Buna Ziua! Bine ati venit! (Hello! Welcome!)
I am currently writing this post from the porch of my first home in Moldova. Everything so far feels packed into a numerical value in my brain - which might be a good way to sum up the scaffolding of my Peace Corps life up to this point. I met the other 48 members of my cohort (M34) exactly two weeks ago. We arrived in Moldova twelve days ago, I met my host parents eight days ago, and I have completed one week and one day of PST (pre-service training). Eight days ago, our cohort bid goodbye to one another and boarded vans to our separate villages. There are seven of us in my village and seven in the neighboring village. The 14 of us make up the English Education sector of the M34s. There are two other sectors spread out over four other villages and we all meet together one day a week at our Hub Site, which is a city fairly central to our six villages, for eight hours of training. On the other four days of the week, we have four hours of language training in the morning and four hours of technical training in the afternoon. For my village, our lunch hour and a half is partly spent traveling to our neighboring village to do technical training along with the rest of the English sector with our program directors. On Saturdays we have language training in the morning for four hours, but catch a break and get the rest of the day to ourselves.
The seven of us in my village get along very well. Three of us live next door to one another which has been lovely. It's easy to send a text or call over a gate for someone to get înghetata (ice cream) from satul centru (the village center) with me, and more often than not we end up around the outdoor table at my neighbor Jessica's just chitchatting with her mama gazda (host mother) until it's time to call it a night. We like to hang out outside of class, which is what I had hoped. We all come from different backgrounds, experiences, and world-views, which can lead to interesting conversation and a learning and growing experience even beyond our school desks. I am thankful for each one of them!
I also have an amazing set of host parents. Not everyone will understand exactly what it is like to move to a new country with almost no concept of the language and move in with total strangers, but perhaps most people could appreciate the visual. Having no idea who I would be staying with or what their daily lives were like, I obviously painted many pictures in my mind of expectations for my soon-to-be new home. Parintii mei gazda (my host parents) have been everything a parent might hope for their child. They have welcomed me into their home, introduced me to their family (mostly via Skype as 3/4 children live abroad), feed me well, and provide me with a safe and comfortable space.
Mama mea gazda helps me with my homework and always asks what I learned about in class. Casa mea (my house) is beautiful inside and out, with a flourishing garden. As my language skills grow, I hope to get to know them better. Their youngest daughter, Cristina, lives in a city nearby and works in the capital at a bakery (literally, who could have guessed that coincidence) as a manager. She doesn't bake but she did bring me macarons from her work, which I scarfed all too quickly. Cristina also took time out of her only day off to take show me a little bit of Moldova. Moldova's monasteries are absolutely breathtaking as a rule and it was a treat to hear the service, and especially the singing, broadcasted over the grounds as we took pictures (enjoy below!) and enjoyed the view.
In addition to the wonderful human members of my host family, I now have a cat and her two kittens (unnamed, though not for long now that I've arrived) and a husky, Lola. I play with the kittens and scratch mama pisica's back each day and often give Lola any leftovers from lunch. She's quite feisty and would probably eat the kittens if she had the chance, so she isn't allowed constant full range of the yard. My new pets make it easier to feel at home. PST is long, tedious, and tiring work, but I will be sad when it is over and I will have to say farewell to my new family.
My spirits are still high! My optimism and positivity continue on with a force. My village-mates see my moments of frustration or annoyance here and there, but I try to keep perspective at the forefront of my thought-process. Romanian classes are the highlight of my day and four hours pass too quickly. However, by the time 5:40 rolls around and we are rushing to catch the last bus back to our village, I am exhausted and sweaty from the day. Most evenings allow for more language practice with my host parents, some introspection, and usually at least a body shower; though we are finishing up day two without running water here in the village, so the baby wipes I packed are coming in handy. Fingers crossed the water comes back soon!
*Just as I am publishing this, lightening and thunder are rolling into the village. If you know me well, you know how much I adore storms. Can't wait to fall asleep to this soothing soundtrack through my window!
I hope you all enjoy the pictures! Head to the Photo Gallery tab to be able to click on the pictures and expand them for a better view. I am excited to start sharing more stories with you instead of just general information. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me!
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