Phones are working again!
Yesterday it was a week since the phone has been working here at the house, so I haven't been able to use the dial-up to post anything. Now I am finally able to get back online, although I was in Chisinau briefly on Monday and did read my email at least.
Last Tuesday I spent the day digging potatoes. All of you Maine readers who have done this, or anyone else, for that matter, I have a new appreciation for this work. My main response though, is YUCK! There were five of us, Lidia, her sister, Nadia, Nadia's husband, Eugene, and the hired guy, Igor, and me. The field was probably not bigger than a quarter of an acre, and it only took one morning, but it is a lot of bending and lifting. Everything here is done by hand, and is much harder than it needs to be. We dug from 6 in the morning until about noon, and finished the field. We filled 7 bags listed as 50 kg. (110 lbs.) so probably between 700 and 800 lbs. of potatoes. Lidia said that this year the potatoes are smaller, and there are not nearly as many as there have been in other years. I did get a rash, or ant bites all over my legs, and had a hard time sleeping that night, but other than that side effect, it wasn't too bad. The rest of last week was spent studying, walking, the usual slow stuff. The best thing was a phone call from my family. I got to talk to Linnea, my mom, my grandmother, and my sister. That was a great treat! I can't wait until I can get the high-speed connection here at the house, sometime in October or November, and can try the Skype again. I know from experience that it doesn't work well with the dial-up, and the phone is so incredibly expensive.
Progress is being made daily on the Center where I will be working, although I don't see how it will be done within two weeks. Natalia and I did meet with the foreman last week and he said that it would be done by August 1. We'll see.
Monday, as I said, I went into Chisinau for a VAC phone call with some volunteers from Romania to talk about similarities between the programs between the two countries, and trying to support a collaborative process for the Peace Corps Volunteers in Eastern Europe. While in the big city I looked for some gifts to send home for upcoming birthdays and weddings, but everything here is of very poor quality and expensive at the same time, so I left empty-handed except for some new books to read. Early apologies to those who will not be getting gifts from me this year.
Not much else new. The summer weather is warm, the watermelon, peaches and plums are ripe and yummy, and I am settling into this slower pace. Miss you all.
Last Tuesday I spent the day digging potatoes. All of you Maine readers who have done this, or anyone else, for that matter, I have a new appreciation for this work. My main response though, is YUCK! There were five of us, Lidia, her sister, Nadia, Nadia's husband, Eugene, and the hired guy, Igor, and me. The field was probably not bigger than a quarter of an acre, and it only took one morning, but it is a lot of bending and lifting. Everything here is done by hand, and is much harder than it needs to be. We dug from 6 in the morning until about noon, and finished the field. We filled 7 bags listed as 50 kg. (110 lbs.) so probably between 700 and 800 lbs. of potatoes. Lidia said that this year the potatoes are smaller, and there are not nearly as many as there have been in other years. I did get a rash, or ant bites all over my legs, and had a hard time sleeping that night, but other than that side effect, it wasn't too bad. The rest of last week was spent studying, walking, the usual slow stuff. The best thing was a phone call from my family. I got to talk to Linnea, my mom, my grandmother, and my sister. That was a great treat! I can't wait until I can get the high-speed connection here at the house, sometime in October or November, and can try the Skype again. I know from experience that it doesn't work well with the dial-up, and the phone is so incredibly expensive.
Progress is being made daily on the Center where I will be working, although I don't see how it will be done within two weeks. Natalia and I did meet with the foreman last week and he said that it would be done by August 1. We'll see.
Monday, as I said, I went into Chisinau for a VAC phone call with some volunteers from Romania to talk about similarities between the programs between the two countries, and trying to support a collaborative process for the Peace Corps Volunteers in Eastern Europe. While in the big city I looked for some gifts to send home for upcoming birthdays and weddings, but everything here is of very poor quality and expensive at the same time, so I left empty-handed except for some new books to read. Early apologies to those who will not be getting gifts from me this year.
Not much else new. The summer weather is warm, the watermelon, peaches and plums are ripe and yummy, and I am settling into this slower pace. Miss you all.
posted by Jami | 5:33 AM
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