10 Questions About My Peace Corps Life

“I love you. I'm proud of you. Now go write me another blog; I want to read a new one.”

Okay, Mother. So bossy. This is what she said to me as I headed to security to get on the first plane on my trip back to Moldova. (Which, if you're wondering, was probably just as hard or harder than it was to leave the first time. I had too good a time at home with everyone! Although the first time I thought I wouldn't see anyone for over two years, and this time we all knew it'd be just one more, so at least there's that.)

Since my demanding mother requested another blog but I don't have too much to write about at the moment, it's a good thing my sweet friend Sara (probably the nicest person in Peace Corps Moldova) gave me a bunch of great questions to answer. She nominated me for the Liebster Award, which is a blogging thing that helps you get to know your fellow bloggers. There are rules about nominating other people and creating your own set of questions for them, but I've always been a rulebreaker (just kidding – we all know I follow the rules) so I'm just going to answer her questions, with the excuse that hers are so great I couldn't possibly come up with anything better. But thank you, Sara, for thinking of me! (Also, excellent answers to the questions YOU got, and now I want to know your answers to these!)

1. How many different countries have you traveled to and where?
While in Peace Corps, I've traveled to the Czech Republic (Prague) and to Italy (Rome and Naples). I've also spent some time in Romania, but that was more of a struggle than a vacation. (And to the United States, I guess!) Prior to Peace Corps I lived in Germany so I got to go to all sorts of places – France, England, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar.. Maybe even some I'm forgetting.

2. What food item do you miss the most?
When I was just at home, I found myself drinking a lot of Dr. Pepper, which I hadn't realized I missed but man, it's good! And tacos, made by my mother. I miss any kind of food that isn't potatoes, really. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, ohhh.. That's what I want right now. 

3. Favorite book (or article) you have read so far since being a PCV?
I've done so much reading here that this is a tough question. Definitely the most meaningful to me at the time I read it would be Divergent by Veronica Roth. You know when you read the perfect book at the perfect time? That was one of those. I also loved Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. The former with great advice about life and love and the latter basically describing my life.

4. Favorite item you are glad you brought with you?
It's almost painful to say this now when I feel like I'm actually melting in the heat (I know, I know, I'm not serving in Africa) but my favorite thing I brought is my fuzzy Vera Bradley house robe that I wear 24/7 when it's cool/cold outside. I've forgotten what that feels like but I imagine it will happen again someday.

5. What is your favorite thing about the country you serve in?
I think my favorite thing about Moldova is just how kind strangers can be. While I don't think this is specific to Moldova (it shouldn't be!) I find that it's easier to notice here because maybe I need it more here, what with language struggles and unfamiliar surroundings. Most notably with transportation issues. It's occasionally difficult to get from one place to the next, but you'll always find someone to help you – not just tell you where to go, but sometimes they'll even take you there. Recently I was with two friends and we were on the side of the road attempting to catch a bus going north. So was this other man. He could have taken any bus that we could have, but he stopped one for us, put us on it, told the driver where we needed to go, and then didn't even get on! He waited for the next one after making sure that we were on our way. I've been picked up by strangers that somehow knew my bus wasn't going to come and directed by others when I just look like I don't know where I'm going. I used to worry about making it to places on my own, but I'm never completely alone in the world and I know I'll always eventually get there, perhaps with some extra help from a kind Moldovan. 

6. If you could choose between hot summers and cold winters, which would you choose?
You're asking me this question when I'm hot at my house and at work and outside and everywhere..... Which makes my answer cold winters. I know I would regret saying that if I were answering this during winter, but at least in winter there's variety sometimes – when it's super cold outside you can bundle up inside next to the soba for warmth. Plus, cute sweaters.

7. Favorite food from your country of service?
Don't tell her I said this, but my host mom's plăcintă ghițmane. It may be her only great skill in the kitchen, but it's miles above any other kind of plăcintă I've had. If I don't come home knowing how to make it, I'll consider my Peace Corps service a failure. (Kidding, sort of.)

8. From your experience, where is the best place to travel to?
You're all going to be SO shocked when I say: Italy. Wait, you're not shocked? Weird. I've been there 4 times and my mother assumes it will be part of my as-yet-unplanned COS trip (“Knowing you, you'll stop in Italy on the way home.”). It's just my favorite place. It's not even one specific city – I would probably rank my favorites (Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre) but I love them all. If I didn't hate being away from home I'd have to try to live there next. As it stands, I'll just have to marry rich and we can travel there together later. You can start lining up now – I'm good at baking cookies (and look super cute in an apron) and I know how to feed farm animals - is that helpful? 

9. If you could choose between the public transportation in your country of service or walking, which do you prefer?
Walking, definitely. I enjoy walking, most of the time. The last time I ride a rutiera won't come soon enough, and I'll often choose walking over the slightly better public transportation in the capital. In the summer they're unbearably hot and rarely will you be lucky enough to have a crowd that allows the windows to be left open, and in the winter I'm terrified that they will crash if there is snow or ice (which there is). In any season there are too many people on the bus and I don't think I've ever gotten to sit next to someone that wasn't obnoxious. But I'm whining so I will say that if you have a long trip, it's great for books on tape or podcasts or bonding or a nap, perhaps. It's possibly unwise to nap on a bus when you're by yourself, so officially I never do this, but I'm just saying, 3 hours is a long time.

10. If you could describe your Peace Corps service in one word, what would it be?

Love. 

Tour of Moldova

Life has been SO good lately. People keep asking me how I am and I keep answering with "Can't complain" because I really can't complain. (Is this right? Someone check the Cycle of Vulnerability and Adjustment. Should I be having a mid-service crisis right about now?) 

Oh, did you want to know why? Good, I'll tell you! 

First of all, M30 is here! My group is M29, and now that we've been here a year, Peace Corps decided we needed new friends so they sent 70 more people. They didn't even ask me, but so far they seem mostly wonderful, so I guess I'll allow it. I didn't think I'd have much opportunity to meet M30, but as it turns out, I've gotten to spend the last week seeing a lot of them. Mostly just the ones in my sector, but we're the best, so that seems appropriate. 

Second of all, I found out that I get to be a facilitator for the GirlsGoIT summer camp, so that's really exciting! Some of my good friends are doing it too so we're going to have a ton of fun teaching girls about tech.

AND this week I've been travelling all around Moldova and having a ton of fun doing it. 

I went to Ialoveni to help lead a session for the M30 COD group. Another M29 and I developed this session, which we didn't have last year, because we thought it would be fun and helpful! It was about healthy relaxation methods and we didn't bore anyone to tears, which is, I think, the mark of a good presentation. Correct me if I'm wrong. 

Then I went back to Chișinău for a bit and helped out with preparing for site placement - on Thursday the M30s found out where their permanent sites are going to be! This would have been slightly more exciting if I had gotten some more neighbors, but I'm sure the two that were placed in my raion will be great. 

That red triangle all the way on the right is near me!

The weekend took me to Telenești to visit my adopted bunica, the fabulous Ellen. She works at the library there and they organized a Healthy Life Festival on Sunday. It happened at the same time as a raion festival, so people from every village were there with booths and performances. For the Healthy Life part, we had games, coloring, yoga, karate, blood tests, and literature about modul sănătos de viața. I led a short yoga demonstration for the kids and helped out with whatever else people needed! The night before, we all hung out, saw the town, and had a delicious dinner together. No surprise that Ellen is an excellent host. 

The week before, another friend had invited me up to visit him in the north, in Rîșcani. So after Ellen's Healthy Life Festival, a few of us made it to the main road and flagged down a bus going north that took us to Bălți. I met him and some other friends at the bus station and we went up to Rîșcani together. Two M30s were placed there, one who would have the same host family as Andrew (as he is an M28 and will COS soon!), so we got to meet him and have some Moldovan barbecue and boxed wine. The next day we got to visit the COD M30 at his future assignment, which is an NGO that's currently under construction but will soon be a cool place to work. 

Then I went back down to Chișinău with the COD and his partner for their Site Team Conference. This happens right after site visits - CODs come to Chișinău with their partners and have a two-day conference about the work they hope to do, among other fun things. Our program manager had asked me to be a translator for the conference, which was so much fun. Some of the partners don't speak English and the M30s have only had a month of language training so far, so that can be a struggle. With the help of our program staff and two other M29s, I think we did a pretty good job of translating. Occasionally I would need to call for backup, but one of the partners thought I was from Romania, so that's always a compliment. I think about how a year ago, my mayor came with me to this, and he was the class clown of the group (there was one this year, too!). He told everyone that he wouldn't let me sleep or eat until I had learned Romanian, and here I am a year later doing the translating. Look at me now, Primar! 

The translators!

So it's been a really good week with old friends and new ones. Things I learned on my trip around Moldova: I can easily say "Sure, I'll do that!" to things that once would have freaked me out (like leading a yoga class at a festival), Moldovans are well-versed in Botticelli (but also that I probably won't be able to marry anyone since I can't remove the picture from my leg..), don't listen to people saying ridiculous things about you, young Moldovan guys will dance with American women to Frank Sinatra, boxed wine tastes better if the box is shaped like a book, long rutiera rides can actually be kind of excellent, some days I do pretty well with Romanian, and this next year is going to be some kind of adventure - not that this last one was any different. 

Lavender Festival*

*Subtitle to this post: How to be alone**

**Sub-subtitle: AKA, Peace Corps

If you're living in your home country and there's an event that sounds cool but that you can't find anyone to go with, it's pretty easy to just go. You'll probably meet someone cool to talk to, or, if your life resembles a Hallmark movie, you'll maybe even meet your soulmate (I've been led to believe that the probability of meeting the love of my life at a Christmas tree lot is SO HIGH that I'm not sure I'll meet him anywhere other than there.. Is it even possible to meet someone during the summer?).

If you're living in another country (where you kind of speak the language) and there's an event that sounds cool but that you can't find anyone to go with, it's a little harder. But I decided that I wanted to go, with or without someone. Once I figured out that it would be without, I decided that I needed to make it an awesome day to myself (instead of an awkward day alone, or something). 

At the TED talks, there was a woman who talked about rebranding Moldova, and I thought she was super interesting. During her talk, she mentioned some upcoming festivals, including Festivalul Levănțicii, or Lavender Festival. That sounded great, and I mentioned it to a few people, but no one ended up being able to go.

So I went alone! It was in a little village in Anenii Noi, so I had to go to Chisinau first to get there. The event sponsored rutieras back and forth throughout the day, so all I had to do was get to the place they'd be starting from. Which I'd never been to.. But when I got off the bus and saw a dozen people standing on the side of the road wearing all white, I knew I'd found the right spot. There was a dress code: all white (ne îmbrăcăm neapărat în alb) - originally I'd thought this was just a suggestion, but almost everyone took it really seriously, so if I go next year I might have to go shopping ahead of time. I did go in a white t-shirt so don't worry, I fit in. 

It was way bigger than I'd thought! There were a bunch of food booths (but "no meat, no beer" - only healthy things like tons of sangria), an art competition, a huge stage with different performances throughout the day, booths where people were selling crafts, soaps, handmade pretty things, and LAVENDER. The fields of lavender were EVERYTHING. When you walked into what I'll just call the fairgrounds, to your left was lavender literally as far as you could see, and to the right was all the booths and places to sit in the fields and relax. 

I started my day with stuffed peppers and lavender lemonade, and then walked all around to look at everything. Bought myself some cute jewelry and some fun things for a friend who had sent me with money and directions to plan a romantic evening. There were professional photographers there to take your picture in the lavender fields, so I did that - hello, Moldova's Next Top Model, look no further. Then I set out a blanket and tried both kinds of sangria while listening to the performances and reading my book and enjoying the beautiful sunny day! I stayed as long as I wanted and when I decided it was time to go, I changed my mind to get a lavender massage, because obviously. After that I went back to Chisinau, relaxed and happy and smelling much better than normal. 

Would it have been fun with friends? For sure. But I had a great time without them - in case you've forgotten, I'm kind of a good time on my own. It meant I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted. It meant I had to be a little brave occasionally and talk to someone in Romanian to ask them to take my picture or to help me find the perfect bath salts or direct me somewhere. And it reminded me that if I don't go Christmas tree shopping anytime soon, I'll be just fine. 

Roman Holiday

Sometimes you go somewhere or you meet someone or something happens that makes you think, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be (or who I'm supposed to meet, or what was supposed to happen). Sometimes all of that happens at the same time. 

Maybe you're thinking, okay but what are you talking about? I read the title of this post, aren't you just going to recap your trip to Italy with your friends? I can do that, if you'd like. But this trip turned out to be more than just going to the Colosseum 14 times (that's not even MUCH of an exaggeration; it was at least 7), or eating 5 scoops of gelato in 2 hours, or getting fast food lasagna (yeah, that's a thing), or having a different unofficial tour guide for each day (I was even one of them - how do you like me now, Goolsby). I guess maybe I'll get to that.

I went to Italy with two of my favorite PCVs. 

Was it part of my plan? No. 
When it came up in conversation, did I even think the invitation was serious? No. 
When it turned out to be serious, did I immediately think, wow this is the greatest idea you've ever had? No. 
Was it the greatest idea? Absolutely. 

I feel myself getting into soul-searching territory again, sorry. I'll get back to the narrative. 

We spent the first night in Rome, which ended up with us crashing a girl's 21st birthday party bus. Yeah, you read that right. Bartender on the bus, lots of woo girls, strobe lights, spring breakers (way to make us feel old, guys, because guess what, we aren't) and a few stops at different places in the city. That brought us to our first Colosseum stop, which was pretty much the main reason the party bus was worth going on. It was awesome to see at night. 

The night day we took a train to Naples. We spent two days there, walking around, taking Giovanni's suggestions, visiting churches, wandering around underground (maybe wandering is misleading.. There was a tour guide), drinking coffee and eating gelato and pizza, reading on the terrace of our third floor hostel, getting slightly lost, visiting the beautiful sea, making our own dinner (with lettuce! LETTUCE), and relaxing at night with about 18 decks of cards (none of which had the necessary 52) and our journals. 

We returned to Rome on Saturday and met some friends one of us knew from studying abroad. They took us around to different places and knew all about them, which was great! They unknowingly brought us to places on our list that we would not have been able to find on our own but that we were quite glad to get to see, and places that weren't on our list that were cool! They were very sweet and it was nice to meet them. We went back to the hostel and met our roommate, a sweetheart from Argentina who was our age and on his first trip out of the country. We went out for a drink with him and got to know him a little bit, and then he returned to the room and we stayed out a little later at the hostel bar, where we met some other cool people. That's when we got to cross "dancing" off our list, among other things. 

We went to the Pantheon the next day, and spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to properly describe it, knowing the perfect word existed, but not finding it. Putting that thought on hold, we met up with some of the people from the night before who gave us another tour, also great. Everyone you meet knows different things. That's super simple; somebody knows one fact about the Colosseum (yeah, we're at trip #3 now I think) and another person knows another one.. But on a larger scale, doesn't everybody you meet have something new to teach you? That must be some quote that already exists. (If you read my blogs for my constant eloquence, you may as well quit now.) Later the three of us met up with our roommate again, and taught him very important things, like the word "cumbersome" and how to play beer pong.

Monday we had a great day with our roommate, despite the rain. We went to Vatican City, but rain + super long lines meant we didn't end up going in. Instead we wandered around to other places (the Pantheon again, a gelato place with 150+ flavors, etc.). During the afternoon, the girls had journal time while the boys napped, and we met up again to have Mexican and walk around the city at night. We visited St. Peter's again without crowds and with all the lights on, and it was beautiful. We got a tip from one of the study abroad friends that the Colosseum was lit up with green for St. Patrick's Day, so we went there again, and that was amazing, too. It was one of the best nights (well, one of the best full days, really) that I've had in a really long time. That word we were trying to describe the Pantheon with? Our roommate, not knowing that we were trying to do so, independently tried to explain it in Spanish, and came up with exactly the word we needed. We decided that it's better in Spanish, so now we all use the word imponente. If that's not fate, I don't know what is. How could we possibly be all looking for the same thing, and then meet each other and help each other find it? Again, that's simple, just one word.. But think about that concept being even more than that. 

On our last full day, our roommate had left and the three of us spent the day solo. I did things I had skipped so far on this trip and my last trip to Rome (Audrey's Mouth of Truth, to be specific), and after getting lost and found again, sat in front of the Pantheon with wine, a huge cheese plate, and my journal. Later we met up again with various friends and there was more pasta, drinks, and dancing. The next morning we split up again and I went back to a church we'd visited a few days ago, where I got to do a little more soul-searching that I won't talk about here. Eventually it was time to return to Moldova, and it was strange, because I was both sad to leave Italy but happy to return to Moldova. It's not always easy to return to site after time away, but for the first time, not only was I not dreading it, but I was happy about it, too. 

I guess after writing the recap, I find that I don't want to go into anything super existential or anything. Here's what I will say: I remember the first time I went to Rome and what an impact it had on me, and I didn't think the same city and the same sites could do that again, but it did, even more so. I learned more about my friends and I can tell you my favorite things about each one of them. We got to have conversations in multiple languages at a time and that's how we understood better, not worse (I can't imagine now what people do if they only know one, and I'm not even saying I know two, but I know a little bit of many). How often do you get to meet people and feel like you were meant to meet them, meant to be there at that moment with those people? I have a new outlook on life, love, and the future, and I don't know what it all means, or if I'll even figure it all out.. But I'm excited to try. Essentially, I'm just really glad I went on this trip with these friends and had all these adventures. Whatever happens after this.. Well, we'll just see. 

One slight addition: I just saw on the "Humans of Chisinau" Facebook page this quote by a woman (which I think is better in Romanian so I'll put that and their  English translation): 

"Întâlnim diferite fenomene, oameni, pentru care trăim anumite stări şi care ulterior se transformă într-o eleganţă a cuvintelor, care se numeşte poezie.

**
We encounter different phenomena, people, towards which arouse certain feelings in us, feelings which often create a certain elegance of words called poetry."

If that doesn't perfectly describe life, I don't know what does.

Praga!

Now that you know how we made it to Prague, maybe you want to know about our super fun vacation! 

First off, I have to mention that since we didn't have luggage, we pretty much had no toiletries (I know it's Peace Corps, but still). But when we arrived at the apartment where we stayed, our host had shelves full of hotel products and stuff people had left behind, so we didn't have to go out and find anything! It was the greatest. 

We did spend the first part of our first morning getting another shirt or two and some underwear and socks. Now that we had the essentials, we could start fun stuff! 

So we met up with four other PCVs that were in the city and did some sightseeing with them, which was great. We saw the castle and cathedral (from the outside; most of us didn't go in) and then 5/6 of us went on a wild goose chase for the perfect restaurant, which I think we eventually found. We parted ways to get ready for the rest of the night, as we had dinner and club reservations for New Year's Eve. 

Turns out we had dinner reservations at a place with about a hundred locations in Prague, but luckily, even though the one we all made it to was the wrong one, they had room for us. There was great food, great company, and fun playing games while we were there! Then we went out to one of the town squares to watch the midnight fireworks, and after that to the club for a little bit of dancing, a lot of trying to push through the crowd. I had fun, though! 

The next morning we had a leisurely brunch and then three of us took a leisurely walk to the National Gallery to see some pretty cool art exhibits, which I really enjoyed. We might have gotten lost on the way back, but all that meant was we got to tease the person who got us lost (good-naturedly, of course, as we always are) and have yummy Thai food instead of pushing through more crowds to see more fireworks. 

Our friends left the next day, so Stephanie and I had the day to ourselves, which we enjoyed with Mexican food, margaritas, Starbucks, and Mockingjay in English on the big screen.. Followed by some bars for one of us to meet cute boys (well I guess we both met them, to be fair). 

We got back late that night and found that we couldn't get into our apartment. There had been another group of girls staying there, and they (I want to say stupidly, but I also want to be kind, so I'm conflicted) left their key in the lock on the inside. So ours didn't work. We called our host and she said she'd call a locksmith in the morning but in the meantime she'd take us to her friend's apartment where she was staying (the friend was out of town..? or something). We just can't get away from these "adventures." I don't know what it was about this trip, but Murphy's Law might have been working harder than I would have preferred. 

The next morning, she hadn't come back from wherever she went after leaving us there, so we were slightly trapped until she returned. (I say slightly, but really, it was completely, as we couldn't leave without a key to open the door.) But we made the best of it, and when we got to leave, we took the first tram we found and got off when I saw the Dancing House. Being stuck in that apartment took us near a sight we wanted to see, which was near a restaurant where we could check off "try some Czech goulash" from our list. Two birds, one stone. 

We did some more wandering, shopping, sightseeing, etc. and then went back to our unlocked place to shower and change into our other shirt. Then we went dancing again!

The next day, we finished the rest of our "Things to do in Prague" list and met three more PCVs for a drink after dinner. These were the three we were stuck on the side of the road with in Romania, and it was great to see them and hear about their adventures! We went to a few bars with them and had a bunch of fun. Stephanie went back before me, which was intelligent, as we had to leave early the next morning for our flight, but I just wasn't ready to stop having fun, so.. When I finally went back, I may have fallen asleep on the tram and gotten kicked off at the end of the line. Guess how close the end was to where we were staying? If you guessed "not close at all" you would be absolutely right! There's that Murphy again. Or maybe just me, being stupid. You'd better believe that I stood up the whole ride back after that (thank goodness for all night public transportation) so I didn't miss my stop again. 

All hiccups aside, I had a really great time! It was fun getting to know Stephanie better, and getting to hang out with other cool people I rarely see. We had such good food and met some cool people from a ton of different countries. We may have gotten lost 60% of the time, but I think we ended up seeing some neat stuff that way. We did the whole trip without any luggage, but still managed to look fabulous and have fun! There's the Peace Corps spirit for ya. 

Now, where will I go next....?

How I Got To Prague

This post is subtitled: Why I Love My Peace Corps Family

How many things can go wrong with one trip before it even starts? Let me count them out for you, because so many. 

Admittedly, the first snag on the trip was absolutely, 100% my fault. And it's so stupid that no one here is ever going to let me forget it (especially not my host mom, who's already brought it up multiple times since I've been back). I packed for Prague and Kelsey's house at the same time, as I was staying with her before heading to Chisinau to leave for Prague. I wasn't planning on going back to my village before this, so I had to be ready for the next 2 weeks, essentially. I thought I was, but as I'm standing on the bus Sunday morning going towards Chisinau, it hits me that I undoubtedly do not have my passport. I don't even have to check, because I know I haven't packed it. I texted Stephanie, because she's my Prague travel buddy, and Kelsey, because she always knows what to do, and then I called my host mom. She found my passport for me and after some well-deserved scolding, agreed to get it to me that evening. 

Now that the passport hurdle had been crossed, Steph and I were ready for our trip to start going super smoothly. Our overnight bus to Bucuresti left at 9:30pm, so we had dinner, got our stuff together, and headed to the bus station. It was just starting to snow and we thought, oh, how lovely, our winter vacation is starting off great with a pretty snowfall! Later I think we both regretted voicing those thoughts, but at the time, we were fans of the snow. 

We put our suitcases underneath the bus and get on, too excited. We drive through Moldova and enter Romania (where our passports are checked and stamped, obviously, so thankfully we both had ours then!), and it hasn't stopped snowing. It's the middle of the night and the drive is taking longer than it should, but I am absolutely fine with that if it means the driver is making sure to be safe on the roads. We take turns sitting on the window side, because it's stupid hot on that side with the heater right next to us. We try to get a little bit of sleep but I don't think either of us were very successful. 

At about 5am, I'm sitting in the aisle seat and I can't sleep. I lean out into the aisle to look out the front window, and I am baffled at how the driver is managing. It is really snowy and dark and I remember thinking, I can't even see the road, how can he?! I just figure he knows what he's doing, so I lean back into my seat. 

Moments later, we crash.

I'm sure I don't have an accurate recollection of this, based on pictures in the news and the fact that I can use my logical brain after the fact, but it feels like we flip over. The bus skidded and flipped on its right side (it was absolutely not flipped over) to land in the ditch. I held on to my seat and it was over as quickly as it had started. I think my thoughts, in some order, were: Okay, I'm safe; is Stephanie okay?; what do we do?; and I need to call Sasha. (Sasha is our Safety and Security Manager.)

Everyone was talking in Romanian and it seemed like people's phones weren't working. It was hard to not fully understand what was going on, but I could gather that everyone was okay, the driver was safe, and that we would just have to wait there. One woman was very vocal and called police, ambulances, the 12am bus to Bucuresti to see if they had seats, etc. Another woman near us realized eventually that we spoke English and she tried to translate things for us. 

We hung out there on the side of the road for about an hour and a half - with Stephanie literally hanging, as the bus was sideways and we had been sitting on the left side. I was able to sort of sit on the side of one of the seats on the right, and we were able to find our belongings when the time came to get them all (with the help of fellow passengers). 

After that hour and a half, we saw flashing lights. We figured out that they were going to get us out of the bus, so we put on coats (oh, and we had just stopped at duty free, so someone's wine decorated mine a little bit) and got our stuff. We were very close to the emergency hatch on the top of the bus so someone threw that outside and people directed us to the opening. I couldn't actually climb out on my own so someone lifted me out and then ambulance workers took over and set me down on the ground. They guided me to an ambulance where we packed in with half or a third of the passengers. 

Thankfully right before we left, another PCV had taught us how to put our phones on roaming. If we hadn't done that, we wouldn't have been able to get in contact with anyone. We couldn't figure out how to make calls at first, but we were able to send texts. I texted Kelsey to see if she could get PC to call us, but we eventually did figure out how to call and in the ambulance we were able to speak with both medical and the on-duty Safety and Security person. 

The ambulance took us to a cafe/hotel bar of some sort. Peace Corps kept in contact with us all day, even though we rarely had anything new to tell them. Eventually the 12am bus to Bucuresti arrived, and some people got on it. Stephanie wanted to but I was confused and possibly slightly panicked about not knowing where we were going or where our luggage was, so at the last minute we got off that bus. I hadn't noticed the other PCVs on it at the time. 

Home-base for the day.

It turned out that it didn't matter that we hadn't gotten on that bus because it didn't get very far. The roads were closed so it came right back to where we were, and we were able to get on it to see our friends. Just being with them helped our stress levels a little, and their bus was closer to a gas station/cafe that had Internet so we were able to contact people with that. We hung out with them for the day while waiting for the roads to open, but during that time we missed our flight. 

When the roads finally opened around 2 or 3pm, everyone from both buses got onto the second one and we headed towards Bucuresti (without our luggage, as they wouldn't take it off our bus until the crash had been investigated.. or something). We were about 70km away the whole day. It was slightly scary to be on what felt like the exact bus we'd just been on, driving through snow again, but I managed to fall asleep for a bit. 

I woke up to a man nudging me to wake me up and ask if we wanted to share a cab with him to the airport. We had spoken to him earlier in the day so he knew we were trying to get to the airport, as was he. He had learned that the bus would normally stop at the airport, but with all the delays it wasn't going to this time, so the driver had agreed to let him off somewhere close where he could find a cab. We agreed to get off with him. He was a nice guy from Moldova with perfect English. 

We got to the airport and saw two more PCVs who had taken the train there instead (which will always be our winter travel option from now on), and it was as if they were sent from heaven. They went to the Czech Airlines counter with us, where the lady told us that since we had been late, our whole roundtrip was cancelled. We didn't really know what to do, so Amanda called Czech Airlines for us - thankfully, because they were terrible to her and I know I couldn't have lasted that long on the phone with them (I was crying just listening to her side of the call!). While Amanda was being so great on the phone, Elizabeth was cheering us up by being her usual sunny self. After getting no help from the airlines, the four of us went to get a drink before the two of them left to board their plane. Thank goodness those two were there; they were like lifesavers just with their very presence. 

They left and Stephanie said we had to eat something, so we had pasta in an airport restaurant while we tried to decide what to do. There's an RPCV in Bucuresti so we thought we could maybe stay with her, get our luggage back, and then head back to Moldova. Neither of us could afford another plane ticket. Stephanie had been talking to her mom at the time and while we were eating, her mom called back and said that she had talked with Stephanie's dad and they had decided that they would each buy one of us a new ticket to Prague. There was more crying, this time from both of us, because we didn't even think we were going to get to go on our trip and they so graciously made it happen. They even made the return ticket straight to Chisinau so we don't have to go back to Bucuresti anytime soon. We couldn't even believe it. 

So we spent the night on the very luxurious floor of the airport and kept in contact with PC, a fellow bus traveller, and our RPCV friend about the luggage situation.. But eventually we realized that we'd be going to Prague with only the things we had in our carry-ons. 

The next day, while still waiting on the floor, we met a Romanian family of four with precious little boys and talked with them. We told them of our "adventures" and they wouldn't take no for an answer when they left and left us with a bunch of food. They were so sweet! One of the little boys asked if I was married and I said no and asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said, yes, of course, but we only kiss on the cheek, not on the mouth. The dad had clearly given us some of the boys' Christmas candy, and they were young but didn't mind one bit. The whole family was adorable, and I could talk to them in Romanian, so that was a confidence booster I needed to keep making it through this travel. 

We finally left and made it to Prague just a day late. The whole trip took 48 hours and we went through 4 countries by the time we got there.. We were exhausted, but had great directions to our apartment, where tea (and a bed that was not a floor or bus seat) waited for us. 

We had so much support, both in person and through messages, from PCVs, RPCVs, PC staff, family, and also a ton of strangers (people translating for us, people just being kind to us, another passenger from the bus who gave us her number and texted us with information about where the luggage would be, etc). I can't really speak for both of us, but I feel safe in saying that we are so grateful for everyone who helped us along the way. Couldn't have done it without you. 

More to come on the actual vacation part of the trip! 

Spoiler alert: We didn't have our luggage for any of the trip, BUT Peace Corps got it back for us and it was waiting in Chisinau when we returned!