrate a year’s worth of work to grown and conserve the food needed for the winter.

Leia Mais…