Orthodox Easter

So now it is Easter here. It is finally warm and sunny, and feels like Spring. Tonight begin the festivities, with an all night vigil at the Church, lots of food and drink. Maria came home the other day with a whole lamb, head and all, and we will be eating it this weekend. Also, two days with no language lessons. I am finding that I actually probably speak more when I am not in formal classes, so the break from class is welcome. Actually, we will only have two more language classes next week, and then our final language test next Friday.

This past week was spend reviewing our site visit, a language assessment, and a final interview to assess how prepared we are for actual service, and to provide feedback on the whole Pre-Service Training (PST). Overall, I have felt that the training has been very organized and comprehensive. Not all of it applied to me, but I know that each of us are coming to this from such different experiences, that it is important to provide both breadth and depth to each piece of training information.

Now that I have been to my village, I am anxious to get there, and get to work. I know I was homesick and "down" a bit right after, but I think it was because it was so much to absorb, and 3 solid days of Romanian without a break or a peer support network. I will miss my friends that I have come to count on during these initial weeks. They are a great group, and each of them brings so much to this experience everyday. One exciting bit of stuff for me, is that we held elections for the representative to the Volunteer Advisory Council, and I was elected to represent the Community Development volunteers from our group, M-22, on the Committee. It is a great honor, and responsibility, and I am looking forward to doing this work, to support my peers with the Executive Committee.

The Easter holiday will be fun, and it is at the tail end of this training period. By the time I am able to write again, it will all be done except for the "swearing in". I'll try not to swear....

Thank you to everyone who has written to me via e-mail, and to everyone who has kept me in thoughts and prayers. A special thanks to my parents, who continue to help in every way possible. I miss you all. Jami

Site visit

The past four days I have been busy traveling to my site for the first time. I will will be living in the far southeast part of Moldova, as close as you can be in Moldova to the Black Sea, and very close to Odessa. The village has about 7000 inhabitants, and I think I met most of them this weekend! I stayed with two different families, and choose one to live with for the next 2 years. I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and went for a walking tour of town before settling in for the night with family number one. On Sunday, I went to family number two at 9 am, and spent all of Sunday and Sunday night with them. We went to the church and for a walk through the market, before meeting with a group of high school students who are involved in community service projects. Yesterday I went with my partner to the High School, the Mayor's office, the Russian school and then later in the day, the Center that is being developed for old people and children living together. The center is a long walk from where I will be living, but I think it will be several months until construction is completed, so the distance is not an issue at this point. My counterpart/partner has lived in the village her whole life, and she is very motivated to support community services and improvements. I think it will be good work, and a good community for me.

I am still more homesick than I was prepared for, but I just focus on the work, and the day at hand, and swallow until it passes. At least this morning I got a nice hot shower here at the PC office, the first since February! I am now an expert at the bucket bath! Miss you all...

Saturday afternoon in Chisinau

Here it is a Saturday afternoon in Chishinau. The PC lounge is full, and I have waited patiently to sign on to post my greetings to one and all. The past two weeks have been busy, but there is a real routine now to the time. The week after I last posted was busy with mid-training activities. We were assessed on our preparedness for serving in the Peace Corps and on our language skills. For me the bigger challenge has been with the language, but I did as well as I could. They haven't asked me to leave, so I guess I am doing okay.

Last Saturday we traveled to Orhei Vechi, which is a really pretty place, in a quiet and spiritual kind of way. It has historic ruins, and monasteries built into the rock. The actual area covers several miles. The church is on top of a ridge, between two large hills with deep valleys surrounding it. There is an underground monastery built below the current church, and the hills have caves carved into them from the 11th century. Very cool. This week the weather has been rainy and cold, and I have had a bit of a sore throat. The medical staff here are excellent, and I have been resting and studying much of the time that I am not actually participating in planned activities. I can hardly believe that the training is about half over. This coming week, on Tuesday, we will hear what and where our work sites will be for the next two years. I am curious, but it makes no difference to me, as one village is about the same as any other to me right now. The next time I am able to post, I will be able to let you all know, but like for me, it won't really mean anything. Next week-end we will actually travel to our new sites to interview families to live with and meet our counterpart. The counterpart is the person who we will be working with most closely as we move to our permanent jobs. That is exciting. I am hoping that I have enough language not to end up in Romania by mistake!

So that is all that is new with me right now. Happy Birthday to my Daddy on Monday, and I'll post again soon. Miss you all. Jami