My Family in Moldova

"Have you been crying today?" she asked as we sat down to coffee and sunflower seeds at the kitchen table that I hadn't eaten at for over a year. 

How did she know? Besides the fact that I'm, um.. known for my tears, she knew because she's my mom. My "host" mom, sure. But she has been as much a real mom as she possibly could be for the last two years, even though I only lived at her house for two months when we first arrived for training in Moldova. Recently I went to visit my training host family after spending much too much time apart.

Our first Country Director said something about host families - even though you spend two years with one and two months with the other, often you'll have a stronger connection with the first, short-term family than you will with the one at your permanent site. She said this tends to be the case because when you get to this new country and you know absolutely nothing, your training host family has to teach you literally everything. When I arrived at Angela's house, I did not know one word in Romanian. I didn't know how to ask where the outhouse was (it took me two days to even try - don't ask), or how to find the school where I'd have lessons. When you can't communicate, it feels like you can't do anything, so that first family really has to help you learn how to live again. Of course this would form a strong bond; in order to survive, they are what you have. 

A few hours after we landed in Moldova, we were dropped off at our host families' houses. I was shown my room, I sat down on the couch, and then a tiny person came in to investigate. She was adorable and I didn't understand a word she said, but I knew she wanted to help me unpack. I was hot, exhausted, nervous, kind of scared, and maybe a little panicky.. But then she started trying on my bras and asking what literally every single item was for, so I was able to forget about some of those feelings for a little while. That was just the beginning of our being best friends. 

Day one in Moldova with Ionela.

Ionela was 4 years old when I arrived, and she was a little firecracker from day one. During our two months of training, she played with me, learned how to give me commands in English ("Come to eat, Catherine!"), fixed my hair, went through all my things, cuddled with me, drove me crazy, and forced me to watch Frozen about a gazillion times (who are we kidding though, I obviously started it - it's a quality movie). And I loved having her around; she was like my baby sister who I couldn't quite communicate with but who loved me just the same. Now she is 6 years old and she starts school in the fall. It can be hard to see time passing when it feels like every day in the village is the same, but when you walk into a house and see that the little girl you love so much is suddenly not as little, you realize that two years have indeed gone by. She is still perfect, wants to play 24/7, dreams up little kid scenarios, says I'm Anna and she's Elsa, and sleeps in my room with me. When I left to move to my permanent site, she sat in my suitcase so I couldn't pack. I already know she'll probably be the hardest person to leave.

We tried every single Snapchat filter roughly a hundred times each.

 Nina and Virgillia are my sisters, too. Two years ago when Nina finally came home from school or dance practice or somewhere and could speak some English to me was the best thing. Now I could communicate a little more easily! That summer they took me swimming, and out with their friends, and let me and Ionela join in on their YouTube workout sessions. Nina helped translate for me and Virgillia could occasionally convince Ionela that I did indeed have homework to do. 

After we had our coffee and sunflower seeds, mom asked, "Have you had any cherries yet this year?" I hadn't, so of course we had to go out back and pick some! Mom climbed the tree and passed handfuls of perfect cherries down to me, which I stuck in my pockets that were quickly overflowing. I spent the next two days just hanging out with everyone - playing with Ionela, walking to the store with Nina, attempting to make placinta, surprising extended family members at their house, even getting to see host dad on Skype. 

I'm thankful to this family because in just 15 minutes I easily feel more part of the family than I have in the whole two years at my permanent site. I often wonder how different my service would have been if I'd been fortunate enough to have such a caring family to live with the whole time. 

I remember one of my first days in Moldova, I sat down to dinner with the family and Nina said, "Catherine, you don't like fish, do you?" I may have avoided it in the lunch they had packed for me that day (and possibly another time or two). "No..." I said sheepishly, hoping that wasn't a deal breaker. They all laughed and said something like, aha, we thought so! Don't worry, it's fine! That night I truly felt like part of the family, and I'm pretty sure it's because they told me I was. Americans in Moldova use the term "host family," but not every host family uses it. It's normal to us to say "host sister" and "host dad" but to a lot of hosts, that doesn't really make sense. But here I am a sister and a daughter, and I have sisters and mom and dad. 

They still remember the list of foods I don't like to eat, and the first words I learned (puțin, puțin! - a little, a little! aka self-preservation during masas). We all remember how in the past I could barely hold a conversation, and now our world is completely changed because I can. Two summers ago, mom would make me breakfast and then get back to working around the house or in the garden. Now she makes me breakfast and sits down to chat. 

I had such a great time with them that I ended up staying even longer than I had planned, and I thought it would be my last visit, but I hope to make at least one more trip out there to properly say goodbye. Which I know will be practically impossible. There's so much more I could say about how much I love this family, but I really just want to say Thank you. Thank you for taking me in and helping me survive and being my family and loving this weird American girl that was put in your house for a summer. And please come visit me in America! Because I can't live without you.  

As I left the house again, mom and Ionela walked me out to the road and hugged me goodbye. "If you ever feel like you want to cry, just call me, and we'll talk through it," mom said. A simple statement that ironically makes me want to cry, because of how thoughtful it is, and how we never would have been able to do that two years ago. Now that we can finally communicate, it's time for me to go. Pardon me while I go cry about it. 

Something of Impact

At our Close of Service Conference, we were supposed to prepare something for the "Something of Impact" session, where we all talked about how awesome Peace Corps was something impactful from our service. It could be anything. It WAS anything. 

I did not share. 

I had this prepared forever in advance, had written notes in my journal (which I carried to each session) so I wouldn't forget anything, and we had already placed bets on how many times I'd cry. But everyone said such great things - I laughed, I cried, I was inspired. So I thought, yeah, I can't do this. My natural "emotional basketcase" state plus a mountain of insecurity at the time just led to my sitting there listening to everyone else talk. Luckily I have a bunch of amazing supporters on my team, who said they still want to hear what I had to say. So here it is. 

---

I can, with relative confidence, walk the mile or so from the bus stop to my house on a moonless night.

You're probably thinking, okay... great job, Cat. How is that Something of Impact? 

My site is a small village that's three hours from Chisinau on a good day. We don't really have paved roads, and we have about 4 streetlights (and 3 of them are right next to each other). When I first arrived, my host mom made a big deal about the fact that there was a streetlight outside our house. I eventually realized that it was literally on just for me. Someone was paying to have that streetlight on because the volunteer, the American, lived there. 

So when I first got to the village, if I returned to site at night (which I tended to do, due to bus schedules), I would have a few streetlights, hopefully a moon to light the way, and my flashlight (or, more accurately, the light on my phone). And I knew I was getting close because I had the streetlight in front of my house to guide me. In other words, I had a lot of help making my way through the village. 

The road isn't terrible, but if you don't know it, it can be a little treacherous. There are holes to avoid. It's uneven. If it's rained, there are perfect places to step so you don't get as muddy. (The American is not good at finding these perfect places.) You never want to step directly where the cows have traveled on their way home.. 

Maybe you see where I'm going with this. In the beginning of my Peace Corps service, I needed a lot of help. I had my village looking out for me (with the streetlight at my house), I had my program staff, cohort, and people back home helping me out (maybe they're the rest of the streetlights), and I was trying to make it on my own (with my phone to light the way). It was really hard at first. I might trip, or make mistakes. Dogs would come out and scare me, or I would get homesick. Even if I tried to do everything right and not step where I shouldn't, some unforeseen obstacle would come out of nowhere and upset me or make me fall. It was really frustrating at times, especially when I would leave for a weekend and come back to new holes in the ground to avoid. 

But it got easier. The road got renovated a little, and I started to get used to the life I was living in my village and in Peace Corps. I felt a little more sure of myself. I cried less. I had successful projects, and English classes, and trainings, and I was helping other PCVs. I became more comfortable in the work I was doing and the way I felt about it. I could speak Romanian. I felt relatively accomplished (most days). I knew which dogs had a bark worse than their bite and which ones were just curious about the American walking by. They turned off the streetlight, and I was okay. 

Now I can walk from the bus stop to my house on a moonless night. That maybe doesn't sound so impressive to you. But without streetlights or natural light to show the way, most of the walk is completely dark. I'm doing this on my own, and I think I'm good at it. People don't keep lights on in their houses; cars don't drive by to shine headlights for a little while. But I'm used to it. I know where to step, I know what to do. 

I don't need to make such an effort to keep myself from falling.

Sure, there is still opportunity for me to slip up. A flash of something in the road that isn't normally there; being told I have to run important meetings using a bunch of vocabulary I'm unsure of. An animal might appear suddenly; I might have an unforeseen complication with a grant. But there are still a few streetlights and at least I know where I'm going.

And on those nights when it's completely dark and I'm making my way slowly through the journey, I've got you guys. I've got all these beautiful stars, these constellations, some of which I know like the back of my hand and that I know I'll be seeing for all of my life, that make the whole trip worth it.

---

Love to you, M29, my moon and my stars. You turn the darkest night into a breathtaking masterpiece. We've come so far, and I'm forever grateful that you've been there for me this whole time (whether you're still here or whether you've already gone). We did it! Vă iubesc, și mi-e dor de voi deja. 

Today I'm Thankful For... #4

Oops, it's December, and I haven't posted my last week! In my defense, life happened. Anyway, it's crazy that it's December.. There are less than 30 days left in 2015, Christmas decorations are happening (okay, just kidding, it's not even close to America's crazy, but I do have a tiny tree in my room), I'm wearing my winter coat now (December 1 IS winter here), and I'm drinking all the Christmas tea and watching all the Christmas movies I possibly can. Here's what I was thankful for during the last week of November, and to see the first three, head here, here, and/or here.

November 23: Puppies! We have two at our house that are adorable and come greet me anytime I open the door to go outside now. More adorably, we found EIGHT puppies while walking in the raion center. At least eight. Possibly more. They were just the cutest things. 

November 24: I am thankful for power. I didn't actually have it today, so there was a lot of whining (not me, I swear - my host mom!) and going to bed early. Sunset is before 4:30 p.m. so it was pretty dark pretty early.. Not much to do in the dark besides go to bed. If only I hadn't slept in until noon, that would have been easier.. I keep saying I'll buy some candles and I keep forgetting, but.. It's definitely on my to-do list now! 

November 25: I'm thankful for power today because it came back this afternoon! The mayor asked me how things were going, and I said, oh they're fine! He said, things are good at the house? It's warm, all's well? Yes, sure is! Oh except we haven't had power in a while. Then he made fun of me: yes, everything's fine, except I'm freezing and have no food! Very funny. I don't know if it had anything to do with our conversation, but an hour later, the power was back. I'm also thankful for a relatively quiet English class today. We made hand turkeys and did a word search - if you ever want 5-10 minutes of quiet, sit them down with a word search in English and you'll sure get it. Until they notice that you're doing really well at it and the "cheating" starts. Which, adorably, they were really concerned about. Like, guys, it's just a word search. No big deal.

November 26: Thankful for hours spent on Skype with Mina today. "Is it too early to drink wine?" "No." "Okay I'm gonna run out and get a bottle - I'll call you back and we can share a glass!" Perfect. 

November 27: Even though it was depressing, I'm glad that Amanda sent me terrible pictures of everyone from the family Thanksgiving so I could fully see what I was missing. Also glad that my host mom told me not to go to work today because I got to sleep in WAY too late, which was apparently very necessary. 

November 28: Unexpected FaceTimes from my BFF, a newly organized cupboard, and Hallmark Christmas movies. 

November 29: I can't stop wanting to put Hallmark Christmas movies on the list, as that's currently the best thing in my life.. Also for cake and Christmas tea! 

November 30: Fresh air, the '50s-'60s jazz playlists on 8tracks, and unexpected slumber parties with some great guys. 

And that's the end of this month - on to the next!

Today I'm Thankful For... #3

Serios, I'm confused. I was pretty sure November just started, and then I looked at the calendar and it was half over, and then I blinked and now it's been November for three weeks. What?

This week's been okay, nothing spectacular to write home about, but not much to whine about either, so I can't really complain! Here's what I've been thankful for this week.   

November 16: My favorite rutiera driver stopped and picked me up on the road today, even though I was just going to work and not leaving the village. He dropped me off right in front of the Primaria! So nice of him. It's always a better ride whenever he's driving. 

November 17: Some older, wiser volunteers told us that our second year would be crazy compared to our first. It's not that I didn't believe them, but I guess I needed to get there to think, oh yeah, I guess they were right. Today's been busy and I can tell the rest of the week will be too, but I think I'm thankful that it is. I'm getting things done and the future is looking bright - even though I've got no clue what it holds. 

November 18: Can I say "the mayor" again? Having a rough morning and he comes into the office, so I tell him we need to take some pictures for our next project. He takes me right out and drives me around the village to take these pictures. He tells me to write my parents to thank them for sending me here. We walk past the park and have this conversation: 
"This park - you did a good thing."
"WE did."
"Yes, well. If all volunteers do something like this - how many are you? 100? - Moldova will be a much better country." 
Then I sat with my host mom at dinner forever and showed her a million pictures of my family because A. I miss them and B. I think she truly enjoys seeing them. So that was nice.

November 19: A productive morning to myself, and sunset over the lake. 

November 20: Becky Sharkey, 5 year anniversaries, and crossing everything off my to-do list. 

November 21: Thanksgiving celebrations with the raion family that included: delicious food, desserts for days, running around with a football, pajamas, card games, and the Mirror of Thankfulness. 

November 22: Dutch Blitz, movie night, and honest conversations. And pajamas again, because obviously. 

So, this week was posted on Monday, 100% because I wasn't at home on Sunday, BUT it works out because November ends next Monday, so that's when I'll post the next one, too. Come back for that and the end of the month!

Today I'm Thankful For... #2

It's been kind of a rough week for me, but of course I'm still keeping my list of things to be thankful for, because that's what I want to do in November! (Or all the time? But I'm going to focus on November first, because Thanksgiving!) If you missed the first one, it's here.

November 9: The mayor of my village. I put off telling him news about our latest project, because in my mind, the news wasn't great - the potential funders said the project was too big for them. They could only do up to a certain amount. But I told him in our Monday morning meeting in front of everyone and he just said, okay, no problem, we'll find the rest! Something's better than nothing! Yes, Primar, you are right. There's a good wake-up for being thankful this week - he was excited to hear what I thought was bad news. Also I love him because sometimes he comes in my office to give me a hug and ask how I'm doing, because he misses his daughters who don't live in the village. If he asked to adopt me, I'd probably have to say yes. 

November 10: My mother's day off coincided with my middle-of-the-night freakout, so I'm thankful for that because I got to talk to her and she obviously helped - as much as mothers can from 5,000+ miles away. And also for the Peace Corps doctors, who (after giving me other helpful, actual medical assistance) literally said to #treatyoself, which it turns out I really needed. (If you want to treat yourself to some overpriced, no red cup drama, specialty coffee, I now highly recommend the Creme Brulee at Tucano.) 

November 11: Donuts and iced coffee and conversations with the guy selling them to me. Coming home to clean sheets and the promise of a lit soba.

November 12: UM, my parents have iPhones now so I can text them 24/7, which if you know me, I really have just spent 17 months wishing this could happen. So THAT'S awesome. It was also a BEAUTIFUL day today!

November 13: Catching up with "old friends" over lasagna and a jug of wine. 

November 14: A beautiful day to plant trees, and being a part of a great, big group of PCVs that went outside and planted a bunch of them. (My host mom said she saw us on the news (possibly here!) and then said: "You'll leave, but the trees will grow." How's that for a summary of our Peace Corps service.) Getting to hang out with great friends that you haven't seen in so long that the conversation never stops. Anytime there's zero desire to look at your phone. 

November 15: Brunch with the girls. And the fact that I just wrote, "Brunch with the girls." #poshcorps

Come back next Sunday to read more about what I'm thankful for this month. 

Today I'm Thankful For...

Thanksgiving is obviously my favorite holiday, because food and family and turkey.. Wait, turkey goes into that first category, doesn't it? WHATEVER. Rather than think about potential controversy surrounding the day, let's just take this time to be grateful for all that we've got. So I'm going to do that all month (like I did last year) because it's fun, and we should be doing it all the time, obviously!

November 1: Time spent with new volunteers and tours of new cities.

November 2: Messages from my godson's mother - she told me that he looks at and asks for my picture online and says, "Mommy where is my Mom? Show me my mom, please!" 

November 3: Getting to go outside in beautiful weather and help plant trees in the park.

November 4: 17 months in Moldova, which I celebrated by taking myself out for coffee during the day and out to dinner in the evening, where I had possibly the greatest dessert in all of Moldova (think: an explosion of chocolate). Phone calls so long that we get cut off and have to call back to continue the conversation. 

November 5: Being in charge of my own destiny, running into friends while in a completely different neighborhood, getting to see the passion and dedication of young girls pursuing technology (Moldovan girls are featured in CODEGIRL documentary about the Technovation Challenge, and it's awesome). Umbrellas, art, stars in the southern sky.

November 6: Coffee, this song, and this book. 

November 7: The brightest running shoes to get through the gloom made by the entire village burning everything, ghițmane, and four sweet, snuggly puppies.

November 8: A house to myself, a clean room (space to dance!), and Aziz Ansari. 

Check back on Sundays in November to read about what I'm thankful for this month. 

A Year of Days

"Un an de zile."

"A year of days."

That's what I hear, all the time. If someone in my village wants to say "a year" they never say "a year." They always say "a year of days." This also works for "a month of days" or "two years of days." 

At first I was confused. Why are they saying a year of days? Of course it's a year of days; what else would it be? Just say a year! When I eventually realized what they were saying, I was, of course, surprised that it took me so long. I asked a language teacher if this was a saying or if they were all just crazy, and she thought for a minute and said something like, oh you know I guess I say that too. I didn't realize. I think it's just because "un an" is so short.

I've been in Moldova for a year of days now. Our "anniversary" of stepping off the plane was over a week ago. It blows my mind, really. I don't know how that could be right. Yes, it feels like it's been forever, but hasn't it just been a couple months? Nope. It's been 12. A year of months, a year of days, a year of hours, a year of minutes. 

I wasn't planning to write a post about being here for a year but then I was hanging out with my best friend yesterday, AKA my journal.. And it turned out that I had some stuff to say. I'm not a fan of sharing my journal. I've read a passage of it to one person, once. I've casually shown someone a picture from it. I might post an Instagram photo of a quote I've written inside. But it's for me. And for the future. I don't start entries with "Dear Diary," because I'm not a character in a Judy Blume novel. I don't start them with anything, actually, but I write them as if I'm writing to my grandchildren (who don't exist at the moment, obviously). I just like to think that one day they'll be hanging out at their favorite grandma's house and they'll find these old journals in the attic and say, "Bunicuță! What are these?! Can we read them??" My grandchildren apparently know Romanian in this scenario, so.. There's that. 

As none of you reading this now are lucky enough to be my grandchildren, I'll just share a few of my thoughts from my journal on being here a year. 

So what's happened in a year? Where do I even begin? I went from daily tears to sporadic crying. I met new, lifelong friends. I lost a few along the way. I've traveled to new and old countries and had my life changed in at least one of them. I've met soulmates, American, Moldovan, and otherwise. 
I've learned to like instant coffee but still remember the magic of coffee makers. I've had to appreciate the tiniest things and I think I've gotten pretty good at that. 
I've learned that it's not in me to not give, to not share my whole heart. Does this make me like my mother? Am I turning into her in Moldova? No surprise there. I've continued to want to take care of everyone, only now more so because after a year I need a little less taking care of. 
I've learned to stand up for myself and be assertive - in 2 languages. Just within the last few months, I've felt myself becoming more confident and sure of myself, and consequently more sure of my relationships with others - turns out if you feel better about yourself, you'll feel better about the way other people feel about you - or don't. Because if they don't, so what? 
I've found a rhythm, a routine. I don't get stressed/freaked about the small stuff - missed the bus? Okay, I'll just reschedule every meeting. But I won't cry about it. 
I'm thinking in and using different languages, but one of them is still love. Do I love everyone? Oh, yes. Without a doubt. (It's my mother again!) 
I want to remember everything. I know I can't. I try to take lots of pictures to help. 
I'm an expert on going with the flow and a - what's higher than expert? I'm that on understanding people in languages I don't read or speak - language, who needs it?! Finding out how very true that is. Am I speaking the language of the world? Yeah, I'm also reading a lot of Paulo Coelho. How can you tell? I'm reading a lot in general. It makes my life better, my conversations richer, my heart happier. 
I take more selfies. What? You went to the Peace Corps and got more self-centered? No. Two reasons. 1. When you're alone and you want to take a picture, selfie is your option. And I'm alone a lot. 2. I like myself more. Yeah I'll take a picture of myself, because I'm AWESOME. I can even look at rare selfies from a year ago and see how unsure of myself I was. But now? Oh, you've got a camera? Let me just reapply my lipstick and I'll be right over. 

I don't know how much I've changed my community but I can sure say that Peace Corps has changed me so far. And we're just halfway in. 

June 4, 2014

June 4, 2015

So there's photographic proof of what a year of days can do. A year of days and I'm a year of days different.. But still a year of days amazing, and still me. 

#100happydays

I decided I'd try to do the #100happydays challenge. I post a picture each day on Instagram of something that made me happy that day. Some days it's easier than others. Some days it feels impossible. But I'm halfway done and going strong. This kind of goes with my "be more optimistic" New Year's resolution. 

I am finding that it's easier now to notice what makes me happy every day. When I first got to site I had a hard time, and I kept a "list of accomplishments" document open on my computer. I tried to think of things each day that I had "accomplished" so I could feel better about myself. They ranged from: "September 1, 2014: Gave a speech (that I wrote myself) in Romanian to hundreds of people at First Bell!" to "August 7, 2014: It's 8:16 a.m. and I haven't cried yet, so already that's better than yesterday!" Just like some days my post for this is a selfie with the medal I just got from a 10K and other days it's just a quote that inspired me because I couldn't find happiness in much else that day. 

As for the rest of the list.. Be in a better mood? Maybe. Start receiving compliments from other people? No more or less than usual. Realize how lucky I am to have the life I have? Yes, most days. Fall in love during the challenge? Well, that's ridiculous, because I fall in love every day. 

So here are thumbnails from my first 50 days. If you want to see the picture a little bigger, my Instagram feed is on the sidebar (to the right) or just click that link. 

My favorite picture: That cute newborn puppy for day 4.

My favorite picture: My friends and me hanging out in my village, day 13.

My favorite picture: The tulips blossoming, day 30.

My favorite picture: It's tough to choose between horses, Iana and her bunny sweater, and the marathon. So I won't.

My favorite picture: Okay, this one's tough too, but I'll go with crowd favorite, day 46, the goslings.

Am I happy every day? No, of course not. I'm not a superhuman (or wait, am I..?). But I don't think the point of this challenge is to be happy every single day for 100 days in a row. It's to be able to appreciate the things in your life (big or small) that make you happy. And couldn't we all be a little more appreciative of those things? 

So I'm still working on this, and I'll update again in around.. 48 days, give or take. That will make 100 Happy Days. Which picture is your favorite?? :)

November Gratitude #4

Tomorrow is December and I can't believe it. I feel like I was just saying how I couldn't believe November was going by so quickly and now it's really just gone! How? It's crazy how life works like that, time passing and all. 

So this is the last week in the Gratitude series! It's been fun to do and really, it's been pretty easy to do. When you're actively thinking about the good things in your life, you can absolutely find 30 things to be thankful for. Likely more. Here's my last list.

November 24: These quotes from a weekly email that I rely on for inspiration: 

"Simple. That's what it is. When it comes down to the things that shift this world and shake up souls, the ideas are simple. They're basic, not extravagant."

"Just keep going. Keep showing up for things if you ever want to see them grow. You have to swallow your pride, and swallow the parts of you that want to see a movement grow in a day, and just get used to tiny movements. Tiny, microscopic shifts that may never matter to anyone but you. Celebrate those little things and then keep going."

"And to that I say again: just keep going. Every day you are given nearly a thousand and one 'sink or swim' moments. The important part is that you remember to choose to swim. You remember to kick your arms and kick your legs and swim. You won't always feel like you want to. You won't even know where you are heading off to sometimes, what direction is shifting you where. But this was never a story about destinations. This has always, always been a lifetime full of coming & going & leaving & staying & listening to your heart when it whispers to you, 'This matters most. Pay attention.'" 

November 25: Books. I've read 22 books since I've been in Moldova. Some of them have been terrible, some of them have been life-changing. I've read almost 200 pages in 3 different books just today. I usually have one I'm reading on my Kindle and one physical book. We have tons of books in the Peace Corps library that we can take back to site and read, and I've got a bunch on my Kindle I haven't yet read. Since I've found that I have more time to read than I had had before I got here, I'm doing a Winter Book Challenge, which has added some titles to my list that I wouldn't have picked up without the prompts. I've finished 4 books for that, and I'm enjoying the challenge.

November 26: Letters and cards from people back home. I have a rotating display of them on my desk and I definitely reread them! I know everyone's don't make it here but I am thankful for the ones that do (and the ones that don't - in that case it's the thought that counts!) and it makes my day (or week, or several weeks) to see an envelope in my locker whenever I get to check it. So many different people, from family to church to friends to sorority sisters to people I don't even know in person, have sent me mail, and it's just the greatest. Anyone who's sent me anything - you're the greatest.

November 27: Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for my family, because they're awesome! While it's depressing that I don't get to eat the yummy food they are cooking, I am sitting on their counter and watching them do it! So it's basically like I'm there, except the dog gets more turkey than I do. Technology is much appreciated at times like these, as we got to "hang out" while they got ready to have their Thanksgiving. I even got a chair set up to "eat" dinner with them! 

November 28: I spent the weekend with a bunch of PCVs to celebrate Thanksgiving. It could easily be a really difficult time for all of us. For a lot of people, it's the first Thanksgiving they haven't spent with family. But everyone's attitude the whole weekend was so great. No one brought measuring cups, our beater had one beating part, the whipping cream didn't always whip.. Didn't matter; everyone was in good spirits and made the best of everything. I got to spend time with people I knew well and people I didn't know at all, and it turns out, both groups are wonderful.

November 29: My Peace Corps family. Thanksgiving with them. It's hard to describe all the feelings I've got about people here, and I'll try to do that in another post sometime soon.. But they are wonderful. We got to have TURKEY and potatoes and cranberries and dessert and vegetables and the whole room was just filled with happiness and love. I'm a little sad it's over! It was the best Thanksgiving I could have imagined for my first Thanksgiving away from home, with the best people.. And probably the best food I'll have for a while. 

November 30: The kindness of strangers. This weekend, as I went to Anenii Noi for the first time, not 100% sure of where to go, but both the driver and a young guy my host mom introduced me to on the way were set to tell me where to get off the bus. It doesn't go into the town I needed to be in, but it stops nearby so I just had to get off at the right place and walk about 20 minutes. They were both concerned about my getting off correctly and told me which way to go. Then today on the way home, we couldn't catch a bus and these guys stopped for us and put a bunch of Americans in their car to take us all the way back to our raion center! We tried to chip in for gas and they gave us back 1/3 of it because they said we were chipping in too much. We get into some interesting situations as PCVs but there is often a stranger there to help us out when we need it.

And that's it. It's practically December - just hours from now. I'm feeling pretty good about life at the moment, so we'll see how the rest of the year goes. 

November Gratitude #3

Whaaaaat three weeks of November have happened already? Are you sure? I have no idea where time goes. It's very confusing. At this rate, I'll be back home next month or something. (Just to clarify, I actually won't.)

So this is week three of the things I'm thankful for! You can find week one here and week two here.

View from my apartment this weekend

November 17: Days when my host mom and I get along. The stars aligned and we were both in a good mood. She showed me how to make plăcintă and helped me figure out better washing machine settings (which included translations from Russian to English to Romanian - the machine is German but has Russian and English labels), and then at dinner we stuck around talking for a while about tons of different things.

November 18: Lilo! I miss my little puppy and it's her birthday today!! So I hope she gets spoiled even more than usual (is that possible? Unlikely) and eats a lot of treats. Speaking of dogs, I'm thankful that our dog here is warmer. She doesn't get to come inside, which breaks my little heart, but they moved her up closer to the house and made her a better house, so A. I can play with her now (before I had to trudge through the garden) and B. She should be warm during the winter. I hope! 

November 19: Rainboots. Or whatever kind of heavy-duty boots I have, because thankfully, they work. What does the sun look like? I have no idea. I can't recall; it's been so long. But at least my feet are dry.

Probably colder than I look, even. And wetter.

November 20: Obviously, Becky. It's her 23rd birthday so I'm thinking of her even more than usual, which is already a ton, as we talk almost every day. I love that she can't stand when I don't have Internet for a day and if I forget to tell her when I know in advance, she freaks out and thinks something terrible has happened. I love that we still need each other's advice 5,000 miles away, from serious life stuff to Snapchats asking which scarf matches the outfit of the day. I love that I can count on her to always be either on my side or to have a logical reason not to be. And I love knowing that when I get home in 2 years, she'll still be there ready to be my favorite person in person again. (Actually, she'd better be at the airport to pick me up, or I take all of this back. Just kidding..... But seriously.) 👯✌️✌️

November 21: When people who you haven't seen in a while are just ready and willing to embrace you, figuratively and literally. So many people made today a great day that I couldn't begin to list them all. Special shoutout to my adopted Bunică for always being one of those people. 

November 22: The sun was shining today and that's both a fact and a summary of the day. I had the best sleep I'd had in forever in the comfiest bed, and then woke up and went shopping with two cool PCVs. We were so successful in finding things we were looking for, and it was so much more fun with company. I found the perfect present for my family and successfully navigated the post office in Romanian, so I'm pretty excited about that. Then I got to hang out with some more friends and eat some good food.. It was a very good day!

The menu just said "egg" so I was not expecting this.. But I thought it was good!

November 23: It's the opposite of fun to get up before 5am and walk 20 minutes in the dark to catch a rutiera. I have to do this if I have to be anywhere before noon. And whenever I come back at night, I have to walk back to my house in the dark. But soon this will all change! The bus is going to come all the way to my house now! So I won't have to struggle with bags and mud and darkness and cold to leave or get home, since host mom got her signatures and her support and her votes to make our side of the village a stop on the route. So I am very thankful for that. 

Next week will be the last in the November Gratitude series! Seriously, November, where'd you go?

November Gratitude #2

When you have 15-20 minutes to walk to work every day, you have 15-20 minutes to think every day (twice). A lot of the time this means I'm thinking, oh my gosh, WHAT am I doing here?? So it's helpful to remember the good things going on in life, which is why I'm doing daily gratitude for the month of November. (Plus, Thanksgiving.) If you missed the first one, it's here.

Side note about my walks to work: Becky recently informed me of this ridiculously addictive podcast, Serial. It's a nonfiction story told week by week, and this first season it's about a murder from 1999. They're trying to figure out if the guy in jail really did it, so naturally I'm hooked. Now I can't wait to listen to that for 20 minutes each way. 

November 10: Alexandra, the woman in my office who is not my partner. She always talks to me and actually tries to understand me AND help me with Romanian. This is not true of everyone so I really appreciate her effort. 

November 11: Veterans Day makes today an easy one. But I'm also thankful for my partner's daughter, because when I help her with her English homework, I actually learn more Romanian.

The herd of turkeys that wanders the village..

November 12: Homemade wine to go with plăcintă ghițmane, which is only the greatest food in Moldova. It's a pastry of sorts that can be made with different fillings, sweet or savory.. My favorite is with potatoes. The ghițmane kind is baked in the oven with yeast (sometimes they're fried on the stove, and sometimes they just use flour without yeast) and it's the greatest. Mark your calendars for when I come home and we have plăcintă night where I make pounds of it and we all burst. 

November 13: The exchange of skills and communication that goes on with PCVs. I might design a business card for someone and then he might read something of mine and help convince me that it's not awful.. It's always nice when people don't tell you you suck! There's a lot of support within the PC community, and it's good to have. We all risk insanity without having each other to talk to, I think. (Wait, is that just me??)

Cute little kindergarten boys helping each other put on shoes

November 14: Just Dance and hot showers. I know I've said it before, but the fact that people put Just Dance songs on YouTube is just the greatest. I make my bed into a couch and get my exercise, and today I even had the foresight to plug in the hot water when I started so I would be ready by the time I was done! (When I want to shower, I have to plug in the hot water heater thing and wait an hour.. So cleanliness requires a lot of planning.)

November 15: Clear nights in the village—there are some where you can see what feels like a million, trillion stars. It's breathtaking. Also for a good PCV traveling companion who wants to talk but also wants to nap some, too. I travel alone so much so it's fun to not for once! 

November 16: Naps. 

Come back next Sunday to read more about what I'm thankful for this month. 

November Gratitude #1

It's a popular time to express gratitude, what with it being the month of Thanksgiving and all. While I'm usually such a trendsetter (ha, ha), I've been seeing (and loving) a bunch of people telling the world what they're thankful for, so I thought this time I'd be a bandwagoner instead.

I plan to do a weekly roundup of at least one thing I've been appreciating each day, because let's face it, is it ever a bad idea to count your blessings? Didn't think so. 

November 1: The fact that I've made it through 150 days in Moldova. Can you even believe it? I can't. As of this posting, it's been just a smidge over 5 months.

November 2: My godson Kamci and all the pictures his mom posts on FB so I can see how big he's getting! 

November 3: My parents for (among other reasons) still solving my problems from 5,121 miles away, even if my mother is so terrible at Skype that when I can see them, they're upside down. LYLALAL! Also thankful for You've Got Mail. 

November 4: Being relatively close (less than an hour, usually!) to one of my COD friends and getting to share pizza, beer, and chocolate with her while we speak English quickly and fluently. 

November 5: When I get messages that make me feel good about myself, like: "It's actually impressive how solidly you've been able to provide me with any and all information I've needed these past couple days." I am pleased to be a real live version of Google for you, babe. 

November 6: Personally productive days - maybe I didn't do anything at work but I read 60 pages of my book, studied Romanian, did a dance workout, posted a blog, &c. 

November 7: Iana, my 8 year old friend. After a not-so-great first tutoring session, I met her on the way home and she ditched her friends decided to walk with me, hold my hand and listen to my iPod with me while we walked. When I feel like crap she looks up at me and tells me how beautiful I am, and she's totally patient when I have no idea what she's saying. I think I'll keep her around. 

Little Iana

November 8: Lovely, lazy November Saturdays where I can sit outside to finish a book and get some fresh air and sunshine. 

November 9: Pajama jeans, time to read, fresh homemade bread, anyone I've met in the last 5 months, and sunshine. 

Check back on Sundays in November to read about what I'm thankful for this month.