January

Didn't realize how long it's been since I wrote on here. That's just a sample of how January sucks the life out of you. I know I'm not in a unique situation when I say that it's freaking cold! Today it is -9 F. W...T...F! I haven't felt this kind of cold in a very long time. People just stay at home. Schools are closed, businesses have signs on them 'closed for cold.' They just don't have the type of heating that can sustain in this cold for 8-12 hours a day. It's too expensive. It's a strange world.
This month has been the usual January, post vacation, a little blue trying to get back into the swing of things. My work partner, Vica, has been preparing for a month in Romania where she got a scholarship. Her husband, Oleg, got one too in Bulgaria so he needed a crash course in English. Vica's English is pretty good, but Oleg didn't speak a word. I spent most of the month trying to help him out so that he could at least have a basic understanding to get by. Can you imagine? I have been trying to learn 'basic Russian' for the past month and I still can't hold a conversation. 
So this past week, we had our 'Partner Conference' in which me and Vica, as well as the rest of the COD (Community Organization and Development) and ARBD (Agriculture and Rural Business Development) volunteers had to attend a conference in Chisinau where we learned about creating projects, writing grants, etc. It was dismaying to learn that the two groups were staying in two different hotels as we love to hang out with the ARBD's but I'm sure they separated us for a reason, after all, our work partners were with us. Lyndsey, Jessica and I came up a day early so we could hang out at Lindsay and Conrad's house and catch up for a night before we went 'back to school' for three days.
We arrived at our hotel on Wednesday the 26th and began the conference right away. There are 12 COD volunteers and about 9 of them had their work partners with them. It wasn't a huge group and it was actually information that we needed. At the end of the first day, the group of us went out for dinner. It was so pleasant catching up with each other and enjoying each other's company. We went back to the hotel and hung out in one hotel room and just had some wine and enjoyed each other's company. I kept looking around the room and thinking how just a little while ago that these people were strangers to me and now they were just family. We were all rotating our seats in the room so we could all catch up individually and it just felt very homey and cozy. It made me really happy.
The next day was a long one as we had the seminar from 8am to 5pm. But, it did provide many helpful tools to start diving into projects with our organizations. Also, since Vica is usually so busy, it was nice to have her undivided attention. She even mentioned that it was nice to be just the two of us so we could actually discuss important things. After the seminar, Jessica, Courtney and I made plans to go to the opera in Chisinau. I had heard that they did a good job there and it happened that "Nabucco" by Verdi was playing that night. We decided to bring our partners with us and we headed there.

The Opera House itself was really beautiful complete with marble stairs which when covered with snow provided opportunity for Jessica to slip and me to fall on my ass. The opera was fantastic. It was so nice to have some culture and see people on stage. It was sung in Italian and there were Romanian 'subtitles' on an electronic screen above the stage. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A strange thing, at the curtain call when the actors come out for their bow, everyone claps in unison. It's not generic applause, it's a synchronized clap. I was really thrown off by it. In talking with some other people, I learned it is a European thing, but it felt very strange. I wondered if it was some leftover Soviet thing where everyone conforms to one clap but I may be over analyzing. We left the opera and Lyndsey text me that the rest of the volunteers were at a nearby bar saying goodbye to Joseph and Ashley, two volunteers who had chosen to ET. (Early Terminate). I decided to head to the bar to catch up with them and the rest of the ARBD's as I figured it'd probably be my only chance to see them. Despite the sadness that Joseph and Ashley were leaving, it was so fun to see all the guys. I'm always at my highest comfort level when I'm surrounded by guys. I blame my brothers for that. John, Jeremy and I were planning our upcoming excursion to the Ukraine (more on that later) and Pat, my musical theatre compadre and I kept breaking into show tunes. Conrad didn't seem too happy about it. He so rarely gets to be in the company of 'guys' and when he does, I get them singing show tunes. We had a good time though.

John, Chris and Conrad

Pat and John

My two besties, Jeremy and John.

The next day was a shorter day at the conference but Jeffrey (the country director) was the first speaker so we all had to be on time and attentive. Thankfully, he is a skillful public speaker and it was easy to keep focused. I had to say goodbye to Vica

From the back, Michael, Conrad, Jesse, Me, Andrea, Lindsay, Maria, Jessica, Courtney, Jen, Lyndsey and Tom in front.

From there, a few of us were going back to Lindsay and Conrad's house to hang out. The boys, Jeremy and John, were going to say goodbye to Joseph and they were going to meet me there later as we were going to the UKRAINE! When in my life did I ever think I'd say that? 

Courtney, Jessica, Lyndsey and I hung out while we made dinner at Conrad and Lindsay's. We made some fajitas and had a good time. Jeremy and John showed up about 10 and hung out with us. Our bus was at midnight so we left the house about 11:00pm. So why were we going to the Ukraine? Well, Jeremy and John had yet to take any vacation time and they were both at the point where they just needed to get away for a few days. They suggested the city of Odessa, Ukraine which is probably most famous for the scene in "Battleship Potemkin." It is a port city on the Black Sea and about a 5 hour bus ride from us. It's in the middle of the winter and it is a beach town so we got a lot of flak for going and to be honest, when they suggested it, I never thought they would go so I agreed. Yet there I was, boarding a bus with them. There were few people on the bus as the Ukraine isn't exactly a popular tourist destination in late January. We rode through the night, crossed the border without a problem and arrived in Odessa at 5:00am. The bus dropped us off, it was FREEZING, and the cabdriver we found only spoke Russian. It was tense for a few minutes but somehow we managed to convey to him where we wanted to go. Thankfully, John had converted some money before he left Moldova so we could pay him in the Ukraine currency. We had to do a little bit of searching to find our hostel as the front door was a little hidden from construction but we found it. They let us in and check in wasn't until 11 but they let us crash on the couches in the lobby. 

We all passed out. We awoke to the sound of "I know these guys!!!" We were all still really sleepy but when we came to, we saw Chris (another ARBD) volunteer standing there. We were stunned. We had vaguely mentioned this trip to him and told him where we were staying but never thought he would actually show. But he did. The owner of the hostel was an American and he loved having Peace Corps volunteers so he gave us a discount. And showed us around the place and the full kitchen. It was a really cool place. Jeremy was tired so he went back to bed while we checked in. Chris was hungry, as we all were, so Chris, John and I went out to breakfast/lunch at a Mexican place. The food wasn't totally Mexican but it was still really good. From there we decided to walk around the city. It was a pretty cool city. I tried to teach them as much of the Russian alphabet as possible so we spent the day trying to sound out words on buildings. A lot of them were conjugates so we could usually figure out what things were. The city is really cool and clean and since it was cold, pretty empty.

John and Chris

Cold weather doesn't stop Ukrainian Park Chess

John at the bottom of the Potemkin Stairs.

The Black Sea

The Odessa Opera House

Somehow, still don't know how, Jeremy found us and we had a drink at a bar called "Fat Moses." It was a cool little place and I ordered 4 Irish Shots (Baileys/Jameson/Absinthe) for us and we did a toast to my Dad for his 75th Birthday. It was great. From there we headed to a big sushi dinner. Sushi was probably the main reason we chose to get out of Moldova for the weekend. I haven't had sushi, or even fish, for the better part of a year so we were all salivating when the waitress set down the huge platter in front of us. We scarfed it down with no regrets. Being right on the Black Sea, the fish was incredibly fresh and it was delicious. I was so happy. 
We were pretty tired and John and I were actually thinking about calling it a night since we really hadn't slept. But Chris insisted that we keep the night going. And how does he convince a tired Jenn to stay out? Two words; karaoke bar! It was a cool little place down in a basement and we were pretty much the only ones there as it was still early. We perused the karaoke book and the selection was huge. They had every single song I could think of. I'd been wanting to go to karaoke for a long time and had been talking a lot of smack with Chris about it since he claimed that he was a great karaoker. So I knew I was going to be called out on it and I had to deliver. We had some drinks and Chris got right up and performed. The place had gotten more crowded and was filling up with really good singers so I had to give him credit. He did a good job but now the gauntlet was thrown. It was time to access the room. I don't consider myself a 'great' singer but I can carry a tune. The room seemed to be the kind of a crowd that wanted to dance. So I chose "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. There are moments in your life when you have to put up or shut up and I had to stand up and do my best and show these boys that this was something that I can actually do. Mission accomplished. Everyone got up and danced, hooted and hollered and the boys all danced around me. At the end? Thunderous applause. (Not even in sync). It was a great moment in my life. How often do I talk smack about something and then deliver?

There was some drinking. 

And some dancing...

Chris performs "Doctor, My Eyes" by Jackson Browne.

John and Jeremy...the white man overbite.

I sing "Bad Romance." Apparently so good it hurt!

Friends in Low Places...indeed.

After the initial performance, it was way easier. Chris sang another song and I sang two more. Jeremy and John finished the night by dueting to "Friends in Low Places" and needless to say, we left shortly after that. It was about 3am and we had to walk in the cold back to our hostel. We got a little lost and ended up at McDonalds. Since the restaurant was closed we had to walk through the drive through and wound up having conversations with random Ukrainians while standing in the drive through eating Cheeseburgers. It was strange but really fun. We got back to the hostel to sleep about 5am. (I am so not 20 anymore...)

The next morning, however, I was up and fine and the three boys were suffering. I made them coffee and got them all aspirin and water. Lame! Chris had to take off as he was only coming for the night so we all went out to breakfast at this really cool Ukrainian restaurant. The food was delicious and we said goodbye to Chris. John, Jeremy and I walked around the city some more. We ended up back at the water because we wanted to get closer but it was so frigid on the pier, we wound up hanging out in the transportation lobby just to try and thaw out. However, the hour we spent in there laughing and just being silly was probably one of the best times we had. We were at the bottom of the steps so we had to get back up them and head back to the hostel. It was a really nice afternoon. Back at the hostel, we got a recommendation for a Thai place for dinner so we headed there and had some great Thai. We spotted a Blues Bar on the way home and went in there to listen to some live music. It was so pleasant. When we got back to the hostel, we were pretty tired so we watched some stuff on the computer and all went to bed.

Chris and I at breakfast.

A demonstration we walked by.

Finding Dr. Pepper in a store was one of my favorite moments.

The two navigators.

The three of us in the window reflection.

These guys...

They do love each other...it's creepy.

John and I at the Blues Bar.

The next morning we had to find a bus back to Moldova. Since it had begun snowing, we quickly discovered this would be more of a challenge than we had anticipated. With our limited Russian and negotiating skills it took us about 3 hours to figure out a way back. We finally found a bus to a village in Moldova called Stefan-Voda. The driver told us from there he could get us to Chisinau. We jumped at the chance. 

John and I at the bus station.

Moldovan Leu and Ukrainian...something...

Jeremy sleeping on the ride back.

Back to Moldova

We watched the Hangover 2, in Russian, on the bus ride back but we mostly chatted, well Jeremy slept, John and I chatted. We got back to Chisinau and wound up staying with Lindsay and Conrad because we were too late to catch any buses back to our villages.

What I did learn is that these guys are such decent people. Jeremy and John are two of my best friends. I always felt 100% safe with them and yet I can laugh with them for hours at the absolute stupidest things. And they didn't figure out I had a crush on one of them. Chris, I'm just getting to know but he is the real deal. Genuine, sweet, caring, smart and hilarious. It was just a small little weekend away but I'm so glad that I did it. I never in a million years thought I would visit the Ukraine and I did and it is so beautiful. I met John and Jeremy back in July at the Team Building exercise and knew then that they were my Bees (ring a bell?) but I couldn't be happier that 6 months later they are lifelong friends. I'm a lucky, lucky girl. I hope that shows in the smile on my face.

Happiness is...

So the majority of people here celebrate Christmas "old school" on January 7th which is the Orthodox Christmas as opposed to the Christian holiday. And New Years is on the 14th. Since some people celebrate the Christian holidays, the country basically shuts down for a month. Many travel, many come home, many just relax. I have been off work since December 14th and don't start up again until January 16th. 
I used this time to take my Christmas vacation to Vienna and Prague which was amazing if you've been keeping up, highly recommend both if you have the means, they are so choice. And few went back to the US. I don't think that is a wise move as going back to two weeks of full amenities and running water and the comforts of home and family, for me, would make it extremely difficult to come back. Not to mention the price tag on a plane ticket from Moldova. Europe is pretty cheap to maneuver around. However, some volunteers did do it.
Also, one of our staff members did. The senior staff in Moldova are Americans. Our training coordinator, Margaret, decided to travel back to Oakland, CA to visit her children and grandchildren. The day before Lyndsey and I left for our trip we walked by Margaret's office and she asked about our trip and shared her excitement about going to the US for a few weeks to see her family.
This morning, we were all informed that while visiting her family, Margaret suffered a brain aneurysm and did not survive. Everyone is in shock. 
During the summer, Margaret was in charge of our training program. She was an older lady and sometimes rubbed people the wrong way, myself included. But nobody ever wished her any harm. One thing that is comforting is that she was with her family and was extremely happy to be there. And she sure did love the Peace Corps and she loved Moldova. So I think it's a bucket of win for her.
The thing that is always strange to me is how people react to such news. I was not close to her but having dealt with so many deaths over the past few years, it does leave a pit in my stomach. Thinking of how I 'just saw her' and how quickly aneurysm's take peoples lives and life is short yada yada yada. And I go back and forth on the reactions. It's not my business but I know people who did not in fact like her who are now praising her saying she will be missed. So is it a fake appreciation or is it truly bygones now that all the pettiness didn't matter? I can never figure it out. But I'm going to go with the side that it doesn't matter now. Her life was well lived. She volunteered and then worked for this organization for the later part of her life so how could that be bad? She was a good person and dedicated her life to service and she died happily surrounded by her family. So for her, I guess she found her happiness even if her time came too soon. So reactions be damned, I am glad that Margaret lived a good life and was happy and that she will be truly honored here and back home.

2011

This is the first year in a while where we haven't had a major family tragedy. It feels a little weird. But overall, how can I complain? My one goal for the year was to end it in a foreign country and I accomplished that. Everyone thought I was crazy when I decided to go on this venture but even though they thought that, they supported me. I know it's hard on my family and friends and it's hard on me to see that life actually goes on without me. But, I'm doing something I've always wanted to do. I'm still not sure exactly what my purpose is here. It's taking longer than I imagined to find my footing but I still think it was the right decision. I could've easily stayed in Southern California at my job and been content for the next 20 years but I like to shake things up, find new challenges, live outside my comfort zone. Moldova is a strange country and there are things I love and hate about it but at least it's something different. Something I never in a million years thought I would be doing. I like learning Russian and Romanian and seeing another culture and it daily reminds me just how lucky I had it growing up in the US. And i have this opportunity to travel. I mean when in my wildest dreams did I ever picture I would spend Christmas in the Czech Republic? Not to mention all these great new friends I have. I feel like I've known some of them forever and it hasn't even been a year. So if my one goal for 2011 was to change my life, meet new people and live in a foreign land, I think that I did pretty well.
Resolutions? Ugh. I hate that word. So I'll just say these statements:

• I hope to further my knowledge of the Russian language.
• I will never understand people who don't eat meat.
• I am glad to live in a culture where material wealth means nothing.
• I am SO glad I am not in the US for the upcoming election.
• This year I will go to a minimum of 4 countries I have never been to. As of right now, I have been to 10!
• I am not a drinker. Always been surrounded by friends and family who are and I'm just not and never will be. As I get older, I am distancing myself more from people who still think that is the only way to have a good time.
• I'm so incredibly glad I grew up in the 70's and 80's when there wasn't the technology that there is now. I never would've left the house and I would've completely missed out on childhood.
• I will NEVER understand when people are vacationing why they have to update everyone on what a good time they're having. GET OFFLINE AND GO OUTSIDE!!!!! I don't care if you're on your phone. Turn it off and have a conversation with a stranger for God's sake!
• I'm so grateful I don't have religion in my life.
• I like that I'm confident enough in myself at this age that I don't succumb to peer pressure and can just laugh at it. And yes, I still deal with it.
• I miss my family.

Hope 2012 is a great year for me and everyone I love. 

Lyndsey, Me and a bunch of Asians.

Looking forward to a trip for many months can be tricky as sometimes it doesn't live up to your expectations. Lyndsey and I started planning our Christmas vacation back in early October when we were wondering what it would be like to be away for the holidays for the first time in our lives. We chose two cities, Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic, that neither of us had ever been to. It seemed to take forever to get here and now it's over. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Our train compartment

We decided to leave from Chisinau. Sure, Bucharest is closer to Cahul, where I live, but we decided to meet in Chisinau. Our friends Conrad and Lindsay had left the day before for Argentina and they needed some stuff to be done around their apartment so we volunteered and stayed there for a few days before departure. It was a good break between site and vacation so we weren't completely culture shocked. We arrived in Chisinau on Sunday the 18th and spent a few days getting some last minute things done. We had to get our final Hepatitis shots from Medical, get our travel medical cards from Admin, get a few things for the trip etc. It was a nice relaxing few days before the travel extravaganza. We were taking an overnight train from Chisinau to Bucharest, Romania. The train left at 5:30pm on Tuesday the 20th. We got to the train station way early and walked around trying to find a place to exchange some of our Moldovan currency for some Romanian currency. We had been told prior that Romania was always hesitant to take Moldovan Lei as no one really needed it there. We struck out multiple times and just decided to risk it. The train itself was pretty comfortable. We were in a 4 bed car and had 1 Romanian roommate. It wasn't too roomy but it was nice to have a place to sleep. There were two things that I didn't like about this 12 hour train ride, one - it was freaking hot and two - the border cross. For some reason, they pumped the heat on this train like it was 40 below outside. It was SO hot that it was hard to sleep as I kept waking up sweating. The border check took 4 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. For one, they have to switch the wheels going from Moldova into Romania as Moldova trains are still on the Soviet system and Romania is on the European system. So they have to remove and replace the wheels. 

The train stops in Moldova and the Moldovan border patrol boards the train and checks everyone's passports. Being an American traveling from 2 non-native countries they asked us a lot of questions. After about 2 hours, the train starts moving again, crosses the border then stops and the Romanian border patrol boards the train and does the same thing. Then the baggage/customs people board and checks everyone's bags. It was a long process. Finally we got moving again. We had met a fellow American, Nolan while we were waiting. He was traveling through Europe by himself on his way down to Turkey. For the first few hours he was fun to talk to, but as the night went on, we realized it was time to go our separate ways. As we had spent months being schooled in how to not stick out as Americans, Nolan had not had such training and was loud and asking too many questions, being sarcastic to people who spoke little English who thought he was just being rude and just wanted to keep talking all night long. We all finally fell asleep although it wasn't a solid sleep as the compartment was inexplicably hot. We arrived in Romania at approximately 8am. From the train we took another train to the airport. The instant we walked into the airport it was a different world. There were restaurants and stores and we were very happy. We had breakfast at Burger King (a luxury these days) and waited for our flight. We boarded Austrian Airlines and it was like every seat was first class. There was plenty of room, it was comfortable, not incredibly full and the flight was only about an hour. We landed in Vienna and followed our explicit instructions to our hostel, Wombats at the Naschmarkt. I had never stayed in a hostel before so I was really interested to see what it would be like. The moment we stepped up out of the underground we new we were in a different world. Hell, even before we exited the train. Everything was SO CLEAN! I think we were in shock. We were pointing at everything and smiling and giggling and being stupid. We arrived at the hostel and it was beautiful. Lyndsey, who had stayed in hostels before, remarked that it was probably the nicest hostel she had ever seen. We were placed in a 4 bed room but no one else ever showed up so we had it all to ourselves, even with a bathroom en suite. Lyndsey was so excited to pee in a toilet. It's the little things really. It would've been easy to hole up in our room all day and just enjoy sleeping on a comfortable bed but we decided we should probably go out and see Vienna. We got a map from the front desk (which wasn't the greatest) and headed out to find a Christmas market. It took us a while as we were still a little star struck by all the pretty buildings. We finally found one and had some delicious eats.  

My homemade waffle with whipped cream, cinnamon and chocolate. (I asked for caramel, but what am I gonna do? Complain????)

We walked around the commercial part of Vienna and found a Starbucks. (I know...sacrilege where there is world famous Viennese coffee to drink at Starbucks but...it was still really good!) 

Starbucks! Nothing says Christmas like Gingerbread Lattes!

 We walked around for a while but it had been a long few days of traveling so we headed back to our hostel. The hostel had a laundry room on the basement floor...WITH DRYERS!!!!! (A big luxury to us) So we decided to do some laundry while having some drinks in the bar in the hostel. We met a new friend, Ty, who was from Japan and traveling through Europe. He was hilarious and we enjoyed his company. There were a LOT of Asians traveling and Ty agreed with me and said that there are always a lot of Asians, Indians and Americans wherever he travels. I mean when we make up so much of the world population, I guess your always bound to run into those three ethnic groups. After our laundry was finished we headed to sleep. We woke up the next morning. We walked through the open air market across form our hostel and it was beautiful. We decided to treat ourselves to a heart meal and settled on an Italian place that had the biggest homemade raviolis I had ever seen. I had Caprese soup which was basically Tomato Cream soup with basil and mozzarella balls floating in it and then Truffle and Garlic Raviolis in a butter sauce. They were ridiculous. 

My raviolis!

The Naschmarkt!

The rest of the day we had the intention of going to Mozart's grave. We went to the Belvedere Palace which was huge and beautiful. 

Belvedere Place

We never did find the damn cemetery. I'm sure we walked around in circles for hours but we missed it somehow. I was disappointed but it couldn't ruin the day. So we headed back to the center of town and found the Haus of Musik museum which was really cool and I got to virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. It was a big ego trip, especially after the 'excellent' review I got from the computer.

Me admiring Mozart at the Haus of Musik.

We wound up eating dinner at Subway. Not what you'd call exotic but still delicious after 6 months of no sandwiches. We headed back to the hostel and had to say goodbye to our friend Ty as we were heading to Prague in the morning and he was going on to Prague. He was good people.

Me, Ty and Lyndsey.

We woke up the next morning and had to find our bus to Prague which turned out not to be too easy. We took the right train but NO ONE at the train station had any idea where the "Student Agency" was. Our bus left at 10:30am and we found the station at 10:28am. Luck was on our side because the bus was AWESOME! There was a bus attendant who brought us cappuccinos and hot chocolate whenever we wanted and there were TV's at every seat where you could watch movies, TV shows or play games with other passengers.

My seat on Luxury Bus.

It was luxurious. The bus ride was 5 hours long but when we arrived in Prague it felt like no time had passed. We arrived in Prague on the National Day of Mourning for Vaclav Havel. He had passed away a few days earlier and it was an international state event. The Clintons were there for the funeral. Thankfully, coming in by bus, we avoided the airport nightmare. When we stepped out of the train we were right in Wenceslas Square and were in the middle of the candlelight vigil. It was really nice to see an entire nation appreciate one of their leaders. When you're always surrounded by negativity, it's really nice to see an entire country show their respect, regardless of political views.

Vaclav Havel candlelight vigil.

Prague was beautiful. It had a different vibe than Vienna, but it was beautiful. We headed to our hostel which wasn't far from the square. It certainly wasn't as luxurious as the Vienna one but it had it's own charm. We were in a room with 6 other people. There was a loft with 2 beds so we claimed that quickly. There were 3 New Zealanders and the rest, of course, were Asians. We headed out into the city and went to Old Town Square. There was a huge Christmas Market.

Christmas Market view from the Tower.

I got Kielbasa on a roll and it was delicious. I could really get into this Bohemian cuisine. It was raining slightly and a little chilly and unfortunately I had walked a hole in the bottom of my boot so my feet were wet. I was not happy. We went on a search for a pub but I was pretty tired so I hit a wall pretty hard. I don't really remember getting back to the hostel after the pub search failed but I crashed out pretty hard. When I woke up the next morning, I felt a million times better even though my boots were still wet. Lyndsey had the same problem so we were both a little cranky. Walking around with wet feet isn't enjoyable at all! But it was Christmas Eve and we wanted to see the city. We headed up to the Prague Castle and it was a beautiful view of the entire city. We walked up what seemed to be a million steps but it was worth it. It was a tiny city on the top of the hill. We watched the changing of the guard and took in the sites and slowly got over our crankiness. I couldn't help thinking about Stripes because the guards still wore similar uniforms as the Czechoslovakia guards at the border patrol in that movie. 

Changing of the Guard.

The Steps leading out of the Castle.

Lyndsey had some mulled wine and I decided to try some 'Grog' mainly because I like the word. I didn't know what it was, it tasted like a warm glass of whiskey, which may have been exactly what it was but it was really good and I felt warm all over. We went back down to Old Town Square and were going to partake in a "Beer Tour" that we had found online. We got there really early so we spent some time in an Irish Pub and had some more Mulled Wine. What is mulled wine? It is warm wine and they float oranges and different nuts and berries in the bottom. It is ridiculously soothing. We went to wait for the beer tour but the guide never showed up. An American couple from DC showed up too so they were equally disappointed. Since it was Christmas Eve, everything was shutting down early. The only place we could find that was open was a Chinese restaurant which was actually great. We made it an early night. When we got back to the hostel, we decided to watch a movie and relax. While we were watching, another Asian arrived, Alex. He was from Korea and was traveling through Europe while he was on break from school in Canada. He spoke really great English and was adorable. He asked what we were doing for Christmas and we told him we were planning on taking a free tour of the city so he asked if he could join us. The next morning, it didn't feel like Christmas exactly. Elliott, the New Zealander, got a morning phone call from his Mom and he said "Meery Christmas, mum" and that's when we realized that it was Christmas. Alex was already up and said that another Korean, Ku, had arrived after we had gone to sleep and he would be joining us too. As per usual, it was Lyndsey, Me and the Asians. Alex and Ku were hilarious and we greatly enjoyed spending the day with them. We found this website called Prague Free Tours where they don't charge you for the tours, you just tip them at the end of it. We had a guide, Karel, and he was AWESOME! I usually don't enjoy tours but this guy was a theatre major and involved everyone in the tour, we re-enacted King Wenceslas murder, he joked with everyone, learned where we were all from, even had Lyndsey participate in a portion of history.

Karel and Lyndsey re-enact some Czech history.

The tour ended and Alex and Ku decided to continue on to the "Pub Crawl" tour but we decided against it. We said our goodbyes and we decided to go back to the hostel and dry off as it was raining again and again we had wet feet. Grrrrr. On the way back, I was hungry so I grabbed some McDonalds. We decided to have a big Christmas dinner but it wasn't for hours away so I just wanted a snack. On the way to the hostel, there was a random open shoe store and both Lyndsey and I found great deals and bought new boots. With dry feet, the world was better! Back at the hostel, the Wi-Fi was down so we decided to head back to McDonalds were there was free Wi-Fi and Skype with our families. It was sad to see everybody in the familiar place without me but it was really nice to get to talk to them at all. We all joked around for as long as we could. I was in McDonalds (surrounded by Asians). After about an hour, Lyndsey skyped with her parents, her boyfriend and me with my family so we decided to head out to dinner. We walked around and found a little restaurant that was serving Christmas dinner. It was this cool little Jazz bar and the food was ridiculous! We took our time and ate every course and just enjoyed it. We headed back to the hostel and had to pack again. Alex and Ku returned from the Bar Crawl after we fell asleep. The next morning Alex was really anxious to tell us about the Bar Crawl but we had to catch our bus back to Vienna. So he walked with us so he could chat with us. Ku was still passed out. We said our goodbyes and got back on to our bus of luxury. Again, the bus ride went way too fast and was way too awesome. Since it wasn't raining like the last time we were able to see the beautiful Czech and Austrian countryside. Inexplicable.
We arrived back in Vienna at Wombats. This time we were in an 8 bed room so we didn't have the luxury of our own room. We did some more laundry, went out for one last fantastic dinner and got a good night's sleep. In the elevator, I saw this sign and it amused highly:

We're not what you'd call "loved" around the world...

We had to wake up at 4am to catch our flight. We waited for a lot of trains but made our flight on time. It was a really quick flight to Bucharest and we headed to the train station. It was 8:30am and our train didn't leave until 7:40pm. So we checked our bags and spent the day in Bucharest. It's a cool city. It was a little chilly though so we found a movie theatre and they were only showing "Tower Heist" which was good. I don't know if it's a great movie, but after not being in a movie theatre in 6 months and being in a warm theatre...it was good.

Tower Heist in Romanian.

We got back to the train station at about 6 to have dinner and ran into Jamie and Michael (two other volunteers). They had just returned from Madrid and Barcelona. They, however, were taking the bus back to Moldova so we just chatted with them for a bit and they headed out. The train was once again ridiculously hot and full so it wasn't a great night's sleep. The border cross this time was at 4am so it was even more annoying. But we arrived and survived the entire week.
It was really nice to get away for a while but there are certain things I will never understand about traveling. 

1. The shoes that people choose to walk around in all day fascinate me. I saw more girls in high heels on cobbled streets and it is just fascinating to me that they don't die.
2. Photos are way more important than moments.
3. Why do people feel the need to update their status that they 'in Prague' more than just be in Prague? Don't get it. The lobby of the hostel, where there was free Wi-Fi was way more crowded than any attraction we were at in any city. Depressing.
4. Phones on vibrate and silent is a thing of the past. Now it's the loudest ring possible, and oh, people will ANSWER!
5. If a restaurant doesn't have Wi-Fi, it has way less foot traffic.
6. Anyone sensing a theme here?

Yes, I'm sick of technology. I'm sick of it being the most important things in our life. Yes, I'm guilty of it but it's just taken over our lives. Get the phones out of your hands people and enjoy what's around you! It's out of control! (Stepping off soap box...)

Mostly what I enjoyed was just seeing different people and meeting nice people and have conversations with people I'll more than likely never see again. Staying in a room with 6 strangers may sound like a nightmare to some people but it was actually really fun. I'm sure there are horror stories from hostels as well but I had a really good experience. It's also really important to find good people to travel with. Lyndsey and I don't have a lot of the same interests but we're also both open to trying things. And we're pretty easy going and get along well and that's pretty important. I think the times we wanted to kill each other were kept to the bare minimum. Traveling with someone you're not compatible with sounds like a nightmare. 

So that was Vienna and Prague. I would go back to either city in a heartbeat, wouldn't even mind residing in either one. I will definitely be back to Vienna because I will at some point see the grave of Mozart, plus I really want to go to Salzburg so I can do "The Sound of Music" tour.

But now, it's on to prepping for the next trip to London and Paris with some Too Faced girls from CA. I'm pretty excited for it.

Happy New Year!

Crăciun fericit and С Новым годом

That's Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I can't believe how fast the end of the year has gone. November and December have flown by in the blink of an eye.
Christmas season around here is just plain delightful. There are few Christmas decorations and only within the past few days have Christmas carols been creeping up. It has made me not only like Christmas, but look forward to it. Isn't it amazing what non-saturation can do for your spirit?
Work wise, it's been a slow month. Towards the holidays everything rapidly slows down. (Rapidly slow?) My work partner, Victoria and I have become good friends as she, her husband, Oleg and I share the office together so we are in very close quarters daily. I helped out in a few training on human trafficking and the facts are very upsetting. But much like the US, when we are telling the facts to teenagers, it doesn't really scare them or upset them, they just take the information and go. It's like watching it on TV and 'it will never happen to me' which is frightening. But I understand the importance of the education of it now. In the new year, we will be tackling a project to create a sports center for youth here in my town. There is no real place where the kids can go after school. She was trying to explain to me what they were trying to build and I referenced the YMCA and she had never heard of it. I proceeded to show her the website for the YMCA and performed a little of the song. They think I'm pretty weird.
I have mostly stayed in Cahul lately and avoided Chisinau. There is an element of the American population who like to travel to Chisinau on the weekends and just go nuts. I am not one of those people and avoid it as much as I can. I'm past that stage in my life where 'partying' is the best way to spend a Friday night. Conversely, my friend Lyndsey's birthday was last weekend so we all traveled to our friends apartment and spent the weekend cooking homemade meals for her. Friday we had Mexican, Saturday I busted out all the family Italian recipes and made homemade gnocchi, sauce, meatballs, bruschetta and cheesecake. And Sunday we had good old fashioned cheeseburgers and fries. It was a great, relaxing weekend with friends. We barely left the house, barely anyone knew we were there. We just enjoyed each other's company, ate and relaxed before the holidays. Lyndsey had made it explicitly clear that she didn't want anything big for her birthday so I think we succeeded.
Wednesday was my last day of work and I've pretty much been sleeping since then. I've justified it in the fact that it has been one hell of a long year and I've been sleeping it off for 3 days. I should be preparing for vacation but the rest was obviously well needed. 
So, Tuesday I leave for Christmas vacation to Prague and Vienna. I have been to neither city but have always wanted to go. It feels weird not going to a Too Faced Christmas party. Christmas as never really my thing but they sure love to celebrate it there. Even though I would probably be rolling my eyes and hating it, I'm actually a little sad that I won't be there. I guess now I'm just another face that got crossed off on that boat. ;) But thankfully, there's a handful of people there that still keep in touch so well. Didn't realize how I had made actual friends instead of colleagues and bosses. I sure do miss you guys...even you, Andrea. (I'm gonna regret putting that in writing...)
It will be the first time I have ever spent Christmas somewhere other than Honesdale, PA. Quite a change. But I'm pretty excited. I will greatly be missing those cinnamon rolls and Polish Borscht and especially the laughs around the table during dinner. Last Christmas was incredibly hard but I think with a year's time, we've all grown stronger and happier so I'm sad to miss the happy times. But thinking of my family laughing and having fun will have to suffice.
So, off to Vienna, city of Mozart, where I'll see classical concerts, opera, graves and great coffee. Off to Prague, where I'll see beautiful scenery, great food and beer and meet new people and spend Christmas with strangers in a foreign land. Lots of pics to take.
С Рождеством!

Take One and Pass It..

Here is what I've learned about Thanksgiving: When you don't have to do anything besides show up and eat, it is a wonderful holiday. When you have to spend days preparing and have to get up at the crack of dawn the day of, to make sure everything gets done, it kind of blows. 

On Saturday, we held a big Thanksgiving dinner for our Moldovan counterparts. There were 12 volunteers and 2 Fulbright scholars to represent 'the Americans' and everybody brought 2-3 guests. We worked all week to prepare for a dinner for 50 people. Our goal was to cook a traditional American meal and explain the history of this holiday. (I mean of course we taught them the fun/loving history we learned in 2nd grade, not the reality...but I won't go off on that tangent...) As with everything, this was misconstrued as the volunteers in the South of the country trying to be elitist and have our own private Thanksgiving and not invite everybody. Yes, even in Moldova there are internal political struggles. Regardless, it was a success. After days of baking pies, killing and baking turkeys and chickens, making 5 Kilos of mashed potatoes, the dinner was a success. We had to explain the American buffet style of the dinner as Moldovans are used to having Masa's where all the food is on the table. Getting up, standing in line and fixing your plate and then going to the table was very foreign to them and they were quite shy about it. Not like the Americans who went up time and time again filling their plates. It was nice to have a taste of home for just a few hours. But it was exhausting. We were all wiped out for a few days. But we had achieved our goal. Many of us didn't feel well afterwards because even though the food was good, we just weren't used to stuffing ourselves like that anymore.

For the most part, the Moldovans I have met here have been pretty overwhelmingly kind and open. They also wonder why we would willingly come to their country when we could stay in the US and have everything. They wonder why everyone in the US is always fighting over who gets the most stuff. They like to hear about the weather and my family and how I can be away for so long and why I like to go out to eat instead of cooking and English slang. I've been here for 6 months and I would say about 95% of the natives here have been pretty great. The biggest challenge has been the Americans here in country. You can take them out of America...I won't get into it now. I'll tell you privately if you ask, but I'm not going to put them on blast publicly.

Also have really enjoyed learning a bit of basic Russian. I've learned the Cyrillic alphabet which was a big battle but now I can at least sound words out. I may not know what they mean but it's a start. I am being taught by a University student who has been studying English for four years. He speaks very well but I still have to speak slowly and enunciate. What I have really learned in learning a foreign language is that English is TOUGH! All the little rules and idiosyncrasies are ridiculous. And I pride myself on my speaking skills but I was a pretty lazy speaker. I've had to cut out contractions when I speak because they are confusing for foreigners.  

Other than that, I attended a seminar on Formal vs. Non-Formal Education. It was an informative seminar but also brought some heated debates as the older generation likes to focus on formal education in classrooms, degrees, etc. whereas the younger wanted to validate that non-formal education such as NGO's (non-profit organizations), the internet, seminars and lectures are also valid. There is an ongoing problem here with academic honesty. Kids in school are encouraged to cheat to get the highest grade possible. They are encouraged by the teachers, their parents and fellow students. There are no penalties for cheating, it is encouraged. In trying to explain how unaccepted this is in other parts of the world many were very surprised. It is just the way it is here. My fellow volunteers are up in arms about this, which I guess they should be. But it is also easy to see that in this world it's harder to justify that kids need to actually learn things when they can pull a tiny computer out of their pocket and look something up. (Don't get me started on how iPhones are ruining the world...) But I digress...

In this seminar, the lady leading the seminar handed a stack of papers to a student and asked her to take one and pass it. The young girl of 16 or so, took a paper for herself, took one for her neighbor then passed the stack to her neighbor. Her neighbor, already having a paper, took one for her neighbor, then passed it on. It fascinated me. They weren't taking something for themselves. They were making sure there neighbor had what they needed before passing the stack of paper. Wouldn't it be an amazing world if that was the mentality of people living in it? Let me make sure that my neighbor is provided for before I pass it along. I think that it would sure help people remember what was important and that it wasn't always about material possessions or money or making sure that you had the best stuff and the most of it, but more that the people around them in their community were provided for and that everyone was equally happy. Wouldn't it be nice?

Or maybe it was just a stack of paper.