Chilly
It is a chilly Sunday morning, after a soggy, rainy day yesterday. It's probably about 40 degrees, but at least the sun is shining this morning. Yesterday it started to rain about 10 am and it rained all day, and got progressively cooler as the day went on. I really can't complain too much, because it has been sunny and warm all summer, and I prefer this cooler weather over the heat that we had at the end of August. Other volunteers have talked about how incredibly hot it was here last summer, and instead of the flooding that we had this summer, there was a drought. Weather is just weather, and there is nothing to do but talk about it.
This week was spent trying to stay busy and focused. On Monday, I started my second English club for adults. There were 3 of the teachers at the high school who showed up, and then about half way through, three students showed up. We had an informal discussion, mostly about greetings and basic phrases, and it seemed to go well. On Tuesday, I met with the student English club for a second time. Last week there were 22 students, and this week there were 8! Some of the initial curiosity was satisfied the week before, and I think this is a more realistic number who will actually participate from week to week. It was a much more manageable group for learning, and I think the numbers will be fairly fluid from week to week. It is a club, not a class, so as long as a few kids show up, I'll be there to work with them. I wanted to begin to talk about meaningful things with them, not just conversation about the weather and the days of the week, and months of the year. So we translated questions about about life in the village: What is good about living here, what could be better, what would they like to see improved? Sort of combining English lesson with my community organization and development goals. Love it when I can accomplish two goals with one action!
Speaking of the Community and Organizational Development (COD) program, this coming week the volunteers and our partners will be attending a training in Chisinau from Wednesday to Friday on Project Development and Management. I'm not sure how much I will get out of the content, but it sure will be great to see everyone. Many of the other volunteers I have not seen since our swearing-in back in May. When I look forward, four months seems like such a long time, but when I think about how quickly the time has past, I can't believe that I've been here almost five months. After our technical training ends on Friday, we are to stay in Chisinau for the weekend for a language training on Saturday and Sunday. With all this activity planned, this upcoming week should pass quickly. To prepare for the Project Development training, there was a proposal that needed to be developed, translated, and submitted by Wednesday. So I spent most of my "free" time, which I still have a lot of, working on this. I got it done in time, but it was a pretty intense amount of work. Not really, but for here, at least. It did occupy my time for most of Monday and Tuesday when I was not doing the clubs.
Thursday I went to Chisinau for the day. I had called the doctor because I was still having so much trouble sleeping, and I also had to get some vaccinations/booster shots due in September. It was a long day, but it was good to get away for the day, and a nice way to "celebrate" getting my report done and submitted on time. Andrea also was going to see the doctor, so we rode in on the bus together, and had lunch between my appointment with the doctor, and hers. Plus, I knew there was a package waiting for me, and I couldn't delay the gratification of getting it until next week. Thanks Mom and Dad!! Friday and yesterday were back to the same routine, trying to fill long days without structure, with meaningful activities. Friday I did a lot of walking, and with the miserable weather yesterday I read almost all day, and played on the computer. I'm currently reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See. That's about it for this week. I hope you all are well and staying warm. I miss you all. Jami
This week was spent trying to stay busy and focused. On Monday, I started my second English club for adults. There were 3 of the teachers at the high school who showed up, and then about half way through, three students showed up. We had an informal discussion, mostly about greetings and basic phrases, and it seemed to go well. On Tuesday, I met with the student English club for a second time. Last week there were 22 students, and this week there were 8! Some of the initial curiosity was satisfied the week before, and I think this is a more realistic number who will actually participate from week to week. It was a much more manageable group for learning, and I think the numbers will be fairly fluid from week to week. It is a club, not a class, so as long as a few kids show up, I'll be there to work with them. I wanted to begin to talk about meaningful things with them, not just conversation about the weather and the days of the week, and months of the year. So we translated questions about about life in the village: What is good about living here, what could be better, what would they like to see improved? Sort of combining English lesson with my community organization and development goals. Love it when I can accomplish two goals with one action!
Speaking of the Community and Organizational Development (COD) program, this coming week the volunteers and our partners will be attending a training in Chisinau from Wednesday to Friday on Project Development and Management. I'm not sure how much I will get out of the content, but it sure will be great to see everyone. Many of the other volunteers I have not seen since our swearing-in back in May. When I look forward, four months seems like such a long time, but when I think about how quickly the time has past, I can't believe that I've been here almost five months. After our technical training ends on Friday, we are to stay in Chisinau for the weekend for a language training on Saturday and Sunday. With all this activity planned, this upcoming week should pass quickly. To prepare for the Project Development training, there was a proposal that needed to be developed, translated, and submitted by Wednesday. So I spent most of my "free" time, which I still have a lot of, working on this. I got it done in time, but it was a pretty intense amount of work. Not really, but for here, at least. It did occupy my time for most of Monday and Tuesday when I was not doing the clubs.
Thursday I went to Chisinau for the day. I had called the doctor because I was still having so much trouble sleeping, and I also had to get some vaccinations/booster shots due in September. It was a long day, but it was good to get away for the day, and a nice way to "celebrate" getting my report done and submitted on time. Andrea also was going to see the doctor, so we rode in on the bus together, and had lunch between my appointment with the doctor, and hers. Plus, I knew there was a package waiting for me, and I couldn't delay the gratification of getting it until next week. Thanks Mom and Dad!! Friday and yesterday were back to the same routine, trying to fill long days without structure, with meaningful activities. Friday I did a lot of walking, and with the miserable weather yesterday I read almost all day, and played on the computer. I'm currently reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See. That's about it for this week. I hope you all are well and staying warm. I miss you all. Jami
posted by Jami | 2:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home