Playing the Moldovans at Baseball

Ok folks, this is a long one -- a lot has happened since I last wrote. So grab a cold one and settle in...

Within the time span of two short weeks, I managed to play baseball, start a running club, get tipsy at a 1 year old’s birthday party, and drink German beer and dance the polka in public – all things I never thought I’d ever do in Moldova.

For starters, yes! They play baseball here! (Skip to next paragraph if you are bored by baseball details.) There are two leagues around Chișinău with a dozen or so teams. One of the volunteers who played with the Moldovans last summer started up an all-American team this year, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to play. I was told that there were other girls on the team, but come game day, they were nowhere to be seen. So, having not played competitively in years, and having never actually played baseball, I was a little leery about just jumping in this game. I offered my cheerleading services instead. But after three innings, the first catcher said he was tired and so in I went. The coach of the other team, who was calling the game from the mound, was like, ‘Jerry (the volunteer who started the team)! What’s with the girl?!’ He was like, ‘It’s cool, she plays.’ I was like, ‘Oh dear Lord, please help me not make a fool of myself.’ It was so strange to be back behind the plate again, and strange to get used to the overhand delivery. But I stopped almost everything in the dirt, much to the amazement of more than one person, including myself. I also got a lot of dirty/curious/come-hither looks from the members of the other team as they came up to the plate. I should mention that the age range of the other team was about 12 to 60, and they could more or less play. Oh, and the field was basically your typical sandlot (see photo). There was a path going through the middle of it, which most people avoided, seeing that there was some sort of game in progress. There was, however, one woman and her little boy, who marched right through the middle of the game, and then got in a shouting match in Russian with the other team. Oh, Moldova. Oh yeah, and I was looking forward to hearing the Romanian words for the baseball lingo, but unfortunately, the other team was mostly Russian-speaking, and all of the baseball-specific words were simply in English. Like ‘out’ or ‘batter.’ The bases were called by the Russian numbers (Adeen, Dva, Tree), and there was a lot ‘davai, davai!’ (let’s go, let’s go!). Anyways, on to my at-bat. I was forced to go up to the plate having not even picked up a bat in ages. Lucky for me, with a 1-2 count, our man was caught stealing to end the inning. So to start the next inning, I winked at the pitcher, who was clearly flustered by my presence, and managed to get a walk (or ‘baz on balls’). I didn’t realize until I got to first that I have no idea what the rule is for leading off. I just kinda danced around out there, and the pitcher tried to pick me off once, hehe. All in all it was a wonderful day. The sun was out, there was that smell in the air (wait, that was probably burning trash...), there was the crack of the mitt and the ping of the bat, and a slight feeling of being part of a team again. Oh, and we lost like 20 to 2.

Moving on...I have a running club! Never thought I’d see the day. So I was teaching English one day, when one of the girls in the front row blurted out, ‘Miss Kate, are you running today? Can I go with you?’ About four others chimed in, ‘Yeah, I want to run too!’ I was blown away. They refused to continue with the English lesson until I set a date and time for us to run. Five kids showed up at my gate the next Tuesday. Cool! Of course they are wearing things like jeans and slippers, but what they heck, let’s see what they got. Well, we made it about half way to the next village, or about 5 km total. Not bad!! And it was fun! They’re all really chatty and energetic. So we went again the next day. The third day I had a very important 1-year-old’s birthday party to attend, but the kids ran without me. Apparently word of this daily athletic endeavor is spreading beyond the English circle. Saturday morning I got out off the rutiera in Soroca, a little girl came running up to me and said, ‘Miss Kate, are you running this afternoon? I would like to run too.’ I had never even seen this girl before! Ok! That afternoon 10 kids showed up, only 4 of whom I actually knew. So now each day the group changes a bit, and the kids have varying abilities. Some of the kids who really can’t keep up have started riding bikes along side the runners. But it’s just great that they’re out there. And there’s even an expressed interest in having a little 5k here. Man that would be awesome, but I’m not going to get too excited yet.

So the 1-year-old’s b-day. Man, these people celebrate everything. And they don’t celebrate half-way. The little girl, Vica, is my host cousin, and the entire family from both sides showed up for the occasion. I had never met the uncle side of the family before, and they were pretty cool. The grandpa was awesome. The grandpas are always the best. We made a ‘Catusha’ sandwich when he found out his wife and I have the same name. He found out that we both have the same favorite Moldovan food (stuffed cabbage), but then proceeded to tell me that it’s much better when you smother it in the meat jello. Ummm... not sure I agree on that one.

There is also a lot of celebrating simply because it’s March. I guess spring officially begins here on March 1st, and it is tradition for people to wear little ‘Mărțișori’ on their shirts for at least the first week, if not the whole month. The girls crochet these little pins, which consist of a red and a white tassel. Red symbolizes love, and white new life. Apparently the girls give it to the boys of whom they are fond, but pretty much everyone has one. I did get one from one of my English boys, and one of my English girls. I wear them proudly (one at a time). There was also much hoopla surrounding March 8, International Women’s Day. Everyone was talking about it starting in February, but other than a few flowers being given, I didn’t really see a whole lot of action for the actual day.

Last week we were all in Chișinău for an in-service training, and the second night we went to a German restaurant. It was wonderful!! They had everything from Franziskaner beer to men in lederhosen playing the accordion! The music was a Moldovafied polka, but fun nevertheless. The place was packed, but no one was really dancing. Until we came, that is. We got out there for the chicken dance and some polka/hora dances. When the chicken dance was played again a few hours later, a few Moldovans joined us and said it is more fun when the Americans are there. Hehe.

Last weekend, the M22s (the volunteers who arrived in February) had a field trip to Soroca. So naturally, TJ, my fellow volunteer who lives in Soroca, and I decided it would be fun to meet up with them, since we hadn’t had the occasion to get to know any of them yet. We weren’t really sure where to find them, but we knew where to start – the fortress. It is not possible to go to Soroca and not go to the fortress. It was built by the son of Moldova’s hero, Ștefan cel Mare (Steven the Great, who was a cousin of Vlad the Impaler), as a defense against the Turks in the early 16th century. It’s not very big, and not super remarkable, but I suppose interesting enough. The two of us have been there multiple times, since anytime anyone comes to the area, we have to take them to the fortress. (Naturally, should any of you come to visit, we will go to the fortress.) So we walk in, and the two ladies who work there immediately said, ‘the Americans were here, but now they’re at the synagogue.’ As simple as that, we didn’t even have to say anything. We caught up to the Americans just as they were boarding the bus to go to lunch. Super. We hitched a ride and I spent the lunch hour talking with the new volunteers. It was kinda crazy to think how far I’ve come since six months ago, when I was in their shoes. Everything was new and strange and overwhelming. Now everything is old and normal and overwhelming. Anyways, it was fun to talk to them, and maybe offer some reassurance. Then they went off to meet the Gypsy King, and I went off to meet my running club.

Well, apparently the women in my village have decided that I’m fat and ugly. Well, not so harshly, but yeah. I was sitting down the other day when one of them grabbed my stomach and was like, ‘what’s this?!’ I was like, ‘what?! This is what happens when you yell at me to eat all day every day!’ Fact is, it’s kind of a miracle that I haven’t gained any weight since being here. Anyways, they went on to say that it’s not ok for me to be fat until I’m married. Also, more than one person has told me I should wear more make-up (I usually only put on a little mascara), and I should cut my hair and style it every day. Apparently this past week all of the teachers decided they would cut my hair for me. I put my foot down there. I’m in the Peace Corps for cryin’ out loud! It’s not like I dress poorly, in fact, quite the opposite. I just don’t get all gussied up. Seriously, the young girls here dress like their going to a fancy club every day. It’s starting to get on my nerves. I’m ok with being single!!! And when I do find someone, it’s not going to be because I’m a beauty queen!

So you want to know what it is I actually DO here? Well, I’ve been occupying my time quite nicely of late. I’ve been working a lot with my fellow directors on planning for the summer camp. We had to finish our grant applications, which included a detailed budget that I happily put together in excel (I heart Excel!). We’re now in the process of recruiting and selecting our Moldovan counselors, whom we will interview this Saturday. We’re also revising the curriculum a bit from last year, so that will take a lot of work. In my community, I of course have my English and running groups, and I’m going to start working a few days a week at the computer center and giving lessons in various computer skills. I’m also working on putting together a program in Excel to automate the calculations for the village’s savings and loan association – right now everything is done by hand, and there are piles and piles of paper that take forever to sort through when looking for something specific. I’m translating the instructions for the World Map Project – we’re going to paint a huge map (I heart maps!) on the wall of the cafeteria that is being newly constructed at the school, and throughout and after the painting of the map there will be various fun learning activities. And as far as developing the local economy, I’m trying to figure out what project to run with...expressed desires include expanding/developing a dairy farm, constructing a greenhouse to grow strawberries, building a cold storage facility to keep fruits, and a rabbit farm. These all could be rather large projects, and the problem I face now is trying to figure out who would really be committed to something and who is more like, ‘oh, that would be nice, but it’s too much work.’ And of course, the fact that I don’t actually know anything about that stuff. But I can help organize seminars, find information, plan budgets, search for funding, etc. I’ve also gotten repeated requests to help the local kindergarten procure toys (for inside and outside) and furniture. The kids literally have nothing right now. I’m also continually reading information on a variety of topics and trying to improve my language. I would like to work more with my NGO just on how it is structured and what it’s scope is, but today I found out that the only three active women don’t really have time to dedicate to the NGO and therefore want to de-register as an NGO and simply be an ‘association.’ Hmmm. So yeah, that’s the more or less useful stuff that I’m doing!

Pa for now!

They Laughed at Me!

Well, I’ve been here over 6 months now. Jeepers. February 20th marked the end of our 3 month ‘lockdown’ period, during which we weren’t allowed to leave our sites except for New Years and a two-day language training. Now we are more or less free to come and go as we like. My group (that is, almost all of the 34 of 40 of us who still remain) got together in Chișinău to celebrate our freedom and trade stories. Two of the volunteers who’ve been here two years already were gracious enough to host us at their apartment, and we made delicious food such as Kraft mac and cheese, soft shell tacos, brownies, and raw veggies and ranch dip. Now I probably won’t eat those things again for another 21 months.

The weather has finally taken what I believe to be a permanent turn for the warmer. We’ve enjoyed beautiful sun-shiny days and temperatures in the 60s. This is great for me and my aversion to mud and fading willpower to run in the cold. The other day I was out running without a hat on (gasp!) and an old lady down the street shook her cane at me and yelled at me for running without a hat. I laughed. Then when I was further out in the countryside one of the young men from the village was driving home with his family and honked (a crazy weeooo-weeeoo sound) and waved. I’ve never actually talked to him, so I was glad he recognized and acknowledged me rather than offering me a ride like most people do. The downside to all the sunshine and warmness is that things are drying out – not good for an agriculture-based economy. And if it does freeze again, all the trees that have started blooming will be doomed. So let’s hope for the best. Oh, and another good thing about being warm – my laundry dries in less than 24 hours instead of a week!

I’ve picked up a hobby – crocheting. All of the girls at school have to learn the arts of knitting, crocheting, and sewing, which they do while the boys are out in the field learning boy stuff. The social worker (with whom I share an office, if you remember) is crocheting a ‘summer sweater’ and solicited help from the crocheting teacher at the school, so I decided to go along and learn a bit myself. I’ve picked it up pretty quickly, and I too would like to make myself a little somethin-somethin. We’ll see if I get further than the time I started knitting a scarf....

I think you all know that I love language, which certainly an attractive part of being in the Peace Corps. I’ve started to feel pretty good about where I’m at – almost everyone understands me, and even though I make mistakes and have a funny accent, people love the fact that I’m trying. And then there are the 9th grade punks. I had finally overcome my fear of speaking in Romanian in front of larger groups of people, especially people I don’t know. So I didn’t think anything of holding a short meeting to give some preparatory information to the 9th graders (who I haven’t met before) who were attending the business seminar that weekend. I began speaking and two of the boys in the back burst out laughing. I thought they were having a conversation of their own, so I waited a few seconds for silence to come and began again. They burst out laughing again, and this time it was clear that they were laughing at me. At me! I was like, what? I’d like to see you get up here and speak in English! I had gotten so used to people accepting the way I talk that it was a bit of a shocker for me. But no worries, I let it roll. The little kids like me anyways.

Last weekend I hosted a two-day business seminar for about 20 of the high-school aged kids in my village (fortunately, the aforementioned punks didn’t show up). Four Moldovans came from Chișinău and taught them the basics about entrepreneurship, marketing, management, economics, making a budget, and writing a business plan. At the end of the two days, each of four teams wrote and presented a busins supply and demand. It was some what of a rigorous two days, and I was very impressed with how active and enthusiastic these kids were, and how good their business plans were considering the circumstances. A couple of the 15 year-olds wanted to start up the business now!

Back to the language, I made another boo boo this week, but a really funny one. The words for ‘copies’ and ‘children/babies’ are very close – pretty much the only difference in the accent of the syllables. I tried to tell the social worker that I was going to the computer center to make copies for the seminar. But of course it came out that I was going to make babies. To make it even better, the guy at work who jokes 95% of the time overheard and said ‘What?! Do you have someone to help, or do you need me to come?’ I don’t think he’s going to let this one go for a long time.

Going back to the frettings of my last entry, I’m still racking my brain trying to figure out how I can help create more jobs for the people in my village. It really is sad and alarming how many people have left and continue to leave to find jobs in other countries. While I was at my crocheting lesson last week, the teacher read a few of the essays the kids had written about what they would do if they were president. Almost all the lists started with ‘create more jobs so my mother/father/sister/brother/neighbor can come home.’ Similarly, during Christmas, letters to Santa often began with ‘I want my mother/father/sister/brother/neighbor to come home.’ It breaks my heart.

Last weekend I went to Bălți, the second largest city in Moldova and predominantly Russian-speaking, to meet up with one of my co-directors for the women’s summer camp. We went around to different NGOs that we hope will provide us with speakers and/or informational materials for our camp. After that, we stopped at the piața to pick up some veggies for dinner, and of course all of the vendors spoke in Russian. However, I whipped out my mad Russian skills and correctly understood that the carrots cost 15 lei. Woot. Later that afternoon, we went to the orphanage, where my co-director volunteers every Friday, to play with the kids there. Again most of them spoke Russian, but I wowed them with my ability to ask, what is your name? And to respond, ‘my name is catuișa.’ Woot woot. Also, even though I just met these children, I managed to get four ‘pups’ (pronounced ‘poops’ – kisses) and two hugs!