Having skills — Monday, November 22, 2004

One day last summer, my friend Jenny and I were talking about our mutual interest in someday working for the program called “Semester at Sea,” which is kind of like a study-abroad program for college students, in which you live, study, and travel a part of world on a ship for a semester. It’s also a “work abroad” opportunity for some college faculty and staff, as they teach and oversee various operations on the ship. Jenny’s experience with Residence Life makes her an excellent candidate for being hired by Semester at Sea (SAS). I, on the other, as Jenny so tactfully put it, would have to get a skill before I would be hired. Of course what she meant was that I would have to get a skill that would be useful on the ship, as my ten years of work experience at the University in recruitment and advising positions did not prepare me for the kind of work available on the SAS ship.

Well, Jenny, if SAS is anything like PC/Moldova, you were absolutely right! Right now, I don’t have one useful skill here. It is truly humbling to have to have every single aspect of like explained to you: how to use the toilet and shower; how to wash your clothes; how to mail a letter; how to use the bus; how to cook and clean up; what to do with the trash; what to wear and when; where and how to clean your shoes; every single action or task of every day living — I am completely incompetent here. It is beyond humbling, sometimes to the point of embarrassing. I knew my life was relatively easy in the U.S., but I can honestly say I had no freakin’ idea how easy. Yes, a big part of it is just plain unfamiliarity, and I keep reminding myself that I’ll learn how to do all these day-to-day things and soon enough I’ll be skilled enough to take care of myself as a grown woman ought to be able to do. In the meantime, it’s kind of frustrating.

Peace Corps is absolutely right in their requirement that PCVs live the first 6 months with host families. I can’t even imagine trying to figure all of this out living on my own right now. Today, for example, I washed my clothes by hand. I’ve done this before, and it doesn’t necessarily sound like a big deal. Anna Kirillovna gave me a quick run-down before she went to work, using about two words that I understood and a bunch of gestures that I tried to connect with what I know about washing, rinsing, and hanging clothes up to dry. After breakfast I set to work. I felt like those guys in the movie “Apollo 13”, who are told to make a square peg fit in a round hole using only the items supplied in one box. There I stood with two metal basins, a huge pile of clothes, a packet of detergent and a bar of soap, and a limited supply of warm water. I instantly realized mistake #1: don’t wait a week to do laundry, but instead wash a little bit every day or every other day. A full load of laundry has a whole new meaning when you are doing it by hand. And did I mention the limited supply of warm water? That was gone before I’d finished half the clothes. Babushka had offered to help me, and yes I could have gone to her and asked what I was doing wrong or how I could do this more efficiently and effectively, but I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that there was yet one more common everyday task that I was completely incapable of completing on my own.

Don’t get me wrong, no one here has ever done or said anything to make me embarrassed, to the contrary they’ve been very kind and helpful, but sometimes the truth is painful. The other night, for example, I asked where the extra toilet paper was kept so I could put a new roll in the outhouse. Anna Kirillovna showed me where it was, paused a moment and said she’d put it there herself in a few minutes because I probably wouldn’t be able to do it in the dark. At first I thought, geez, is it so hard to put on a new roll of t.p.? But you know what? I realized she was absolutely right. Every little thing that I think I can do, I can’t. She didn’t mean any offense by what she said, just stating the complete and truthful fact that I don’t know how to do a darn thing here. And when it came time to ask for help with my laundry, I just didn’t want to admit to one more inability. It was, pure and simple, my own ego getting in the way.

Well, my clothes are hanging now in the cold wintery air turning into colorful clothes-shaped popsicles. I’m not entirely clear on how the clothes get dry outside in the winter when the water in them just freezes and doesn’t drip or evaporate away, but I hung my stuff right up alongside their frozen clothes.

One of the PCVs in my group, Joanna, wears a necklace with a pendant engraved with the words “This too shall pass.” My mantra is a bit different, “Eventually, things will become clear.” At least I hope so.

A kind word to ease the sting…
Monday only got better when I went to work. The good part was that I met with my new tutor, also named Anya, who is a Russian teacher at the village school. She doesn’t speak any English, which is what I was hoping for in a tutor. We set up our schedule to meet 3 times a week, starting next Monday, and then I chatted for a bit with my partner Donna Mikhailovna. She shared with me a copy of a project that the village just won (in other words, they just found out that a grant they submitted was approved). It’s a very interesting project, focusing on the national minorities and providing some “inter-cultural” education between the majority Moldovan population and the ethnic minorities: Bulgarians, Gagauzians and Roma (Gypsies). There will be some youth exchanges between different villages, during which the host village will have the opportunity to share some of their cultural heritage with the visiting young people. Tvarditsa is one of the sponsoring villages of this project, which means some of our youth will be visiting other villages and we will also host visiting youth here. There is also something in the project about a seminar for future journalists and starting a club for youth interested in careers in journalism. I’m not exactly sure how that fits into with the rest of the project, but that’s kind of the way grants are done around here- put in there as much as you can that is somehow loosely connected to the main theme.

I hadn’t even read the project description yet and Donna Mikhailovna said she’d like me to organize a seminar about journalism, and perhaps one of my friends who is experienced with journalism could present. Huh? is all I could think. But I kept my thoughts to myself, said “We’ll see” and read through the proposal. Then the Vice Primar, Maria Danilovna, wanted to meet with me. I’ve been waiting a month to redeem myself with her, as I was a complete and total bumbling idiot the first time I met her during my site visit. She speaks very quickly, very politely and “flowery”, in other words, neither slowly or simply enough for me to easily understand. Well, when her first question was “So, what will we be working on?”, all I could think was “Shoot, lady, I don’t even know how to wash my own clothes here. You think I have a clue what we should do?” I collected myself enough to answer more appropriately, though, and said “I think that’s really a question for you. I am here to help with the work that you want to do.” At that point, she started to grill me on what kind of experience I have and in what realms I can help them: public administration; 10-year strategic plan for the village; obtaining grants for a multitude of projects, from getting furniture to opening a rehabilitation center for at-risk children and more. That now-familiar feeling of being a deer in the headlights returned. She gave me a bunch of documents to read, then proceeded to talk on the telephone, read the newspaper, and listen to the radio simultaneously, while I struggled to concentrate on the difficult texts in front of me, all the while trying not to reveal exactly how stupid and incompetent I felt. I finally tiptoed out and sought refuge in Anna Kirillovna’s office, who quickly had me laughing and feeling better. I thought I’d take a stroll around the village in the sunny but cold remaining afternoon, but instead Donna Mikhailovna found me and invited me to attend a budget meeting with the village council, Primar, Vice Primar, and staff. It was definitely interesting, although I certainly couldn’t follow the entire conversation. After 90 minutes, as it approached 5:00 pm and I knew Anna Kirillovna would be heading home soon, I tried to slip out inconspicuously. Not so easy, as I had skillfully sat myself in the far corner, boxed in by a desk and a row of people. I leaned over to Nadia, a very nice woman I’d met on my site visit, and whispered that I needed to leave. She got up with me, and we stepped out together. What relief!

Walking home with Anna Kirillovna, I tried to be “cool”, joking about not being able to do anything here. Truthfully, I was completely overwhelmed and frustrated from just a few short hours at the Primaria. I later told a “veteran” PCV here that I realized today I don’t have a single useful skill for life in Moldova. His answer? “Welcome to everyone’s first week at site.” His advice was that I should lower their expectations for what I can do right away, do my best, and no one can fault me for being honest.

I also realized how completely intuitive and compassionate Anna Kirillovna is. At home, she sat me down in the kitchen, told me to relax a bit and have some tea. I read a book there, quietly calming down. After a while, she invited me to the small kitchen where she does most of the cooking, and I sat with her while she masterfully rolled balls of dough paper-thin for a traditional dish called “platsinda.” As she rolled the dough, she told me how when she first watched her mother rolling dough like this, she thought her own hands would never be able to do it, she’d never be able to make it so thin and perfect like her mother could. But, after practice and time, she does it with almost no effort now, and watching her own hands is like watching her mother’s hands. She said “It’s like you today with washing the clothes. You’ll get the hang of it sooner or later, it just takes time and practice.” Those were about the kindest words anyone could have said to me today, reminding me that this, too, shall pass.

Swearing-In Speech

Here is the English translation of the speech I gave at the Swearing-In Ceremony. Many thanks to Tanya for helping with the Russian version!
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One of my favorite books is called “The Four Agreements.” I have tried to live my life by these agreements, and recently wrote a letter home reflecting on how I am experiencing them in a whole new way here in Moldova. Today I would like to share some of these reflections with you.

The First Agreement is: Be Impeccable With Your Word, which basically means to mean what you say, and don’t say anything if you have nothing nice to say. For us Volunteers, who’ve studied the language for only 9 weeks and who have very few words with which to express ourselves, this needs to be interpreted creatively. For example, here in Moldova, I worry that I will inadvertently offend someone because of my poor Russian language skills or insufficient cultural awareness.

The Second Agreement is: Don’t Take Anything Personally. In general, I was pretty good at this one in the U.S., not being offended by someone else’s attitude or behavior. Yes, I am 33 years old, I am not married, I have no children. I am a vegetarian and I don’t care much for alcohol. I quit my job, sold my house, and moved to Moldova. I will live and work for 2 years in the Taraclia Raion, in Tvarditsa. And after all that, when people here in Moldova look at me like I just landed from Mars, I am not offended, and I don’t take it personally.

The Third Agreement is: Don’t Make Assumptions. Every day something unexpected happens, a little bit different from what I know, from what I expected. For example, when I wanted to send a letter to America, I wrote the address in the center of the envelope; the postal clerk told me the address goes on the right, in the bottom corner. I told my family and friends that if they want to master this agreement, they should move to Moldova. Almost nothing here is as an American expects things to be, so, in a way, the unexpected becomes the expected.

The Fourth, and last, Agreement is: Always Do Your Best. The most important part of this agreement, for me, is to remember that my best is different every day. Some days I learn a lot of new vocabulary, and I might even express an intelligent thought or two. Other days, I’m lucky if I can tell someone what time it is. I remember the time when someone asked me how old my parents are, and I answered “My mom’s a consultant and my dad works at a bank.” Some days I’m just going to sound silly.

These two short months in Moldova have already provided me with many opportunities to work towards two of the Peace Corps goals. By regularly writing to family and friends in the United States, I hope that I am helping to promote a better understanding of Moldova. By living in a Moldovan community, I hope that I have helped to promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of Moldovans. In the future, I look forward to helping the people of Moldova in meeting their goals for development and positive change.

I would like to thank Peace Corps for giving me this opportunity to work in Moldova, and especially to all the Peace Corps Moldova staff for their hard work and the very thoughtful attention they give us every day. As well, I would like to thank our families, whom I cannot call simply “hosts.” They remind us every day that “Do Not Make Assumptions,” as they have truly welcomed us more warmly and tenderly than we could have imagined possible. Peace Corps does a great deal to make us comfortable and happy here, but families like Fyodor Ivanovich, Tamara Ivanovna, Ksenia, Anya, and my dear friend Alyona are the people who help us at home in Moldova.

Thank you very much.

First Impressions

I’ve been asked lots of times by Moldovans about my impressions of their country. In my speech for the Swearing-In Ceremony, I commented that everything is just a little bit different here, and this is what is perhaps the most challenging part of day-to-day living. It’s the little things that can make life easy or difficult.

– when mailing a letter, the “To” address goes in the bottom right-hand corner and the “From” address goes on the back. How many times does the post office clerk have to remind me of this?
– the hot water is the right handle and the cold the left handle. How many times will I scald or freeze my hands before I remember this?
– toilet paper goes in the trash can next to the toilet, never in the commode itself. How many indoor toilets will I clog before I remember this?
– you can never go wrong by adding mayonnaise to just about anything. Will I ever acquire a taste for mayonnaise on my pizza?
– there is only one outlet per room, and it will always be located up high in the middle of the wall.
– if you can’t find the light switch, check the far wall or reach up as high as possible.
– you absolutely never ever where shoes indoors.
– you absolutely must always wear slippers indoors; never walk on the floor with only socks on, or God forbid, in your bare feet.

These are just a few of the unexpected “little differences” that make every day both interesting and challenging.

In other news, I am getting settled into my new site. Unpacked, arranging, etc. Things seem pretty good, I’ll write more about it later. Send me an email when you get a chance!

I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer!

Monday, November 15, 2004
I’m sitting in my new house, in my new room, surrounded by the things that make wherever I am my home. On the table is the doily that Anya knitted for me; hanging on the wall is the Moldovan Good Luck charm that Alyona gave me. Soon my photographs and postcards will decorate the walls, so I can see my family and friends every day.

Today was an amazing day. The Swearing In Ceremony began shortly after 11 am with a quartet singing the Moldovan National Anthem, followed by us singing the Star Spangled Banner. We were gathered in the Hall of the Republic, 35 soon-to-be Volunteers sitting on stage with the U.S. Ambassador, the Vice Prime Minister of Moldova, the Director of Peace Corps Moldova, and other dignitaries. Galina Chira, Training Coordinator, introduced the proceedings, and the Ambassador, Vice Prime Minister and PC/M Director spoke in turn. As we awaited the moment when we would take the Volunteer Oath, I was overcome with the love and pride I could feel from across the ocean. I know that so very many of you were thinking of me today, as I thought of you. How I wish you all could have been there with me in body, and I want you to know that I felt your spiritual presence as if you were right alongside me. I cannot describe how incredible it felt to take such a simple oath, and to finally, officially realize my lifelong dream. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer!

The Peace Corps Volunteer Oath is apparently basically the same as the oath taken by the President of the United States:
” I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps. So help me God.”

The entire ceremony lasted a little over an hour. The PC staff had put together a short video of our 2 months of training, with scenes from parties with host families, working on farms, in classes, even getting off the plane on September 10 — which already seems like years ago. It was funny and strange to see ourselves from just 9 short weeks ago, not knowing each other or anyone else, speaking little to no Moldovan or Russian, wide-eyed and scared s***less, I could say. And now, to know so much about each other, to have lived and studied and worked together as intensively as possible, getting on each other nerves and simultaneously becoming the closest of friends.

Galina introduced Brian, who gave his speech in Romanian. I’ll have to get a copy in English from him to post, as it was a really great speech. He’s a really neat young man, fresh from college, first time out of the U.S. Very smart, very “together.” He’s in the AAD group, so we’ve not had much opportunity to interact with each other. Working on our speeches together gave us the chance to get to know each other better, for which I am grateful.

After Brian, Galina introduced me. I can tell you, my knees were literally knocking together, I was shaking like a leaf. I’ve never been a big fan of giving speeches, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years, and although I always had a bit of nervousness, I think it didn’t show much, if at all, in more recent years. Today was a whole new can of worms; I surprised myself even at how nervous I became. I was comfortable and confident about my speech, but nonetheless, it was scary to deliver it in front of a couple hundred people, knowing I would be the impression they would have of us Volunteers. Well, the good news is they laughed at the right moments (i.e., at my jokes!) and applauded at the end! I stumbled a few times, and probably messed up more that I realized, but I did it! Many people stopped me during the reception to compliment me on my speech, and I can only hope that I really did do my group justice. We have an absolutely fantastic group of Volunteers, and if we do say so ourselves, we are quite possibly the smartest, most talented, and best looking group of Volunteers in Moldova, if not in the world!

I had been warned that reporters might want to interview me after the ceremony, and sure enough, I was asked to give 5 — that’s right FIVE! — interviews in Russian. Damn it, if I hadn’t practiced my speech so much in the last week – reciting it morning, noon and night, dreaming about it, and reading it even to other Volunteers who don’t speak Russian. But did I think to prepare an intelligent comment or two for the reporters? Heck no! So, after wowing them with a pretty good Russian speech, I could barely say my name, much less explain anything about myself, Peace Corps, my impressions of Moldova, or anything else to the reporters. Alyona was with me for the first interview, and the poor reporter, I think, was so disappointed with me she finally just asked me to repeat some phrases from my speech. Could I remember a single word from this speech that was burned into my brain not even 20 minutes earlier? Heck no! Alyona stood slightly off-camera mouthing the words to me as I stumbled along. It was amusing, if nothing else. I hear it was broadcast tonight on the news, Alyona called me in Tvarditsa to say she’d just seen us on TV. I, thankfully, managed to miss it, and I’m pretty sure I don’t need to see it on TV to confirm that I sounded like an idiot.

We had a lovely reception, and my partner Donna and my new host mother Anna met my Ialoveni family. We drove together to the apartment to pick up my things, and thankfully they’d arranged the trip with a gentleman from Tvarditsa with a station wagon. I honestly had no idea how we were going to get all my stuff into one car, but lo and behold, we pulled it off. I joked that I thought my two suitcases had been up to something during these last two months and somehow managed to give birth to another bag. Peace Corps had given us so much more stuff during these 9 weeks, many Volunteers really did have to buy additional suitcases to get all to their sites.

Well, I am here now in Tvarditsa. It’s been raining pretty much all across Moldova for 2 day (Tamara Ivanovna said even Mother Nature was crying because she, too, didn’t want me to move away from them), and I could honestly tell you that visiting the outhouse in the cold rain is something that will take a while to get used to. I like the geese more now, though, and had a chuckle at how fussy they are, sqwaking up a storm as I “trespassed” through their area on my way to the john.

I informed Donna and Anna that I plan to take the day off on Tuesday, which they both agreed was a good idea. Wednesday Donna and I will go to Taraclia to register me with my new address (every resident and visitor in Moldova must be registered with the Raion authorities), and I think I might then take Thursday off too. Donna is still filling in at the Primaria as they have not yet found a new Secretary, so she said it’s fine with her if I want to take it easy for 2 weeks, take my time settling in, meeting people, etc. I told her I’m perfectly fine to rest for an entire month, if that’s what’s necessary! After the crazy pace of the last few weeks especially, but of all of PST in general, I’m ready to slow down for a bit. I’ve got 2 years here, and there’s no reason to try to get everything done right away.

Moving again!

Hi everybody! It’s been a really busy week, sorry you haven’t heard from me. I don’t know when I’ll be online next, as we move on Monday to our sites and it will take me a few days, I imagine, to get situated and organized.

In the meantime, here is my new contact information:
Ann Merrill
st. Dimitrova #39
s. Tvarditsa
r. Taraclia
Republic of Moldova

You can still send packages to the Peace Corps office, it’s not a problem. They will hold packages here for me in Chisinau and I’ll be back every few weeks, and will pick them up when I’m here.

Wish me luck on Monday! I’m giving a speech in front of hundreds of people in Russian. Yikes! I’ll post a copy of the speech (in English!) on my blog next time I’m on line. Hope everyone is doing well!

Another busy weekend!

A very full weekend! Friday I went with Alyona to her English class in Chisinau. On our way in, we stopped at a hardware market to get some parts for the kitchen repair (since, for some reason, the plumber himself couldn’t or wouldn’t go buy the part). I don’t know if I’ll get used to shopping at markets. I just don’t understand why they can’t put up walls and a roof and make a regular store? The markets are all in fixed locations, most of them with themes (the food market, the clothing market, the hardware market), although there doesn’t seem to be a need for strict adherence to the theme. In the midst of the car parts, plumbing supplies, tools and hardware, was a booth selling wedding dresses and other accoutrements for weddings! The other part of the shopping experience that is difficult for me is that you have to (or, at least, you should) go from booth to booth looking for what you want or comparing prices. We asked at three or four places before we found what Alyona needed, all within a small 300-400 sq. ft. area. I suppose we do go from store to store in the U.S. to find what we need and to bargain shop, so I shouldn’t find this so strange, but it is odd to me that each and every vendor is his own little shop. It seems like a lot of work, to me, for both the buyer and the seller. The vendors have to bring their goods every day; set up their booths; maybe have too much of one thing, not enough of another today; work all day in the open air, hot or cold, rain or shine or snow; then pack it all back up at the end of the day and haul it away for the night. I think it would be a bit easier if there was a mall-type place (I can’t believe I’m suggesting they open malls here!), and the vendors could at least secure their kiosks at night and wouldn’t have to haul their goods in and out every day. But no one is asking me for suggestions!

Alyona teaches for a private company, and right now has one class of high school students in an after-school program. She wanted me to talk about Ohio, Columbus, etc., but first we listened to the students’ homework. They’d been assigned to read a short story by Somerset Maugham in their textbooks and to retell the story. She listened to one student while I listened to another, and the students slowly trickled into class. They also had prepared dialogues, in pairs, on the theme of booking train tickets for a trip. It was a surprise to Alyona when I mentioned that we don’t travel by train in the U.S., and kind of funny for me to realize I only know train vocabulary in Russian! We listened to their dialogues, and offered some corrections. They are learning British English, so I had to be careful in offering corrections only regarding grammar, and not because something might not sound right to me.

So, after we were done reviewing homework, Alyona introduced me as a guest from America, and I talked for about 20 minutes about Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State. They were shy to speak English and ask me questions, but I think most of them understood the majority of my presentation. I need to make an outline, as I doubt this will be the last time I give this kind of presentation! I rambled on, rather randomly, for awhile. Alyona prompted them to ask me some questions, like “Ask Ann why she is here in Moldova!”, and eventually one or two were brave enough to ask some questions. “Do you like Moldova?” Yes! “Do you like the food here?” Yes! “What is different about Moldova?” “What other countries have you been to?” “What is your favorite country that you’ve visited?” “Why did you study Russian?” We took a picture together with my digital camera, and I offered to email them all a copy, and that generated a lot of excitement, and they all asked for my email address, too. I think I’ll set up a separate email account to receive emails from Moldovan school kids. J

We were both tired after class, so came home for dinner and a quiet evening at home. We saw ads for the upcoming theatrical performances, and I think Emily and I may go next week to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet!

Saturday morning we had a short language class, as we had tickets to the St. Petersburg Circus. Matt invited Carina, we all invited Viorica and her 2 daughters, and Anya and Kirill came with us, too. The regular circus building is being renovated, so this visiting circus had it’s performance in the Philarmonic Hall. We had tickets for the opening performance, and there were a few “opening night” glitches. There were a bunch of kids in the audience, of course, with one or another crying every few minutes, but they were pretty cute overall. The circus itself was a bit strange, not the best show I’ve ever seen, but parts were entertaining. There were dancers, a gymnast (kind of like the Cirque de Soleil performance, only with just one person), a belly-dancer, a strong man/fire-eater/reptile tamer. There were two performing poodles, who were pretty good, and a man who did a Top Hat dance, ala Fred Astaire, which was really good. The second act was a magical act on the theme of Master & Margarita. It was pretty strange, and fairly transparent, but one trick of passing a person through a plate of glass was pretty good, at least it wasn’t obvious to me how they did it! Oh, and there were clowns, of course. Kind of goofy and low budget overall but I’m glad we went.

Afterwards, Anya helped me make a haircut appt where she got her haircut last week, and then we got kebabs for lunch, and McDonald milkshakes for dessert! Matt and Carina went home, and Emily and I went to the market for some shopping. I bought some socks and a small purse. It was the first and last one I found that is relatively simple and plain. Black purses with belts, buckles, studs, and rhinestones seem to be all the rave right now, and I thought I’d never find something for myself. Spent a half-hour or so at Peace Corps (email not working so very frustrating!), and headed home exhausted.

Sunday was a big outing. One of the other LCF’s, Ion, had organized a couple vans to take us to Orhei, about an hour north of Chisinau. I invited Anya along, and several other volunteers brought their families, too. It was a pretty drive, rolling hills, farms, small villages. We went on a fairly decent highway and were able to drive pretty fast part of the way, although that was counterbalanced at points by absolutely terrible roads where we had to slowly swerve left to right to left to avoid all the potholes. Actually, potholes doesn’t come close to describing the conditions of most of the roads. The last time there were any major repairs or upgrades of roads in Moldova was in 1980, when the USSR hosted the Olympics and the Torch came through Moldova. Very few roads have been repaired since then. So, try to imagine 24 years without road repair, multiply it by about 10, and you might be getting close to the road conditions here. I haven’t gotten car sick since I was a little kid, but I’m beginning to realize that one hour is about my limit on this amusement park ride they call “traveling by car” in Moldova.

The monastery in the Orhei raion is unusual, as it is built into a cliff, utilizing the naturally occurring caves in the soft rock. Matt had quite a bit of geology in college, so he was able to explain a bit to us about the hills and cliffs. We could see thousands of petrified seashells in the rock, which obviously means the area was under water at some point millions of years ago. Matt explained that there must have been a volcanic eruption under the water, as normally seashells would disintegrate in hot lava, but instead they were preserved because the lava would have cooled instantly in the water. I thought of Uncle David, and thought he might have enjoyed this place, too.

There are naturally occurring caves throughout the cliffs and hills in this area, and we could see people high up the hills who had been exploring them. There is a promontory in between 2 small rivers, a narrow ridge with a beautiful view into 2 valleys, one on each side. We walked along the ridge to a bell tower, scrambled a short way down one side of the ridge, and came to the entrance to the monastery, which is built inside the rock itself. We descended a dark stairwell and came to a small chapel. A door opened up to the other side of the ridge, providing a “balcony” with a beautiful view. Inside again, we went into the area where the monks slept and prayed, in little cubbyholes chiseled out of the soft stone, kind of like cells. Most had a candle hanging on the back wall in front of an icon. It was explained that monks had slept, putting blankets on the floor, living as simply as possible, believing that the more difficult their lives were, the better. Inside was definitely gloomy and claustrophobic — none of us could stand fully upright in the “sleeping chamber” — but one small step outside and you are in an incredibly wide open space, completely quiet and peaceful. It reminded me in a way of New Mexico, but on a somewhat smaller scale. Very beautiful, and a wonderful place for quiet meditation and reflection.

We continued further along the ridge, and walked past a small church (built above ground this time!). It was not open, so we continued on and walked probably a good mile along the ridge, enjoying the view on both sides. The ridge itself was maybe 150-200 yards wide, sometimes narrower sometimes wider. We walked back, and descended the ridge into a village with a small museum house. The rooms were decorated with hand-woven rugs and embroidered clothes, an old loom was set up, as well as a spinning wheel.

The village itself was interesting to walk through. The homes were behind tall, colorful metal fences. The bits of homes we could see above the fences or through an open gate were brightly and cheerily painted and decorated. Some houses had paintings of dancing people framing a door or window, many had “gingerbread house” style decorative trim on their roof, windows, etc. Many people were out shucking corn, preparing their animal feed for the winter, and huge piles of corn stalks lined the narrow dirt road. It was a quiet day in the village, too.

We walked back to the parking lot and saw up on top of one hill parachutists taking advantage of the perfect alignment of space, wind and whatever other conditions they need. We watched 3 or 4 people slowly skim the hilltop and glide down to the valley. Matt knows a bit about parachuting, too, from his army days, and said that they were all highly skilled with very expensive equipment. As we watched one parachutist descend slowly to earth, my eyes fell onto a horse drawn cart overflowing with corn stalks. Once again, I am reminded of the dichotomy of this country: people who can afford (with both money and time) a very expensive hobby, in the midst of people who still live like Little House on the Prairie, everything done by hand.

We drove a short distance to the ruins of an ancient Roman bathhouse; all that’s left is the stone outline of the structure. I’m not really sure Ion knew what he was talking about though, as some of his other commentary was a bit sketchy, but it is possible that this was truly an ancient Roman site.

Back on the road, the LCF in our van said we were going to stop at “the place where the car goes without the engine,” and I’ll be damned if that wasn’t exactly what she meant. We pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, the driver cut the engine, and the van rolled up a very slight incline. They claimed it was some kind of natural phenomenon that things roll UP in this spot. I joked to Anya that this is the way my life is every day — no idea what we’re doing, where we’re going next, no information either provided or understood. I’ve just learned to go with the flow, and eventually I’ll know what we’re doing, usually when we get there. I think the real reason for the stop was a problem with one of the vans, but Ion played it off like he’d planned to bring us here. It was a Safari restaurant, with little bamboo huts built outside as “private” dining rooms, and the main inside dining room had animal heads and skins all over the walls, like some kind of lodge. It kind of reminded me of the Kahiki in Columbus, but much weirder. If we were in the States, I would think that Ion was getting a commission to stop at the restaurant and bring them some business, but I don’t think that sort of arrangement has reached Moldova yet.

We got home around 5, thoroughly exhausted but excited from a full day! I’d like to go back in nice weather and with proper shoes to hike the cliffs and check out the caves. Anybody game to join me next year?

We did a presentation in Russian!

I forgot in my last post to tell you about our Community Activity! The main thing is that it’s done! I’m still kind of in shock, though, that we actually did a presentation in Russian.

Each EOD group/village was assigned to do an activity for in their community, such as host an informational meeting, organize a cultural event, etc. We “Russians” were concerned, being the smallest group of trainees in the largest community, but lucked out that a PCV who lives and works in Ialoveni asked us to help her with a seminar she was planning for girls 12-18 years old. She had a doctor scheduled to come speak about STDs, and asked us to talk about abstinence and self-esteem. We did some research on the internet, got some quotes and info we could use, and asked Anya to help us translate the materials into Russian. I really wanted to involve her in the activity, since she just turned 18, and I wasn’t sure she would go to the seminar “on her own” since it might not seem too cool. She was a great help, and I’m glad she got to hear the presentations, as well.

There is basically no sex education in schools here. Alyona said many parents are not comfortable talking to their kids about sex, either, so many young people are uninformed, or worse, wrongly informed about sex and STDs. There’s been a lot of talk in our house about a 15-year old girl in Anya’s school who just had a baby, and clearly there’s a great need for young people to learn about the “facts of life” in a formal setting.

Well, we had our own unique problems to deal with for our presentation, and I think we were pretty darn creative! We made flashcards with short statements, which we read aloud and asked the girls to move to one side of the room or the other if they agreed or disagreed with the statement. Things like “Having sex is essential to becoming an adult”; “If you are in love, you have to have sex”; “I think most of my friends are having sex”; etc. We opened with this activity, which kind of got the girls moving around (which was essential after the doctor talked in a monotone for 60+ minutes straight about anatomy and STDs!!).

Anya had printed questions for us onto flipchart paper, which we then read aloud and asked the girls to answer. Things like “What does ‘abstinence’ mean?” “Why would you choose to be abstinent?” and “What can you do instead of having sex?” The girls slowly warmed up to the interactive nature of our presentation, and Anya wrote their responses onto the flip chart for us.

Lastly, Anya had printed for us some quotes from teenagers about why they had chosen to be abstinent, and we asked different girls to read aloud the quotes.

All in all, I think it went pretty darn well for (1) our first presentation on abstinence ever; and (2) our first presentation in Russian! Since Emily and I will both be working a lot with young people, the activity will likely be one that we repeat in our communities at some point.