Making Compote

This story is very typical of my house. My host aunt is incredibly hard working. A month ago she was bringing home sour cherries by the 10-liter bucketful, which we would pit and preserve nightly. Last night, it was apricots. Since Moldovans really don’t like to let fruit sit long, we decided to make a batch of compote, a boiled fruit drink for winter.

So, Maria and I went to a small birthday party, got home at around 8:30 pm, and got to work. We managed to wrap it up around 11 o’clock, with about thirty fresh liters of compote. While we worked, a few neighbor ladies stopped by to chat, we danced casually to Radio Iasi playing the Eagles, and giggled our sleepiness away.

Here is a photo slideshow of the compote making process.

My Moldovans

Last week I headed back to my roots, at least the ones that were developed in Moldova, and returned to the village and family where I trained last summer. In the afternoon, we did a short seminar for the new trainees, but really it became just an excuse to go back to the village. I  much appreciated the time I was able to take with one of our old language teachers, over tea, to converse no longer as child-to-adult, but as colleagues. She is among the most patient women I have ever met—proof is in her return to Peace Corps for a second summer to teach us clueless Americans.

I thought that going back to visit my old host family might be a little awkward, since so much time has passed and I know I wasn’t around for a recent wedding. But arriving to open arms, kisses, and smiles…followed by the dragging of my own two feet at the night’s end, when I needed to leave, is testament that we really did appreciate each other’s company last summer. As the house wine flowed, so too did some of the best conversations I ever had with the family. Amazing what a few more months of study can unlock! 

Since they are knee-deep in remodeling their home right now, I couldn't stop commenting on all the changes. For a woman with so many grandchildren, the installation of bunk-beds was a fabulous idea! They've also added new paint, a dining table longer than a village road, walls, doors, energy efficient windows, and gas heat. To cut to the chase, one of the daughters recently returned from her work in Canada.

My host mother and sisters were also adamant that I had changed too. Since I've heard this even here at my regular site, I think it's time to just come out and admit it. Moldova is teaching me to be a girly girl. I'm okay with it, I think. Maybe some day I'll even decide to have some of those...yikes...children.

Ziua Independenție Americii

I celebrated Independence Day three times over, this year. First off was the western themed shin-dig (complete with country music) hosted by the American Ambassador to Moldova and his wife. The photo above is a group of PCVs with  Ambassador (center) and a prominent member of the Moldovan government (grey suit). Recall,  that the Ambassador and his wife are Washington State Cougs, so my colleauge asked that I not embarrass him by bleeding crimson and grey at this party. "Don't be weird, Melissa" he demanded. But I got my sweet sweet revenge when the Ambassador actually asked if his WSU colleague (yours truly) was attending the party! Haha! Go Cougs! 

We ended up dancing the night away with the Ambassador's wife, a dance instructor in the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Embassy's social secretary (a Moldovan women decked out in boots, a red skirt with white polka dots, a flashy red bandana, and ladies Stetson knock-off). The woman in the center of this photo is our brand new Programing and Training Officer, who we absolutely LOVE! Welcome to the team, Margaret!

The next night, the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova hosted their annual event. This year I recognized more of the American ex-pat community at the party, because I've been working or playing softball with them over the last year. But the majority of the non-Americans are alumni of the various programs Moldovan students participate in when they go on exchanges in the good ol' US of A. This was also our chance to sit in the grass, getting acquainted with some of the new volunteers. There are some pretty great people in the group! We had a blast dancing the night away (wait? again? yup!) to tunes like "Route 66," "Shout," and "Don't Stop Believing." 

Continuing to build the understanding

Naturally, even things from organizations like the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) tend to arrive at post a little late. I'm sipping on some instant-brew right now, while flipping through the winter 2009 edition of the NPCA's Worldview Magazine. This issue is all about revitalizing the agency, as we inch closer to and beyond the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. 

There is a short excerpt I'd like to share from a piece titled "Peace Corps for Life: Reinvigorating the Agency by Reframing the Experience" by Joby Taylor, Ph.D. Taylor, according to the magazine, served as a PCV in Gabon from 1991-93, studied as a Peace Corps Fellow from 1999-2001, and is the director of the Shriver Peaceworker Fellows Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.I want to share Taylor's words, not only because they are moving, but furthermore because they again bring to attention the mission of our work. 

“The Peace Corps, at its best, is a transformative personal experience for our own citizens and their host country counterparts; it’s a grassroots development agency offering an effective hand up (not a hand out) in thousands of communities around the world; and it’s the smartest ‘smart power’ in our international affairs portfolio. This integration of goals is the elegant genius of the Peace Corps.”

Taylor constructs a portrait of the agency's three goals in a way that reinvigorates a volunteer's passion. I can fully attest to the "transformative" power of Peace Corps service. We offer our best hands when we help others help themselves, as my colleague describes here in his two part series. And the true asset in our tool kit is the collection of idea and energy on the ground, in our communities. 

This week, my group passed the point where we now potentially have fewer days left in Moldova than have already passed since our arrival. I've spent a lot of time considering what I want to accomplish in the next year, what my community needs, and where those two intersect. Reminders about why we are here, like Taylor's, inevitably help me keep my focus. I suppose I am hoping this post will help others understand and support our work too.

Thanks, Granny!

Salsa in a can? Gourmet to the PCV tastebud! Thanks, Granny!