Time flies when you are... Volunteering!

So whenever I get home from work, choir, wherever and have time on my hands I think, now would be a fantastic time to work on my blog... But I could also just sit and read a book or watch a movie... Just for you I took the first step by typing "bl" into the magic white space that teleports you to places on the mystical internet and before you know it I am here, typing away at my blog. I'm as loyal as a dog. One with a mind that definitely wanders from time to time.

So in my absence I have...

~expanded my waistline by feasting at multiple masas with Moldovans (say that five times fast), including Hram (city celebration, think heritage days with twice as much free food and booze aka a masa) with my training host family...

~took shots of vodka and cognac with Moldova's longest standing female mayor, got fed by her mom and sister, danced the hora with her husband (this is NOT perverted, you just kinda do a funny little jig with your feet until you get dizzy, the song stops or someone calls for more shots) and went out dancing for her nephews birthday with a group of people til the wee crack of dawn...

~executed two Halloween parties without drama for students in Rezina and a nearby friends village complete with pinatas (that I thought my host brother would like to help make but didn't because they were too gooey, crazyness I say)... 

~went monastery hopping again fo free with the Rezina choir (yes we sang songs on the bus, yes, it was awesome)...

~hopped on a horse bareback at a monastery in a dress.. got laughed and stared at by local teenagers...whatevers I was in love... 

~filled the shoes of a substitute English teacher for a day at a local school, nearly got eaten alive by 5th graders...I would like to say more but I'll sensor myself... I don't know how you teachers do it...

~introduced myself in front of a full audience attending "Two Hearts", a dating competition held by the youth club I am helping out...

~chaperoned a trip with the youth group one day.. felt more aged than ever in my 23 years to be invited to be that responsible for teenagers... guess this is life as an adult, right?

~helped with a grand opening at a youth center in a different town and became the local beloved artist among a few kiddos and teacher of the games Mancala and Rummikub...

~been referred to as a little Asian (from my little punches and kicks in a taebo class), and have been asked if I am Italian, Romanian and Moldovan... it's awesome.. I'll take the integration (and or) compliments any day...

~enjoyed the wonderful packages of love and warmth from people...(its colder in Wisco then Moldova btw, I should call you the little troopers)...

~spread the love by handing out hot chocolate packets and successfully making pecan pie (big shout out to my mom on that one- there are no pecans, brown sugar or corn syrup in this country!) and corn bread for a Peace Corps thanksgiving with 15 volunteers, a German and a three room apartment...

~helped out Help Portrait in the capital the day after giving thanks with my homies... this was the first time a movement/activity like this has happened in Moldova (I made it onto their homepage!) and got warm and fuzzy feelings from it...

~got laughed at for wearing my mittens one day last week... I read that as, "it's too early" in Moldovan interpretive language

~received a call at 8 in the morning from a Moldovan on an unrecognized number announcing who just became the United States' president and wanted to hear my reaction... that was really neat... its was this old guy who pays the accordion or something in this guys traditional folk group and is a mad table tennis player...

...and...

watched the Nutcracker Ballet (for about 10 bucks) with three friends followed by a dinner WITH LETTUCE!!! 

So yes, besides being served the cold chicken chillin in its own chicken jello, the dark nights starting at 4, squatting in holes, the nasty diesel vodkas I've had to drink and the experience with the evil 5th grade monsters, I have many things to be thankful for here and back at home. I really like how much volunteering I have been doing lately since starting my job as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Da, its ironic I say that but during training and the beginning of my days at my job (trust me, it feels, and is, just a typical desk job) at the NGO, I felt like it was time either dedicated to learning the ropes or following the ropes. No warm fuzzies. No off to save the world one small step at a time moments. Just whatever. Now the fun stuff is finally starting.

The next month will be busy with visits to Orphanages for Christmas, more time with the youth club here in Rezina and at my friends' youth center, a choir concert, a visit from the tv station at choir this Thursday and a possible cheap getaway to Romania  I guess to add to this cheesey casserole I'll finish by saying I am still happy to be here and love that this is what my life is right now, full of new friends and random conversations, volunteering and giving a LOT, a good group of Peace Corps friends to help not ever feel homesick (besides in my dreams) with new events and adventures turning up every day. 

I think a life filled with warm and fuzzies keeps you feeling warm and fuzzy. Its too bad more people don't see it that way or have that sort of mindset just a little bit. (I know parents you will read this but luckily) I have my parents to thank for the volunteerism mindset. And 4-H. I think if you don't grow up with the willingness and time set aside from your life to give back, you may never really give back and spend more time munchin in front of the tube or computer rather then with your community or the world.
(: Food for thought :)

Anywhos... I have photos.. for the future.. Its almost midnight...

Happy late Thanksgiving, hope your festivities were as great over there as they were over here!!

Kate

Missouri->Wisconsin->Missouri->Florida->Missouri->Wisconsin->Mississippi->Florida->Tennessee->Wisconsin->Maine-> Wisconsin->Minnesota->Wisconsin->Cancun->Wisconsin->Maine->Wisconsin->Maine->Wisconsin->Tennessee->Ohio->Wisconsin->Ohio->Rhode Island->Massachusetts->Illinois->Wisconsin->Missouri->Colorado->Vegas->Colorado->Utah->Colorado->Wisconsin->Minnesota->Wisconsin->Puerto Rico->Wisconsin->The Republic of Moldova!

For a more fun/ funnerrr view of this nonsense click on this little Google map thingy I made here:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206440230904767013433.0004cc17441862d12397f&msa=0&ll=45.39845,-83.847656&spn=36.926643,79.013672

This is how flight itineraries go when you take a puddle-jumper (in this case, some of my puddles are HUGE) from one place to the next for connecting flights and stuff right?


I think this is the official layout of where my butt stayed for a minimum of two nights between graduating college and where my butt is now...(I finished in December of 2010 so that's two years come this December I believe). I didn't want to post the states that I drove through and whatnot because that sounds like a redundant hassle that no one wants to read about. Many people wonder where I have wandered, why my mom calls me her gypsy child and where I get all my great memories and stories from. I thought while in one my fits of boredom to map it all out and give my memory a run for its money.

31 States, 1 Providence, 1 Unincorporated Territory of the United States, Mexico for a hot minute, a "Turkish Delight" (type of squishy powdered sugar candy thingy..delicious) layover in Istanbul has added up to be my whereabouts life between 21 and 22 years old.

Not to shabby with a shoe string budget, a car over 10 years old, a mutty Golden Retriever to house and amuse and what some people would call an "inconsistent source of income kinda lifestyle"...


Off the top of my head, in random order here are some of the highlights of my pre-Peace Corps life and travels.

Flying in Sea Planes: 4 times. Count it. Saw some moose, some of my favorite hikes, where I live and the changing fall leaves in Maine all by a plane that could take off and land on water. Groovy. Plus a friend and I in exchange for a ride helped a pilot friend write a stellar resume for a pilot position available in Alaska. Priceless.

Moved 30 rows back, dead center in front of Bob Dylan in concert on the Bangor Waterfront on a pretty summer night in Maine when a drunk guy claimed my seat and gave the security dude grief when we asked him to leave. Because I wasn't a b-iotch and told the security guy I've been in his shoes before (brief and terrible job at Mizzou football games) he hooked me up with a sweet spot to watch the rest of the concert. After that I slept in my tent in a campground full of camper driving Canadians looking for summer deals on school clothes instead of driving 2 hours in moose+deer+bear country at 2 am. Karma.

A dozen or so days up and down Vail and Beaver Creek Resorts blues and greens for less than $75 a day. Not a bad place to learn how to downhill ski, eh? A lot of times were completely free thanks to newly found friends who were lifties, ski shop rental dudes and hotel concierges. Also add a day of snowmobiling in the Rockies to that too for 30 bucks. Networkinggbazingaaa.

Learning the ins-and-outs of the term "all inclusive" vacation in Cancun with my besty. The whole sunny beaches and comfy lounge chair experience and "order whatever you want" was a great get away from the weather in Wisco and a reward for the busy horse show season I just finished up. Need I explain more? There are karaoke videos of us out there... somewhere if you really need me to explain more.


Also include two weekend trips to Quebec City via machina (car). One of which included a parking ticket. All in French. Hmpf. Yes I paid it, no I am not 100% sure if I sent it to the right address (two were listed). I would hate to get refused at the border of Canada, fly rod in hand because of one dumb parking ticket (I blame the French parking meters.. it was a Sunday). There are far too many fishies to be caught and places in that cool country to explore to not go back. Plus they had really good food in French Canada (not including poutine, I am not its biggest fan).

Road tripping to and from Maine were also pretty awesome journeys. People here talk about travels around Europe and they sound so exciting with so many different countries. One way from Wisconsin to Maine is about the distance from Paris to Warsaw (don't quote me) and I did that two times without a layover. Ever. I recall freaking out in Northern Massachusetts on my way there in May because I thought I was going to run out of gas at about 12:30 in the morning. Surprisingly there is little going on in Northern Mass. I thought the entire east coast minus Maine was full of cities everywhere. Little did I realize I would go forever and ever without seeing an exit with a gas station. When I was finally able to get off the highway I went to this tiny little town and met a couple who had a Golden Retriever who's daddy was named Carhartt. That contact with civilization and a Pepsi got me through the next 4 hours of driving in the dark was all I needed before crashing my friends couch sucessfully in South Portland, ME. The trip back to Wisconsin in September was with a girly friend from Tennessee. I convinced her to "come see Maine how it should be seen" and drive back with me to Wisconsin. I remember we stopped for the original buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY and sat and ate while watching kids learn how to yacht on Lake Erie.The cities Buffalo and Albany had very old, depressing feelings driving through them and seeing "once have beens" industrial areas covered in soot and grafiti and not a whole lot else going on.

Fishing. Fishing could have its whole chapter in my "I love my adventurous life book" but I won't bore you, yet... Maybe after many years of international success as a kick-ass chick fly fisher, but not now. What I will say is fly fishing in Colorado has topped everything else I have fished puffer fish and other little guys on the riverways of Eastern Florida, trolled around in Northern Maine on Moosehead lake and the Kennebeck River, fished for pan fish in Wisconsin with friends and family and stuck into some Makerel off the coast of Hartford, New Hampshire. Oh yea, and one time in Puerto Rico while setting up my kindle-reading-perch on the beach I saw a dude sitting next to a big ol' salt water fly rod and after walking over and talking to the Massachusetts-residing-Maine-lover who owned the rod, I got to try it out for an hour or two. Must have been wearing my lucky bikini at the time. ; )



$10ish live lobster and a bottle of wine with friends in Maine. Learned how to cook em and crack em like a Mainer on different occasions.


Free crawfish boil/traditional cajun dishes and live music for anyone attending/working the Gulf Coast Classic Horse Show in Gulfport, MS every Friday for about a month. Met people down enough to earth to actually hang out with after work including a talented local guitarist and friends I would continue to keep in contact from Tennessee well after the show hit the road. Also drove over to Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras on my day off  in New Orleans and had the original Cafe Du Monde roast and beignets (Anyone interested in sending over a can of the Chicory Coffee is gladly encouraged, I was introduced to Chicory coffee as delicious "Vietnamese coffee" in College and has loved it ever since; its easier on your stomach than regular coffee :).

Tennessee has left memories of late nights with great friends, dancing in Nashville in a bar where everyone swing dances and whatnot like you would before the bump and grind was created, an Amishish run restaurant with tasty southern food and a friends mom with magic healing hands. And boys that played Rugby. Saw my first live rugby game at MTSU; was way cooler than American football, sorry.


Riding in Wyoming and anywhere else I sat on a horse. Recently in Moldova has been fun too. I sold my horse when I was in college and I do not regret it. He is with a great girl with an awesome family and is fat and happy in Missouri. I do however miss riding daily minus the whole expenses part. Probably one of the prettiest places I have ever ridden was when I went up to Wyoming and visited a friend who lived there and had horses (my former horses owner whom I have stayed in contact with ever since buying him in 2004/5ish). We were right on the border of South Dakota in Black Hills country, the weather was clear and nice and the horses were great. Kinda makes me want to be a real cowgirl just thinking about it.


FOX HUNTING! How could I forget?? Talked to a fox hunting guru at a horse expo outside of Chicago before Thanksgiving and before you know it I was on my way to the first hunt under my belt (for about 50 bucks instead of the usual $200 plus). It was cool. Kinda like a rich person's trail ride because you ride in stylin' hunt clothes and don't actually hunt/kill anything (we never saw the alleged coyote we were hunting).  I highly recommend checking it out if you are a horse fan. Or dog fan. The 40 some dogs were fun to watch.

From my pictures from Puerto Rico its pretty obvious that I was a kid in a candy shop with horses running around next to the ocean and stopping traffic on the island of Vieques. That was a pretty unique place to spend some beach time before Moldova. Ponies + Non Busy Beaches= Loverly. However, I could not be an Island person. One week and I was bored of driving around and around, circling the island and drinking lots of rum.

Hmmm... What else... I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch out...

Want to go to Vegas and barely spend anything but still have a good time? Come with me. I'm glad I checked it out since I was "just a car ride away" when I was living in Vail. In my car destined to the Sin City were two dude co-workers of mine. One was from Argentina and the other from South Africa, both fresh out of university. Besides having  handsome cargo/ company, the trip was alot of fun; we met up with another friend of ours from South Africa when we got there. They showed me how to gamble long enough to get free drinks at the bar with computer blackjack and cash out when you are even. Foreigners can be so handy. I met two guys from Denmark and a couple from England in the hotel hot tub when the boys were gambling during the day and we all went out one night... Talk about a good looking multi-national group to explore Vegas with :) ... I still talk to all of them and hope to visit the love birds in England when I am finished working in Moldova.

The day-to-day life I had in Maine and Colorado could easily out-brag the Kardasians (sp?) I'm pretty sure. I hiked alot; Kathadin and Eagle Rock were my favorite places in Maine but I can't count out the number of times I hiked or snowshoed up Colorado's mountains with friends between work. Carhartt and I always had a blast, it was a fun way to stay in shape and the views were always breathtaking (all exercise that high up is breathtaking actually). I went a number of "Full Moon Hikes"where we owned Vail pass with the moon on our side and only still, crisp air to listen to instead of busy runs and rude tourists. Posted is a picture of a drive to the Ice Castle, constructed in Silverthorn and some creativity behind a friends camera. Another fun time was taking in a group of South Africans to a Avalanche game in Denver. And another time a buddy and I drove these stranded Argie kids (Argentinians.. there were alot of them here for the skiing) through a snow storm back to Frisco through Vail pass after they knocked on my car asking for help (we are all happy little friends now too). I felt like such a good little tour guide/ sofer.

I lived on the second floor of the big white house on the left.

My living situations were always sweet and swell too; couch surfing via friends or rented. In Maine I lived in this old hunting shack for $200 a month across from the Mt Kineo ferry dock/ Rockwood boat ramp on Moosehead Lake where Carhartt got to jump off whenever he pleased. My friend and I while driving one day had a baby bear cub run across the road to the woods directly behind my house. Scary kinda but more cool than anything.




I think that't it.
I feel like this is enough. :)
Thanks for reading! More on Moldova laters :)


Sit, be still and listen, because you're drunk and we're at the edge of a roof.
-Muslim Poet Rumi

Where. To. Begin....

Sorry for the delay... I have been doing great. Busy and great. Great and busy. I wrote this like a week....  or more like two weeks ago and don't feel like changing it. Training is over. I'm back at site, exhausted from the fun times of training/socializing and hopefully back in the grove of things here tomorrow. :)

Sometimes when I have the time to write, I don't and I admit to being slothy (slothful, I know..) then amidst sitting and watching the Russian version of Jerry Springer with a Russian host sporting a velvet blazer and skinny-tie-wearing-Beatles-wannabe outfit and the contestants curse at each other with toothless snarls and confused kids get passed around on peoples laps as often as the bread basket at dinnertime, my writing muse just makes me want to start clicking away at my keyboard. I had no clue what was going on between the "lovely" bunch as the show was in Russian and not Romanian (one of those times where I wished I was chosen to learn Russian out of our group) but I did get a kick out of the bladder control medicine commercial that followed with the main actor dude guy driving around a 1960's American (convertible) Mustang. Made me feel right at home, corny bladder advertisement and all.

I'm a day into staying two weeks with my original host family and my training village for a bit more limba Romana education and training for Peace Corps. Some people were bitching about coming back (surprise surprise) but I am delighted to. I love hanging out with this family, its one of the few times we are all together and I could use some ass kicking in the language department. I posted an open invite to the volunteers back for training cribbage and a beer if interested and I got great response... Hopefully I can pull a "Hanes" and either have a hand of all fives like Ryan or skunk people like Grandma :)

Last night I came into town for the arrival of the parents of the year before's volunteer (who lived with my training host fam the year before, sorry if this hard to understand, my English is fading rapidly) and helped welcome them with a little masa (food eating good time, masa=table). I had flashbacks of when I showed up to their house for the first time, multi-jet lagged, very much welcomed and completely bewildered by the people with funny words coming out of their mouths. I knew the bug-eyed look well and did some reflection on how far I have come with the new language and new digs strangely similar yet wildly different then the US. I'm looking forward to hosting friends and family when they come :) :)

Following the masa I had this funny dream where I was back to work at Quarter Horse Congress (a big horse show held in Ohio every year in October) working for Chick's and admiring the Packers/Aaron Rodgers horse grooming brushes, clothing and horse equipment as I was setting up the store. Talk about goofy. I guess I must be shopping deprived (this is not a bad thing, my friends and I got excited when we splurged and purchased much needed sunglasses the other day gratitude 101), more interested in football then I thought and reflecting on where my life was a year ago.

Oh yeaaa...Anddd....Since I wrote last, I had my international choir debut in the center of town and it went great. Only two songs followed by cute kids dressed in fairy tale type costumes and teenagers in traditional Moldovan clothing (like in the picture in my last post) for the Day of our Language, an easy intro. Pictures will follow.. soon.. someday...I assume more fun is to come with the choir when my city celebrates Hram, a day based around the official saint of the church in my town. I don't know much more about it other then its a pretty big deal (food fest) and its the 14th of October.

Enough. I am so far behind on this little blog its not cool. I debate the efficiency of a video blog over writing. I am too putzy and take advantage of clicking draft on this thing instead of just posting right away. More delayed news to follow soon. It will include mumblings of riding ponies, potential fishing and other random acts of funness.





Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."- Rumi

If a picture is worth 1000 words, I can sum up Moldova (so far) right here, right now

Here it is, the picture I've been waiting for. With the exception of one of these people not holding a bottle of house wine this picture takes my cake as, "Moldova. In one picture." Also, Youtube "Moldova Music Accordion" to add to the senses overload.



I feel more and more integrated every day. My language is improving, I've met more people in Rezina I can call prietenii (friends) and I can hold a few opinions and observations I would like to share here. This picture was "liked" by a Moldovan friend of mine on the Facebook page of Flamingo Night Club in Chisinau, Moldova and I would like to "like" it here.

For starters, the women here are beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. And the luckiest thing they have going for them is that I don't think their metabolisms are effected by the oily, fatty diet here. No long hours in the gym for them, just hours in front of the mirror. Not fair. The men... Eh... To keep it brief they do not compare to the women (please reexamine picture above). It is fairly understandable why a dude volunteer would date someone here. From a young age pretty girls know how to do "pretty", walk long distances up hills both ways in high heels, cook, clean and become obsessively interested in finding a boyfriend to obsessively obsess about when they are not obsessing about their looks, clothes, whatever. I get this feeling the girls here are very competitive with one another and its too bad they don't get involved in sports/have the opportunities like American girls do to vent this competitiveness through instead.

But seriously. If I ever get bored I'm just going to set up a chair on the staircase of Rezina to watch and count the number of women who don't just walk around, they high heel around like its no big deal (the stairs would just add to my strange amusement/bewilderment). When I wear heels here I do the street walkin' and stair climbin' in my Tevas and switch over to my heels when I get to my destination as discretely as possible.

Its like in other cultures you see the obvious "bizarre" customs where people poke sticks in their noses and get a kick out of tattooing their faces up or make an effort to stretch out their ears or keep their feet tiny...That stuff is immediately noticeable. Here it is more subtle, definitely not so dramatic but if you showed up in a city center here, cracked open a few beers (that will run you between $.80-$1.50 USD per bottle) during a busy hour you will notice more women then not wearing some sort of high heel (torture contraption), a  few short skirts, nice dresses and lots of beauties. Pretty freaky (literally).

Moving on... The clash of old and new Moldova... Traditional clothing and the modern. Generally the folky looking clothes in the picture are worn for special occasions and weddings (the people working at the reception halls wear stuff like this I believe) and to greet important people to Moldova (i.e. German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week). I am curious why they are wearing it at a night club but Moldova is a sort of "Anything Goes" kinda place (which this picture shows respectively). As an American I can't say we could even agree on something like that to wear in the States yet alone be willing to be caught dead in such an outfit. I would want to dress up as Pocahontas where it might be more correct in your opinion to dress up as John Smith or a baseball player or something. Regardless, it is neat to see it still being worn semi-frequently here instead of fading out fashion in these hip, modern times.

Next lets look at facial expressions. I would say they are open to interpretation of course as with everything I am doing with this picture but I am just about guaranteeing all of these people are in fact smiling and having a fabulous time, Moldovan style. Somewhere behind the deer in headlights look or whatever expression you want to consider the couple in this photo to be using is in fact a nice big smile you would see in the US for a photo op like this. I swear.. pinky swear. People just prefer a dead stare over a toothy smile here when they get their pictures taken. No shame in that, just not what we are used to.

Moldova is definitely a country in transition, its a great time to be here. Almost the entire country is wifi accessible but if you live in a village, expect to poop in a hole. Even if you don't live in a village. Expect to poop in a hole. Plenty of women dye their hair and have fake long nails to go with their natural beauty and high heels but you will find more people without a full set of teeth then with after the age of 40 and half of the schools without safe sanitation. You can buy a BMW or Mercedes for nothing compared to US prices and drive around like James Bond but will still be passing horse drawn carts on the "highway". People walk around talking on iPods and smart phones but curse you if you have more than one window open on the bus and blame the air current on their ailments. I could continue but I think you get the point.

Well I would say I've reached the 1000 word limit. Hope this is better insight to this goofy little country then prior blog posts and Google searches. If I come across another picture like this I will be sure to post again!

Happy Trails,

Kate

Reason #147 Why I am much happier making a little money HERE, instead of making a lot of money THERE:

Some days I go to work and get to watch my work partner chase and holler at loose pigs outside.

Not your typical office humor back in the states so ha!

And that my friends is worth all the lack of money in the world.

I'm not saying I don't wake up pissed at the sun and its ability to hit the snooze button more times than me with its comfy, fluffy grey, gloomy clouds to cuddle. Believe me I would love to be a putz and sleep all morning on the days that suggest our weather has its own kind of seasonal depression but considering its August and there are these grey, gloomy clouds I gotta kinda believe this is training, for you NFL nuts- "preseason", for Moldova's even more grey winters.

All and I like it here. It really is the little things that make your day as corny as it sounds. This week on the way to work I met a German lady backpacking Moldova for three weeks and yesterday I was stopped in the middle of the road by a packed little car full of people wondering, "Unde Saharna?" how they can get to Saharna, an ancient monastery 6km down the road from me. I haven't explored it yet but went running in that direction so I think I was able to answer their question adequately! I really got a kick out of talking to the solo traveling German lady as we walked to where I worked (she wanted a hot shower and a bed, I work at an NGO with a little hotel part that was sadly out of her budget and at full occupancy at the time). She liked Moldova,exploring it and experiencing its disorganization even though it was giving her difficulties with finding a places to crash for a night or two indoors and a shower to enjoy. I liked her outlook and acceptance of Moldova for what it is.

Speaking of the little things.. more figuratively... It's awesome to walk home and find kids sitting around the apartment quad area waiting to say hello and wanting to play with their new American on the block. The two kites (bought at Goodwill) from back home plus American candy were a huge hit. One day starting off with just Adel and I running kites up and down a strip of pavement by the apartments quickly turned into entertainment for two kids watching from their balcony, then learning how to do it, than two more showing up, and two more until we had a whole lineup of kids taking turns to run around with the kites. With these munchkins I hope to start doing more youth activities and maybe starting a club with them after I learn the language a bit better.

I also started singing in the local choir this week. Pretty sure the average age of the choir members has dropped significantly since my attendance but I don't mind; it gives me something different to do, helps me network without having to really talk to people in my poor Romanian and I'm pretty sure its making my work partner and host mom happy. Tuesdays for an hour are for sopranos, Thursdays are for the whole choir and it all gets done with the guidance of a wonderful little man and his accordion as our conductor. I am not a natural soprano but Svetlana, my work partner (who really has a pretty, true soprano voice) suggested the sopranos needed more vocal chords than the alto section; I guess I'll Peace Corps it up and go where ever needed!

Ha I almost forgot, last night I confused my Romanian family instead of the other way around this week (buzz buzz back at ya). I plan on trying out my fly rod this weekend so I figured I should try and fix the leaky crotch seam in my hand-me-down waders. Since you can't really see where the slow leak is coming from on the seam you gota find it. A trick to finding something like that involves turning the waders inside out, wetting the seam, slopping it with dish soap and take a blower (men use shop vacs in reverse, I, a hair dryer not because I'm a lady but that's because it was all I had... and ok because I'm a lady :) underneath to see where the dish soap bubbles up/ where the leaky spots are. I decided to do this when it was just Andrian, Tatiana's son who is visiting from Italy in the house because I'm sure what I was doing with the dish soap, blow dryer and weird looking pants of mine would just make Tatiana's mother hen brain ache. Andrian was around and watching what I was doing so I got him to hold the waders as I blow-dried them and marked with a marker where the bubbles where. I didn't and still don't have a clue how to translate why and what I was doing into Romanian but I think him and Tatiana understood sorta kinda what I was doing (she came home right when I was finishing up and finding a place to dry the waders). Maybe. Who knows. I sure don't.

Well its late in the afternoon, a Friday, I'm at work pig free and happy; the sun did decided to wake up a bit and do a few salutations :) Hopefully to help me catch some fish later... with or without a leaky crotch... we will see! Or feel! Hehe :)

New Photos!

The Many Meanings of Worker Bees

Buna Ziua!

Today marks my fourth day in the office and almost a week out of training. Crazy how time flies!

Last Friday I swore in with fellow ARBD (businessy) and COD (community developmenty) PC volunteers. What I thought was going to be a long day was, but it was great, really great. It started off with coffee, ice cream and  Bailey's Irish Cream for breakfast. Whatever events followed by that as your breakfast should and will be awesome. Hands down. I had to laugh as I came down stairs and saw that on the table waiting for me. It was raining of course in the morning as we were all dressed up in our outfits packing suitcase upon suitcase into the private Ruteara (minibus/ Mercedes Spirit van) but Moldovan optimism believes rain on an important day means luck for those involved. So far so true.

The US Ambassador for Moldova gave a nice speech along with our Country Director and two volunteers, our program directors announced with a slide show where we are from in the US and where we were going to work, we stood for the Star Spangled Banner and the National Anthem for Moldova and most importantly, raised our right hands and were sworn into service. Not to boast about how cool it was to do so but... but...Peace Corps volunteers say the same oath the President of the US does when he swears into office. :) Pretty sweet.

Following the ceremony and a discussion about housing with our host family we dispersed like little worker bees and fluttered away to our future sites. I think the longest anyone had to drive was 5 hours. Not bad. My drive was about an hour and a half thanks to my work partner's driving abilities even with the occasional stop to check under the hood. By bus it takes about 2 and a half hours. The day continued to be great when we got to the apartment and Tatiana's (my new host mom) friends greeted us at the doorway with the traditional welcoming braided bread and salt and a table full of food ready to be devoured. Its such a cool feeling to be completely welcomed and emerged in a culture different than your own.

Mama gazda, Tatiana is an absolute sweetheart. She is a busy little nurse in the Romanian school in town and the special needs (boarding?) school. I'm pretty sure she never stops running around. She organizes "monastery excursions," sings in the choir and probably knows just about everyone in town. During the school year her daughter's son, Adele comes to live with her and attends school in Rezina while his parents work in Italy. Such a crazy concept but this isn't the only example of missing parents and a missing generation in Moldova. He is proving to be a great little host brother as well and I think he think's I'm not to bad either. (:

And just when I had about enough to say in this long winded blog, a neighbor dude walks into the apartment with a jar of bees and really really long tweezers.

I guess Tatiana hired him to do what I would say is the craziest thing I have seen yet in Moldova. Tatiana sat with her back to him and he picked out one bee at a time with the tweezers and had the bee sting her on four parallel parts of her lower and upper back. Some people get chiropractic work, some massages, some use Cannabis others depend on pharmaceutical drugs and in this case, Apis mellifera (honey bees) to relieve chronic pain. Since I dig acupuncture and understand it to a point (haha get it, a point) it doesn't completely surprise me that Tatiana is using it for treatment of back pain and chronic headaches but it sure was cool to watch. An article online suggests the sting provides the stimulation needed to activate the adrenal gland and start producing Cortisol. If you want to learn more google apitherapy.

Well that's all for today, I didn't want to talk a ton about Rezina or my job yet because I just don't know that much about either. So far both are great, I like it here and have no complaints! Well one complaint, ironing. Who thought that with joining the Peace Corps I would have to start ironing my clothes?!? Mama gazda gives me the up and down eye to make sure I look completely fit to go out of the apartment if not......):

:)

Kate


"If it doesn't challenge you, It doesn't change you"


Here are photos people took at the swearing in ceremony. I also added a bunch of photos in the "Photos" link under Moldova.

This week I've trying to think of what I need to write about. I can't say nothing has happened, I'm not that lame but I really have a semi-lazy brain right now. Recently I wiped my butt with Russian literature, drank some more house wine, went bowling (crazy, bowling!), carved a happy birthday card into a harbuz (watermelon) for a fellow volunteers birthday, carried mentioned harbuz through the beloved, infamous cow field between Ciorescu and Cricova to get to the party, had a blast at the party, became friends with a dog I named dude, stared at a few goats, slipped down the stairs in my house (ouch), have proceeded to get more and more lost in the language thanks to daily lanugage classes and had an epic time with Moldovan women in a fitness class held in the Romanian school's basement.

Funniest moment that gets the cake this week: Walking into a bus and noticing a pair of dentures chilling on a bench. Hanging out. Outside their owner's mouth... Who walked off the bus without their dentures!? Who in their right mind put their dentures on the nasty bus bench in the first place!? Either way we all were in near tears as the pair of dentures traveled on down the road via autobuzul until a women handed the nearest gentleman a baggie to put them in and hand to the driver of the bus.

I do want to go on a rant about whiners. Complainers. Debbie AND Danny downers (dudes this includes you). Negative Nancies. Whatever you want to call a person you want to throw something very spikey, smelly and painful at when their bitching, whining, and complaining starts pouring from their mouths start polluting my ear noise. This sort of toxic waste is fine, in small doses. Everyone can eat a little mercury in their lives and everyone can handle some gripe BUT, but... I've run into this type of character on my little Peace Corps adventure already and I must say, I grind my teeth, roll my eyes and try if possible to leave the room everytime their poor choice of words and phrases interrupt my precious, blissful time on this planet. I'm no saint but I signed up for this VOLUNTEER position to try out and feel the shoes of someone that gives their life for others, not care so much about myself for a while, I doubt Mother Teresa and I wear the same shoe size but geez I will try to fill hers the best I can and not complain about my surroundings...Like someone here said, we as Americans are so so privileged to take this volunteer opportunity for two years its kinda unbelievable just saying that to someone. Realistically, our families CAN survive without two years of income and we can take the time out of our life no problemo. That wouldn't be the case for people here in Moldova and elsewhere...
I really feel like I could go on and on but will hold my tongue.. or my typing fingers at this point to stop from sounding completely rude. I think Dr. Phil would be proud. :) 


Oh and P.S. I think dad, you have met your match with someone that washes their car as much as you do. My host dad I think washed the car twice in a week or ten days AND took out the front seats and washed them up too! :) 


No matter how far away I travel I realize we're all (kinda) the same... 


Kate

ViequesPRico2012

Testing this direct blog post picture thing. Technology is a bit over my head these days. I prefer the days when there were floppy disks and the biggest challenge was pretending to drive a wagon on a digital Oregon Trail :)

Hopefully the link in my photos page will also function as access to pictures of mine!

Kate

Today I write about my cheese incidence from the other day. Happy belated Independence Day and birthday to my Grandpa!

So the other day we had a break in training and a few trainees and myself played a game of fotbol with some local kids. Its alot of fun, the kids are really good and its nice to show them that a girl can actually play sports half way decent. Just like in the states, its super hot here too so we went through alot of water and took two breaks from playing. On one break I went to the outhouse next door (the field is in the "city center" next to the bus stop, store, bar and little restaurant) that is probably publicly wayyy too overused but that's not what this story is about... When I stepped out of the outhouse a girl my age was smoking and wearing a uniform for work/ cashier vest that they wear next door. She was super friendly and was trying to understand my broken Romanian and I went back to the field pretty excited that I made a new friend my age. I thought she was working this little drink stand thats right outside the Magazine (shop) where all the locals buy this kinda gross tasting iced tea drink called "Cvas." I think its the countries favorite and or official drink of choice. These stands are set up everywhere, especially in the capitol. Not thinking, I said, "I made a new friend, I think she works at the Cascaval stand!!!" Instead of Cvas, I said cheese, and I totally realized it a minute too late when everyone started cracking up. So that is the story how the girl from Wisconsin in the group got the nickname cheese girl. :) Oh the irony in life....

Hope all is well! Today I hit the north road up to my future work site in the city of Rezina! I am very excited about the NGO I will be working with as it sounds like they work in eco-tourism, small business, rural business and other earthy fun stuff. The website is http://www.habitat.md/ and it is in English so go check it out! I will post pictures of stuff next time including my future home!

"Respond to every call that excites your spirit." Rumi

Kate

Buna Seara!

This country keeps me laughing and learning. I have seen Russian ketchup and mayo come out of massive packets instead of squirt bottles, more house wine than what the state of California probably produces in a year, dogs eating chicken bones and not choking to death (sorry Carharrt, I should have trusted you), noodles and butter on my plate for breakfast and ham omlets for lunch, Cognac and Coke served in a martini glass, the freshest lemons that would have put the lemons used at work in Vail to shame and more than one women drunkenly sing Ava Maria or well, the first line over and over again as if they were Italian superstars.

So much has happened since I posted last so I will try and catch everybody up... My host family, the Padures and I went to to the padure (the forest) for a family picnic. Besides us, about 10 other relatives showed up and roasted chicken with a bunch of veggies and pineapple for desert. Although I had no idea what they were staying it was still awesome. I am so glad my host parents take me along to their social events instead of leaving me in the house to study, they laughed when I said "The Padures in the Padure" and enjoyed the attention of my fancy little camera.

Last week I passed into my 23rd year of existance and the celebrations started at about 6:30 in the morning when I was sleeping, topless in the hot summer morning. My host parents flung open my door, threw rose petals all over my room and handed me a small boquet of roses picked from the garden outside and gave me a necklace and perfume as gifts. It was sweet even with the ackwardness of clutching my bed sheet around my body as I registered what was going on an hour before I was supposed to wake up.. Haha I loved it. At school my language teacher also suprised me with roses, they all sang happy birthday in English and Romanian and some of my coluges even hooked up a cake for us to split at lunch. As a kid I got to avoid ackward birthday celebrations in school because of being a June baby but I am not complaining about recieving a delicious piece of chocolate cake in class this time around. This fiesta may or may not have continued after class with a bit of cold Moldovan beer in the pubic cow grazing field outside of town...

This past week went by so fast, we went to the capitol, Chisinau three times last week, once for lectures, once for an agriculture meeting and one time for an evening piano concert. Want to guess how much I paid to see four different pianists and a mini orchestra play for about an hour and a half? Less than the cost of bus fare in the states, 15 lei. Our language teacher caught wind of the concert sponsored by the French embassy and was nice enough to invite us on her evening adventures into the big city. This adventure also allowed us to avoid meat and potatoes for dinner and indulge in Andys Pizza, a pizza chain in Moldova (it was alright pizza but a great change of pace).

This Thursday we find out where our permanent work site will be and we are all super excited!!! I hope mine has horses and a river near by.... I will find out and let you know soon!!! :)

Hey Hey Hey

Buna Ziua!

Yet again I have relocated. I could have made my blog title be "Where in the World is Kate Van Oostburg? but it just dosn't sound right. Plus, for the next two years I know I will be residing in the Republic of Moldova, a former communist, former Soviet country near the Black sea no bigger than the size of Maryland. I took an opportunity to volunteer here with the Peace Corps and so far, after about a week of struggling through daily language lessons, I have absolutely no regrets.

I realy do have an addiction to being in transit and traveling to a completely new, unaquainted area and I have met 67 other volunteeree people with the same mentality or atleast part of the same mentality. Its realy cool how different our backgrounds, reasons for joining and goals while in service really are. Getting to Moldova took a long time to travel to, I think we were traveling for about 48 hours straightish but I wasn't a complainer...I would say the top three things during the march to Moldova include:

1. Completed homework for a NY Lambert Airport security guard with another PCT, he was nice.. I think there is a picture of us somewhere I will try and get...

2. Peoplewatching and sampling just about every kind of perfume/ colonge known to man in the huge duty-free shops in Istanbul's airport with a fellow PCT (because we had so much time to kill, not because we are smell snobs) and mooched samples of just about everything else we could get our hands on (Uzo= gross, Turkish delights and Kinder chocolate= delightful).

3. Talked instead of sleep throughout the flights with fellow volunteers who were just as excited as I was to make new friendships (when I really should have slept).

Alrighty, so I am here. But where is really here!?!

For the next two months I will live with Vera (age 51), Miheal (53) and Miheala (17); my awesome host family in my training site where I will try and learn Romanian and more about my job as an Agri-Business Rual Business Development volunteer. Life is good here. Besides being overly suprised that I don't squat over a hole outside to do my 1's and 2's and bathe in a bucket, I live in a house where the daughter speaks English, the back yard is one big fruit and veggie garden and its not a far walk to and from my language/training classes. My town has a bar, small market, Russian school and regular school, an auto service shop, a party place where people are always getting married, a hospital, and not much else. And goats. There are goats that hang out and eat the grass behind the school, goats on the side of the roads and goats in this town field thing. The people are nice and the kids are pretty curious about our strange group. I would say this is more like a vacation from reality but to be honest, if my brain could burn calories with how much it worked, after one week of classes I think I would look like I have exercise-induced anorexia.

Its not every job that you get paid to learn a second language and live with a host family that thinks you need to eat up. I gotta say, Moldova so far is pretty sweet. I hope to speak Romanian well enough soon that its not wierd if I try and play soccer with the boys in town. My mentality towards not being able to learn the language? Study, practice, get used to being completely out of my English speaking bubble. Not showering daily? Enjoy the musk and get used to it. Noisey dogs and roosters screeching 24 hours a day including the neighbor "guard" dog who's location conveniently echos directly into my room and the constant I-will-eat-you-lunge of dogs chained behind fences as I walk through my town? Learn how to sleep through just about anything and have some hot dog from my lunch saved as sacrifice and deal with it. 

Homeworkman in NYC

The countryside outside Chinsinau

At Home and Lazyish... For Now!

"Oh let the stars beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream. I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been..."

Right now I am "packing." By "packing" I mean sitting on my bed next to my snoozing dog, Pandora on blaring Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, Facebook on a tab (just in case) with about every inch of my room cluttered with clothing, shoes, cds, books and things I either want to take with me when I leave for Moldova, pack up in storage, or never see again. How many days do I have to pack again? About 17. Plenty of time for a procrastinator like myself to get everything ready that I may possibly want for living in a multi-weather/four season country for two years...and be less than 100 pounds. 


Piece of cake, piece of crumb cake. Or is it?

My confidence might be my demise but it hasn't phased me yet. I still have time (spoken like a true procrastinator). The best part of being home I will admit is my eating habits. Call me Porky the Pig but I have been pigging out on whatever I feel like. You never know when I'm going to eat Cousin Subs, Culver's cheeseburgers and Ben & Jerrys  again right? As excited as I am about trying my next country of residence's food, this is pretty cool.

The second to last day in Vieques (off the coast of mainland PR), I jumped on a ferry for two bucks and headed to Old San Juan for the night. With live music, an art fair and a guest house/hostel right in the heart of it, I was all set as a happy camper. This wouldn't have been quite as exciting if I hadn't met two friendly swimmers on the Blue Beach (also the coolest beach) on Vieques. They convinced me to head to San Juan a day early and we spent the night shopping, eating and exploring Old San Juan. Its amazing how easy it is to make friends. One shop we stopped in had a guy in dreadlocks behind the counter wearing a cool red t-shirt with Jimi Hendrix on it. One classic rock conversation led to another and it turns out he took my guest house reservation for his Mom that owned the guest house I was staying at! He showed us the view of Old San Juan from the roof of the guest house, and site of his newly built roof-room-home before going through and showing us all of his artwork. We loved it. I hope his hard work and eye-catching designs will cover many touristy shirts, posters and other memorabilia for many many moons.

Last week I flew home from Vieques, Puerto Rico and couldn't be more relieved. Don't get me wrong, the beaches= beautiful. The culture= crazy, just how I like it and the chance to see Puerto Rico with someone who lived and breathed it for 15 years was a great way to see it. AND, ANNDDD there were horses running around and grazing on the sides of the road everywhere! How cool is that?!? It felt like the Hispanic version of Misty of Chincoteague. Anywhere I can sleep and hear the gait of a Paso Fino running down the street at night and get stopped in a mini traffic jam because of some mares and foals in the street is a good enough place to check out. But, it is nice to finally get home, off the road for a little breather with the family before shippin' out.

Now I have my sights set on cleaning my car... You can never have too many projects to tackle, right? Wrong. I'm up to my ears in them! Where are those organizing freaks of nature on HDTV when you need them!?! :)-Kate

The Wheels are in Motion...

Want to know my secret to happiness recently? Here's what I did....
1. Move 500+ miles away from anywhere near what you are used to. Move somewhere that moooves you.
2. Get a job. Not a serious job if you are looking to relocate soon. Go serious if you have it in you and will stick around longer then a typical tomcat...
3. Never let homesickness or loonies talk you out of your little adventure. Stay away from drugs and boozin and you should be able to budget just fine on your own... If not talk to a financial planner seriously..
4. Keep the "Yes Man" mentality up in everything you do, who knows what you'll miss out on...free snowmobiling tours, ski rentals, a chance to meet a celebrity, sushi, concerts... you never know!!! These little connections, freebies, whatevers are what make my world go round. I sit back and think, there is no chance I would have done this stuff this week had I lived at home still!!!
5. Take whatever friends you can get. Mine rock and roll. Without them my experiences wouldn't have been much of anything and I owe it all to them.

That being said, my spontaneous move to Vail, Colorado has been a great decision. Community sponsered free concerts? Hook-ups all around the valley because of where I work or who I know? People my age who like to have fun at night and outiside just like me?!? Nice people and good vibes are what little towns in Eagle County are made of.

Colorado has me converted into a mountain women but my time here is coming to an end. My paitence for goverment hoops to jump through has worked and I have been accepted into the Peace Corps. I about sent myself into diabeitic shock when my parents told me a letter from the PC came and said they wanted to send me to Moldova if I was down. Moldova! I could write a blog on me geeking out about Moldova but that will definately happen on its own for the next two years of my life. Of course I said yes and will be leaving early June as a rural business/agri-business chick!

More to come... hopefully sooner then later on my travels... Next up, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico!