Pictures of my new home

My Dresser (rotated)

My Desk/ Table

The Soba (one side)

The mini kitchen, whose purpose I don't know

I am told that some day this washing machine will be hooked up and will work

The entrance way, that has a bed for some reason

The door and the refrigerator

The front walkway with a view of a chicken and the gates

The front door. In Moldova, one must take off their shoes before entering a building

The well. The black thing is the switch. The well has an electronic pump

A storage building in the front yard

The large gate. A vehicle could go through it. 

The small house, containing the kitchen, the bathroom and what will be a bedroom

The side yard. Notice the chicken and the dog (who always barks at me)

One of the three cats that lives at my house

The gate to the backyard. The metal structure is the outside shower.

The backyard/ garden

The outhouse

The hen and duck house. The dog in the background is barking at me.

The outdoor shower

Copious amounts of corn. I think they turn it into flour eventually

One of the other dogs that barks at me and lives with me

The chicken pen

The door to the soba. Wood goes in, a fire is lit, the thing heats up and warms the room.

 So, those are pictures of my new house that I moved into when school started. When I get approval from my host mother, I will post pictures of the bathroom, kitchen, and other bedroom.

Hitchhiking in Moldova

24/9/2011:

Today I needed to go to the nearest town. The only buses that go there leave at 7 and 12pm. I wanted to go there around 10:00. My only option was to hitchhike. In the United States that would be unusual. However, here hitchhiking seems completely normal. If there is no bus, then you wave down a car to take you where you need to go. Unlike in the United States, hitchhiking isn't a free ride. Usually I pay what it would cost if I were to take a bus from where I am to where I want to go. For example, from my village to the village on the main road it would cost about 2 lei (about 20 cents). Typically, I haven't had to pay for that leg of the trip. To get from that village to the main town, I usually pay 8 lei. Those drivers willingly take my money.

So, how you ask does one wave down a car? You stick out your arm, and if a car is willing to give you a ride, then they stop, if they are not willing to, they keep going. Then you hop in. Sometimes, the car will stop to pick up other people too. For example, this morning, the car I was taking to the nearest town stopped a few times to pick up other passengers. It makes sense. The more people they have in their car, the more money they make. A driver will get 32 lei if they have four passengers compared to just 8 if they only have one.

It is also completely common for people to get from the main road to my village by hitchhiking. I have yet to be the only one in the car. Instead of having a regular bus service, people make use of other people. So, as I have learned, in Moldova hitchhiking is completely normal and costs money. In the United States it is uncommon and free. Maybe it is more common in Moldova because people trust each other more. It could also be that there is more of a need because people in Moldova live in remote locations but can't afford cars. The government may also not be able to afford to provide public transit. So, if you miss the bus in Moldova, and want to get somewhere, just stick out your arm when you see a car and ask if he or she is going where you want to go.

I also learned to today that Tic Tacs do exist in Moldova. When I did my grocery shopping, I bought some.

Return to Chisinau

10/9/2011-11/9/2011: Visit to Chisinau

10/9/2011

I spent this weekend in Chisinau, primarily for a meeting of one of the volunteer run groups. This one is called RISE. RISE works with Moldovans and Roma within Moldova to help combat stereotypes and help reduce inequality and discrimination between the two groups. Roma is the correct term for gypsies. I missed the first part of the meeting because of my bus schedule, but the meeting seemed to cover logistics and be a brainstorming meeting.

You may have noticed the date, and thought "what was Courtney doing in Chisinau for a whole month?" The answer is that because I have to teach the date the British way, with the day and then the month, I have decided to do that for this post. I might do it for future posts, but I am not sure.

Anyway, after the RISE meeting, I went to lunch with some fellow volunteers, some of whom were from my training, and all were from my program, English Education. We went to a restaurant near the center of Chisinau and had pizza and talked. It was nice to talk to other volunteers after a couple of weeks on my own. It was a good opportunity to discuss our common problems. Later on we met up with some other people and went to a restaurant to hear a band play. One of the band members is the current safety and security head for Peace Corps Moldova. Later on, a couple of us went to the hostel that we were staying at near Malldova.

11/9/2011:

Today marked ten years since the attacks on the two towers and the pentagon, along with the deaths of the passengers aboard United 93. It was interesting to reflect on what my life was like ten years ago and compare it with today. For example, 10 years ago I wasn't even in high school yet, and now I have finished college and am living in Moldova halfway around the world teaching English. I also realized that only people 7 years younger than me would remember the attacks. It is strange to be old enough to remember a significant event like that, but be one of the youngest people that are able to do so.

Anyway, to commemorate the attacks, some of the students from another volunteer's school went to the embassy and laid flowers and lit candles. It was a nice showing of support from children who were barely old enough to remember the attacks and aren't from America. It just shows the global impact of the events of that day.

Later on, I made my way back to Peace Corps headquarters, hung around for a bit, and then walked over to the North bus station. Moldova is a really beautiful country so I enjoyed looking out my window on the trip back to my village. I enjoy being around other volunteers, but at the same time I am glad I am a little isolated so I can have a unique experience. One of the reasons I am glad I joined the Peace Corps is because I get the chance to be totally immersed in another culture. I would miss out on that chance if I were able to see other Americans whenever I wanted. Besides, I can still be in touch with them and people back home via the internet.

I don't know when I will go back to Chisinau, but I am glad I am far enough away to have something of a genuine Peace Corps experience.

Getting into a routine

9/2/2011-9/20/2011: General Impressions

The last time I wrote, school had just started. Now, I am about three weeks in and have a settled schedule. I also started tutoring lessons with the Russian teacher at my school. On the second of September I changed host families because of some issues I had with the host brother in my first one. So, I spent the first week of the school year getting used to both a new living environment and a new school.

I like my new host family situation, although I will miss the indoor shower that my previous host family had. For the last few weeks I have been taking a bath about twice a week. There is a sink indoors, but no running water. Instead there is a kind of bucket that you put water in and then push this thing up to make the water come out. The thing does not hold much water so I am constantly refilling it from one of the nearby water buckets. There is a washing machine in the main house, but it is not hooked up to the water yet. I have been told that it will be hooked up sometime in October or early November. For now, when I need to wash my clothes I use a machine that I think was built during the Soviet era. Basically, you put water in the machine, add clothes and soap and then turn the machine on. Afterwards, I bring my clothes to a basin near the well and rinse them. After that I hang them on the line to dry. I don't think that will work in the winter, but I am sure I will be told where to put them when the time comes. Although the toilet is still outside, I am happy that everything else, other than the clothes line is indoors.

At my new home, there are two buildings. I live in the main house which contains four rooms and an entrance way. It is a nice house and my room is large. The only problem is that I have to walk through my host mother's room to get to mine. It makes sense because I think my room used to be the living room. Apparently my host mother will be living in the other building once the room is finished, but for now I have to walk through it if I want to leave the house.

In the other building is the kitchen, the bathroom, an entrance way, and the unfinished room. The kitchen is pretty small and heats up a lot when food is made. At least that means it will not be cold in the winter. As I mentioned before, in the bathroom is a tub, a sink, the soviet style washing machine, and the soba. I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but a soba is basically a wood stove that heats a few room. You put wood in the slot and light a fire. The heat radiates from the ceramics. There is one soba in the small house and two in the main house. My new living arrangements are very different from what I am used to in America. but I should be fairly comfortable for the next two years/ 691 days.

School is relatively straightforward. I have three or four classes a day and a break sometime during the day. On Tuesday I have three periods free in a row. Having that time is very nice. It gives me time to study Russian or to listen to music. My classes are okay. I wish the children spoke better English, but I suppose that is why I am here. Hopefully my two years here will make a significant impact. One thing worth mentioning I guess, is that unlike in the United States, children in primary school do not have one teacher for all the subjects. There is a teacher for science, another for history, and so on. They have a homeroom class and teacher, and they have some classes in their home room, but for other classes, they go to the respective room for that subject, even in the younger grades (forms). Students in the lower grades also only have English twice a week. I think this makes it harder for them to learn the English vocabulary and grammar. 10th-12th grade have language three times a week, still two fewer than in the US.

My classes are going decently. My fourth, fifth, and sixth form classes are the most difficult because they have the most students and the students make noise. I still need to come up with an effective strategy to make them be quite for longer. In my 9th form class that I teach alone there are three boys who talk to each other during class. Hopefully I will be able to think of a strategy to make them be quite soon.

My tutoring lessons are going well too. My tutor only speaks Russian which means that I have to use my dictionary a lot, but at the same time it forces me to improve me speaking and listening skills so that I can say what I need to and understand what she is saying all in Russian. I am sure there are some words that I will begin to understand even if I don't quite understand their meaning simply through her use of them. For the last couple of sessions we have been reviewing material that I already know. At the same time, it is usual  because over the summer we were given a lot of information over a fairly short period of time. I have created a mini-dictionary with all of the new words that I am learning. Hopefully I will remember all or at least most of them.

First Bell

9/1/2011

Today was the first day of the new school year, referred to as the first bell. First, at about 8:30 there was an assembly at the school. Older students mc'd the event. At it, the director, the mayor, and some students spoke. The first graders collectively read a poem. Someone sang a song. Music was played through some speakers. Everyone was dressed really nicely. I wore my black suit. Many of the students had brought flowers to give to the teachers. Oh, and I finally danced the hora at the assembly. One of the students pulled me into one of the hora circles. The hora is basically the national dance of Moldova, although people dance it in other places. Students also brought food, mostly fruit. The assembly lasted about an hour. Near the end, bells were rung, hence the first bell name. It was very different from any in America. Apart from the music and dancing, it was also held outside. Everyone stood in a horseshoe, with the teachers near the front. The students also seemed to be organized by class. During the assembly some of the younger children played with balloons. The assembly took about an hour.

After the assembly, classes started. Students had a meeting with their homeroom teacher. The homeroom teacher seems to be much more important than they are in the US, although I am not sure if the students have the same homeroom teacher throughout their time at the school, or if it changes every year. It might be like the US where the class adviser stays with the class throughout high school. There were some other classes, but I only had one. The schedule hadn't been made yet, so it was an adventure trying to figure out which classes I would have, and particularly when they would be. In between one of the classes, the 12th graders gave all the teachers food and champagne. I had a couple of pieces of kiwis.

I had my class after that. My 9th form (grade) class went well, although not as I had planned because the students didn't have textbooks. The room was also really hot. After the last class, there was a teacher's meeting where we discussed the day. At around 1:30, the meeting was over and we were done for the day. The first day of school celebration is definitely something unique to Moldovan culture, and it was fun to experience even if it was kind of a hectic, although short, day.