November 23, 2009
I know that I have not written in a while, but I have been busy! Since September I have been working more at my center with my partner on strategies to make the center work more efficiently. It is a slow process, but we are starting to make headway.
In the later half of October the rest of my program group and I went back our 1st host families in our training village of Vasieni. We had our last two weeks of training there, which included language and technical training. It was great to be back with our original host families and back at site with the rest of our training group. It was back to days filled with language and technical training and group lunches. We took advantage of being close to Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova and went in every chance we could. We also took the chance to eat and drink out as much as possible too. Andy’s Pizza is one of Moldova’s most popular franchises and actually serves pizza that does not have mayonnaise on it. That’s right in Moldova mayo replaces tomato sauce on a pizza. There is also a McDonalds in Chisinau which we also took advantage off, several times!
After getting back to permanent site it was fall break from school, which meant no work. It was meant to be a week of getting caught up on paperwork, but it quickly turned into a week of slacking. But I had a reprise and school was closed for another week. The state closed down schools for another week due to the outbreak of the flu in the country. This week was a productive one, myself and the staff at the center went into work every day to get caught up on paperwork.
In between all of this was my 37th birthday. My host family prepared a huge masa (celebration dinner) for me on the actually day. They tried to include all the Moldovan foods that I like, which are very few. I made banana bread and my host family loved it. The rest of the birthday celebration took place at my friend’s Teresa’s place. She was gracious enough to take in 7 of us for the gal’s dinner and sleepover. I made my famous homemade spaghetti sauce and brownies that were shipped over from the states from my mom and dad. And boy where they good!!! The evening was filled with good food, good wine, charades, knitting classes and great friends. I was really happy to be able to be around friends and feel like I was not so far from home on my birthday.
In the next couple of weeks there will be a big Thanksgiving celebration at the Peace Corps office this coming Saturday. Most of the PVCs will be there and are looking forward to having some American home cooked food. I am planning on making chocolate chip cookies, which have already been a big hit here in Moldova. One of the key ingredients, brown sugar, is not sold here and thanks again to mom and dad I am able to make an American favorite.
Shortly after the Thanksgiving the weekend my friend Melissa and I are heading to Prague for a few days of Christmas cheer. We are looking forward to the 23-hour bus ride there, that’s right 23 hours! We are also looking forward to seeing the Christmas market that inhabits the city during the holiday season. But I will write more about that in my next blog.
I hope that all of you have a great holiday!
Take care and be safe!
Jen
