Apricot blossoms

Summer of Eurovision

Nelly Ciobanu's "Hora din Moldova" was the most popular song on the radio and television when I arrived in Moldova two summers ago. Now, it's impossible to attend a wedding or town celebration without dancing a hora to this song. It was the song "chosen" by Moldovans to represent their country in the 2009 Eurovision competition.

I have to include the quotation marks in that one because I have had more than one conversation with Moldovans about how the voting in this competition is often inherently skewed to those in the cities with access to things like the internet. Since most of the voting during the international competition takes place by phone, more than one person has expressed to me that Moldova's chances of winning this competition are inevitably wedded to the country's economic well-being. Perhaps when enough Moldovans are earning a disposable income, and are able to make those expensive phone calls, Moldova will garner more votes and win the chance to sing in the final round. 

Eurovision is a televised, annual song competition that began in 1956 under the management of the European Broadcasting Union.  During the summer, every pub not showing a football game on the flat screen, will be tuned to the Eurovision competition. Most songs are mostly or all in English, as participants are probably trying to become the next ABBA. Eastern Europe loves ABBA. The group got it's big break when it won the Eurovision competition in 1974.

Zdub si Zdub, one of the most popular musical troupes in Moldova, will return to the Eurovision competition this year. Making it into the top 10 songs, Zdub si Zdub represented Moldova's first entry in the competition, in 2005. I don't actually like this year's entry, but here I've included that 2005 song about a granny who liked the drummer.

Why fish sales are sky high this week

According to Orthodox tradition, today is "Buna-Vestire," Catholic readers might recognize this day as the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the celebration of the day in which the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the son of God.

The Buna-Vestire falls right in the middle of the Easter fasting. Those who are holding the fast are eating strictly vegan diets (which at the end of winter, with no fresh produce, is a really big commitment. I can't say I know many young people who do hold fast). Ironically though, Buna-Vestire is considered to be one of the 12 major feasts of the Orthodox Calendar.

Fast holders and pretenders alike will celebrate today by a one-day exception to the fast, eating as much fish as they like. My host Mom bought her fish supply a couple days ago. She hasn't kept fast (she made it like 27 hours until she broke down to cheese and meat again). My host aunt kept the fast for about a week or so, a common gesture in these parts. My host grandma is still a devout observer, and my neighbors and friends at the Popa house will probably eat fish today because they like it so much, but they plan to observe the fast next week.

This week, fish stalls at the market have been the envy of all other providers. Happy feasting, everyone!

As seen in that one American movie: Twister

My youth council has been working really hard. So I invited them for an afternoon of games. When I pulled out the Twister board, Rodica (pictured below, left) got so excited and said she saw this game in an American movie.

A big thank you here to my family, who sent me the game as a Valentine's Day gift. Muah!

Youth Council Open House

Last fall, a number of my Peace Corps colleagues started asking questions about my youth council. What is a council? How is it different than a volunteer club? Can I come visit? Thus, we developed the following program to both educate Volunteers about the council model and provide a space for an experience exchange between two youth councils and the Peace Corps community. 

The Guests

From the Peace Corps community, I first invited another Volunteer working with a Local Youth Council in a neighboring district. She and three of her most active council members came to help us convey the essence of the youth council model. In this picture, the visiting youth council is presenting our President with a medallion and pennant from their city.  

Other Peace Corps guests included Volunteers working with civic education curriculum, and those interested possibly starting a youth council in their villages. 

Part One: Youth Councils

In the first half of the program, both my youth council and the members of the visiting council discussed their activities. In true contemporary Moldvan fashion, each group presented picture slideshows of their favorite activities. My council also showed a short video, with a Mandy Moore song for a soundtrack that makes you...well....pray for it to end quickly.

As if anticipating the day's second act, I watched as the presentation to Peace Corps guests, about council activities, soon turn into a series of discussions between the two councils about how each group pulled-off their respective activities.

Lastly, my youth council presented their summer leadership course model, the best youth program I have seen in Moldova yet (credit to a previous Volunteer, not me). This is an 8-week course taught by youth, for youth. Each year's graduates are given the chance to be trained as trainers for the next year, making it an incredibly sustainable event. Since the program's initial success via a small grant, the district and city councils continued to fund it annually, no questions asked, no grant applications.

Coffee Break

Almost every Moldovan event comes with a coffee break. Ours was very typical, instant coffee and tea made available with hot water from an electric kettle, cookies, chocolates, and pastries. 

Naturally, as the group migrated to coffee break, it settled into three distinct communities: my youth council on the couch, the visiting council at one end of the table, and Peace Corps Volunteers at the other. But, since I happen to work with the best youth around, Victor volunteered to provide a mixer, resulting in the activity shown above, mixing the participants and providing an opportunity to present a united presence via a perfect circle. 

Part Two: Experience Exchange

The goal of part two was to generate as many ideas as possible. Additionally, since the Peace Corps guest learned so much from the youth in part one, this was a way for them to give back a little, and provide examples from their own experience in clubs and organizations.

Using a very simple rendition of the Open Space Technology, we brained stormed a list of topics, chose three (recruiting volunteers, maintaining and motivating volunteers, and promoting youth talent), and divided into small groups.I loved watching these small group discussions. Frequently, expressions of intimidation (upon hearing about another's success) turned to curiosity, and finally enthusiasm crossed the faces of those most engaged in the discussions.  

After 20 minutes of sharing experiences and ideas, each group reported their notes (which each participant will receive an electronic copy of), and we closed the day with our Local Youth Council secret clap, the one we use to finish every event at our council. Though, I guess that gave away our secret...