She's a tough one

I had three friends come to help me celebrate my birthday this weekend. Since two of the girls ended up arriving later in the afternoon than expected (afternoon transportation to my village is rather sporadic if not nonexistent) and the weather was less than agreeable, so we ended up taking it easy and spending the evening chatting in my room. We decided to make some dinner since at lunch my host mom had told my friend that was here that I've never shown her how to make American food... so we made curry. SO American. lol. It was so funny having my host mom and my host dad standing over our shoulders telling us what to do and how to cut and clean the vegetables, even though they had no idea how to make what we were making. In the end, though, I think they enjoyed it an we'll be making it again. I really think my host family enjoys when i have friends over because they are always comparing my language skills and eating habits to those of my friends. My language is never as good as theirs, and I also don't eat enough. I don't think I'll ever win those battles.

It was too bad that today is Sunday because the girls had to leave and the weather is so perfect today that we could have gone to do some exploring. But such is life! So we went on a short walk to visit my thinking spot and then headed home so they could catch their rutiera. We were waiting with about 6 other girls, all heading in the same direction. When it arrived, however, the driver only let a couple of the other girls on and then said the rest couldn't get on because it was full- and 6 people had called him and asked to leave space for them in a village that is about 15 minutes away. My host mom was SO not okay with that! She was yelling at the driver telling him the girls needed to get on because they had to get home, and they always pack people in like sardines (even though they're technically not supposed to do so), so why couldn't he do it now. When she realized she'd lost the fight, she shut the door what was apparently a little too hard, so he opened it back up and began to yell at her for slamming the door... and when he was finished, he, too, slammed it shut. I love how my host mom isn't afraid to speak her mind and tell people how it is. I think it's a rare trait for a Moldovan woman to have, but she sure has it and uses it all the time!