Another one bites the mud....

Even things that seem endless do eventually come to an end, and January is almost over! Since coming back to Moldova at the beginning of December, this was the milestone that I knew I would need to reach to stay until the end of my service. I have persevered, and tomorrow it will be February. In past years, I have always had such a difficult time through the fall months, as the days get shorter, anniversaries are painful, whatever...I did some good planning, and had a great trip home in November, just as I needed. Even though it went nothing as I had planned, it was the respite I craved. Those of you who have communicated with me, or read this, know that I have struggled more than usual since coming back. Unless there is an emergency, I do now believe that I will make it until the end of my service, and that is a good feeling. There was nothing in particular this past week that made feel more confident of that, just the passage of days, the crossing off of time on the calendar, the little bit more of sunlight with each day. Yippee!

Last week was a typical work week, nothing unusual, other than the bitter, bitter cold. Last Sunday night it was so cold here in Moldova, that there were several reports of people freezing to death in villages around the country, and I saw two frozen animals here in my village. Sad. Schools were on an abbreviated schedule until Wednesday because it was too cold for children to walk to school. I'm sure its not the last of the cold weather for this winter, but I hope it doesn't get that cold again here before I leave! Now it is warmer, and VERY muddy in my village, hence the title of today's posting.

On Friday, I was planning to go into Chisinau for a knitting weekend with some of the other volunteers. Unfortunately, that was postponed because so many of the people who were planning to attend had bronchitis, or some other sickness. I went in anyway, and had a great time. I stayed in the capital with a new friend, a woman who teaches at the International School, along with another volunteer. I had stayed in her apartment with a different volunteer a few weeks ago, while the teacher was visiting in the US, so it was nice to finally meet her and enjoy being in her great apartment again. She is very generous with her space, and it was good to end the month in such a positive way. The knitting weekend has been postponed until the middle of this month, so I still have that to look forward to! I had three showers in three days, four letters and a package, so all is right in the world! Now I am back in the village, getting ready for another week at work. It was still pretty light out when I got off the bus at 5:30, so the days are getting noticeably longer. That is a good thing, too.

Safe travels this week to my parents as they head to St. Croix! Happy birthday this past week to my friends Ed and Kirsten, and this coming week to my sister-in-law, Brenda, and my sweet younger brother, David. And special thoughts to my friends Betsy and Momen this week, as Momen's brothers are visiting from Uzbekistan. Momen had not seen anyone from his family for over 27 years! I can't even imagine that, as I have had the hardest time here and couldn't even make it one year without seeing all of you. Wherever you are, hold those you love a little closer this week. I love and miss you all. xoxo, Jami

Endless

This month of January feels endless today. There is still a week before its over, and it feels like its been January for weeks, and weeks, and weeks, almost since I got back here. This week there was more to do at work, and the week was punctuated by a mid-week trip into the capital so in theory it should have felt like it was passing more quickly. That theory being the one that espouses that the busier I am, the more quickly the time seems to pass. Not really true, but the days are passing, no matter how slowly it feels that way sometimes. You know the saying about molasses in January, well it would be frozen here today!

Right now there are 7 kids at the Center, along with the 5 elderly residents. Some of this increase is due to the very frigid weather we have been having this week. Yesterday and today the temperature has not gone above -15C. That was the warm number, and converts to about 5F. Without a calculation for wind chill, which has been considerable, that's the coldest I think it's been in the almost two years I've been here. It's been that cold for the past three days. Yesterday I was more aware of the lack of sun over the past few weeks, only one day and a few hours so far this month. Today we have sun, hooray!, but it is too cold to be out for very long. The wind has been fierce, which is really makes the cold penetrating. I've had two days without my usual walking, and I think my mental health is suffering for lack of walking! Last year was so much milder, less snowy, and almost pleasant in comparison. I took my heavy coat home in November and left it there, not anticipating how much I would miss it this month. Still, I know I will be glad not to have to carry the heavier coat home in April, and that is what I am still focused on.

The kids are good, and fun to spend time with, as always. They like playing dress-up, building houses with blocks, doing puzzles, reading, coloring, learning poems to recite, and working on writing and simple math problems. School doesn't begin for kids until they are at least seven years old here. All of the children currently living at the Center are between four and eight years old. The oldest, Lenuta, goes to school everyday, but everyone else follows a schedule of activities everyday. This week, even in the bitter cold, there was a lot of time outside sledding. It feels good to have good work to do everyday. Even when I am frustrated with other things, I have always loved going to work, and this is no exception.

My trip into Chisinau was a good one and a welcome break. I went in to get my B12 shot, had an awesome 4 hour lunch with a group of volunteers, visited with Teresa for a bit, watched the movie Sherlock, which I really enjoyed, had a very productive meeting with the acting Program Manager, and safely made it back to the village before the bitter cold hit in full force. Not a bad week, just one that is part of the seemingly endless countdown. Even when I try not to be aware of it, not one day passes that I don't think about all of you and wish I was home. It's close, but not quite close enough. Oh well. Nothing is ever endless, and this too shall pass. Spring is just around the corner! 75 days. I love and miss you all. xoxo, Jami

Teaser

This week started out as a "teaser". It was warm enough to feel like Spring was just around the corner. On Tuesday it was probably close to 50 degrees, and the sun was out for almost an hour! HA! Wrong!! It's cold, and today it is icy. January. There is no getting around it. Spring will come, I will be home to enjoy it, and for now, I am in the village routine. As always when I am here, there isn't too much to talk about.

The census is down at work. This week there are three children and three older women, and one older man. Two of the three children have been living at the Center, on and off, for much of the past year. Their mother comes to visit them sometimes, but isn't able to have them at home. There is no heat and no glass in the windows at their apartment. These two little girls, Iulia and Maria, are funny and spunky kids, in spite of living apart from their mother. They came to live at the Center with shaved heads, due to a terrible problem with head lice. This week I was reminded of a story that my friend, Robin, shared with me years ago, as these two little girls paraded around with their tights on their heads, pretending that they had long, beautiful hair! Bittersweet little lives. Speaking of head lice, it is a terrible problem here, and I guess it is worse in the winter. It is cold and hard to bathe. It is a pain to wash clothing and hair. So far, I've avoided any bug-jumping, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Yuck! It makes me itch just to think about it. On that happy and cheerful note, know that I love and miss you all. 81 days! xoxo, Jami

Another week in Chisinau

This week, on January 7th, was the Orthodox Christmas holiday. There have only been two children at the Center, and it has still been vacation week from school, so most of the past week I spent in Chisinau with other volunteers. I had gotten a call from Pan, one of the other older, single women in our training group. She has a friend who teaches at the International School who has a very nice apartment in downtown Chisinau. Her friend was going to be out of the country and offered us the use of her apartment while she was away. We were there from Tuesday through yesterday, with a brief stay in Orhei with Macie and Craig on Wednesday night. We had all sorts of plans to do some "touristy" things, but actually spent a lot of time visiting other volunteers and relaxing. It was a good week, busy and fun, but not overwhelmingly so.

Yesterday, in downtown Chisinau, when I was walking to the bus I saw a car accident on the sidewalk. On the main street in the down town area, people consistently park on the sidewalk. Again, its not too safe here in many ways. I sent a message out to a few of the other volunteers who responded with concern that the driver had hit a pedestrian, which would be a logical response, knowing not to be surprised about the car on the sidewalk. No, I explained, this was one driver backing up into the main thoroughfare of the sidewalk, while the second driver continued to move forward to take the parking space that was being vacated! It is a thinking that is sort of consistent with how people push to get on to the buses, and all public transportation, before letting exiting travelers get off. I'm not sure if this is a "survival of the fittest" mentality, or just plain rudeness, but it is frustrating and exhausting to deal with. There is no orderliness when there is room for aggression. So, yesterday there was a fender-bender. On the sidewalk. Oh my. Other than that, not too much new to write about. It was a good week, and now I am back to the slower pace of village life. There isn't much time left, and still some stuff I want to work on. I do know that the busier I stay, the faster the time goes. Its under 90 days, and I can't wait! I love and miss you all. xoxo, Jami

Twenty ten

A new year, a new decade, a full, blue moon, and time out of the village! Not a bad week at all! This is the year that I finish my service and come home, and the count is now under one hundred days, so all is looking good today.

The weather outside is frightful, but it isn't going to bring me down. It was warm most of the week, and even though it is colder now, and it will probably snow, it is, after all, January, and its doing what it is supposed to be doing outside. On Wednesday this week we had our holiday program at work. Like last year, there were poems recited, music sung, games played, and treats for all the residents. It isn't really like Christmas at home, but it was a good party for everyone, and people seemed to have a nice time.

This year things seemed a bit more organized, which shows planning and progress. It was a smaller crowd, and there was more time to prepare this year than last year, when everything was so new. There was a funny skit about the difference between village life and city life, and it was funny to watch people laugh at their own cultural idiosyncrasies. I tried not to laugh louder than anyone else, but it was pretty amusing! I did leave before the dinner was served as I didn't want to deal with the serving of wine to children, and feel my frustration rise with how hard it is to change a cultural norm like that. I have addressed my concerns about this with my co-workers more than once, and I have been told that it is not only okay, but expected, that young children drink at celebrations. When I saw the wine being poured early in the day, I decided that I wanted to leave at the end of the program before the meal. I am living here, in this culture, and I have given information to the staff that talks about the dangers of alcohol for children specifically, beyond that I just don't know what to do. So, except for leaving early, and not fully voicing my concerns yet again, it was a good holiday party at the Center.

New Year's Eve I travelled to Orhei, to stay with Macie and Craig, Teresa and Paul for two days, returning earlier today. It was a low key couple of days. There were fireworks on and off all night on Thursday night, last night was spent watching movies and relaxing before heading back to the village today. It was a quiet and mostly uneventful celebration, but I expect that there will be more celebrating for me over the next few months as I come home and get to see all of you! I hope that 2010 brings us all health, happiness, and hopes for peace and love. I miss you all. xoxo, Jami