Lack of Communication

It really is the lack of communication that has been the most challenging thing for me, and I find that it is evident in so many ways. First, there is really only one person in the village whom I have met who speaks English really well, although many are willing to say the few words that they are comfortable with. Many people will greet me with "hello" and try a few words, and all are patient with my feeble attempts at Romanian, and the three or four phrases that I have learned to say in Russian (hello, thank you, yes and no!). I have found a good tutor for Romanian. She is the French and English teacher at the Russian school. She is very nice, and I think she is a good teacher for me. She does speak some English, but with a French accent, and between Romanian, French, English, and the dictionary, we are able to figure out a conversational level of communication. She is leaving for a month in Moscow, so I will need to find someone else to work with in the meantime. I am not sure who I will ask, but I will figure that out. My preference is to work with a young person, maybe one of the teens, rather than a formal teacher, but at this time, I just am not sure which direction I will go in.

The second, and much more frustrating piece about the communication is the inability to communicate regularly with friends and family at home. I had thought that when I got to my village that things would improve, as far as being able to stay in touch with people. On some levels that is true. I do have much more ability to communicate in real time via the Internet. The phone is far less reliable, and I can't seem to dial out on the house phone. My cell phone works for several hours on some days, and then won't have a signal for several days. It is frustrating, when I send emails that I will call at such and such a time, and then I can't! Drives me up a wall!!

The third, and maybe the MOST frustrating thing about communication, is that I have not gotten some mail recently that I know was sent to me in April. What other volunteers have shared with me is that there is a problem specifically with getting greeting cards sent from the US. Several volunteers have shared with me that they also have not gotten cards that were sent. There is a general belief that these cards are opened and checked for the possibility of money being enclosed. I just wanted my card so badly! It hurts that someone else got to read the words that were written to me, and I can't. That may be selfish, but that is the piece about the lack of communication which has been the hardest thing for me to deal with over the past week or so. And thinking about the next couple of weeks, if anyone has any thoughts about sending birthday cards, (and this is not a shameless plug for cards!), please do not send them. If you do, please put the card in an envelope that does not look like a greeting card envelope. If you take the time, and spend the money, I surely want to get my mail.

On a totally unrelated note, although I guess some of these events could also come under the heading of lack of communication, they have begun construction of the place where I will be working when the construction is completed. The workers were supposed to arrive last week, on Monday, and then on Thursday, and they finally arrived this past Tuesday evening. I was very surprised that the workers had brought bedding and cooking equipment, and were planning to stay in the shell of the building that they are here to reconstruct. No per diem/travel expenses for workers in Moldova! There were some beds, and I am using that term very loosely, left in the building, and the workers have moved them into two rooms, and are sleeping there. They also dug a fire pit to cook over. Yesterday morning, some officials from the organization who is funding the re-construction came to the site, and there were some strong words about food, and who is preparing meals, and cooking for the men. There are no hotels or restaurants in town, so there is no real way for them to get extra money to buy their meals elsewhere. There was a woman at this meeting yesterday morning, whom I believe is preparing meals for the men. There was some fairly loud disagreement about how she was to be paid, and if the men even wanted her to cook for them or not. It seems to be a general practice here that if workmen come to the house, they are fed as a part of the payment. This was true at my first home, when the electrician came, he was fed before he went home, and this is also true here, where yesterday the man who helped in the garden also got breakfast before they left for the garden, and dinner when he was finished. Anyway, this "discussion" appeared to be another lack of communication, but this one hardly affected me at all, only being an observer.

Other than this, there is not much new. I did go into Chisinau on Thursday for a shot, and got to spend some time with my friend, Teresa, who lives very close to Chisinau. It was nice to get out of the village for a day, but it is a long day without much reward. It is about 7 hours on the bus, for about 3.5 hours in town. I won't be doing that more than once a month! Take care all, and know that I miss you! Jami

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?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, my Grandmother, to all of my friends (you know who you are), and especially to my daughter, who has made me the mother I am today. Here in Moldova, they celebrate the Day of Women in the beginning of March. The holiday here is mostly focused on mothers' as well, but is a carry-over from the Soviet era and is a much more general holiday to celebrate all women . Here the men mostly buy flowers and visit their female relatives, and there are concerts that celebrate all things feminine. I don't think that there are a lot of gifts bought, and from my observations, the women still did all of the meal preparations on that day.

Some of the questions that I have gotten from family, friends and other interested people I will try to answer now:
How did I decide on which host family to live with? Well, it was pretty easy for me. The first family that I stayed with were close in age to me, a little older, children grown and living in Chisinau, they had hosted a volunteer in the past and were familiar with Peace Corps. The other family was also very nice. They had three young children, ages 5, 11, and 17, and cows and goats. There was much greater activity at that home and everyone was nice. I know myself and my need for quiet time. I felt that it would be easier for me to live in the quieter home. All the volunteers that I have spoken with have suggested that it is more important to follow your "gut" than to look for amenities, or any particular "thing", when choosing a family. The original living arrangement is for a minimum of six months, but many volunteers stay in the same arrangement for the full two years of service. It is always possible to move if you are truly unhappy, but I don't see that happening in my case.

What is some of the history of Moldova? I am certainly not an expert in this area, so please read the following with caution, knowing that I have already put out the disclaimer that I am sort of an idiot about this, and clearly not the best person to talk to about this, but here goes: When you look at the map of Eastern Europe, it is easy to see how Moldova has been a pawn of Kings and rulers throughout history. It is in the center of many things in some ways, but far from the centers of power over time. For example, long, long ago, Moldova was invaded by the Romans, hence the strong Romanian/Latin language base. Moldova is far from Rome. After that, it was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Moldova is far from Istanbul/Constantinople. Then there was a long period of time where it was closely aligned with Romania, with sovereignty. It is not that close to Bucharest, although we are getting warmer. At the close of World War 2, Moldova was a part of the Warsaw Pact, and was turned over to the Soviet Union as part of that treaty to end the war. Moscow is far from Moldova. During this time, many of the Moldovan people were caught in the middle of political decisions in which they had little input. There are strong feelings here about language as a symbol of national pride and identity. It is part of the reason that it is so important for volunteers to learn Romanian. In the village where I am living, I believe that almost everyone over the age of 5 or 6 is at least bi-lingual, in Romanian and Russian, and most everyone also knows at least conversational Ukrainian before they are out of school. It is amazing to me, as I struggle to learn just the Romanian. I find that I am able to say a very few words in Russian, but I am not sure I will learn the Cyrillic alphabet in the 2 years I am here.

How poor is Moldova? It is very poor financially, but the people are rich in spirit and their generosity. "If you have no money you are poor financially, if you have no dreams, you are truly poor". If that is a true saying, then Moldova is not poor. Everyone here has dreams for a better life, for themselves, their families, and for the country. The average annual income for a Moldovan worker is about $2000. The average pension for an elderly person is about $40/mo. The greatest source of income for most families is from someone in the family who is working abroad. Almost everyone I have met has someone in their family who has traveled to another country, Italy, Portugal, Russia being the more common countries, and is sending money home. I have been really amazed at the number of teenagers who are living independently of their parents, and who get money sent to them from abroad. They manage to pay the bills and take care of themselves and the family home. Most teens that I have met here are extremely polite, mature, and respectful. I am constantly impressed by them.

Right now, I am not aware of any English clubs in Chisinau. I did put a notice up on the bulletin board in the Peace Corps office, and asked that if anyone is aware of any of these clubs that they email you directly.

Keep your questions coming. Now that I have finished my formal training I have more time to communicate with other, both from home and here in my village. Enjoy the rest of this Sunday, and know that miss you all. XOXO, Jami

Now I'm Offically a Volunteer

Yesterday was really quite interesting, and as the day progressed there was more and more to think about and process. The Ambassador's home was very impressive, and the swearing-in ceremony went well. When they played the recording of the national anthem, it was very moving. I think that the sentiments expressed by the Peace Corps staff, and the invited Moldovan staff, had many of us volunteers feeling proud of ourselves for having completed the training and very moved by the whole weight of the experiences of the past ten weeks. There were several speeches, and then a nice luncheon reception immediately after. A very nice, and well-organized event.

Immediately after the reception, it was back to the hotel to gather the many bags and begin the journey to my new village. The Peace Corps staff had asked that the representatives of the villages come with a car to transport us, and our luggage back to their villages. Not only did we not have a car, but we missed the last bus out of Chisinau, and the taxi driver drove VERY fast to catch up to the bus, which he did, just south of the city. On the side of the road, we transferred all of my luggage, plus Peace Corps issued equipment, into the bowels of the bus, and set off on our three hour ride to my new home. By the time we got here, I was tired, and went to my new room and began to unpack. I didn't do that for very long, but went to bed early, and today began my new job here. I do have a room at the school, very cold, but a place to go to everyday. I was there from 8 this morning until noon, and then went back in the afternoon to meet with my partner, and then went to the Internet cafe. They were helpful there, but now I am online from my new home. It is dial-up, and VERY slow, but at least I feel a little more connected knowing that I can read email pretty regularly. I don't think I will be on everyday, but maybe a couple of times a week. Please feel free to write anytime. You know I would love to hear from you.

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day here. This is an interesting holiday here, as WWII is not so distant in the memories of most Moldovans, and had a significant impact on their national history. More about that later. Its late, and I know I can write more often, so I don't want to bore anyone with an Eastern European history lesson. Peace, Jami

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my last official day as a trainee, and tomorrow I become a real Peace Corps Volunteer and move to my village! I am excited and nervous at the same time. The past two weeks have been filled with holiday time here in Moldova, and it is finally warm most days, even though it rains every day. The Orthodox Easter is a big deal here, even bigger than Christmas I've been told. On Easter Eve there is a Church service that lasts all night long, and families take food to the Church to be blessed by the priest. When the service is over, usually around 6 in the morning, families return home with their blessed food and eat and drink and then sleep most of the day, and visit with family and friends. It was a nice holiday, but sort of low key. I guess I was expecting something more. Monday was more of the same, visiting and eating and drinking. The rest of the week we had our final classes and our language assessment on Friday morning. We haven't gotten the results yet, but I did the best that I could, so we'll see.

Saturday night we had our going away party in our village, which was a lot of fun. On Sunday was another holiday, this one called Blajinilor Pastele. On Sunday we went to the cemetery and had a lovely picnic with Maria and her whole family, Again, there was some blessing of the food, but it was a much more festive feeling day. Yesterday was a day of rest, and a gathering of the six volunteers who live in Magdacesti. And here we are at today.

Today is my Mom's birthday, so this goes out to you, Mom. I know it is maybe not the best of all your birthdays, with the news of Uncle Ed's passing, but I hope you have a great day! I think after tomorrow I will be able to have more regular email access, and I hope to be able to post more regularly. I miss you and hope you are all well!