First Days at Site

Before I forget, let me just say how small this world really is…My host Mom told me yesterday that the first volunteer she hosted lives in Poulsbo, Wa…I love people meeting people who know Washington is a state, not a city!
I arrived by private bus with youth from the organization where I will be working in the rain, which resembled my mood at that moment. Sad to leave my friends and family from training, excited to be here, frustrated with my language, and generally overwhelmed. Though, at that point I was holding back my tears better than the weather was.
After a brief rest I jumped right into action. A pattern I hope to continue. I helped in the kitchen, unpacked immediately so as to make the situation more permanent, and went for a walk at the football stadium down the street. Part of my job is evaluating the assets in the community, and the football stadium is at the top of my list!
I spoke briefly with a couple boys there who told me that there was to be a game the following night. So, one night two, I ventured down to see the universal sport. A slow first half quickly turned into a crowd pleasing, exhilarating, second. Though, because of the excitement and my apprehension once I realized I didn’t even know any of the vocabulary for the sport, I only spoke to a few people. Not the most successful integration activity.
Night two also included visits to a few neighbors who treated me to fresh grapes from their vines and new challenges in my language. Let’s just say, by the time I master this language, you probably will want to be on my team for the next game of charades. My new host Mom, Maria, thoroughly enjoyed repeating stories I have told about my language education. Everyone laughs when I tell them about the time a whole routiera (mini bus) of people tried to help me pronounce the word for sunflower. In addition, when trying to explain what kind of crafts my mother does, I hastily laid out several dishcloths and pretended to sew them together while explaining that this craft is fromose (beautiful, pretty) bedding (which is coincidentally really important to Moldovans).
Emerson’s first definition of success is to laugh often…I don’t for see too many challenges in acquiring this type of success over the next two years. :)