The Russian Capital of Moldova

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a group tutoring session with the Peace Corps in Moldova’s second largest city. It’s not too far from my site, and armed with my map of the city scribbled on the back of an ATM receipt, I hit the town early Saturday morning. The artist behind the map, my official counterpart, and more importantly friend, Nadya, also gave me one other piece of advice. “Ask youth where you need to go. Only speak to youth.”
By this I thought she was trying to imply a cultural norm I should best abide, but alas, the truth is much more explicit. Due to a series of circumstances, it is the youth who would be most likely to speak something I understand. Most people speak Russian in this city, or a combination of Russian and Romanian that they do not distinguish as separate entities. Needless to say, her advice worked wonderfully.
I only observed a small part of the city, but I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere compared to the capital city. Lots more trees, a nice city center, and a theater I hope to attend when the new season starts. I hear the western-style grocery store also carries frozen broccoli and brussel sprouts, but I ran out of time before I could get there.
I won’t go on about all the amazing insight I took from a volunteer who let me crash on her couch late Saturday night. But here is one concrete idea worth sharing. This volunteer is one of the elite. The ones who are dedicated to being here for no other reason than to help, to serve, and to help others help themselves. These are the volunteers who after about 18 months of service, realize they aren’t ready to go. That in fact, they will tell you they can’t responsibly leave yet. These are the volunteers who will tell you, ‘it took me a year to get started and get my language to a level where I could be effective, so I really need a third year in Moldova to complete my goals.’
And now for that concrete idea…get to work, Melissa. I already know that extending my service is probably not in the cards. No way, four more years of school are waiting and I am still just a little too uptight to put that off again. Plus, we’re having a huge party for Mom’s big birthday. It’s no secret. So, returning to site for the work week was easy for me. So much work to do, only two years to do it.