07 November 2010

You're not welcome?

Did I write about the time when a woman stopped me in the street as I was leaving school? Well, if not, I'll give a quick recap:
I was leaving school to head somewhere (Pelinia or Chisinau) and a woman stopped me. She looked, spoke, and walked like she was a ghost. I couldn't understand a word she was saying, so I had one of my students translate once I saw her. Apparently she told me I shouldn't wear blue jeans to school. The student told me this woman was sick and I shouldn't listen to her. Ok, no worries.

But then I saw her again yesterday was I was walking to the school to get permission from the Principal for me to be away from site al next week. I was carrying a heavy bag, and I was running late (typical on both accounts). She stopped me anyways. She asked me where I was from and who I was living with. Then she said Americans and Italians are not welcome in our village and I should leave (she knows of someone in Balti who could help me find somewhere else). I told her that isn't necessary and I'm just fine in Varatic. Then she said my host dad has a femei (aka woman) which I know isn't true... unless she's referring to NMG... and that I should find another house to live in. She then told me of two other people and said if I stay for a few minutes she'll go talk to them. Well, I had no time for that if I wanted to get approval and the bus, so I told her thank you for her advice, and kept walking. (Oh, and when I told her I was from America she asked which state, and when I said Kansas she said she knows the states in America are big, so was it Kansas City. Even though she told me to leave, she still gets bonus points for knowing about Kansas City.. and she said she's heard it's beautiful).

While this kind of bugged me, I knew I had to take it with a grain of salt. I told the Director (aka Principal) about it and she said the same thing and I shouldn't worry about what this woman tells me because she doesn't even know what she's saying as she says it.

Good. Looks like I'm staying!

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