Arrival
Loves,
Here I am, in Moldova. This is the first internet cafe I've found, sorry for the delay. I don't have too much time so I'll write the basics.
My host family (familie gazda) is wonderful. Though they think my diet is as bizzare as my exercise habits, they don't try to make me more of a 'civilied woman,' which has been the experience of a number of female volunteers. The phrase here is: Your ovaries will freeze! They can freeze if you do anything un-womanly, which includes sitting on the floor, wearing a backpack, not wearing make-up, whistiling, sweating, bad posture, short hair, and so, so much more. Basically my ovaries froze about ten years ago.
It's pretty amazing how poverty can force people to create their own happiness out of what they do have. My mama gazda plays the accordion and sings daily, Marcella (my host sister, 13) sings, dances, and plays the violin. The men also sing and dance, though when they're not around, we end up dancing in our bras (I'm not sure how that happens, but it does). I brought Jenga to Moldova which has been a huge hit, though it did bring on a conversation about September 11th (tall things falling down). I think they were just itching to ask me about it. And when they finally did, they wanted to know if I lived in the towers. Apparently that is their idea about living in New York. That was an interesting conversation. And since I can barely explain the rules of the game in Romanian, I haven't been able to hold onto my rule-stickler ways, which has added a whole new dimension to Jenga. When it gets high, Ion (host brother, 16) puts his hands close enough to the tower so if it wants to fall, he can slightly fix it. And then we keep going.
Exercise. Since I'm a health teacher here I figure it's more than acceptable for people to see me exercising. The first morning I explained in broken Romanian that I was going to run, and Marcella said she would come with me. She put on jeans and tennis shoes, emulated my stretches, and then we ran. Around the block. Once. I didn't have the heart, or the Romanian vocabulary, to say that I'd like to run a bit more than that. So I got about six minutes of exercise for a few days and now I do have the words to explain. Yoga is a whole other story. I'm so terrified they are going to find my meditating in their bath tub and just have no idea what's going on.
I milked a goat yesterday. For some reason, it was seriously rewarding. I understood the directions in Romanian, and then they all enjoyed watching the city girl milk the farm animal. Their farm is so amazing. Moldova in general is just so beautiful, basically because it's everything New York isn't. There are chickens, turkeys, goats, bunnies and baby bunnies, chicks, cows and horses all over. Unfortunately there are also stray dogs and cats everywhere, and the dogs are known to run after those crazy people who run for fun. But there is so much space, so much nature. So much quiet.
What else? Language training is obviously intense, but after 6 classes I can already communicate fairly well. I imagine by August I'll be ready to teach health with little problem.
The peace corps volunteers are all pretty great. Our language classes are broken up into 8 people per class, so we've all gotten pretty close. Not to mention we shared an intimate experience the first day. We got caught in the rain so we gathered around a well with a roof. We knew it would be moments before the villagers were calling their neighbors: There's a gaggle of Americans hiding under ____'s well! Within minutes a car came and asked if we wanted a ride. The car was miniature, and there were six of us. So we all piled in, with Matt in the front straddling the stick shift, two huge Russian men on both sides, while the men chanted: Moldova! America! Best Friends! Our families got a kick out of this.
I'll post more soon. There's a way to get internet in my house, I just have to figure out how to dial up. I miss New York and all of you, but I'm a lot happier here than I assumed I'd be at this piont. Moldova is pretty amazing, and the program for health teachers is well organized and effective.
Oh--there were journalists and TV cameras waiting at the airport to interview us. A bunch of us were on TV. How funny is that?
Ok. Love to all.
Stay well,
Nicoletta (my Moldovan name)
Here I am, in Moldova. This is the first internet cafe I've found, sorry for the delay. I don't have too much time so I'll write the basics.
My host family (familie gazda) is wonderful. Though they think my diet is as bizzare as my exercise habits, they don't try to make me more of a 'civilied woman,' which has been the experience of a number of female volunteers. The phrase here is: Your ovaries will freeze! They can freeze if you do anything un-womanly, which includes sitting on the floor, wearing a backpack, not wearing make-up, whistiling, sweating, bad posture, short hair, and so, so much more. Basically my ovaries froze about ten years ago.
It's pretty amazing how poverty can force people to create their own happiness out of what they do have. My mama gazda plays the accordion and sings daily, Marcella (my host sister, 13) sings, dances, and plays the violin. The men also sing and dance, though when they're not around, we end up dancing in our bras (I'm not sure how that happens, but it does). I brought Jenga to Moldova which has been a huge hit, though it did bring on a conversation about September 11th (tall things falling down). I think they were just itching to ask me about it. And when they finally did, they wanted to know if I lived in the towers. Apparently that is their idea about living in New York. That was an interesting conversation. And since I can barely explain the rules of the game in Romanian, I haven't been able to hold onto my rule-stickler ways, which has added a whole new dimension to Jenga. When it gets high, Ion (host brother, 16) puts his hands close enough to the tower so if it wants to fall, he can slightly fix it. And then we keep going.
Exercise. Since I'm a health teacher here I figure it's more than acceptable for people to see me exercising. The first morning I explained in broken Romanian that I was going to run, and Marcella said she would come with me. She put on jeans and tennis shoes, emulated my stretches, and then we ran. Around the block. Once. I didn't have the heart, or the Romanian vocabulary, to say that I'd like to run a bit more than that. So I got about six minutes of exercise for a few days and now I do have the words to explain. Yoga is a whole other story. I'm so terrified they are going to find my meditating in their bath tub and just have no idea what's going on.
I milked a goat yesterday. For some reason, it was seriously rewarding. I understood the directions in Romanian, and then they all enjoyed watching the city girl milk the farm animal. Their farm is so amazing. Moldova in general is just so beautiful, basically because it's everything New York isn't. There are chickens, turkeys, goats, bunnies and baby bunnies, chicks, cows and horses all over. Unfortunately there are also stray dogs and cats everywhere, and the dogs are known to run after those crazy people who run for fun. But there is so much space, so much nature. So much quiet.
What else? Language training is obviously intense, but after 6 classes I can already communicate fairly well. I imagine by August I'll be ready to teach health with little problem.
The peace corps volunteers are all pretty great. Our language classes are broken up into 8 people per class, so we've all gotten pretty close. Not to mention we shared an intimate experience the first day. We got caught in the rain so we gathered around a well with a roof. We knew it would be moments before the villagers were calling their neighbors: There's a gaggle of Americans hiding under ____'s well! Within minutes a car came and asked if we wanted a ride. The car was miniature, and there were six of us. So we all piled in, with Matt in the front straddling the stick shift, two huge Russian men on both sides, while the men chanted: Moldova! America! Best Friends! Our families got a kick out of this.
I'll post more soon. There's a way to get internet in my house, I just have to figure out how to dial up. I miss New York and all of you, but I'm a lot happier here than I assumed I'd be at this piont. Moldova is pretty amazing, and the program for health teachers is well organized and effective.
Oh--there were journalists and TV cameras waiting at the airport to interview us. A bunch of us were on TV. How funny is that?
Ok. Love to all.
Stay well,
Nicoletta (my Moldovan name)
posted by NikkiD | 7:27 AM
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