Chişinau

My first 3 days in country where spent with other volunteers in Moldova’s capitol city of Chişinau. I arrived on June 6, which means that the first full of being in Moldova was June 7, 2007—the very same day that I turned 26. I was given chocolate and flowers and was sung the Romanian version of “Happy Birthday,” which is “Mulţi Ani Traeasca” (I really hope I spelled that correctly). The day also saw my first lessons in Romanian. I received a dictionary and a work/text book. That evening of my birthday, I was taken by a few volunteers to a lovely Greek restaurant. I ordered the gyro, but here is comes with pork instead of lamb. It was good, but a slight disappointment. We were also served ice (something I was to learn that is a rarity in this country for most volunteers—but my new apartment has it…haha!). All in all, the first few days were very pleasant and not nearly as stressful as I imagined they would be. In fact, I’ve never really felt overwhelmed at any point in my experience (something I find surprising). My last day in the capitol city, I learned that I was to be going to a village of 9,000 for my training period and moving in with a Moldovan family—who doesn’t speak English! After 3 days, I was thrown into the fire. Sink or swim; sink or swim. Here we go, off to Peresecina!

Traveling

It was a long few days of travel. We started by heading out in two busses from Philadelphia and spending the first day traveling to JFK. After clearing security, eating, and making a few last minute phone calls, we were all on our way to Istanbul (was Constantinople). The flight was long and dull. The monotony was broken by constant food being served to us from the flight crew and an attempted game of UNO. I say attempted because we were told by some gentleman that we couldn’t play because we were being too loud and he wanted to sleep (Can we have our ball back, Mr.?). Some 10-12 hours later, we arrived in Istanbul, an amazing city we were unable to see because we were unable to leave the international terminal for 6-7 long hours. Finally, however, we hopped a flight on Air Moldova from Istanbul to Chişinau. It only took about an hour and flying over the country, I thought, “Wow, this looks like Iowa.” Moldova does look a lot like Iowa, in that there is agriculture everywhere. Although, being in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains makes for more beautiful natural scenery.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia was a lot of fun. There were 34 of us volunteers and we were put up in a swanky hotel and each given some $230 to use as we see fit. The days were filled with long sessions of getting to know one another and getting an overview of the Peace Corps in general. My first full night in town, I went to the Les Claypool concert at the Electric Factory (amazing venue). Sadly, I was only able to manage to convince one other volunteer to come with me, but one is better then none. The show was amazing, to say the least. I believe that Sherik (sp?) was there (although I couldn’t tell because I wasn’t near that side of the stage), as well as Gabby La-La playing an amplified sitar (sweet!!!!). The truly incredible part: Les played the show with a broken finger. Now that’s talent, especially when one considers that I didn’t know this fact until he told us.

Guess who’s back?!?!?

So, once again, my apologies for my lapse in updating this blog. My life has been filled with training the past few months and a most unwelcome lack of internet access. That, however, has changed! I am now an official Peace Corps Moldova volunteer. In fact, I have been on national T.V. here. Now, I’ve decided to get you as up-to-speed as possible. Over the next few weeks, I plan on writing my memories from the last few months. Enjoy my dear friends and family. I love you all!