Trăiște Clipa!

We have quite quickly made it to the eighth and final week of training.  After seven weeks of intensive language class, my fellow trainees and I took our final exam that tests our language skills today.  On Friday, we are to be sworn in as volunteers.  Woohoo!  We will all depart ways and move to our permanent locations for our two years of service.  I am very excited for the move.  My colleagues agree, it's time to get to work!  (...that is, I hear from the Moldovans, after everyone returns from their yearly vacation that spans the month of August…)  Nevertheless, the time has come to put our knowledge and language skills to work.   

I will miss my training site, current host family, and the town of Cricova.  Most of all, I will miss my training site mates.  Not one day (truly) has gone by where I haven't giggled at something and enjoyed a few moments with my classmates.  Ordinary activities are a wonder and a cause for humor, whether it is our lack of ability to communicate; the idiosyncrasies of Moldovan lifestyle; or the views we estimate Moldovans to have of us- the offbeat pack of foreigners with backpacks.  I hope to share more on this later.

I hear the Olympics are happening.  Although much interest is sparked amongst Americans here in Moldova, I haven't heard any Moldovans talk about the Olympics.  It doesn't seem to be nearly as exciting to them as it is to us.  Mainstream television doesn't seem to have quite the same coverage as we receive in the U.S.  Feel free to fill me in on what I am missing! 

Today during our last language class, we put on a concert of sorts for our teacher, Angela.  2 ukeles, 1 guitar, and a shaker (brought from Brazil!) made for some lively noise attempting to sound like a medley of La Bamba, Twist & Shout, and a verse I made up about our teacher.  Our excellent profesoara is headed to America on a 1 year scholarship.  The verse we sang went like this: "Nu te ingrijora, Nu te ingrijora!  Trăiște clipa, Trăiște clipa in America!" (which meant, Don't worry, don't worry!  Live the moment, live the moment in America!") "Trăiște clipa" is like saying the Latin phrase, "Carpe Diem," which means to Seize the Day.  In Portuguese, they have a verb for this:  Aproveitar.  To make the most of it.  To take full advantage of something.  It's probably one of my favorite words in Portuguese.  So that's the attitude we encouraged our teacher to continue to have, knowing that many of the Americans she will meet will appreciate this attitude in her.  It's the frame of mind I hope to hold as I move to my new permanent site as well.

Moldovan Entertainment

On Sunday, my family and I went to Chișinau for some entertainment.  Carnival rides!  I did enjoy going on a couple rides myself, although I think I found more pleasure in simply sharing in happy, fun moments with my family.  Also to my delight, we had salty popcorn and cheap ice cream.  A combination of all these things?  Pure and innocent entertainment for the day.  'Tis indeed the little things in life.

Yesterday after class, my classmate Michael came over to help restring my sister's guitar and practice a little our musical instruments (guitar for him and ukele for me).  My host mom had been telling me about her neighbor who dances in a traditional Moldovan group in Chisinau.  Last night, she brought out the costume for traditional dancing and insisted I try it on for some photo opp's.  So indeed, I have one more thing checked off on my to-do list for integrating.  I will need to learn how to dance traditionally, too, however.  In time!

The Lay of the Land for the Next Two Years

I had my host  visit last week.  I could not be happier about where I am to be placed for my 2 years of service- which will begin on August 3.  I had a 2 day visit last week, where I met my partner organization and also my new host family.  My partner organization, which is my primary place of work for the next two years, is called, "Service Agroinform."  A telling name, the organization is part of a web of organizations throughout Moldova that assist farmers and rural businessmen in developing their new/existing businesses by offering them the tools they need.  What are those tools? Technical assistance; consultations on business matters and technical support; assistance in accessing funding for business ventures requiring additional financing; roundtable discussions; and business management resources.  Service Agroinform is funded by ACSA, the National Agency for Rural Development.   The mission of the Agency is sustainable development of rural communities through setting up and developing a professional network of information, consultancy and training service providers for agricultural producers and rural entrepreneurs.

Some of you reading this probably have dreamt of me toiling away in the fields of Moldova.  Although I do aspire to get a taste of daily farm life here, my focus will be more on the business side of things.   Making sure that the production in the field is profitable when it goes to market.  Even more, my hope is that I could help increase the value of agricultural /rural products for a few farmers/community members in my area and hopefully their profit margin as well.  Certainly, this is one goal of Service Agroinform.  I will be working alongside the director and also the staff and local consultants to accomplish this.

So to my knowledge, this is the direction I will be headed for the next two years.  No doubt there will be a few detours and stops along the way in other areas of interest: teaching English/Business English; hanging out with kids, discovering Moldovan traditions, learning Romanian… That last action is the priority at this point.   Cine vrea să vorbească în limba română cu mine?  Hai, noi vorbim!  (Vorbiți mai rar, va rog!)...

Although I haven't been on any farms here yet in Moldova, I have hiked through some pretty territory near the town of Cricova.  Check out the landscape!

Sook-Chess!!!

I've had a great week. I'm starting to understand bits and pieces of the language and can put together a disjointed sentence that is somewhat understandable. Success!!! (which in Romanian is "Sook-chess!!!" - one of my favorite words at this point) Here are some highlights this week:
    • I attended a FETE (Future Empowerment through Experience) Conference. FETE is a program sponsored by the State Department that aims to provide young, rural Moldovan women the resources and skills necessary to become community leaders through service and civic engagement. It was inspiring to see young high school girls doing so much in their Moldovan communities. Examples: cleaning up parks or rivers, building community spaces, creating a library of books on leadership and civic participation, and all types of activities to bring the community together for better. Two Peace Corps volunteers worked hard all year on this successful project.
    • I spoke Portuguese one evening with a fellow classmate's host dad. It was so refreshing to be able to talk with a Moldovan through a language I can actually speak and understand (as of now!). Not to mention the conversation was over a glass of excellent "vindecasa". House wine. Moldovans are known for it. You may ask why the man spoke Portuguese- pretty standard case- like many Moldovans, he spent time abroad making money to send back to his family in Moldova. In his case, he was in Portugal for 5 years. (My Portuguese background is from Brazil- accents a bit different certainly!)
    • I indulged in some live classical music in Chișinau. A few of us volunteers were given the opportunity to attend a concert at a music hall and hear a few classical pianists play along with a small orchestra. It was fantastic and also refreshing.  (and for the price of 15 lei = $1.20 maybe)
    • I had fun attempting to speak Romanian. Learning a language can be tough. But one can choose to make it fun. And thankfully, my class of 6 trainees chooses daily to make language class more fun than not. Laughter is a part of every morning language session. Words you may like to know: Success! (sook-chess!); Mulțumesc! (mult-soo-mesk! - Thanks!); Eu glumesc! (I joke!); Da, de sigur (yes, of course); nu ințeleg (pronounced "New Intseleg," meaning I don't understand).
    • I learned that these things that some call "irrigation districts" in western Nebraska are actually a revolutionary idea based on the principle of self-governance. (Fyi: Irrigation is how farmers water their plants beyond precipitation from the atmosphere) During the Soviet time of Moldova's history, there was no such thing as self-governance. People were generally told how it was and what to do and felt secure in that. When Moldova broke from the Soviet Union, paid government positions- such as guarding or maintaining an irrigation pump station - disappeared. Irrigation governance essentially disappeared. Salaries, security, stability in some ways disappeared. A project called Irrigation Sector Reform Project funded by the Millenium Challenge Corporation is working to renovate 11 existing irrigation systems and additionally provide Moldovans the tools to organize and govern their irrigation association (district) by themselves. This involves more than you might imagine: technical training on how to use/maintain an irrigation pump/pipe; how to run an effective meeting; how to adhere to the association's election procedure and statutes; how to manage people/board of directors; how to read and utilize the association's balance statements and income statements; and so on.

So it's been a good, sook-chessful, busy week. I will find out officially my site placement for the next two years this week! I realize that the 4th of July is almost here. I will celebrate from afar with pride and a new perspective on the freedoms we've been granted as Americans! Perhaps learning a patriotic tune on my ukele would be appropriate.  God Bless America!

Pictures- "Family Summer Camp" & Moldovan Landscape

Sliced Bread & Other Creations

A couple days ago, we heard from a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova, who talked about her experience from 2007-2009. She ended up marrying a Moldovan farmer, thus she remained in country and was able to come talk to us. Among many enlightening topics, she talked about how no store-bought bread was sliced when she first arrived in Moldova. She tried to convince her Moldovan friends (primarily the baker) that a market existed for pre-sliced bread. The baker and others refused to believe this or believe that it would be worth it to buy a slicing machine. But sure enough, now Moldova has sliced bread. A few more Lei per loaf of bread will pay off that slicing machine in little time. This is a very small example of the mindset in Moldova that can be hard to change. Tradition and history are strong cords of stability and familiarity here, just as they are in the U.S. and perhaps anywhere. They just might play themselves out a little differently from place to place.   In other news, my little brother is one of the most creative 8 year old's I've met. A couple days ago, he created a maze from string usually used for building small trellises in the garden. Yesterday, he built a "summer camp". My host sister just got back from a week of summer camp. Thus, he was inspired to build one- of course on top of the bars that hold up the grape vines. Where else? I would have attached a photo of his craftsmanship from yesterday but… maybe another day when the wifi cooperates a bit more!   Finally, there are these rodents here that reminds me a bit of the Demmel Farm. They are also the choir that provides me my morning wake up call- the chickens... I have yet to tell my family of my mastery skills in gutting a chicken.

Not so Moldovan.

We did some community mapping to get to know our new home a little better, so we walked around our village (of 10,000 I think). It's obvious we're not from here. We've got... backpacks.