Hai! Hai! -A Pleasantly Busy First Week

When we were wrapping up training, we were told repeatedly to lower our expectations for getting started with work.  Don't expect much- you don't know the language, you don't know your organization/community all that well, and it's August- vacation season!  Three legitimate reasons why starting a new job in Moldova in August as an American may not be all that thrilling. 

I found the week to be quite an interesting one, however. 

• Monday- I was in the office.  I did a lot of reading on news nationally and internationally and studied Romanian via organization publications and Moldovan news sites.  Even this kept me busy and focused all day.
• Tuesday- Another day in the office.  I sat in on a couple English classes that are taught in our office by Mrs. Svetlana.  She's a great teacher- so great that her students from school come to class during their summer break to keep learning the language (this is quite the anomaly!).  I also got lucky and was able to visit a winery that's known to produce Negru de Purcari, the wine always requested by Queen Elizabeth II.  I went to Purcari Winery with my partner, Nadea, and some of her relatives.  Although it was less than 30 miles away from our town, they had never been there.  I appreciated being able to go with them and on my second day of work even!
• Wednesday- I spent most of the day with a former volunteer, Kelsey, who married a Moldovan and now lives and farms with her husband here.  She took me to see their farm and village.  Thankfully, for the first time in a while, the heat broke.  Cooler weather and a few sprinkles have saturated this part of Moldova since then.  Kelsey and I had a lot to discuss as we drove across the country side; inspected her greenhouses; and stopped by to check on the bell pepper-picking crew.  We have a lot in common, and it stems from growing up around agriculture.  She grew up on a ranch in western Oklahoma and studied agricultural economics in college.  I grew up on a farm in western Nebraska and also studied ag economics.  Additionally, we also have a keen interest in agricultural development worldwide but now especially in this little area where we both live in Moldova. 
• Thursday- Kelsey and her business partner, Raia, started a business called EcoValley this year, which primarily sells fresh produce through a Community Supported Agricuture (CSA) program.  I helped deliver the fresh produce directly to EcoValley customers in Chisinau with Kelsey on Thursday.  I have always been interested and supportive of the idea of a CSA, and to find myself in Moldova delivering produce to CSA customers was just a bit crazy and fun!
• Friday-I mostly recapped the week, and devoted the day to synthesizing all the information I had soaked in from the week.  I try to devote a couple hours at least each day to reading news and freshening up on my Romanian skills.   It may sound that this is pretty unproductive, but truthfully it's difficult to be too productive without basic skills in the language (if you ask me).  Smiles and non-verbal communication can certainly get you a long ways, but I hope and try to acquire more tools than those!  Even talking to my family and their friends and expanding on topics that we talk about are steps I'm taking toward language acquisition.  Topics: anything and everything.  Examples: the reasons why I like Demmel Farm chicken more than the chicken from the store; differences and traditions in religions (my host family is Orthodox, and I am Protestant); hobbies; the history of Moldova; future travel plans; dreams for the future; their vision of my life beyond Peace Corps with a Moldovan husband and a wine export business to the States; family history; my family back in the U.S.; American versus Moldovan traditions; and so on.

Whewww!  So week 1 flew by pleasantly and in an unexpected way.  I have more topics to blog about than I have time/concentration to put forward.  But I will do my best to send more updates soon!

En route to the village and the farm. - Yes, this is the main road , I do believe.  Fewer potholes than the paved street my house is on in town!

On the farm!  Kelsey's family farm has 20 hectares (~50 acres) of bell peppers this year. It's time to harvest them!  They sell most of them at the whole sale market in Chisinau.

At the Purcari Winery with my partner and her daughter