A Kansas City gal in Moldova: Memory

I've often heard people say that a scent is the fastest way to trigger a memory. Whether it's true or not, I do not know- but today my memory was triggered when walking to and from school. Everyone is burning their leaves which makes me think about when my dad would drive my sister and me to my grandparents' (6 hours North of us in Kearney, Nebr.). During this time of year we would always smell the burning leaves and we would always comment on it, saying how much we enjoyed the smell. Well, now is leave burning time here in Moldova. It has become much colder and overcast and as much as I would like to think it's due to the smoke, I'm afraid it is really because winter is quickly approaching.

Speaking of winter... I was SO COLD today in the school! As per tradition, it had been about 3 weeks since I had last done my laundry so this Sunday, even though it's slightly frowned upon in this culture, I did my laundry. Due to the cold temperatures it takes clothes quite a long time to dry- so my base layers were still drying this morning when I got ready for school. I've learned just how much it helps to be dressed properly...! I had to come home and get my down jacket (and eat some lunch) before heading back to the school for the rest of the afternoon.

On the way back to school I happened upon some neighbors making wine. For some reason I was feeling quite social (maybe I was super slap happy because of my lack of sleep due to Starbucks VIA too late in the afternoon yesterday). I stopped and asked them what they were doing although it was quite clear, but hey, I gotta stick with the cultural norm (ie at 2pm once school is released and I'm walking home people like to ask me if I'm finished with lessons for the day... which, due to the fact that every teacher is finished with lessons for the day, yes, I am lol). My host family totally overlooked me in the wine making process so I was curious to stand for a minute or two to see what they were doing. Unfortunately they had just finished but they still offered me some of the wine- which right now is basically just grape juice but they said it will be much better in a month. I think I'll have to go back.

More things I saw/did today:

Walked to school with the cows...

Talked to a man, Victor, for a few minutes about why he was sitting outside in the cold- and it wasn't because he had been drinking (he doesn't like racieu... but he does like wine). He just insists it's not cold- yet. And the outside is cleaner than inside.

Met his son (or son-in-law)... which I think is the real reason he was sitting outside.

Conducted interviews/made videos with some of my students regarding the problem of migration in Moldova (finished video will come in a couple of weeks!)