Gratitude

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter every day epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. -Sarah Ban Breathnach

So I've started reading this book called 1000 Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  I won't lie- I often have an automatic turn-off to fluffy titles like this but a friend recommended it and I'm glad I made the instantaneous decision to buy it for my Kindle.  What has followed is a daily introspection of... the little things.  That maketh me to bubble up inside.  Joy.  I revel in the findings I have had lately about the many little things that so often go unlooked or that I take for granted. 

Each photo and caption tells at least a small story of a gift I've been given recently.

Homemade, fanastic dinners at a place we can call home. You can learn more about my roomemate and I's cooking adventures at Sfecla&Spice, our food blog!  Lindsey is way better at finding the time to write than me...

Seizing the opportunities to explore hobbies.  Lindsey and I plus our friend Quinn decided to have a Moldovan wine tasting for Dummies. Feteasca Neagra from Et Cetera won (shocker!), and Quinn and I tied for the best taste testers.  I guess we'll have to have a competition again soon to decide the real winner. (Note: the Gura bottle, the only real way to tote house wine, in the middle is full of Quinn's host family's house wine.)

Motivated, sharp, talented partners in youth development like Elena.

Productive, exciting business educational tools such as the business model canvas or the lean canvas.  (See this video.)

This Moldovan friend with whom I can giggle, tell stories, make memories, dream, and be honest. And also the funny moments we always seem to have, meeting strangers (like those Romanian rockstars in the background).

An oven that can create amazingly delcious products such as this banana bread/cake that I got to share with my colleagues at ACSA.  I'm good to marry once again.

Technology!  Thank you Google Hangout for making meetings possible in the comfort of one's home and especially when we're hours apart from one another!  Here, we're meeting to discuss Diamond Challenge Moldova.  Check it out.

A run on the dirt road next to this creek (pronounced "crick").

Open skies, sunsets, and solitude.  Give this country girl some more of that. I left the power lines positioned as such in this photo, because yes, we've got power.  That's also an amazingly useful thing.  

Making new friends in Causeni through celebrating World Heart Day!  Stay healthy, and keep that heart healthy!

One-of-a-kind notes from home received while wearing my cowboy boots that have tramped  the earth- through the fields at home in Nebraska, through the swanky rooms of the White House, and now through Moldova.  I'm totally a second year volunteer...  Give me a crazy look at my somewhat conspicous cowboy boots, and I just don't care.  I hope those Moldovan women proudly walking on ginormous heels on rutty roads feel the same way.  Proud and just don't care what people think. I think my boots are way more comfortable though...

 Winemaking at the host family's house.  I got lucky and made a visit to my old host fam in Cricova the very day they decided to make their house wine. I swiftly put myself to work!

Being nicknamed "America". That's what our city's mayor at the head of the table usually calls me these days, and I'm quite okay with it!  But talk about reinforcing the expectation that I must responsibly represent the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America!  Here, Svetlana and I met with the newly formed "Working Group" to discuss the Youth Exchange "Be Active" that we are organizing.  40 participants from eight different countries will gather for a fine time of being active socially, civically, physically, and so on in our town!

So I'm grateful.  I've begun my list of 1,000 Gifts of Gratitude in Moldova.  I figure with ~300 days left here, I should certainly be able to tackle it by the close of service.  I hope to be that much more grateful, joyful, and thus happy. 

Visitors, Travels, and a New Home!

August was a month that brought many good things: my parents, vacation, and a new place to call home!

My parents spent almost a week here in Moldova and received quite the tour and cultural exchange  They met my host families, many of my Moldovan friends and colleagues, and some Peace Corps friends and staff.  We also took a tour of an organic farm in the north and a 50-year experimentation plot of farmland associated with the university in Balti.  We also visited my favorite winery, Et Cetera, and a village as well.

After their stop in Moldova, all three of us adventured to 3 different cities/countries in 5 days: 24 hours in Riga, Latvia; 24 hours in London, England; and 3 days in Ireland.  It's hard to sum up in a few sentences what all we did and how it went.  Overall, I was so happy to be on tour with my parents.  Each city/country had its own story; each cab driver, waiter, or local his/her own ideas and disposition (mostly all positive); each city its own rhythm; each meal its own measure of delight; and each conversation its own enjoyment, lesson or memory.  I value seeing this type of diversity in my life- different people, cultures, languages, music, cuisine, etc.  The only thing that I think can remain the same that I won't ever tire of is a joy-filled heart and a positive attitude. My parents were champions of both the diversity and the good heart and attitude.

I came back to Moldova, feeling tired but ultimately so refreshed.  I'm naturally feeling positive (wasn't always the case this summer!) and feeling that Moldova is exactly where I'm supposed to be for the next year.  Also, in the last week, we moved into our new, nice apartment.  It feels like home, and we hope that we don't ever have to move again until we depart this country!

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks:

Out in the village having tea time.  This organic farm is owned by a friend of mine from Holland, and here you see the farm manager's wife, Rita, (also a Dutch family) and her little sun peaking out from behind her.  All other employees of the farm are Moldovans from the village where they reside.

Here we are with my host brother in his cold room for mushroom production.

Riga, Latvia!  I was a bit smitten by this city and its quiet, cute old town.  This was taken from the top of the tallest cathedral in the center.

London!  It rained the day we were there, but we saw a show, Jersey Boys, the night before which was stellar.

Starbucks in London.  After a year without it, it was dee-licious.  Just the Pike's Peak Blend...  simple and delicious.  The decision made by Starbucks in the last year that I disagree with is that they took away their whole milk/cream to put in your black coffee!  Come on...  Those who want to be healthy will be healthy.  I am one of those, but I still chose the creamy whole milk!

Ireland! Old castles are all over the place. (Sorry, I have forgotten the name of this one.)

Centuries ago, the natives cleared the land of rocks and built fences like this.  Can you imagine that manual work?  It left the country with some beautiful super green pastures, though!

Cliffs of Moher and some pretty flowers in the front... which are actually thistles.  My dad concluded that all of Europe that we visited is infiltrated with this weed , the (Canadian) "thistle", said condescendingly and under one's breath.  My dad despises them on his farm, because they're invasive, pokey, and if left unchecked, will proliferate in your field!  But I say out of unwanted and proliferous plants, you can find beauty even still!

A few days after I returned from my vacation, international guests from 7 different countries came to our little town to prepare for a Youth Exchange here, beginning in late October!  I facilitated this very short 2-day meeting. 

One of the participants, Victorya, I met last March in Armenia at the training course in which I participated.

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Like I said in my last post, the next few months are going to be quite busy.  My brain gets a little fuzzy when I try to think all at once about what this fall holds.  Lots of business education opportunities, which is exciting!!