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!