I'm Feeling More Like a Moldoveanca

I never know how I manage to get from point A to point B, but somehow I do. Here I am, exactly one year after submitting my application to the Peace Corps, an official active volunteer. I can’t believe it’s already been 11 weeks since I arrived in this country that I will call home for the next 2 years. I have had some amazing experiences and made some incredible friends during the 10 weeks of training.

Some of my favorite memories will be of four of us who have taken to the sport of ‘super-adventuring.’ Basically, this entails exploring the area surrounding our community by either walking or running, with intermittent stops to climb trees, explore caves, hike up the side of ravines, chat with locals, avoid herding sheep or stray cows, jump over ditches (with or without water), or beat each other with corn stalks. These super adventures may last anywhere from 1 to 4 hours, and common results include forehead gashes, mud-caked shoes, burr-covered spandex, and pure enjoyment of the beauty of Moldova’s land.

Getting to know our families has been a wonderful experience as well. We had an American/Moldovan dinner with all of the trainees in my village and their host families. Everybody brought a traditional dish to share, and the Moldovan families organized a few ‘challenges’ for us. The food was marvelous, although some of the American dishes didn’t turn out exactly as planned (ex. one trainee ended up with ketchup lasagna due to his inability to read the russian on what he thought was a jar of pasta sauce. It was delicious nevertheless.) My chocolate chip cookies were a big hit, of course. After dinner, elbows flew during the make-a-placinta-as-fast-as-you-can contest. This involved rolling the dough, adding the potato mixture, and properly forming the pie shape. This was followed by a shuck-the-corn-as-fast-as-you-can contest, in which I came in dead last. However, I redeemed myself when I was the winner by a long shot in the separate-the-corn-kernels-from-the-beans-as-fast-as-you-can contest. We also sewed buttons on to fabric and peeled potatos, in which I again came in last but received a consolation prize for having peeled the potato the most beautifully. The best part of these events was seeing how proud the host parents were of their respective Americans. Each Moldovan host mom wanted her American to win and some found ways to cheat and help. The games were followed by some singing and dancing. One dance was similar to musical chairs, except with partners. Couples dance until the music stops, and then everyone switches partners. The female who doesn’t find a partner has to dance with a broom until the music stops again. This ended up being quite the ego booster for the guys, as we girls fought over them so as to avoid the broom. All-in-all, the evening was a ton of fun.

A little over a month ago, some of us began taking some dance lessons in order to perform at our swearing in ceremony. The instructor was a riot, and pretty strict. Some of the gentlemen in our group had problems hopping on the beat, so he would just count really loudly over and over. And he’d run around adjusting our body parts rather firmly. Most of us were there for the sweet outfits that we got to wear at the ceremony. (See photo). At any rate, the end result was a crowd that went wild. Another cultural bonus was that the ten of us in my village also received some singing lessons. We learned a few traditional Moldovan songs and sang one of them at the ceremony, and the crowd again loved us. The best part was that I could see how proud of me my host mom was. She said I sang and danced beautifully, and we both teared up a little bit when I left for my new village.

Speaking of dancing, I finally made it to a Moldovan disco, twice in fact. Like in Austria, the party doesn’t start until well after 11 and lasts well into the wee hours. I never lasted any later than 2.30, but thoroughly enjoyed the time I was there. The Moldovans have an interesting style of dance - they keep their feet planted and kind of sway the hips and flail the arms about. I’m still working on that. The music is definitely techno, and I’m not sure if it was just at the disco in our village or if all discos are this way, but it seemed as though the dj only has about 15 songs, and they repeat after an hour or so. The girls wear short skirts with tall black boots, and the guys wear striped sweaters that are somewhat reminiscent of Cosby. Good times, good times.

As for the language, it is coming along well. I’m very comfortable with some topics, and less so with others, but I will survive. I’ve been able to start being somewhat humorous in Romanian, and locals do in fact understand what I’m saying. For example, the other day I kidded my host uncle about stealing a microwave from the kindergarten. (He was actually just borrowing it to help make the food for his daughter’s wedding the next day.) Last week we gave 20-minute presentations in pairs in Romanian, and I was able to deliver it without reading every single word off a piece of paper. I managed to find Harry Potter in Romanian, and I’m making my way through it slowly. And at the end of training I tested at the requested level in the language proficiency exam. But I have soooo far to go, because now that I am at site, I can’t speak English at all!

So pre-service training was pretty cool, and I have new amazing friends and families to help me get through the next two years. I’ve had a taste of life in Moldova, and now I’m sent off to experience it on my own. Now is when the real test begins, as I am the only American in a new village. I’ll have stories about that soon!