Posh Corps

An update is due.
I have officially begun my new life in Moldova and so far I’m really impressed with my organization, excited about this country, and have fallen in love with a Moldovan. My host family and house are great, and the food has really lived up to its (good) reputation. I’m speaking a shit-ton of Russian and am in the early stages of Romanian. My biggest worries these last couple weeks have been my inclination to rely on my Russian and thus not practice Romanian like I should, not offending my host family in any way (though I did have my first faux pas when I wore my high heels inside the house), and not gaining weight. As for the latter, bread is no longer in my diet because the bread here is good, but not anything I’ll miss, and I’d rather eat dairy and carne without worry, because they is damn good out here. The fruit and vegetables are so delicious, so fresh. The second day at my host family’s house I broke a million Peace Corps rules as I walked through their yard/garden picking and eating (unwashed) grapes off the vine, apples, tomatoes, and my new favorite food, walnuts off the tree. Walnuts off the tree are in their natural casing, which is sort of a tough avocado-like skin, and then there’s the rough shell, which we are familiar with in the states. But then, what makes them so amazing here, is when you peel off the shell, the walnuts are still wet. They are wet, and buttery, and chewy, and so fucking delicious. Moldovans call them ‘Greek nuts,’ they now are my new weight culprits that I have to watch out for.

I have another defense against turning into an oompa-loompa out here and that is that we walk. Man do we walk. Walk walk walk walk. Pitch black night, we walk. No sidewalk or grass or anything, we walk. It’s not rained or snowed yet, but we be walking through that shit too. The season change is a-coming, I can feel the chill in the morning and at night in my room. It will be winter in a blink.

The first few days before meeting and moving in with my host family, I stayed at the Hotel Turist in Chisinau with the rest of the Americans and Tia as my roommate. We had long days of informational sessions that none of us could stay awake through (the jetlag end up being really brutal) and evenings of dining out in the fabulous Chisinau. The city itself does remind me a bit of Kiev and of Kharkov in that there are is a huge park surrounding large statues and monuments that opens onto the main street and the central square. There are a ton of people and everyone dresses to the nines (in Moldovan fashion.) The streets are sometimes streets, sometimes rubble, and very fun to walk through. Chisinau has it’s own definite vibe to it, I’m excited to explore it some more without walking around in a pack as we did. There are signs in Russian and Romanian everywhere, and both are spoken interchangeably though I feel Romanian is more in vogue, and Russian will just ‘get me by.’

The next few months I am at my pre-service training site; I am stationed in Ioleveni (Ya-lo-ven) which is where all the volunteers who are stationed in surrounding villages come to meet twice a week for cultural/safety/program training. I lucked out not only by being placed in the actual ‘Hub site’ but I got placed in the most amazing house with a super cool and chill family. Another volunteer, Annie, even lives next door! My host parents are a husband and wife, Alexendru (Sasha) and Ana, plus his son, also Alex (Sasha), who is 24 and lives in his own apartment but has been coming by every day. Ana and I call them big Sasha and little Sasha, and little Sasha wants me to be his wife. He tries to hold my waist or hand when we walk and last night at dinner he tried playing footsie with me under the table so I kicked him under the table. Since that he’s calmed down a bit, though he still continues to invite me over to his apartment, which won’t happen because girls don’t go alone to boys’ apartments out here and plus I am not interested in any awkward situations. I’ve told him a million times already in the last few days that I am his ‘sister’ and he better start acting like a brother and not some Moldovan Casanova because it ain’t gonna happen. He and I get along though otherwise and it’s a good thing I speak Russian well because I bring the good fight but can also make light of the situation and there are laughs abound. My host father also has a 22 year old daughter who is studying in Nice, France. My host parents and I hung out last night until late talking about the states. I showed them my fancy laptop and they were amazed that they could see the photos I took of them during the day on the computer screen already. When I leave Ioleveni and go to my site, if everything continues as pleasantly as it has been, I will send them a photo album through snapfish or something. Yea technologie.

As for the house; man, I’m in the suburbs of Ioleveni! I have a shower with hot water and a toilet in a separate room, INDOOR. Everything is very clean in the house, my room is so cozy and so perfect, and they have two dogs and a cat. Wondering who this Moldovan is that I am in love with? Why, it’s Pichi, of course! Pichi is their small, cute, funny, and totally sweet sweet puppy! The dogs are kept outside though, so there isn’t any super sleeping times like Roxanne and I have mastered, but I definitely make sure to give Pichi lots of belly rubbing when I see him. The other dog is a Cocker Spaniel named “Bucks.” Like money. His alias is “Gypsy.” He’s nuts, but he loves me too. He doesn’t bark at me anymore when I walk through the gate! It obviously goes without saying that both of these dogs are total mangy mutts and assholes compared to Roxanne (I miss you baby!!) but I do love them both in my own Moldovan way.

I have more to share, but I’m sure the three of you who read this have already skimmed your way down at this point so the rest of this entry will be photos. I started to resize them but the internet and computer here at the telebanc is quite slow, but anyways, Enjoy!

My room:




My house in Ioloveni suburbs-like:


We grow stuff in our huge garden:
Cabbage!
Walnuts!

Corn!


Sunflowers, sunflower seeds!




We have animals!! (Yea, for eating...)




My boyfriend Pichi:


Family!
Big Sasha:

Little Sasha:

Mama Ana:


This is how we do
Big Sasha, Little Sasha, and Big Sasha's childhood best friend.

Cognac in the making:

We make wine in the cellar, we jar veggies for winter:


In Moldova I make friends:

Gym Class