Little things

It's the little things in life that I think. I miss the most about being in Moldova... like being able to drink water straight from the tap... And toilet paper being provided in the public restrooms. Now i know why Peace Corps suggests staying near your country of service.... It's going to be super hard to go back to Moldova!

Wifi

After failing miserably at finding wifi in Rome, our thirst, lack of sleep, and hunger got the best of us. So after finishing a visit at the Vatican, we stopped somewhere to eat. We found out that they don't have wifi but the Vatican does. Sweet.

... Oh, and after a late arrival in to Rome, we still managed to take a walk and we visited the Pantheon, Colossium, and Trevi Fountain. This short stay, I'd say, was a success!

When travelling....

When travelling, especially when working abroad, always have all of your documentation with you. Because, if you're like me, you'll get a nice person at customs who is concerned about you getting back into the country to go back to work once done traveling, and she'll not want to stamp your passport. Imassured her Imwouod be able to get proof and everything would be okay, especially because I have my regular passport (not given to me by Peace Corps) that will allow me back in-country. (Note to self: always have all forms of identification because a passport is never enough. Unless you're in America.)

Also, make sure you are actually going up to your friend at the airport instead of a random girl who looks like your friend... Because if it's not your friend, she will be really confused as to why you're putting all of your thugs next to her when there are plenty of open seats... While speaking English.

Also, don't try to speak in the official language if the country unless you're 100% fluent. All of the employees speak English.

And finally- if you've been following the blog of someone who has been living and working in the same country as you, don't be afraid to say hello. It may seem kinda stalker-ish, but they appreciate that they're not just writing for themselves, and if we keep and open blog it's because we like the attention. At least that's what I thought when I went to say hello to Judithanne and her daughter, Peggy, as they were getting their bags all packed for their official journey back home. Little Peggy asked me if I was her mom's student, where I was going, and then she told me they had a lot of luggage (I would, too, if I were them!)

... Currently still in the airport waiting for our plane that was supposed to be taking off 20 minutes ago.

Wrapping presents

Christmas for the stereotypical American child means waking up early in the morning and running to wherever the Christmas tree is in the house to see all of the wrapped presents under it that Santa brought... then one-by-one opening them to see what's inside. Some children go crazy and tear the paper all over the place, while others are more careful... hoping to preserve the paper for another present. But the excitement of unwrapping presents doesn't go away even when you're in your 20's or 90's (or even 100's, I assume). Even if you're Ross and you know most of your gifts because your Mom is too excited about them so she tells you ahead of time what they are, it's still fun to unwrap them. Basically, I can't imagine Christmas without wrapped presents.

Christmas in Moldova has changed that around a bit.

My dad sent over presents for my host mom and dad in Varatic. My host dad participates in a religion that doesn't believe in celebrating anything- not Christmas, not Easter, not birthdays... but, regardless, he was receiving a gift. When I first walked into the house to give them their gifts my host dad wasn't there, so I just gave it to my host mom. My dad had translated a message into Romanian and written it on a little card. My host mom read it, then put it aside and said, "thanks! That was nice of him." Then I had to tell her to open it. She didn't know how. So I had to show her. He had purchased a beautiful turquoise necklace- she put it on immediately. Then my host dad came in and I gave him his present. He did the same thing as my host mom- read the card, said thanks, then put it aside. Then she told him to open it. He couldn't quite get the hang of it so he asked me to help with half of it, which of course I wasn't going to say no to more present opening! He had received a beautiful sweater, which he immediately put up to his chest, just as I would have imagined my dad would have done. But then he asked how much it cost, which I'm assuming was because he wanted to pay my dad for it. I said I didn't know, and it was a gift for him. He didn't ask any questions after that.

Then Ross and I were discussing it later and he said that he thought maybe presents here aren't wrapped because when he was looking for some paper to wrap my Christmas present (see card below!), he couldn't find any.

... maybe wrapping presents isn't international after all.

Tomorrow we head to Italy to begin our 10 day vacation... we'll be on a cruise where we may or may not have internet, so I may or may not be able to update! So, just in case, have a happy new year!!! And don't feel the need to make resolutions... you can do that every day of the year. :)

A funny Christmas

I always get excited to open the gifts from my dad because it's usually a surprise. I'm not very good at giving hints or ideas as to what I want for Christmas. So when I opened 4 boxes of Clif bars from my dad I wasn't surprised. I mean, he does know I like Clif bars, so why not have a winter's supply of them?

But after opening all of the presents I got hungry. I wasn't hungry enough for lunch yet, so a mini Clif bar sounded perfect to quench my hunger but not leave me wanting more for a couple of hours. I then opened one of the boxes and when I did I realized that Clif boxes don't have green hemp bags in them usually. Maybe it was just a Christmas special? Then I pulled the bag out. It definitely wasn't a Christmas special Clif bar bag!! It was a beautiful belt.

But there's more to this belt than its beauty. You see, my dad sends me the Cowboys and Indians magazine because I like to look at the pictures and he likes the magazine and my kids can use it for projects. In the last issue I received from him I saw an ad for this beautiful "Tuscan Sun" belt by an artist who has named her company Mosaic Goddess. I fell in love with the belt the moment I saw it in the picture and had to check it out on the website. It was expensive, so I couldn't justify buying it right now but I thought the artist, Janice, needed to know how much I love her work and I hope to buy something when I get back to America. I also sent my dad a link to the belt saying, "this would be a great gift for Christmas, but I don't expect you to get it." Well, he did. And I couldn't be happier!

You see, this belt goes even beyond the funny story of how I received it. I absolutely love sunflowers and turquoise. The state flower in Kansas is, ironically, the sunflower, and sunflower oil is one of the main products produced in Moldova. And... mosaics are everywhere. This is the bus stop for Ross' village:

This was a great Christmas. Although I was away from my family, I did get to spend it with Ross- so neither of us were alone. We had Christmas music, movies, lights, decorations, presents, and snow (that started to melt, so it was more like Christmas weather in Louisiana than Kansas or Moldova)...

Cookies

It's finally Christmas break and due to the excitement of it all (and finally having some freedom), I have lacked at an update. Please accept my apologizes as an early Christmas gift. :)

On Wednesday, my friend Mandy (who is site mates with Ross in Pelinia) and I spent all afternoon and evening baking cookies with the help of her boyfriend. We made Chocolate Espresso cookies (my personal favorite from the day), Chocolate Crackle, Chewy Sugar, Almond Thumbprint, and chocolate dipped pretzels (which I left at Mandy's. Oops). We were also going to make some ginger cookies but of course I left the ginger at Ross'. Oh well, that gave me something to do today!

Mandy and her host sister

Chris burned the wrapping of the butter... note: the wrapping of the butter is flammable and should NOT go in the microwave.

So I've been anxiously awaiting my Christmas package from my Aunt because she told me there was a cookie press cookie maker in it. Every year my sister and I used to go to my Aunt's house to make cookies, and Spritz cookies have always been my favorite... so this was a great surprise (even though it wasn't so much of a surprise because she told me ahead of time). But my package took longer than the usual 2 weeks to arrive- and we were getting worried that it got lost in delivery. When Ross was in Chisinau, he looked for it. Then we both went on Wednesday and looked for it and couldn't find it. But then, just as we were leaving, he looked through the package log again, and there it was! So today I baked more cookies- gingerbread and spritz.

Oh. My. Gosh. I ate too much dough... but it was so worth it! And tonight Ross and I are going to decorate the cookies to prepare for Santa :) The lights are up, the presents are under the tree, and we're ready.

3 days until Italy...

Hram 1

Yesterday I attempted to make Buckeye balls. While I am incredibly possessive over the little peanut butter that I do have here, I decided to share a taste of American tradition with the people who invited me to their Hram (aka village birthday) celebrations.

First attempt at melting chocolate: fail. (Don't add butter after it's melted).

Second attempt at melting chocolate: success! (I put the pan over a boiling pot of water so the chocolate melted slower.

So this morning I was like a little kid on Christmas day. I was invited to 3 parties- which means 3+ hours total of eating about as much food as I eat in a week at every party. Eek!! But thankfully tonight they have the ball, so hopefully I'll be doing some traditional dances with the students and working off all of the food. But OH BOY is it tasty!

My first masa (aka party) was with one of my partner teachers and her family. Her husband, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend came in from Chisinau late last night and they left this afternoon. It was a quick visit, but it was so great to talk to them! Her daughter is just a year younger than me and is living and working in Chisinau... I'm glad I have a new friend that is my age, and someone to hang out with when I make my way to Chisinau.

Extra snow pics:

EEK! My alarm just went off (I was trying to nap, but it was a failed attempt after my host dad had to come get a textbook and my host mom to tend to the fire...)... time to head to masa 2 with Maria!!