Christmas already?

I can barely believe that Christmas is just around the corner.  Well, that is the first Christmas I will be celebrating.  It's going to be about a month of celebration.  Moldovan's celebrate primarily New Year's Eve on December 31st and Christmas from the Old Church calendar (Orthodox tradition) on January 7.  In between those two holidays, I will spend four glorious days outside of Moldova in the mountains of Romania.  This will mark my first trip outside of Moldova since arriving over six months ago!

I'm trying to figure out how exactly time has slipped away and how exactly I've spent it in the last few weeks.  As a Peace Corps volunteer here, a lot of activities happen on the weekends, related to Peace Corps initiatives and activities (i.e. GLOW/TOBE, Peer Supporting, etc.).  Thus, one week transitions into another with less of a stop and pause between them.  I really don't enjoy this process and weekly try to step back at some point and establish my priorities/to-do list for the week.  Don't get me wrong though- the flexibility of my service is something I really enjoy!

Winter has arrived here, and snow and cold came with it.  Some places in the north of the country have been snowed in for a few days.  In the southeast, we have had less than a foot of snow (8 inches maybe?).  So if you ask me how I'm doing, it will depend on the moment.  At about 4:30 pm when it's already getting dark and I'm walking home from class in the freezing cold, I might want to cry through my frozen face.  If it's an hour later eating dinner with my family, then I might be rather jolly.  If it's the third day since I've showered and I have to shower in the cold bathroom, I may have mixed emotions.  Mixed emotions.  That's what I have quite often.

Back to what I've been up to the last few weeks, here is a summary:

• Class- I'm wrapping up class with my 25 students with Business Plan Presentations.  I ask them to create a business (the more realistic, the better) and use all that we've learned to create a business plan.  Yesterday, I had an expert judge (i.e. another business volunteer) come in and offer suggestions for their presentations, which was actually helpful and fun for them.  Evaluations from the students are telling me that they enjoyed class, that it was helpful, and that they want more!  So it appears I have no excuse to be without activities in the next few months.
• Grant writing- I helped our town hall complete a grant application for cultural preservation for restoring the exterior parts of our old historic church in town.  This took up some significant time at the beginning of the month and was a good practice in Romanian (the grant had to be written in English so I had a lot of communicating to do before I could draft the proposal).It was my first try in grant writing as a PCV and a good team building exercise for me and those at the Primaria (town hall).  Now we get to sit and wait a few months to see if we will win the grant.
• Events in Chisinau- 
• I attended a Winter Charity Bazaar, where multiple embassies and organization sell crafts and goodies, with all proceeds going to charity.
• GLOW/TOBE Meeting- we're upgrading the training materials, and I'm excited about it and thankful for my background with Nebraska FFA and summer camp for this!
• I attended Vernisajul Vinului, a wine tasting event at the National Palace, where Parliament usually meets. I was reminded of receptions on the Hill, as the room was filled with young bucks that are pretty cool or think they are anyway (me included!) or older politicians/NGO leaders/ex-pats, making the rounds and shaking hands.  Also add on the actual Moldovan winemakers and wine enthusiasts, who make the whole event worthwhile. 
• Staying warm- Here's a list of theories/strategies- tea, shots of cognac, izvar (the delicious hot, sweet, peppered wine), real heat, layers and layers of clothing, eating raw pork fat (I choose not to participate), and soup
• Staying happy in gray Moldova- And another list of strategies- get in the sun when it's out (it hides behind clouds quite often), exercise in your room (i'm sore from 10 minutes of exercise- not a good sign), take your vitamins, do things that make you happy (emails, skype dates, ukele playing, reading, hanging out with other volunteers)

DYK (Did You Know):  Moldovan's actually give sleigh rides to their kids as a means of transportation.  I guess there's one reason they don't so much shovel the sidewalks.