Zile de Odihnă - Weekend

First weekend at my new site, welcome to my life in Nisporeni:

Friday, after work, I decided I needed to replenish my dwindling supply of cash. I walked to the atm in town and was flustered when I realized that the atm was empty. So, I plucked up the courage and walked into the bank, knowing full well that I had the language capacity to ask for assistance. After I jumbled together a sentence and tossed my ID and atm card through the hole, the young woman behind the counter answered in English "oh, you are American?". "Da," I said, slightly thrown off by the English, and responding in Romanian. We had a short conversation, her using English, my answering in Romanian. She was curious why I was in Moldova, if I liked Moldova and for how long I would be staying. She was surprised at all of my answers. Explaining that I was in Moldova working for the Raion Council (County Office) as a Peace Corps volunteer, that I thought Moldova was beautiful, and that I would be living here for another year and a half astonished her. Her response was simple to all of these answers, "But, why?".

Everywhere I go in Moldova, people always want to know why we, peace corps volunteers, have chosen to leave the US and live in Moldova for two years of our life. Sometimes, honestly, I wonder the same thing. But then, I meet people like this bank teller, who in some small way make an impact on me and make me assured in my decision to stay here and do what I can. I'm not living in an unrealistic world, I'm not expecting to bring great change to this country, I'm just here. I'm here to be, I'm here to enter the lives of people I wouldn't have otherwise known, and maybe, if I am lucky, they will gain something from their relationship with me. I know the biggest change that I will make while in the Peace Corps is the person I will become. I just hope that a fraction of what I am able to gain is mirrored in the work that I do and the relationships that I build while I am here.

Saturday, I woke up and took my time emerging from my warm bed. You know when you find that perfect spot, you could just lie there forever. After a few cups of tea and a good chunk of my book read, I decided to find host Mom and see what she was up to. I'm always surprised at how busy Moldovan's are, working around the clock. I found her in the summer kitchen preparing soup. I asked if I could help. Usually, when you ask to help here you get a confused response. Luckily, host mom had a PC volunteer awhile back and hadn't forgotten our uncommon curiosity for how life is lived. She happily let me cut up the vegetables for the Zeama (chicken soup) and watch her make the homemade pasta. She added spices and bullion base to taste, and let me taste until we both deemed the soup 'gata' (done). She told me that she had a wedding to attend later that day, her niece was getting married. Zeama is a traditional dish, to be prepared for the morning after a wedding. After a long night of eating and drinking the soup is supposed to help one feel better, ie the Moldovan hangover cure. The soup is delicious, so any excuse to eat it I am in complete agreeance with. Host mom also shared a Moldovan saying with me, it goes-- 'Cand pregatesc zeama cu gaina de casa, zeama este mai gustoasa.' (When you prepare Zeama with a chicken from your home, it is more delicious.') I like little rhymes like this, so I found myself saying it the rest of the day.

Sunday, I met my site-mate Anita at the piata (market) in town. Sunday is the largest market of the week, so it is the best opportunity to find whatever it is ones heart desires. We poked around the different stalls. Marveling at some of the fashions we saw, both for sale and worn by some of the market-goers. We both made a few purchases. I got a sweet mug. I drink so much tea and coffee that I feel bad always occupying the largest mug in the house, I knew it was time to buy my own. And, I can't lie, it was pretty and in my budget. After the market we made a stop off at Fornetti. A bakery chain in Moldova. It is one of the few (if not only) places in town one can get hot prepared food. I decided to get to know the woman working there, since I'm sure we will be seeing each other on a frequent basis. Her name is Vera, she isn't much older than me, she seems entertained by my Romanian. I have found the more I can laugh about myself the more people will warm to me. Everyone who knows me knows I have no issue with making a fool of myself, this equates to funny looks and sometimes if I am lucky, smiles. When we had deemed our shopping trip complete I made my way to the entrance of the piata where lots of buses can be found. I asked the drivers if they would be going to the 'gara' (bus station). One friendly driver told me that he wouldn't be leaving for an hour, but that if I waited on the street a bus would come that would leave in 15 minutes. When the bus arrived I confirmed with the driver that he would be going to the gara. I waited outside the packed bus, as to not get in the way, I would be the first to get off, the bus had a destination to another village. I handed the bus driver the two lei fare, he smiled and handed it back to me. I was surprised by this kind gesture, it made my day.

So, there you have it. A peek into my weekend. I didn't include the fact that I also watched the first four Harry Potter movies, but if I haven't mentioned it before my night-life has turned into that of a shut-ins. I drink tea, watch movies off my hard drive and read. Glamorous, right?! Just another weekend in the life of a peace corps volunteer.

Be well ~