Maria: A Theatrical Performance

We are scrubbing the house inch-by-inch, as we prepare to host our praznic, next Saturday.

One the things Maria's been advocating for is some serious curtain washing. Almost with out fail, she hasn't been able to enter a room without looking up, saying we need to wash the curtains and vacuum the ceiling.

After dinner last night, and her evening tea, we pulled the clean curtains from the line and headed to my bedroom to re-hang them.

"Melissa, I'm going to go up there, and you hand me the curtains," she said as she stepped onto my bed, then maneuvered the old radiator like it was her last step to the summit of K2, and finally stood in the window ceil. Her frame is just the perfect height, as she was able to stand in the window ceil without hitting her head. One might say it was her custom built stage...

By this point, there are three of us in the room, including a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer with whom my host mother is fascinated. He is a Russian speaker. We talk and joke for a few minutes in the way only PCVs and host country nationals from Moldova can, a ridiculous mix of Romanian, Russian, and English languages. Then Maria begins to praise her work for the day, and call for recognition.

"Very nice. Look Melissa, now you won't be able to see anything from the street, and no one from the street can look inside at us." She said from behind the curtains, her fingers fastening the last clips at the top of the curtain being the only evidence she was there at all.

Already having a case of the giggles, I took her bait for play, "Thank you, Maria! But are you sure you don't want to stay up there and do a little show? I mean, I'll go call the neighbors and have them stand in the street for theater night!"

And then there was silence. Silence. My colleague and I exchanged mutual glances that whimpered embarrassment and "oh no, she didn't think that was funny."

But Maria is rarely one to miss a punch line. As I squirmed uncomfortably for three seconds that passed like an hour on a crowded mini-bus, she was behind the curtain scheming up her next move. One that included just the right amount of gesture, the appropriate words in the most appropriate language, and something she could pull off without laughing throughout the execution.

The result was one perfect theatrical performance including exactly one gesture, one word, and one language. Bold enough to induce hilarity, yet short enough that she could wear a smile as she did it and laugh all she wanted when she successfully completed it.

Her gesture? Pushing the curtains open with both hands as she held a sassy pose, still standing squarely in the window ceil. Not one bit shy either!

Her word and language? An ethusiastically delivered, Russian "hello"..."Здравствуй!"

Did she laugh afterwards? Whole heartedly... as did we.

But what do you do, Melissa?

My program exists to build and sustain individual and organizational capacity. My day planner currently tracks the following projects my various partners and I are working on. I hope soon there will be some posts on the progress of these activities!

[+] Drafting formal job descriptions for public employees that work with youth.
[+] Redefining the roles of the youth council's leadership team (i.e. president, vice-president)
[+] Holding an organizational development day for the whole council where we will distinguish between who we are and who we want to be--then come up with a plan to get there.
[+] Teaching adult English classes for three individuals who already spend time in the United States, or are applying to.
[+] Revamping the recruitment strategy for youth volunteers in my community.
[+] Helping organize an awareness event with an NGO in northern Moldova that aims to prevent instances of human-trafficking...we're talking two-hour gig. Live music. Poetry slams. Guest speakers. THE WORKS!
[+] Recruiting other PCVs in northern Moldova to work with this anti-trafficking NGO in their communities.
[+] Working with other PCVs to reboot the Gender Workgroup Peace Corps Moldova.

Vino progres!

Iron strike

Walking to work today I was waved down by a woman I don't know. "Melissa!" She called, "I am in need of your help. I bought a new iron and it's not from Moldova."

Well, I thought, I'm not sure what iron would be "Fabricat in Moldova." But for the next three minutes or so we poured over the diagrams and the user manual's English directives until I was able to clearly explain the answer to her question, "how can I clean the inside?"

I think it's no secret why she didn't ask me how to actually USE the darn thing.

In a passing week

"Melissa, you have to try my wine. It's like grape juice--all natural grape juice--that just happens to be a bit tart." -Neighbor who prepared a random masa outside our house one night.

"You don't want a lamb, it grows up to be a sheep!"-The man who speaks perfect English after a couple glasses of tart grape juice.

"Open your eyes!"-A running joke between my host mom and I (hey, it's sarcasm and I'll take it where I can).

"One-hundred-fifty lei!"-The value of a frisbee being tossed in a lively game of five-hundred with the neighbor boys.

Melissa+Vlad+Oleg+Sasha+Misha+Slav+Alec+Daniel+Octavian=The hottest frisbee team around.

A Moldovan: "How do you say his name?"

Me: "Billy"

A Moldovan: "Like Billy Clinton?"

At the market, the woman at the fruit stand: "Stand aside people, Melissa wants something...what would you like, Melissa."

Me: "Five bananas, please."

The fruit seller: "That's it?"

Spring in my step | The Randomness

I am anxious for spring and can't help but notice all the randomness in my life this week. Here's what I mean:

-I think I just agreed to help an eleven year old neighbor boy with his homework twice a week in exchange for homemade honey.

-I played hours of the card game Uno with three neighbor kids. In order to appease the parents and make it more English based, I made them say a simile for every turn they took (ex: red like sour cherries, green like the grass)

-I broke both my Yaktrax (like snow tires for your boots) over a period of three days.

-The snow melted away and I no longer need my Yaktrax.

-Grant money we've been waiting on since October FINALLY arrived from a donor in Hungary.

-I ate potatoes in crepes, pastries, and pasta.

-I switched back to coffee from tea and now every morning is like an adrenaline rush.

-I decided Moldovan cottage cheese kinda leaves the American stuff in the dust.

-A colleague called and asked if I would consider joining the leadership team in charge of this summer's girls empowerment camp.

-I booked a plane ticket to Greece for May, and already previewed some ticket prices for this time next year.

-Having late night tea with my host aunt, I learned that she once considered going abroad illegally to work. Now she is so glad she didn't because of the stories she is hearing about poor working conditions and human trafficking.

-My nine year-old cousin asked me if he could write a report for school about me. The topic is "someone I admire." Aaawwww.

-I still haven't finished reading Three Cups of Tea.

-Via the always trusty Facebook I learned about another college friend's engagement.

-Just now, I overheard my host Mom telling her son that she is making a dish I requested to eat. Hmmm....don't recall that one :)

Little Dancing Man

I think my real purpose for being in Moldova is to dance the hora on Friday afternoons with these amazing kids. This little dancing man, as you will see near the end of the video, really likes the spotlight!