Saturday evening

So, the village life is very slow. What did I accomplish this week? Not much, in fact. The highlight of the week for me was a trip on Tuesday into the town of Stefan Voda. Mr. Voda was a ruler in the 1400's from this part of the world, and the Raion (like a county) is called Stefan Voda, and there is also a town with his name, sort of the county-seat. It is a nice enough town. I don't think it is larger than where I am living, but there are more paved streets and more shops and official looking buildings. It was nice to get out of dodge for the afternoon, and I met some of the officials from Stefan Voda, so that made it a productive trip.

Everyday my routine has been to go to the school in the morning. I am in a room that is used for the chess club, and kids come in when they have a free period, and play checkers with the chess men. I am usually at the school until 12 or 1. I am slowly getting to know some people at the school and in town. Every afternoon I have been going for long walks through town, usually for about 2-3 hours. This morning I walked all the way out to the main road, not so far, but almost all uphill.

One of the projects that I will be working on is a day center that is being developed for the elderly. The center is to be developed in a building that is little more than a shell. The woman that I am working with has received grant money from a Swedish organization to rehabilitate the building. They were supposed to begin last Monday, and then on Thursday, but on Friday morning, I was there with some of the high school boys who were going to cut the grass, and construction still had not started. Imagine how surprised I was when the boys showed up with scythes! I didn't expect a gas mower, but I thought maybe push mowers might have been what was used. When they were done, a woman who lived nearby came with a large basket and filled it with the grass for her animals.

The other project that I am hoping to work on with the teens is to try to develop a teen center. There is a building that has been identified, but I don't think it can be used year round, as I am not sure there is heat in the building. It is near the river, and will be a great place for teens to meet. Lots of work to do here, that's a good thing, since it's why I'm here.

Tomorrow is Market Day, and it makes me want to be a complete vegetarian! Remember the nursery rhyme where everyday was a different chore. This is the day we wash our clothes, etc.? Well, now I get it. I washed my clothes today, and it took almost 3 hours of heating the water on the stove, scrubbing by hand, wringing by hand and hanging to dry. That's enough for one day. As my grandmother wrote to me, that's how it was for her, and even though she wouldn't want to go back to it, it didn't hurt. It doesn't hurt, but it takes a lot of time. It's a good thing the pace is slower, or is the pace slower because things take so much longer?