Oh that's right, I'm a grown up...

Being constantly surrounded by post-grads, I tend to forget that. But I was incredibly fortunate on Saturday night to be invited to dinner at the Deputy British Ambassador's home. My friend, Lindsay, is friends with her and I tagged along to a dinner party. An actual, grown up dinner party. There were matching dishes, actual wine glasses, courses, classical music, it was very unsettling. And by unsettling, I mean amazing. I really miss this. I miss this whole scenario. It was so nice to have an evening not talking about where to go to Grad school, or maybe having to move back in with your parents or people constantly trying to prove that they are the smartest in the room and that their degrees aren't worthless. All those topics that I have become accustomed to and able to tune out as I can't relate or care less about them. I was at a dinner party with people who were successful in their careers, who wanted to talk about world politics and world issues, not in a challenging way as if to say "I know more than you" but an actual exchange of opinions. It was refreshing and exhilarating  We danced, we sang along to 80's songs, we laughed, talk about a much needed reminder of what I am and what I want. Exhale.

Lindsay and I.

Lindsay and I and our friend, John, from Scotland.

John and I enjoying the dance floor.

We are REALLY good dancers.

Me and my friend, Bill, from um...yeah I don't remember.

90 days

Can you believe it? I am down to 90 days. Here are 90 things on my mind:

30 Things I will miss:

1. Sasha
2. Certain volunteers...not all of them.
3. Randomly being asked to pose for photos like a celebrity.
4. Pizza for $5
5. Stocked medical kit/free medical care.
6. Borscht
7. Bitching in English knowing no one around you can understand you. (That may get me in trouble at some point)
8. Sour Cream on Everything!
9. Fresh vegetable markets. (I know...)
10. A completely un-'processed' diet.
11. 25 hour work weeks.
12. Cursing in Russian...although that may continue.
13. Mamaliga.
14. Bus rides for a quarter. ($0.25)
15. Dead People's Easter. 
16. Farm fresh eggs.
17. Adjika
18. Mamma Mia (The restaurant and also the people from 'Wednesdays.')
19. The 'slow clap' to stop people from talking.
20. The inner circle.
21. Socially acceptable to wear the same outfit 3 weeks in a row.
22. Socially acceptable to showering once a week.
23. My hairdresser. :(
24. Random people saying "hello" because they hear me speaking English.
25. The Kebab House.
26. Arguing about 'the current.'
27. People staring at my shoes wondering what I'm thinking. (They are converse...)
28. Tucano Coffee.
29. Weekend trips to Romania or the Ukraine.
30. Being reminded every day to be grateful for where I had the privilege to grow up.

30 Things I'm excited to see on my post-service trip:

1. Victor!
2. Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, Austria.
3. Reuniting with a HS friend in Munich, Germany.
4. Revisiting Paris for a second time in a year.
5. The Dewar's factory in Scotland as I know my Dad would love that.
6. Fulfilling my promise to myself to go back to London and see another show at the Globe within a year.
7. Jameson and Guinness factories in Dublin.
8. Seeing where 'The Quiet Man' was filmed in Cong, Ireland.
9. Visiting Liverpool, England and see where The Beatles originated.
10. The White Cliffs of Dover.
11. Seeing Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg, Austria.
12. Swimming in the English Channel off the North Coast of France.
13. The Cliffs of Moher on the West Coast of Ireland.
14. Laduree Macarons.
15. Having a beer at McHughs Pub in Belfast.
16. Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
17. Seeing where my Irish ancestors originated in County Mayo, Ireland.
18. A trip back to the Meat Liquor...best burgers in London!
19. Visiting the Titanic museum in Belfast and seeing where it sailed.
20. Taking a train ride through the countrysides of Germany and France.
21. The Book of Mormon in London!
22. Spinning on top of a mountain in Austria...oh you bet your ass, I will.
23. Aligot - French Mashed potatoes. Google it...
24. Standing in the Trinity College library in Dublin.
25. Hot crepes in Paris.
26. Green...everything is so GREEN!
27. Exploring castles in both Ireland and Scotland.
28. Avoiding 'weeping angels'. (Doctor Who shout out)
29. Borough Market, London.
30. Boarding that plane...destination: U.S.A.!!!

30 Things in the US I cannot wait for:

1. I could dedicate an entire list to food, but just to name a few; Cheesesteaks, sandwiches, cheese, bacon, breakfast foods, steak, burgers, Chipotle, maple syrup, Thai food, sushi...I gotta stop my mouth is watering.
2. Pedicures (Get ready Jena...Haley...Mom...Jill...)
3. Drive-Throughs
4. Driving!
5. Baseball games.
6. Sleeping on a mattress.
7. Water pressure/hot water/lit bathrooms.
8. Bottomless coffee.
9. Washers and dryers.
10. Cold cuts.
11. Magazines...actual, tangible periodicals.
12. Movie theatres.
13. Concerts.
14. Game nights.
15. Disneyland.
16. Fountain drinks.
17. Remote controls.
18. Shampoo selections.
19. Department stores.
20. Online Bill pay.
21. Live theatre starring my friends.
22. Target.
23. Smartphones.
24. Meals at Nana's Pasta House.
25. Oscar parties.
26. In-n-Out!!!
27. Vacuum cleaners.
28. Homemade pastries.
29. Huge hugs from family and friends. 2 years worth.
30. Trying to remember every day what a privilege it is to grow up where I did.

90 days...and counting.

до свидания, Ukraine.

Yes, the inevitable 'lasts' are starting. This past weekend was my last trip to Odessa. I can't believe I have now visited there 4 times. Never would I have thought I would spend so much time in the Ukraine which up until this experience had just been a major conquest in a heated game of Risk, but I have grown to love that country. True it is huge and I saw barely a speck of it, but it is great. I have visited Odessa at various times of the year and it has always been great. This time it was a quick turnaround trip for my roommate, Holly's birthday. But we all know what it was really about, food. That's what all vacations are about. We lovingly called it our day of 'sushi and dudes.' Holly, me and our friends Natasha and Dahnika left on a midnight bus out of Moldova. It is about a 4 hour ride to the Ukraine border, there is always some time spent there especially when there are Americans involved, and then another hour into the city of Odessa. We got into town just as dawn was breaking. The driver was pretty crazy and the ride itself turned into somewhat of an amusement ride. Thankfully we were all a little too tired to worry.
When we arrived there was NOTHING open so at 6:00am we were forced to walk around the city for a while. Not ideal, but thankfully the weather had warmed up just enough to not make it uncomfortable. We were basically just looking for some place to sit and have coffee. The only place we found to sit was in the train station and you had to pay to sit there. Ugh. Finally at around 8, places started to open. When I had visited last year with John and Jeremy, we had discovered this delightful restaurant called "Kompot." We found it and I assured my traveling companions that they would not be disappointed. I was correct. I got a giant homemade croissant covered in bacon, cheese lettuce, tomato and a garlic aioli dressing that all melted in my mouth. I can't remember the last time I had a fresh sandwich. It was served with a steaming glass of hot cocoa. It was seriously the best thing I have eaten in a very long time. Completely satisfied, we walked over to our hostel which was just around the corner. We had all (at different times) stayed there before so when 'Shekhar' opened the door to let us in, his face lit up as he was happy to see us. The hostel is owned by an American named John, who married a Ukrainian named Masha. Shekhar and two other students run the hostel in exchange for living there while they attend medical school. Shekhar is from Agra, India and speaks 6 languages. And he's adorable. We couldn't technically 'check in' until 2, and it was now 9am, but he saw we were tired and since our beds were free, he let us nap. It was just what we needed. We woke up by 1:00 and were ready for the day. He recommended a good Indian food place in town. I had never had Indian food and neither had Natasha, but Holly really wanted it so we went. Good LORD I don't think I have ever experienced such flavor. It was amazing. I couldn't even tell you what the hell we ordered but it was amazing and I will most definitely be exploring this ethnicity of food again in my future. 
It had started to rain which was unfortunate. We ducked into a coffee shop and had some coffee until the rain stopped. From there we walked around the historic district, shopped, took some photos, people watched, just relaxed.
As it headed toward evening, we found an Irish Pub to relax at for a bit until we were ready for dinner. Seriously, this trip was all about eating. Next door was the sushi restaurant I had been at twice before. I was very excited. And it didn't disappoint. We were so, so happy at such a successful day of eating and relaxing.

4 satisfied girls - Me, Natasha, Holly and Dahnika

There were a group of students at the next table who heard us speaking English. They too were medical students and were so delighted to speak English as they were used to speaking Russian all the time. We spoke to them for a while but we were all pretty exhausted. The best part of the evening was our waiter кириелле. (Kee-ree-yell). He was beautiful and he enjoyed us. He asked us to please come back. Oh, how I wish we could, кириелле.

Me and кириелле. 

We had planned to go out to Karaoke but in reality, we were all just really wiped. We went back to the hostel and our host, Shekhar and the other guy who worked there were still up so we hung out with them for a while before we all crashed. 
Unfortunately, this was the night of Daylight Savings in Eastern Europe so we lost an hour of sleep. We woke up later than planned as we did want to get back to Kompot for one final delicious croissandwich. We quickly packed and got ready and said our goodbyes to Shekhar and the glorious hostel that is the Babushka Grand. (Seriously, the best hostel I have ever stayed at.) We got to Kompot just in time and enjoyed our breakfast. 
From there we walked to the bus station but had a few more hours to kill before our bus left. The weather was absolutely beautiful (finally) so we could walk around without coats on. We found a coffee shop and had some dessert while we waited. 
The bus ride back was simple and it was so nice out so I could see the scenery. Started to feel a cold coming on which is so rare to me that it worried me. 
And now, it's the full-blown flu. Blech! All is well though. Only 95 more days to go. But who's counting?

The Inevitable Underdog.

Sports fans? No. Well suck it up, for a second while I gush. This may seem superfluous information, but stick with the narrative, just for a second.
Yesterday in March Madness, Florida Gulf Coast University defeated San Diego State University. The first time ever that a #15 seed has made it into the Sweet Sixteen. If you are not a sports fan, or a college basketball fan, that sounds like gibberish. So quick fun facts. March Madness is the nickname for the NCAA college basketball tournament. 68 teams are chosen and within 6 days (that's 34 games) they are narrowed down to 16 teams aka 'The Sweet Sixteen.' The word 'bracket' is thrown around a lot. There are four sections to the bracket. In each section there are sixteen teams and they are ranked 1 to 16. #16 plays the #1 seed and so on and so on. So basically at the end of the two weeks when the "Final Four" are announced, in theory, it should be four #1 seeds. Make sense? Why is it called Madness? Because in the history of this tournament, that has happened only once. There are upsets, heartbreaks, buzzer beaters (a shot made at the last second when the buzzer rings to win/lose the game) excitement and all the heart and passion that seem to get lost when they join the NBA. (#opinion) 
So why this diatribe on March Madness and Florida Gulf Coast? Because it is the age old story of David slaying Goliath, a Cinderella story, use whatever literature metaphor you like, the point is, everyone roots for an underdog. When people fill out said brackets, you always pick the #1 or #2 seeds to make up the Final Four. But no one can resist the Cinderella stories. And that's what Florida Gulf Coast is. They were paired against Georgetown, a #2 seed that has as many haters as they do fans and they beat them. Then they played San Diego State, a #7 seed and the beat them again. Now they are sitting pretty in the Sweet Sixteen with such monster basketball schools as Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Syracuse, just to name a few. It is improbable and yet they have everyone on their side. 
What does this matter to me? Well...I always root for the underdog. My bracket is destroyed and yet I don't care. 
And as much as all you non-sports fans hate to admit it, it's a great metaphor for life. When people asked why I joined the Peace Corps? That is why. Because I root for the underdog. As much as we don't want to admit it, Americans tend to be Duke, UNC and Florida (who Florida Gulf Coast will play next week and more than likely lose to). There is so much work to do at Florida Gulf Coast. They are a smaller school, they are living in the shadow of bigger schools in the same area and trying to find their own identity, there's not a lot of money and yet there s a bond and a desire to strive to be more like Duke. Not exactly like them, but to follow their model to get bigger and more successful and more sustainable. Just now are they making a name for themselves and starting to get recognized so that people can realize their potential and start treating them as equals rather than inferiors.
I have 3 months left here at my equivalent of Florida Gulf Coast. And even though we're not gonna slay any giants, at least we had that glorious moment of getting to the Sweet Sixteen. And next year and the year after that...it's just going to get better with time. And even though I'm going to 'graduate' I know that the future of this University/Country is in good hands.

Pure Elation.

St. Patty's Day...Making it work...

Moldova doesn't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day, surprising, huh?
So we made do.
Irish Nachos, substituting French fries for chips.

And yeah, you guessed it, homemade Shamrock Shakes, not gonna lie...they were AMAZING! 

So I'm okay with not being able to really celebrate it this year. Why? Because in a few months, I'll be in Ireland and that will make up for it all!

Governmental Drama

The sequester? The Filibuster? No, my fellow Americans, actually other governments have troubles too. In fact, I am sitting in a country where the government just collapsed. What does this mean? Here's a quick summary:

• The Democratic party aligned with the Communists to pass a “no confidence” vote against the current AIE (European Integration) party.  The Prime Minister (Filat) is required to submit his resignation within three days of the passing of this vote.  He is expected to do so tomorrow, March 8, 2013. 
• President Timofti is expected to nominate a candidate who can form a new government with the backing of Parliament.  They have 45 days to do so.
• If they are unable to do so, Parliament will be dissolved and early elections with be scheduled.

Yeah. Does this affect me? I don't think so? Right now it is just an alert of possible disturbances/protests during the possible upcoming elections. Moldova is still struggling to find its own identity. There are many in the country who still subscribe to the Soviet mentality and are loyal to Mother Russia. There are others who remain loyal to Romania and would like to merge with them. And then there are the final group who would like Moldova to find its own identity. Needless to say, this causes much tension during elections as well as 'unity' rallies to either of the aforementioned countries. This is all fascinating isn't it? Nope, not really. Politics suck everywhere, not just in the good old U.S. of A. 

Spring has tentatively arrived. I don't know if we're going to get another cold front before we're done, but it has been in the high 50's all week and it's glorious. I'm not confident enough to start the 'shipping winter clothes home' process but I'm hoping the worst is behind us. 

Tomorrow is a celebration of Women. The country shuts down for a federal holiday to celebrate Women, isn't that nice? Think Mother's Day but including all women. So I will be going out to dinner with my friends Natasha and Holly and we will be treating ourselves as we deserve to be treated.

As of Saturday, we are at the 4 month mark. Suddenly time is flying. 

The end is in sight...

I haven't written for almost a month, man it's been a long one. I have been dreading February for a while. It's cold and miserable here, there's not a lot of work and everyone is in a bad mood. So today, on the last day of the dreaded February, I can say...eh...wasn't too bad.
It didn't start out very well. My roommate's brother passed away suddenly in the middle of the night so she left on an impromptu month long trip to California. Without her here, suddenly I was reminded of what it is like to live on my own and be responsible for everything. It took a while to get back into the swing of things but it all worked out. 
On the brighter side, I got to meet the US Ambassador to Moldova. He came to Cahul to observe one of the English programs here and he invited me, Jesse, Liz and Maggie out to lunch with him. He was a super nice guy from North Carolina and we chatted for a good hour. At the school, he was really supportive and took questions from the kids for a few hours and posed for photos. It was a great afternoon.

Embassy Worker Mike, Jesse, US Ambassador Mosier, Maggie, Me and Liz

Ambassador Mosier poses with the kids from Cahul and Ceadir-Lunga (Chee-ader-loon-gah)

Ambassador Mosier with Sasha's brother, Vlad.

I finally received some long overdue Christmas Packages, thank you Moldova customs. But once again, the Too Faced girls came through for me. They sent me a bunch of things for cold weather and were worried they would be useless now. Thankfully, Moldova extends winter through March so they are still plenty needed. 
Valentine's Day came and went in its uselessness as per usual. I had a lovely dinner with my Russian tutor, Natasha and we toasted to be single gals.
We had a COS (Close of Service) draft. This means that the Country Director drew our names out of a hat and assigned us what date we were leaving. The first day we can leave is July 9th and only 5 people can leave per day (budgeting). My name was drawn first. I couldn't believe it. I mean all of a sudden there is a date and I have to plan. It was a fun day getting together with all these people that just 2 short years ago, I didn't even know and now we are all about to leave. From there we had an all night Super Bowl party complete with wings, blue cheese dip and chili cheese dogs. The boys, as usual, all passed out by 3 so I wound up watching the game by myself. And that's okay. Side note? Beyonce rules!

The group of us after we found out when we are leaving. Look at the smiles. Significantly smaller since 21 people have resigned or been sent home since we first arrived.

Kitsy and I at the Draft. We were in training together and have since become great friends.
She is called Kitsy because her name is Jen too and we needed a distinction in training.

I met with my program managers and my work partner and we had a very productive meeting. My organization has recently won a Democracy Grant from the US Embassy for funding to produce another anti-trafficking festival like we did last year as well as a 10 month awareness campaign in Cahul and the surrounding villages. It is a pretty big deal as only 7 organizations in the entire country of Moldova won these grants. So these last few months here will be busy with a lot of things to get done before I leave. It is exciting to have things to do though. 
Yesterday I judged a song/drama competition for English week here in Cahul with Liz and Jesse. 6 of the schools here in Cahul as well as 4 from surrounding villages competed. Each school performed a song and a drama scene. It was interesting to see the different interpretations and pronunciations of English songs and theater. My favorite was the production of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' when they performed a hoedown type dance to 'Cotton-Eyed Joe.' Hearing Tom Sawyer in a Russian accent was definitely a highlight of my time here in Moldovan. It was a fun day. After being lectured by the host teacher to be non-biased when picking the winners, she was none too pleased when her students did not win and tried to convince us that we had made a mistake. It is just remarkable the level of corruption that is still left to be dealt with here in Moldova. Overall, it was a good experience though.
On the home front, my brother Bob turned 50 last Sunday. I was sad to have missed it but know I will see him soon. He's doing so well at this point in his life, he had a lot to celebrate.

Bobby's 50th.

And lastly, the Oscars. It's pretty well-known that the Oscars is my favorite night of the year. The unfortunate part here is that the broadcast starts at 3:30am, however, this is way more worth it for me than the Super Bowl. Before it started, I got to Skype in with my dear friends in CA Diehl, Gracie, Bruce and Josh. We usually watch the Oscars together so it was so nice to be a part of their party even if only for a few minutes. I miss them all so much. I was pretty tired when it first started but I woke right up when Christoph Waltz won the Oscar. I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a die hard Tarantino fan and I think Christoph Waltz is just pure genius so to see him awarded for the 2nd time in 4 years for his work just made me incredibly happy. The entire show I just thought was great. People gave Seth a lot of shit, but I thought he was great. At this point I don't think there's anything that anyone could do to get positive reviews as an Oscar host. People are just out to hate them. It is a big undertaking and I applaud him. I'm a musical theatre nerd so when he did a Sound of Music spoof to interview Captain Von Trapp himself, Christopher Plummer, I was in heaven. And to see a musical medley of Chicago, Dreamgirls and Les Miserables I was over the moon. I just smiled the entire night. I knew Anne would win and I knew Daniel Day would win, both deserving. And Jennifer Lawrence winning, falling and recovering gracefully, I just love that girl. She's just wonderful. But the icing on the cake was Argo winning. I just loved it and Ben was so humble and gracious and moved, I'm such a nerd but it was great. The broadcast ended here at about 7am and I couldn't sleep for another hour because I was happy. It's just the little things in life, right? I know people think the Oscars are stupid but I enjoy every second of them and this year was my favorite in a long, long time.
I will try and write more in my last few months here at site. The winter is slowly coming to a close and things are starting to move again, thank Goodness. I am at the 4 month mark now. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.

**Side note - an overdue review of Les Miserables.
I went to Romania to see the movie in a theatre with some friends. I believe it is now a Pavlovian response but when I hear that music, emotion fills me up instantly. I had heard mixed reviews from my hyper-critical theatre friends so I don't know what I was expecting when I went in. But from the first chord to the last note, I loved every second of it. Yes, I loved the close ups, yes I loved Russell Crowe, yes I loved Marius' quivering lips, every second of it. It was beyond my expectations for what could be done with that movie. I honestly don't care if people don't like it, the point is that I did. And really...isn't that all that matters????