Much needed weekend

After working 13 out of 14 days 8:30-5, this weekend was much needed. As soon as language class was finished on Monday I went home, changed my clothes, and met up with Mandy to find our way to Mileștii Mici.

The ride was quick- only 30 minutes, compared to the usual 2 hours if we were to take the long way. We met a nice man who grew up in Răzeni but moved his family to Chișinău so he could work. I would venture to guess he was in his 60s, but I really have become awful at guessing the age of people here. At one point in his life he moved to France to work, but he moved back after 16 months because he felt it was more important to be by his family than to be making more money. As I got out of the car I told him ”Voi aveți o enima mare” which means ”You all have a large heart when I really meant to say he had a large heart. When his response was I know, no wonder I was a bit confused! Haha. Oops!

Anyways, the weekend ended up being perfect. Ross and I took a long walk up this huge hill and had an incredible view of MM and also Chișinău in the background. It was hot but the view was definitely worth it. When we got back we took a nice 2 hour nap- with a fan- which was also very necessary.

The evening consisted of meeting up with fellow PCVs at the local magazin (bar) and getting locked out of the house, which was fun, especially at midnight. I guess we left and the family did not realize it so they locked up for the night. What was the funny part was we saw his host brother at the magazin- so he must have left quietly, too. Lucky for him, we left the door unlocked.

Today consisted of a lot of time in the Capital. Mandy and I printed our bazillion and one pages of the lesson plans we made for the past week, and then we ate at OPA- a greek restaurant in Chișinău. It is not only really good, but they have a reputation for being really friendly with Americans and every staff member speaks English really will. This was great at first, but now as we are getting more proficient in our Romanian, it would be nice to practice. But, regardless, it was delicious.

We then spent the next couple of hours walking around the Central Piața, where the boys were determined to buy tank tops so they can wear them to class tomorrow and be ”Moldovan”. I do not really understand their reasoning, but it was still funny to see two 6 foot 3 inch men trying to find tank tops that would fit. Ross was the only lucky one, other than Matt, but Matt is closer in height to the Moldovans than Ross or Nkosi.

Now that I am home, it sure feels good. I feel like I actually had a full weekend to myself (the first one in a long time) and I feel relaxed and ready to begin week 2 of Practice School. The first 2 days consist of reviewing for the test, the test, analyzing the test, and wrapping up. Then my partner teacher from Varatic comes and we begin another week of classes- this time with 9th graders. Should be fun! And tiring...

off to bed now. feeling pretty good, though!

-cc.

(sorry the photos are so unorganized- I cannot figure out how to get them arranged correctly. And it is late and I am tired. So maybe tomorrow!)

This was an awesome woman who got on the bus. She had 3 kittens in this basket and she just had this smile plastered on her face!
Not sure what this is, but it is in Chișinău!
This is a crosswalk on one of the main streets in Chișinău. Do you see the keyboard? LOVE it!

This is a building in MM- no one really knows what it is. Was it supposed to be a hospital? Or a kindergarten? Good questions. Regardless, they no longer have any money so construction has been stopped.

This is the view from Rosss room! Is it not awesome?