This is Moldova

After I woke up for my 6 hour nap, a couple of my students dropped by for me to take pictures of them. While walking back home, we walked past a pile of trash and I jokingly said, "do you want your pictures here?" ... thinking they would laugh and we'd keep going. Instead, Marin said, "Yes. This is Moldova."

And unfortunately, he's right.

benadryl

I woke up this morning with half of my back full of bug bites... guess he thought I was super sweet or something. So I put some anti-itch cream on them but it just wasn't doing the trick so I decided to also take some Benadryl right before lunch.

Thirty minutes later I was super tired so I decided to take a nap. Six hours later, I woke up. Pretty sure Benadryl only works because it makes you pass out... therefore forgetting the itching/allergies.

Learning

I fell back on the downward slope again of questioning my position here and considering going home. But instead of letting myself completely crash again I decided to take a different approach. I have stayed away from the internet, read 5 books in 2 weeks, and made my way to Chisinau and Razeni (my first village). What I've learned (and sometimes relearned) from friends, family, and books:

Leaving Moldova would be like drinking alcohol to the point of blacking out. When you come back to your senses, the problems still exist. There's no point in running. It's best to clean up your act, get your head on straight, and then make new decisions.

Sometimes pretending to be happy really makes you happy because you realize you have no reason to be sad... and it's fun to pretend.... and then you're having fun before you know it.

When it's time to make a decision about the next chapter in this thing we like to call "the Book of Life", the answer will be obvious... as long as you don't ignore the signs.

It may take a huge journey to discover what was there all along but it's possible to have missed what was there all along if the journey wasn't taken first. Plus, it's pretty difficult to say "no" to traveling.

Reading rocks. Internet rocks. But reading is so much better than the internet.

"I suddenly had such a pang for home that I began to cry. It wasn't St. Louis [insert: Kansas City] I longed for exactly, but some larger and more vague idea of home- known, loved people and things." (The Paris Wife by Paula McLain)

"Wherever love is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure first." (The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo)

Focus on the present: not the past or the future. Doing those two things can only lead to more confusion that make you forget to stop and smell the roses (and there are tons here right now! Makes smelling them easy... except did you know that a lot of roses don't actually smell?!)

Listen to the stories your family tells you. And if they don't tell you stories, ask them to. You never know what you may find out if you just listen.

I didn't have to be a good student in order to become a good teacher.

Saying "goodbye" sucks... but hopefully it's really "see you later". In most cases.

Apply. Apply. Apply. For. Everything.

And that's all I have for now.

Don't drink the water

On the way to Pelinia today to visit my friend Mandy the rutiera driver was especially cranky and quickly demanding money from the people as they entered. When I go to Chisinau I usually go with this driver because it's at a reasonable time, so I'd say we kind of know each other (well, kinda). But because he was cranky I didn't talk to him like I usually do... which was fine. I wasn't in the mood. Well, when I got off the rutiera at the stop for Pelinia he asked me if I had brought a bottle of water with me. I then told him no (thinking how many times have I left a bottle of water in the car...??!!). So then he told me not to drink the water here and I said no problem- I don't drink the well water in Moldova anyways. Well, then he told me to not drink the water in Pelinia because I needed to drink it in Varatic to stay there.

Broken dishes

I am very happy my host mom is so easy going (and that we always get tons of dishes for Easter) because, when cleaning dishes today after making these delicious breakfast bars with fresh raspberries from our garden, I accidentally broke the big bowl. While I was nervous to tell her I broke it (but obviously I had to come clean), she just laughed it off and said, "Ooohh Katușa" (Katușa is the Russian translation for Cate). I'm going to miss that when I leave.

Kissed by a cow

Ever been kissed by a cow?

Yea, me either.

Until today.

I spent the late morning (oops, another sleeping in day!) and early afternoon finishing up the wedding photos from Amelia and Nate’s wedding from when I went home and also talking to a few of my students that stopped by (unfortunately mostly about the accident… and the fact that Sasa claims he will actually try to learn English this year which I’m SO excited about!). Then I’d had enough of sitting inside on this sunny and warm day so I did what I do best- went to the river to read and lay in the sun (ok, hopefully that’s not what I do best but it sure is enjoyable).

After about 2 hours of soaking up the rays I decided it was time to head back home. On the way home I saw the first sunflower of the year and a cow that kept beckoning me toward him (or possibly away… but I wasn’t willing to find out which) with his mooooooooooooooooooo!!!!:

and this cow that was definitely beckoning me toward him because he kept coming closer and closer and closer… and then he LICKED my hand. If you’ve never been licked by a cow you are really missing out on an incredibly weird feeling. The texture of the tongue is much like that of a cat… rough like sandpaper. But not only that- it is incredibly long and powerful and he kept trying to see how far he could wrap it around my hand (must have been a game). Finally I was able to scratch him and show him that he doesn’t just need to lick my hand like a lollipop… and he relaxed… then attempted to follow me home until he reached the length of his chain that was stuck in the ground and he couldn’t go any further.

Finally: sun

Oh I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I was for the sun to come out this afternoon. I woke up at 10am (still adjusting?) and was then told I had to be ready at 10:30am to leave for the funeral of 20-year old Victor who had died in the accident. Quickly I got ready (still in dire need of a shower), ate a quick breakfast, and headed to Victor's family's house with Luminita. When we arrived there were probably already over 100 people, and by the time they brought his body out of the house, I can only assume there were close to 400 (but I am really bad at guessing numbers of people). People just kept coming and coming... it was amazing. Then as they brought him out of the house everyone started sobbing just as the trumpet/trombone/accordion band started playing music. From what I understood, they do this for boys who are not married... kind of like it is their wedding day. Once the sobbing began, I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle it for the next 15 or 20 minutes as they walked to the church so I took the back road and waited. After the ceremony in the church I again realized I couldn't handle any more of the sadness (the weather was still gloomy) so I made my way home. While coming home the sun came out so I changed into some jeans, grabbed my Kindle to start a new book (I finished the other one last night when I was unable to sleep) and headed to the river to feel the warm sun on my face and read. In fact I even think I took a little nap, falling asleep to the sound of the bees in the flowers.

While I still think cutting my trip short and coming home because of the accident was the right decision, I realize now that I didn't quite think everything through all the way. There have been record deaths in this village since the start of the year and I've seen what happens when someone dies, especially someone young (50's). I didn't quite think about what would happen to the village with the death of 3 people... 2 of which were very young. I can't really describe it other than to say the village shuts down. It is all anyone can talk about and everyone is crying all of the time. It really breaks my heart to watch this but goodness, my heart is already weak. This is when I miss being in a bigger city... you can run and hide if you want to and no one knows you're gone.