The first 10 weeks I was in Moldova, I stayed with a host family during my training period called PST.    In this family I had a mom (Elena) dad (Stefan) a 20 year-old sister (Valea) a 17 year-old brother (Vasile) and a 14 year-old brother (Andre).  My sister Valea was egaged to her boyfriend, Ion.  Last weekend, I went back to visit my PST host family and to attend the wedding.

             I left my current site on Friday afternoon.  I took with me some homemade American style chocolate chip cookies.  They eaten so fast, I don’t think my sister actually got one.  I also took with me a CD of photos from when I lived with them, and one photo in a frame of the entire family (me included).

             Just like how all “All Roads Lead to ... (more)

Things at home are great.  My host parents, Natasha and Vasile are very nice.  Since I have my own ‘casa mica’ (like a apartment on their property) I have tons of privacy and space.  They understand that this is something Americans really value.  TG!  I also have a great advantage over many of the other PCVs here in Moldova…I live in a rayon center and not in a village.  That comes with some general (but not always) plus’s:

-          greater likelihood of having paved roads

-          less likelihood of having to avoid cow dung on said roads

-          less likely to be stopped in traffic as the cows or geese cross the road (really, it shouldn’t be “why did the chicken cross the road” it should be geese…they do this a lot here)

Yeah, I know, I’m not very good at updating this blog quickly, so I apologize.  However, if you notice (mom) it is updated on a regular basis of about once a month. 

After arriving at my new site, I had 2 weeks to get ready for my classes.  Everyday my partner would tell me if I was to come to the school or not for the next day.  Quite frequently the plans would change, and I would get a phone call in the morning saying that I no longer needed to go to school.  I kept asking my partner when I was going to be informed about my classes so I could prepare and do the boring paperwork that PC demands that we do.  She kept telling me, we’ll figure it out next time, tomorrow perhaps.  Everyday she would say this.  So, on the Thursday before school started, I was finally told which classes I would be teaching. ... (more)

Hello again friends!  So, a lot has happened recently here in Moldova (for me at least).  On August 16, 2007  I was officially ‘sworn-in’ as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  (for those of you keeping track, that means my 2 years of service have officially began). 

In preparations for the swearing-in ceremony, the PC staff organized some singing and dancing lessons for those of us interested.  At swearing-in, those people would then perform what they rehearsed.  Well, as many of you know, I can’t sing, so I decided to do the dance lessons.  The dances we learned were traditional Moldovan folk dances.  (our accompanist played an accordion).  The lessons were quite fun!  We all had dance partners and practiced 3-5 times a week for the last 4 weeks of training.

            Well, when it came down to it, they could only have 4 couples ... (more)

I have a new favorite place to sleep…outside.  My family recently put a bed outside and it is wonderful!  After 10:30 there are no flies (until about 6 am) and no mosquitoes at all (that I’ve noticed).  My host family doesn’t really like to sleep outside b/c in the morning it is quite cool and Moldovan’s have superstitions about people being cold. 

            I love hanging out with my host family.  My mom is a total sweetheart and my sister is always trying to help me with everything.  My 13 year-old brother is a total hoot.  The other day we had a water fight in the yard.  It was so much fun!  My 17 year-old brother is fun to goof around with.  We listen to music a lot in the living room (of course its all Euro-techno, but whatever).  My dad works a lot so I don’t see him all that much, but when he is here he is very kind and funny (his son’s definitely take after him). ... (more)

Just like in the college of Education, Peace Corps wants its volunteers to student teach.  They call this practice school.  We have a Moldovan experienced English teacher work with us and we teach for 3 weeks, 2 lessons a day.  For 7 days I taught the 5th grade.  It was so much fun being silly with 11-year-olds, however it was frustrating that they didn’t understand much of what I was saying.  A few of the students would get the point, but the majority would not.  (they begin studying English in the 2nd grade).  I had fun and saw progress even with the less advanced students.  The last day I made brownies and we played musical chairs and sang “The Shark Song” and “Hello My Name is Joe” which both are very physically active songs.  The kids really enjoyed being silly and learning about what American kids do.

            Right now I am in the middle of the 2nd half of practice school. ... (more)

             Hello everyone!  Hope you all are doing well back home.  Well, it has been about a month since I wrote anything new for this blog (although it has only been a week since I last posted the previous blog).  A lot of stuff has happened in the past month.  Let me bring you up to speed.

As you may know, I am currently in training (PST) and am living with a host family and after my training; I will be moving to another site and staying with a different host family for the next two years.

I went to visit my future site a few weeks ago.  Most sites in Moldova (and all of PC for that matter) are usually small villages, but my site is actually a regional center, but not a very large one.  It has about 15,000 people living in it and s about 1 hour from the capital.  I wanted a site that was not a small village so I am very happy. ... (more)

Hello again.

So, I have been having major problems with my computer/slow internet connection, internet cafe's with Russian language and a lack of USB ports have prevented me from posting.  I've also had issues with the previous website, so I've moved my blog here (hope you don't mind).