Back in the USSR (and I am not talking about the Beatles!)

Greetings Everyone!
My holidays in the States were wonderful, and it feels just as wonderful to be back here in Moldova, if not a bit cold. We are stuck right in the middle of the Ukraine/Russia gas quarrel, and the end seems somewhat near. All those who use central heating have had their temperatures halved, the schools have all been temporarily closed, and the breakaway Republic of Transdniestr has had no gas for nearly two weeks. In fact, one of my better friends here Sasha lives within the Transdniestr borders and has been freezing in a single room with an electric heater and a single element for heating food.
I had one of the more iconic nights of my Moldovan social scene the other night, Saint John Day (Russian Calendar not Western.) After finishing a meal with my host family, as my host father’s name is John, I left with some of my friends from the village. We quickly, and somewhat recklessly, drove too quickly through the small dirt village roads until we arrived to a seemingly abandoned house. There about ten guys and I gathered around a small round plastic table with a dirty bucket of barbecued chicken, a few glasses, a two liter bottle of vodka, and bitter tasting bottle of house wine bottled in a two liter plastic coke bottle. As the drinks began to dry and the food disappeared we walked over the icy cold road towards the local bar and finished the night with a few beers. It reminded me just how much the experience is different from home, but at the same time interesting and valuable in a different way.
Currently at work we are trying to convert an incredibly complicated excel spreadsheet to a Access interface. The project will really streamline the business, and help the less computer literate accountant and cashier input information more easily. As for my entrepreneurship seminar I teach in the centre things are currently at stand still because of the gas dispute, but I expect that next week we will once again start up. I have a verbal understanding with the directors of both schools to start as soon as possible.
I will try and post some pictures of Moldova in the winter time as soon as possible!

Super Quick Update

Hello!

I just thought I would throw a quick list of updates on my blog before I arrived home next week!

1. I purchased a mobile internet stick, and a big antenna, so I am online more often and can correspond more often. Drop me an email!
2. I had a few volunteer friends from Chişinău for a dinner party for St. Andrei Day (Russian calendar version). We made butter garlic shrimps, and some good spicy sausage pasta. My host mom made a roasted stuffed duck, and we ended the meal with a bottle of Baileys!
3. Tallinn and Riga were both amazing cities, and I recommend the Baltics as a vacation destination to everyone! But as my camera broke, I have no photos from either to post.
4. My entrepreneurship seminars have ended, but I am hoping to teach the ten week program next semester with new students.
5. I had my one year mark Romanian language proficiency exam. I have not received the results yet, but I am sure it went well. I also have had about 2 months of Russian about 1.5 times per week. It is incredibly difficult, but proved useful in Riga.
6. I CANNOT WAIT FOR A VISIT HOME!
7. Only 10 months left here in Moldova after the New Year!

See everyone soon,

Andrew

Six weeks to USA

Hello All!

Autumn has finally arrived and with it the heating has been turned on and the house is wonderfully warm. In most post Soviet States, and until this day in Russia, the central heating does not turn on until 1 Nov. Given I am in the village and we have our own independent system, the conversation starting after 1 Nov often involves asking others if they have started their own respective heating systems.

We have no gas in my town, or central heating for that matter, so my family burns coal. (The gas lines were en-route just has Moldova gained its independence and laid just a few kilometers away, but the mafia and local government officials sold them for scrap.) Unlike most families in the village my family does not burn a tradition coal fireplace (called a soba), my host father bought a coal furnace that has an electric pump that circulates water throughout radiators in our home.

This past weekend also marked my town’s Saint Day or Hram as it is called in Romanian. My host family entertained roughly 35 people during two separate meals on Saturday. Some of our relatives actually brought an electric piano, speakers, and microphones. The group sang until almost seven in the morning! The next day the Mayor from the city centre and some other government representatives came, and we had yet another large meal with nearly twenty more guests. My host father actually bought Vodka by the case for this weekend! I however abstained for the second day of festivities as the first day took a bit of a toll on me.

I started a simple blogspot style website for my community to submit announcements. The site is satulviisoara.blogspot.com is not nearly finished yet, but I think when the internet finally arrives to the village it may be a simple but effective communication tool.

I am in my sixth week of the entrepreneurship program, and I am still happy to announce students are still coming often. I am currently writing a questionnaire for the students to fill out about what they would enjoy studying next semester. I am hoping they would enjoy a current events/ politics discussion group, but that just may be me projecting my wants on the group.

Katy Kennedy came to visit. It was interesting showing her around Moldova. We met with my host family for a dinner, my host sister for drinks, a few other volunteers, and really covered a lot of space. Katy was a champ when it came to the occasional outhouse, over crowded bus, or foreign food item.

Six days and I am heading to the Baltics for some much deserved R&R!!!

Hello from my 14th Month in MOLDOVA!

On my last post I outlined how my fall schedule was becoming very busy and work was really coming around. I am happy to report everything from the last post has become reality.

Novice Entrepreneurs

I currently have two classes each at different high schools. The first high school is the best in the city centre and the other is somewhat less selective when it comes to who matriculates. At both schools I have a group of roughly twenty students with five or so changing each week. At the later school I described I actually find the students are more interesting some days, but at both schools the children are very outgoing and have great ideas when motivated to participate. I am about halfway through my syllabus and we have thus far covered Characteristics of Entrepreneurship, Creating Mission and Vision Statements, Supply and Demand (basic micro), as well as Simple Budgeting.

The Center for Economic Planning (The Micro Finance Bank)

Our office remodel is still underway, but we have a target termination date for the eighth of November our town’s celebration day. I am finally working on some capital budgeting with my partner, and a new business plan is in the works. I am becoming more amazed each day I work with the budgeting project because of how math really is a universal language, and finance is just a dialect.

Etcetera

Last week I went to my third wedding in Moldova. It was in the village and my host parents were active participants in the ceremony. I too was in the ceremony with the other young adults in the village. The photo here shows me with a few friends and in the tradition ribbons separating me from the other guests. The food was mediocre, but the vodka started flowing at 2:00pm and did not stop until close to 6:00am. I did however quit and go home around 2:30am; I just cannot hang and pace with the Moldovans.

Next Monday Katy Kennedy gets in town, and in just four weeks I am flying to baltics for a week.

This is a photo of my host family's new apartment in the city centre. Like most blocs in a former SSR the inside is actually much nicer. Another volunteer lives with my host brother there.

See you all soon!

Reflecting on One Year

(Stop reading here if you are opposed to corny ruminations)
12 September was my one year anniversary here in Moldova. It was one year ago I stepped off the plane into a new country, a new culture, and a new challenge. I never exactly knew what to expect entering the Peace Corps. In fact, if one explained to me the first day I arrived in Moldova what I am doing now I am sure I would never have even believed them.
My group’s anniversary celebration was a two night grill-out in wooded cabins on the Nistru River just across from Transnistria. It was an enjoyable few days, but the weather gave no breaks with rain and temperatures nearing freezing both nights. A slideshow of the last year on the final night showed us all how close our group has become over our service so far.
My optional entrepreneurship course for high school students started with an unstoppable momentum. I am enjoying preparing lesson plans, and the ten week program I have designed will allow each student to write a realistic and attainable business plan. The adolescents all seem to be interested and the topics are as foreign to them as Moldova was to me when I arrived. I can only hope with all these fresh minds I will be an enthusiastic presenter that will spur curiosity and inspiration for their futures.
My office here has just undergone a huge remodel. We now have separate rooms for a cashier, accountant, and a shared space for me and my partner. The Micro Finance business rating changed and thus we are now able to lend larger sums of money and to access more markets. After the contract automation I helped with in the spring my office time really slowed down, but I think with the new additions and lending conditions changing I will be able to provide my expertise more often at work.
I am very much happy with life in the village here. My host family and I have yet to have even one problem. I can casually flow and switch between English and Romanian so well now, I sometimes even surprise myself. In fact, often when I am on the phone to the states and I am interrupted by a moldovan family member I quickly respond in Romanian and sometimes even forget to switch back for the telephone call! Russian is well underway and I am practicing almost everyday with a professor, the Rosetta Stone program, and a few manuals I bought. I am really enjoying focusing myself on languages. I feel my English vocabulary widens every time I learn more in Romanian and Russian.
Side note … Right now, I have a bottle of Codru breathing (the Moldovan equivalent to a Burgundy = a blend of Cabernet + Merlot and sometimes Pinot Franc, but still a vintage, from 2002 in fact!), and I have a mix of Ukrainian Jazz and Russian Hip Hop cycling through my itunes.
As I said, if another volunteer could predict I would be speaking well enough to teach in another language, and I would be working in Micro Finance I would never have believed them. I never thought I would happy living with a family, but it really does work. My knowledge of wine has only expanded, and I have learned my way around the kitchen with half the ingredients and bells and whistles I was so accustomed to at home. This week I actually perfected the vodka sauce, last week green curry, and tomorrow fried green tomatoes!
The next few months are going to be moving at a hundred miles an hour. I have my villages Saint’s Day immediately following a wedding. Then soon after the wedding Katy Kennedy from the lake is flying in for nearly a week. We are going to split our time on a few wine tours, exploring the capital Chişinău, and a tour of my village and where I work. Soon after is Andrew day (I am serious it is Andrei day!), and after in November I am heading to the Baltics! I am splitting about eight days between Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia. Jennie Rademacher and Katy Kennedy are both joining for a weekend, and another volunteer for a few days. All are welcome! Then just one month later I am flying back to the States!
I hope every one is doing well. Keep in touch! My best.

Birthday and Updates

Hello Everyone! First, I want to thank all of you for sending so many thoughtful birthday wishes! I was moving very slowing the day after my party, and it was wonderful to open all the emails and facebook messages. I thought I would first give you all some updates from my birthday and of the summer in general …
1. As is traditional in Moldova, I prepared my own meal and planned the evening of my birthday
2. Again as is traditional in Moldova, everyone brought gifts or cash. These are not easily refused, and it is actually quite impolite to eventually not accept. This was very awkward for me.
3. We finished 2 bottles of vodka, 15 liters of beer, and 5 bottles of wine and Champaign!
4. I had about 16 of my Moldovan friends, and two other American Peace Corps volunteers.
5. I prepared tomato/mozz salad, a white wine and cheese pasta with parsley and onion, stuffed ducks with sweet meats ground on the inside, a beet traditional boiled beat salad, salmon-dill toast points, chicken-bell pepper skewers on the grill, and maioneze marinated chicken wings on the grill.
6. The food was a hit!

Immediately after my birthday I left for Chişinău where I had a three day language in-service training. When I arrived I was moved to a faster paced group, and by the end of the three days I was leading the small group of four of my peers. Because of my success the language coordinator gave me the Russian training manual, and I am finally going to start seriously studying.

The summer flew by for me. The three months were filled with a few days catching up with Jennie from the Lake, teaching Micro-Economics for ten days at a summer camp, and the Forth of July celebrations the Moldovan-American Chamber of Commerce organized.

Last month I organized a community clean up day with twenty young volunteers in my community that culminated in an American style field day and picnic. I am however going to start focusing on teaching business in the city centre near my village in September. I cannot emphasis enough how much I enjoyed teaching Micro-Economics and business, and I therefore think teaching business will be the focus of the last year of my service.

I have a video of summer updates, and of my birthday party, but my internet connection is too slow for me to update files larger than 8k. Again, thank you all for your birthday wishes!

Cheers,

Andrew

Naroc

Good Day!

Lot’s of updates from the Former Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. Here is a list in no particular order of importance. Ruminations perhaps…

1. English Club is a fantastic hit! The children are excited, and I am hoping to start a community clean-up project with them in late July. I teach two sessions per week, two hours per session
2. I am teaching micro-economics at a summer camp for girls at risk of trafficking with an International Aid Organization. www.winrock.org.md The camp will last one week, and I am very excited.
3. I have a five meter long plot of cilantro and a two meters of nothing but jalapeños!
4. My basil plants sprouted last week and are growing rapidly. Both Asian and Italian Varieties
5. I found a store to buy tortilla chips, curry, soi, and chilli sauces, and brie, stilton and parmesan cheese.
6. The weather is not terribly hot right now, this is good because I over packed mini-buses on a regular basis.
7. The Borscht in the summer is basically like Vietnamese fish or vegetable soup. I cannot explain why, but this is a good thing. A break from beets.
8. My Moldovan buddies in my village both left for Moscow for work, I need to find replacements.
9. Moldova is more densely populated than China
10. Summer is not really summer without Lake Geneva, it is more like the Spring is just long and hot and the soon Autumn will come… I am basically just mentally time traveling past the season.
11. The Embassy Fourth of July Party is coming up. It is actually on the 5^th, but I hear it is a blast.
12. The book Standard Deviations (Karl Taro Greenfeld) was probably my best read since I have arrived in Moldova. It is about a young guy financing a backpacking trip through Asia “I give it four bottles of Patron on a scale of 1 to 5, five being on the ground drunk with your eyes looking in different directions” writing as he moves from locale to locale.
13. I have now found 7 English language news channels, and one channel of crime dramas from the States and the UK with Romanian subtitles!

Hope you all are doing well, thanks for reading my blog! Hopefully six months from today I will be home for a visit!

Best,

Andrew