MoldovAnn

I called 125 Ohio voters today to encourage them to vote on Tuesday. Have you voted? Are you encouraging your family and friends to vote? Do you know why Senator Barack Obama will be the best president for you? You can learn all about the issues that matter most to you on his website.

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Democrats Abroad Ukraine are calling voters in the US to encourage people to vote, and to answer questions about the Obama/Biden campaign. Being from a swing state, I’ve got a long list of Ohio folks to call. It’s exciting to talk to so many people who have (1) already voted, and (2) have or are going to vote for Obama/Biden!

Check out the Obama/Biden campaign, you can volunteer to knock on doors and/or make calls. You can do it wherever you are in the world - we’re calling the US tonight using Skype; it only costs 2 cents/minute!

UPDATE: I called 57 Ohio voters for under $3.00 - including a 45 minute call with “on the fence” voter. You can do it too! Help get out the vote.

two weeks have flown by.

We spent 2 days last week with my Moldovan friend Petya and his girlfriend Marina. Petya lived in Tvarditsa, and was my good friend and walking buddy in the village. He’s studying at a university not far from Moscow now, and met there the love of his life, Marina, who ironically grew up in a village not far from Tvarditsa. They had to go to university in Russia to meet each other! They are spending the summer on a Work and Travel program, and managed to get jobs in Ohio working concessions on the fair circuit. Not glamorous work, but they are getting quite the tour of small town America. We picked them up last Sunday and brought them to Columbus for the night. How strange and wonderful to meet my Tvarditsa friend in my hometown! We had a really good time with them.

Tuesday we took a long walk through the neighborhood, bought Igor an album for his growing collection of state quarters, and bought him a couple of buffalo steaks. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed admiring the lovely yards everywhere. We sat in a little park for a break, and to look through Igor’s growing collection of state quarters. Man, those things were getting heavy to be carrying around! Later in the week we found an album for him, and I thought it was going to be permanently attached to him. We were down to five missing quarters as of Saturday afternoon - which included 3 quarters that haven’t been minted yet, or at least that’s what I thought. That little genius Tyler showed at Dad’s birthday party with THREE of the missing quarters - including Arizona, which we didn’t know was available! So Igor brought back a near-complete set of state quarters, and next year we’ll have a good time finishing it up with Alaska and Hawaii.

Later in the day, Igor and Dad did a lot of yard work, while Tyler and I worked inside the house. She got an urge to bake, or more preciously she got an urge to eat sugar cookies so we baked a big batch of them, plus a pan of brownies. Yum!

In the early evening we went to the pool and we could finally make use of our new bathing suits. In Ukraine, all the women - no matter what age, no matter how big - all wear two-piece bathing suits. And the men all wear little Speedo-like things. I was very uncomfortable the first few times I went to beaches here, not being used to seeing so much skin and sometimes “too much information.” But after a bit I started to feel uncomfortable because I felt like I stuck out being the only person in a one-piece bathing suit. After one of my trips home I brought back with me the two-piece I bought at the peak of my Weight Watchers success, when I was feeling really great about my body. I had worn it maybe once or twice in the US but always felt self-conscious. Here in Ukraine, even with 15 pounds of weight regained, I feel really comfortable in my two-piece. And it’s so nice to be around people who don’t have so many body-image hang-ups, at least not on the beach. But as we planned for this trip to the US, I told Igor that I needed to get a new, one-piece bathing suit. He was really confused, and none of my attempts to explain why I just cannot wear a two-piece in the US seemed to help him. The matter was made even worse when I told him that he would have to get a new bathing suit, too, because he would not be able to wear his Speedo-like suit, at least not in Columbus. I think he thought I was kidding until I told him that I heard on an NPR podcast that a man was fined in Florida for wearing a Speedo (granted, I heard it on “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!”, which happens to be my main source of news these days). So our first day in Columbus he bought an “American” bathing suit, which he proceeded to wear as shorts for the next two weeks. When we finally went swimming Tuesday evening, he hated it - hated the feel of the shorts in the water, the way the poofed up, and he kept feeling like they were going to fall off.

Wednesday I saw “Sex and the City” with Cheria. Awesome movie! Thursday we drove down to Athens to visit Jenny and her family. I always forget how beautiful southern Ohio is, and Igor enjoyed the scenery as much as I did. Friday morning we got up early and drove west to Serpent Mound. It wasn’t as big as we had expected, but then again, after Niagara Falls nothing seems particularly big. Some of the Ohio Indian mounds are to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, and since they are really special and unique, I thought it would be cool to visit them with Igor. We then took a leisurely drive along country roads back up to Columbus, stopping at a couple other state parks along the way. We also stopped at an Amish store, and Igor was thrilled to see some Amish people - “The only Americans who live like Ukrainians,” he said.

Friday night was a fabulous dinner at Madeleine and Dick’s with family and friends. Saturday morning we packed, which wasn’t nearly as bad as we’d expected. I should have brought another person along with me ages ago! The extra two bags made such a huge difference.

And then Saturday evening was Dad’s really nice birthday party. Lots of his friends and neighbors. And at the end of the evening he decided to crack open a 17-year old bottle of Armenia cognac he’s been saving for years. Wow, was it every awesome!

Sunday morning came much too quickly. Dad made his famous pancakes, and Scott, Carina, Tayler and Tyle r came over to visit a few more minutes with us. Cheria and Jahi met us at the airport for final goodbyes.

We are both so full of impressions, both of us still sorting them out. I was so happy when Igor said he’d really enjoyed the trip, everything we did and everyone we met. I enjoyed the washer and dryer, and having clothes cleaned and dried in under 90 minutes. We both enjoyed the convenience and ease of everything. We took Petya to the bank to open an account, and as we left he told me he couldn’t believe how nice the banker was - “They would never be nice to you in Russian,” he said. Yes, customer service is pretty darn good in the U.S. I like being able to pay everywhere with my debit card, but it’s also nice to use cash and never had problems getting change- never once did anyone yell at me to dig in my purse for coins because there wasn’t enough change in the till or the cashier didn’t want to be bothered counting out change. I love the ease and ability to recycle (it’s so painful to put paper in the trash can in Ukraine!).

There were some not-so-great things too. The fruits and vegetables taste like crap, there’s just no other word for it. Fresh Ukrainian produce beats the US hands-down. I missed having a beer during a leisurely walk on a hot day. Heck, I missed walking! Too much driving in the US. I was embarrassed by the number of just down right huge people that Igor noticed and pointed out to me. He was especially shocked to see obese people on their motorized chairs in the grocery store. He was also floored when I told him we couldn’t just go to the pharmacy and buy some antibiotics for his sinus infection, that instead it would involve a doctor’s appointment and a prescription.

Overall though, it was a wonderful two weeks. Lots of good times, lots of good food; great friends, great family. That’s what it’s all really about.

We had a FANTASTIC time at Niagara Falls. We rode the Maid of the Mist, did the Cave of the Winds tour, and filled the camera memory card in less than 4 hours. I’ll post more photos later. We also drove up to Lake Ontario to Fort Niagara, which was really cool.

More food fantasies were indulged.
Igor: steak, yam (first one in his life), more Guinness beer, bacon.
Ann: Ceasar salads (2), pomegranate martini, tiny little burrito-like things that were fried (brilliant!), salt water taffy (bought it, haven’t eaten it yet), Morningstar soy-sausage breakfast patties, English muffins (about 8), more chips and salsa.

After looking at me in my cute new Eddie Bauer clothes for 3 days, Igor admitted he’s ready to go back to the warehouse store and actually look for himself now. I’ve converted him!

Well, I’ve lived 4 1/2 days in Moldova! I am very happy, things are going well. Already there is probably enough for me to fill 50 blog postings, but since I am short on time, I’ll tell you about some first impressions and my new daily routine.

Flying over Moldova, I was reminded of Ohio actually! Farms and farms and farms. It’s a bit hillier than central Ohio, though. Chisinau, the capital, is like many other Eastern European towns/cities I’ve been in. Large cement-block buildings, dusty roads, crazy drivers (anyone who thinks Columbus drivers are crazy ain’t seen nothin’ yet!). Friday and Saturday are a blur already, though.

Saturday night we met our host families, and went home with them to our respective villages. There are 36 trainees in our group (we’ll officially be Peace Corps Volunteers when we are sworn in on November 15, after the completion of our formal language and technical training). 21 trainees (including me) are in Economic & Organizational Development, and 15 are in the Agricultural/Agribusiness program. There are more men than women in our group. 33 trainees are learning Romanian language, and 3 of us are learning Russian. The three of us live in Ialoveni, which is a suburb of Chisinau, with a population of about 18,000. Everyone else is split up amongst surrounding villages, 6-8 trainees per village with different host families. We “Russians” (as we are called as we are the anomalies learning Russian!) did luck out a bit by being placed in Ialovni, although it is so true that you get what you ask for! I was awful busy for months and months praying for indoor plumbing and running water. Well, I got that, but quickly realized the small but important omission in my prayers. Can you guess it? Yep, not just running water, but HOT running water. Lesson #1: you have to really think about what you want. So, my host family lives in an apartment, much like the apartments I am familiar with in Russia. We have running water, but the hot water heater is broken and thus we heat the water on the stove when we want to bathe. I still don’t have all the logistics down yet of how to bathe with bucket and pail, but I’m getting there. I figure it’s good practice, as in 9 weeks I’ll move again, to my volunteer site, and likely will have a change in accommodations.

So far, here is my routine:
7:00ish, wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:15 walk 1/2 mile to the post office building where PC has rented 2 rooms for our language class. We have instruction in one room, and our “lounge” in the next, where we take our breaks for tea, snacks and relaxing.
8:30-1:00 pm - language lessons. Day 1 was easy for me, as the other 2 Russian students have very little to no experience with Russian at all. Today, though, the honeymoon ended. Our teacher, Viorica, put Matt and Emily to work together, and gave me some advanced lessons. Egad! I haven’t had to study cases and declinations for 12 years! It was hard work, but I am excited to improve my Russian language skills, and not just guess at what is right, but maybe actually know how to say something correctly and why.

1:00 pm 1/2 mile walk up the hill for lunch at home

2:30 pm Self-Directed Time - homework, activities, etc. Sometimes assigned by Viorica, sometimes more or less free time, but time to be learning, integrating into the community, etc.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, all the trainees come into Chisinau for PC lectures (health, safety, administration and technical training). Today we all registered with the local authorities, so we are now officially allowed to stay here.

The weather has been lovely - hot, even, and not a cloud in the sky. The people are very friendly and helpful. The food is delicious. We have to be careful with the water because of bacteria, but PC provided us each with some kind of purifier (which they call a distiller). Lesson #2: don’t look inside the purifier after you run the water through it; you don’t want to know what’s in there.

I started keeping a list (ah, my love of lists!) of my impressions, things I notice, etc. I will try to post some of them next time.

Suffice to say, things are very good so far. As they say, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Well, I’ve decided that my first encounter with Moldova 10 years ago doesn’t really count, and thus, I have a wonderful first impression of the country and its people.