Buna Ziua!

Hey everyone! I am at an internet cafe right now with my fellow trainees and word is getting around that Obama killed a fly and Jon and Kate Plus divorcing! You guys have to keep me in the loop! :)

Anyway, it's been a long couple of days of studying Limba Romana, hanging out with my host Mom, and learning about Moldova. In Chisinau we spent the day learning our way around the city, how to buy goods and exchange money, meeting current volunteers, and most importantly ordering off a menu!

At home I spent the past couple evenings picking fruit. The raspberries are my favorite, but last night I had a cherry picking lesson because I picked the wrong ones last time. Oops! then last night I helped my mama gazda clean my room...no swiffer or vacuum there! We actually used a wet cloth to gather the dirt in my carpet, then a broom to smooth out the pattern in the carpet. Make sense?

We are working on learning more about our community and I had the opportunity to eat lunch with the mayor last week. He was very helpful and informed us of the work NGO's are doing in the community as well as the work of his office. I was happy to hear that the community likes to work together. A local company hired local labor to restore an old bakery building they are going to use as a textiles factory. Also, another building is being retrofitted to store construction equipment. These buildings were left without care when the soveit system collapsed.

The mayor also said that the community recently had a couple community days where volunteers came together to work on projects. That's very exciting for Moldova and I am very encouraged!

Lastly, a colleague of mine posted some video from our cultural lessons--great music and dancing! Check it out here: www.thenothsinmoldova.blogspot.com