Let Girls Learn - Girls In ICT

Have you heard the First Lady talk about Peace Corps lately? No?! You're behind. Catch up. 



Now that that's settled, aren't you excited about Let Girls Learn?! With this program, Michelle Obama is collaborating with Peace Corps in 11 countries - and Moldova is one of them. From the Let Girls Learn website about Moldova: "In Moldova, 25% of female youth believe that "wife-beating" can be justifiable. Education and empowerment are needed to combat dangerous social norms. There are 120 Peace Corps Volunteers in Moldova working with communities on projects in English education, health and community economic development." source

While ICT education is not education about domestic violence, it is something I find myself passionate about for girls, not only in Moldova, but all around the world. Men outnumber women in most STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). And WHY? Why can't we be scientists and engineers too? (My dad is reading this and thinking, well then why were you an art major...? I told you to take Calc 2!) But studies show that even girls who are passionate about technology don't choose to pursue careers in it! If girls in America don't think they can do this stuff than certainly girls here aren't sure either. So if I can empower them to learn skills in these areas, I feel that I should. 

Girls In ICT is a global effort by the International Telecommunication Union to encourage girls to consider careers in technology. In Moldova, GirlsGoIT is a program with the support of UN Women, Novateca (the libraries program I work with), and a few other organizations. Last week, GirlsGoIT had an event for girls called Girls In ICT, so I took two of the girls I know from my English class to Chisinau so they could attend. 

While the thought of being responsible for two 11-year-olds (who don't speak English) in the big city was slightly terrifying, it turned out to be okay. We got there early and walked around the parks to see the monuments of Chisinau, which they hadn't seen before. Then we went to the event, and we were the youngest attendees. ("We" meaning "them" because I'm pretty sure I was actually the old lady there.) 

Massage train - photo courtesy of GirlsGoIT

There were two presenters - one woman talked about different presentation software to use online, and the other woman, a graphic designer, talked about how to make a good presentation. There was about an hour and a half for both of them, and then an hour to actually make a presentation using one of the programs they had discussed. It was a little tough for the girls I brought, because it turns out they didn't quite know as much about using computers and the Internet as I had assumed, but one of the presenters was excellent about working with them and they were quick learners!

Photo courtesy of GirlsGoIT

Each girl who attended the workshop made a presentation and sent them to the organizers of the event - voting is currently open (do it here, if you'd like! Some of the presentations are in English) and I believe that the girl whose presentation gets the most votes will win an internship with e-Government Center Moldova!

Photo courtesy of GirlsGoIT

Hopefully we can work on learning more IT skills back in the village with more kids, girls AND boys! I'll just have to learn some more specific Romanian, perhaps...

Want to know more about GirlsGoIT? Sign the manifesto here. 
What about encouraging girls in Moldova to pursue STEM careers? Here's the gofundme page for a book called Elena the Engineer - they are fundraising to send it to 500 libraries in Moldova!
And about Let Girls Learn? Here's the White House page and here's the LGL Peace Corps page. 

Join the Movement! - Photo courtesy of GirlsGoIT

#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?? :)

Currently #9

Currently...

Reading The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan. This book was published after her death, which was just days after she graduated from Yale. She's a beautiful writer and it's a shame this is all we will get from her, because it's wonderful so far. I'm also listening to Killing Kennedy on tape, which is really interesting. 

Writing letters to strangers, as per usual. One to a boy in Spain who is collecting postage from different countries, and one to a girl I met online in a group on Facebook who wants a pen pal!

Listening to 8tracks. While I read, while I write, while I yoga.. Is yoga a verb? It is now.

Thinking about what a great week we had recently with friends visiting - that friend who convinced us to run in the marathon and who we got to explore Chisinau with and see cool places that I'd never seen before! 

Smelling plăcintă! Today she made it with brînza, which I can't remember her ever doing, but I'm excited about it because I love it with brînza (it's like homemade cheese). 

Wishing for the weekend! No, I know, it IS the weekend. But this upcoming weekend is TEDxChisinau, AKA TED talks, but in Chisinau! This sounds thrilling to me and I can't wait to go. 

Hoping I get a girl or two to come with me to Chisinau this weekend. There's an event called Girls In ICT and girls are invited to come and learn how to create presentations using different kinds of software. It's an international event to encourage young girls to consider a career in IT, and I'm really excited about it. I told my English class/club and one girl (one of the star students, of course) signed up immediately. A few others said they'd ask their parents, so I'm hoping that at least that one girl gets to go, and maybe one or two others! 

Wearing my pajamas, BUT today I'm calling them my yoga outfit, because. Well. 

Loving my mother on Mother's Dayyyyyy! 

Wanting my package from my mother to be here so I can start wearing my Jawbone and be motivated to get up and walk around, for crying out loud. Because if Olivia gets more steps in a day, that's just unacceptable. Competition will fuel me, guys. Remember when I tried to beat all the boys at all the standardized tests? (More importantly, remember how I CRUSHED them?) That was awesome. I need a challenge, here. 

Needing chocolate. Where's the chocolate in this place, jeeeeeez.

Feeling overwhelmed about everything that's going on this month. Almost all of it is stuff I'm looking forward to, like Girls in ICT and TEDxChisinau, language training, and other fun events with PCVs, but it feels like a lot at the moment and I don't know if I can schedule my life well enough! We're getting a lot of work done on the park, too, so I hope I can get everything in order for that - the other day I went to Chisinau with the mayor and we bought the playground equipment, benches, and fence.. So now I need to get all that correct and recorded on my budget.. Apparently it's hard to do nothing, but it's harder to do something! WEIRD. 

Clicking this artist who takes photos of fruit.. But it's not the still life you're thinking. This piece with 20 Unconventional Compliments to Brighten Anyone's Day - so give one to someone, already! And this TED talk about the power of body language - it's 20 minutes but worth a watch. 

And just to brighten your Sunday, here are some of our cute baby geese.

Chisinau International Marathon

It seems that it's been quite some time since I've done any updating here, which isn't that notable except that it means I've missed sharing about a holiday or event or two that I'm just going to skip, unfortunately.

I started this post with the paragraph above, wrote a ton, and then realized it was just too much. There was too much of me in it; no matter how many times I changed shirts my heart was always on my sleeve. Which is fine, sometimes. But I went downstairs to eat my dinner (potatoes) and decided to scratch all that and start over. Maybe those words will appear in a future post but for now, I'm going to switch my focus. 

Instead, I will talk about the first Chisinau International Marathon! There was a marathon held in Chisinau in 1986, but this is the first time since then and they really pushed for an international presence. Which seemed to turn out amazing, because their marketing and branding was excellent and I'm pretty sure people came from all over. They said there were 1,000 runners but 10,000 people there at the start. Here's a link to a story about it with tons of pictures (don't look for me in them, though!). 

I knew for quite some time that this was happening. I knew I had friends planning to run. And I knew for sure that I would NOT be participating. But, as we know, the best laid plans.. 

It turns out that all I needed was the right motivation. The right person to say, "You have to run too!" You know, those people who make you want to be a slightly better version of yourself? Sometimes we get to meet them and become friends with them. And suddenly I had a momentary lapse in judgment where I registered for the 10K. 

Let me be clear on the fact that I don't run. I've got that Couch to 5K app, but I'm not very good at using it. In my defense, the weather really determines my ability to go outside and do ridiculous things like jog near the cows. (I mean, what if they bite me? Sometimes their moos seem very aggressive.) So I didn't do much training for this thing. 

Eventually the time came for us to actually run. We were all prepared with our protein gels and our short shorts, but I don't know that we were mentally prepared. For one, I'd never even been to one of these things to watch. So I only vaguely knew what was going to be happening. 

There were SO. MANY. PEOPLE. Obviously, the 10,000 that I mentioned earlier. The PCVs were in the wrong spot but we were ushered over to the lineup (props to the marathon volunteers) and made it to where we needed to be before the thing started. When it did, everyone just started moving and we were all running through the starting line and down the streets of Chisinau. There were people all down the street on the sidewalks advertising and cheering and watching, and I think the start filled us with so much adrenaline that, at least for me, carried me a lot farther than I thought I would be able to go before I had to switch to walking. 

I beat death, AKA the pacer for the race, so there's an accomplishment, right?

We ran/walked through Chisinau, sometimes with other PCVs, sometimes alone. When you got back up towards the start/finish line, you really had about 2km left, so that was misleading, but luckily there were PCV cheerleaders on both sides for much needed encouragement. 

Really before I knew it I was passing the last group of cheerleaders (they should all be professionals, by the way - they were really excellent) and crossing the finish line, and a sweet Moldovan girl was putting a medal around my neck - I had finished! It was kind of exhilarating and I kind of wanted to cry, I was so proud of myself. But I didn't, shockingly enough. I'm not saying it was the most fun I've ever had, but I'm also not saying I wouldn't do another one in the future. 

Because now I know I can.

Photo by Beni Coombs

4,349 pages later...

April seems to be moving a lot more slowly than say, March or February. I think it's because in February I was working really hard with a deadline (plus that silly short month! 28 days, what's up with that?) and in March I had a great vacation to break up the month and to pass the time quickly. Now it just seems like I'm waiting for things to happen - a visit from a friend, the money for the grant, the 10K I'm going to fall over and die while running, and other things that I'm "counting down" to but that aren't happening anytime soon. 

However, April's length (or the many holidays, or the fact that I've spent a lot of time in the village lately.. I don't know) has made it the best month for reading so far. I've still got a week left in April but I've already read 6 books this month. I'll probably hit 7 or 8 by the time May arrives. Which is good, because May 1 starts the Semi-Charmed Summer Book Challenge, which I think I have convinced both my PC BFF and my sissy to do with me! (This is your reminder, guys.)

During the winter I read some clunkers, but lately I've been killing it with choosing great ones to read - I think that's how I'm moving through them so fast, because they're so good! So I thought I'd give a nod to some of the great ones (or not so good ones that had some good quotes) in anticipation of the start of this challenge and because, you guys, I've read 41 books since I got to Moldova. FORTY-ONE. That's way more than I normally get through. 

• "Nevertheless, each time our spirits sank, something would happen to renew our hope. Sometimes it was just a sunset. It was a beautiful sunset." - Jane Mendelsohn, I Was Amelia Earhart // This perfectly describes a bad day in the Peace Corps - maybe nothing is going right, but then, there's a beautiful sunset. Or a phone call from a friend. Or a quote in a book. Something will happen to renew our hope. 
• "And even though these last nine months have been the most trying of my life, they've also been the truest." - Claire Kells, Girl Underwater // I read this just about exactly when I hit 9 months of service, so I don't think I need to explain that one any further. 
• "I feel more like myself. That is all I need: to remember who I am. And I am someone who does not let inconsequential things like boys and near-death experiences stop her." - Veronica Roth, Divergent // Well, maybe boys occasionally, but definitely not near-death experiences..
• "But you will do it. It doesn't matter if you believe you can or not. You will, because that's who you are." - Veronica Roth, Insurgent
• "'You're the one who has to live with your choice,' she says. 'Everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide. But you never will.'" - Veronica Roth, Four // Particularly relevant these days, as people try to talk me out of what I believe I want to do. 
• "He still had some doubts about the decision had had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
• "The alchemist said, 'No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.'" - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
• "So here we go, you and me. Because what else are we going to do? Say no? Say no to an opportunity that may be slightly out of our comfort zone? Quiet our voice because we are worried it is not perfect? I believe great people to things before they are ready." - Amy Poehler, Yes Please // Amy Poehler is such a genius. If you haven't read her book, DO.
• "That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her! Not for me." - Amy Poehler, Yes Please // See? Genius. 
• "The only way we will survive is by being kind. The only way we can get by in this world is through the help we receive from others. No one can do it alone, no matter how great the machines are." - Amy Poehler, Yes Please

If you can believe it, I've got a ton more.. But maybe that's enough, especially because I am still going to add my list for the #SCSBC15 to this post! If you want more inspirational quotes, just ask and I've gotcha. 

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. - The Last Letter From Your Lover, Jojo Moyes
10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before. (Just go to a shelf and pick a book based on the cover, the title, whatever you want!) - Michelangelo's Notebook, Paul Christopher
10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain
10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. - #GIRLBOSS, Sophia Amoruso
15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you. - The Opposite of Loneliness, Marina Keegan
15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before. (No re-reads for this one.) - Since You've Been Gone, Morgan Matson
15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (Or "lightness" or "darkness.") - Dark Places, Gillian Flynn
20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title. - Looking for Alaska, John Green
20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover. -
25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. - Sisterhood Everlasting, Ann Brashares
25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. — The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver
30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. (All words in the title must begin with the same letter; no exceptions for articles or prepositions. Examples: Gone Girl or Nicholas Nickleby. Yes, this is tough, which is why it's worth the most points!) - Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

I don't have my animal book yet, and I feel as though some of the others will change when I sit in the PC library for a decade and look at every single book.. But there's the preliminary list! Now I can get back to reading, right...?

[EDIT: I've changed my alliterative category to Killing Kennedy, which Bill O'Reilly is kindly reading to me as I walk to and from work.]

Orthodox Easter

Hristos a înviat!

This weekend was filled with food and traditions, as it was Easter in Moldova. 

I left work on Friday around noon - the rest of the office had been cleaning up and painting outside the building, which I'm not sure why I wasn't asked to help with, but if I had known what they were doing, I would have - and was told not to come back until Tuesday. 

What, does Easter really take that long? Oh yes, it does.

My host mom started cooking on Friday.

On Saturday, we cleaned the entire house. (Maybe we just cleaned my room and the entryway and it just seemed like it took forever..) We took out the carpet and vacuumed and "mopped" the floors (mopping here meaning bending over with a rag and a bucket of soapy water - they could be on the next "real people" Swiffer commercial, I swear), and I reorganized everything while dusting it all off. It was a beautiful day and the sun made it more bearable to be cleaning for hours.

Later that day I was called downstairs to find my host mom making Блинчики (which sounds to me like blinch-ki and which I used to call clatite until I got to my village where they prefer the Russian). I was excited because A. I love those, and B. I know how to "make them." I have never made the crepe part, which admittedly is kind of the whole thing, but I've watched it enough that I'm sure I could, if given the recipe. I helped her with cooling and stacking the crepes and she told me I could fill them with fruit later. Which I did! I filled them with strawberries and cherries. She made cream to put on top of them, but that didn't really end up working so well, so next time we're going to melt ice cream to put on top (WHAAAAAT) - next time being this upcoming weekend, I think!

The "blinchki" process

She made tons of food Friday and Saturday, including boiled eggs that she dyed red.

There was a sunrise service and food blessing at the church way early in the morning, but I have not known her to go to church in 8 months, so we did not attend that. Nevertheless, there was knocking on my door around 9am to eat, which I thought was extraordinarily too early for a Sunday/for a huge meal. Did not matter what I thought, as the table was more full than I've ever seen it, and for only 3 of us. 

Champagne, fruit, blinchki, potato salad, eggs, chocolate cake, racituri, multiple kinds of meat, fish, etc..

She put on a kerchief and we all stood up for the prayer, where she thanked God for the meal and for our health and for a lot of other things. She had said the night before that the first thing we had to do (after the prayer, I assume) was play a game with the eggs, but it didn't end up being the first thing we did, so I hope we're okay with that. 

Pasca, traditional sweet bread for Easter - ours was store-bought but AMAZING

We had a champagne toast and then set to eating more food than I've probably eaten in the last month. We did play the egg game: two people take an egg and hit them together - whoever's egg cracks is going to die first. This is how she explained it to me; I might have gone with "whoever's egg doesn't crack is going to live longer," but, whatever. Then we each had to eat an egg. Oh, and I'm going to die first, which she thought was hilarious. 

We also had to have a jug of wine to symbolize the blood of Jesus. So after the two hour masa, I had to take a nap.

I woke up and ate again, at my host mom's insistence, which was then confusing, because we went to visit one of her friends (and then a second), and obviously they had a table full of food they wanted us to eat, too. I feel as though she sabotaged me, making me eat right before we went to more food and Moldovan women who try to make you eat everything (We can't NOT eat another Easter egg, because it's Easter!). I also think she might know some egg secrets because she won that game again with another person.. Proof that she'll outlive us all.. 

We stayed out much later than I would have liked, and I met a CHARMER who toasted to me: "La mulți ani, la mulți bani, și un moldovan!" (To many years, much money, and a Moldovan man.) Then he drunkenly, regrettably said that he would like to be that man, were it not for his wife sitting right next to him, who he loves very much. I don't know if everyone ignored just this or if they ignored him the whole time, but he would not be ignored by me. 

In the village, when I walk down the road, I greet people with "Good morning!" or "Good day!" depending on what time it is. After Easter, for the next 40 days, I will not say that. Before Easter, I was told that I would have to remember two new phrases - a greeting and a reply. I thought, oh no, I can never do that! Turns out that once I knew what I was supposed to say, it was easy to remember. Instead of my usual greeting, I must say "Hristos a înviat!" and if I don't get to the person first and they say that to me, my reply is "Adevărat, a înviat!" These mean, "Christ has risen!" and in response, "Truly, He has risen!" As we walked down to visit my host mom's friends, families were out on the roads in nice dresses, smiling and greeting each other with Hristos a înviat! and having such a great time with each other. I obviously enjoyed eating tons of good food and drinking champagne at 10am, but watching that was my favorite part of the day. 

We stayed home Monday and we are still eating delicious leftovers on Tuesday. Next weekend is Memorial Easter, so stay tuned for that adventure. 

Adevărat, a înviat.

Currently #8

Currently...

Reading the entire Peace Corps library. Okay, not the whole library - it's too big. But I've just picked up a new stack to keep me busy, and I'm almost done with my first one, Ten From Infinity (but of course I'm reading at least 4 books right now because go big or go home, right?). I actually can't wait to get back to my house so I can finish the last 30 pages or so and learn the fate of the androids (there were 10 of them, and they came from infinity.. aka outer space, aka the characters in the book have no idea about anything). 

Writing in my journal - lists and thoughts and dreams I had the other night that were so perfectly analyzed by my PCV bunica. How could I survive without my journal? Answer is, I couldn't.

Listening to Ellie Goulding lately. Though, right now I'm listening to Alexandra work quietly next to me. Thursdays in the Primaria aren't much of a thrill ride (as opposed to Mondays, which are CRAZY). Occasionally she'll tell me a story, though! Today she told me about what her son does in Texas, and that through his work, he just saw my host brother, who lives in Texas also!

Thinking about how amazing it is that I've been in Moldova for 300 days now (302, to be exact, because this post took me too long to write). On Saturday, it will have been 10 months exactly. How close is that to a year? Hint: very. I cannot fathom how that could possibly be true. Didn't I just get here?

Smelling spring! Or is that mud...? 

Wishing for more spring. And hopefully good weather this weekend, because I have friends coming to visit my village! We're about to increase the Americans in this place by 200%. Assuming I can do math correctly. They don't have long in the village because of our great, frequent bus schedule, but I think we can cover all the highlights in a few hours. (It's quite small.) 

Hoping I don't have a heart attack and die when I try to run jog/walk in the Chisinau 10K that I just signed up for. I think it was an April Fool's lack of judgment on my part - my brain fooling me into thinking registering would be a good idea.. (Or was it peer pressure? Or a combination of the two? At least if it was peer pressure, I'll have good company while I struggle.) Because the last time I ran anywhere it was because a dog was literally chasing me (thanks, Moldova) so my ability to do this is questionable. I'm good at walking though, so if I just stick with that, I'll do great.

Wearing my favorite horse sweater over a dress and bright orange tights because I think it's autumn, apparently.

Loving my walk to work this morning, even through the mud, because on my way I saw a group of little boys, one of whom I recognized from the Pregatitoare class at the kindergarten (he's one of my favorites, too!). One said good morning to me, and I passed them (little boys dawdle, whereas I of course do not), and then I heard a tiny voice shout, "Okay!" I tend to say "okay" a lot, which I didn't think was that weird because I hear Moldovans say it too, but it's possible I say it TOO much.. So for the next few minutes (until I got far enough away) we just said "Okay!" back and forth to each other - he thought it was hilarious. 

Wanting to sneak our new puppies, Buzz and Woody, into the house to snuggle them. If only, if only. 

Needing a nap. Turns out it's exhausting to get up around 4 in the morning, travel ~3 hours, walk around Chisinau all day in heels (my fault, obviously), then travel ~3 hours back to site in one day. (What?? The title of this blog has the word "whining" in it - you should expect some of it.) Plus side, I got to see the sun rise while on the bus and it was OFF THE CHARTS beautiful.. Totally worth seeing the clock at 4:00. And I got to have a lovely coffee date and bonding time with "o Moldoveanca frumoasa."

Feeling excited about our park renovation project! Remember that time we applied for a grant and didn't get it? Yeah, me too. But then we went to a project design workshop and learned how to make our project better. We worked really hard for almost all of February rewriting and making sure everything was perfect and then submitted an application for a Peace Corps small grant. After returning from Italy, my partner and I went to Chisinau to present our project before the committee, and last week we heard the good news - our grant was approved! So we will be renovating a park this spring/summer and it's going to be awesome. 

Clicking this article about How Smiling Changes Your Brain and this #100happydays challenge I'm participating in - today will be day 11! (You can find my 100 days on Instagram by checking out the sidebar or by following me.) Read about it and join me and we'll change our brains by smiling for #100happydays! Or something like that.