Forty years

Actually its only been thirty nine years, since 1969, that the flooding of the Nistru River has been as bad as it is right now. My village is mostly on a hill overlooking the river, but there were some homes in the older part of the village, close to the river, which were actually flooded by yesterday afternoon. On Thursday afternoon I had helped some families who were relocating possessions out of their homes in anticipation of possible flooding. By Saturday afternoon the river had flooded the adjacent fields in the Ukraine, but had not flooded into Moldova. In the village there are levees built up to protect the fields from typical spring flooding on this side of the river. By Monday morning, the water had risen and the lower fields in town were flooded. Many people have lost some crops, but there has been no long-lasting damage to dwellings. In nearby villages, the losses have been much greater, with some homes lost. It has not rained in several days, and the water slowly seems to be receding.

On Friday afternoon, my friends and fellow volunteers, Veronica and Teresa came for a visit. We had a great weekend! They brought smiles, my package from home (thanks Mom and Dad!), chocolate, and movies which I can now watch on the computer. We had a great weekend, and I loved having their company for a few days. We had a big adventure on Sunday, heading to Odessa for the day with my friend from the village, Natalia. We went sightseeing, went to the beach, and had a great time. Because of the flooding, the bus took a detour both coming and going, and the travel time was significantly longer than usual, but it was still a good trip.

With the flooding, construction on the Center is almost at a standstill. Maybe the building will be ready by October. I am learning patience at a new level every day.

Another safety thing I saw this past week that sort of blew my mind: Remember I wrote a while ago about all the construction guys wearing flip flops to work in? This past week I saw road crew workers, pouring hot top in flip flops!! That has to be dangerous, or is it stupid? I guess its technically not my problem, but what are they thinking?? The other thing I learned this week from Teresa is that if you go to the hospital here, you are responsible for bringing your own linens and having someone bring you your meals. Family members bring baskets with food into the hospitals here everyday and feed their injured or sick. That's one way to cut medical expenses! There are lots and lots of things I am learning here everyday.