Ranger Danger?!

EXCLUSIVE: We Called It the 'Ranger Danger'
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4535132&page=1

So apparently the ship my brother was on that sank was in need of many repairs. It sounds like a lawsuit is in the works... so the Alaska saga continues for my little bro!

I also read that the boat sank in 15 minutes, and rescuers didn't make it there until 2 1/2 ours later! What a nightmare!

Farewell to Garlic

What a bizarre day! I was shocked and relieved to hear about my brother's rescue in the Bering Sea... and soon after posting the following blog my host father in Moldova comes into my room to let me know the family dog has been shot. Yes, SHOT!

Apparently every spring and autumn the Town Hall coordinates a death to dogs day. A posse goes around town and shoots every dog it sees on the street. Garlic, our host family's dog, was one of the few dogs that was not permanently chained to a gate- one of the reasons I chose to live with this family. Ultimately, this freedom led to his death.

I get so angry the more I learn how animals are treated here! I understand stray dogs are a major problem and they reproduce every year... but why the massacre? I know why- because animals are very rarely considered pets here. They're either food, or put to work guarding a house by being chained by a gate for life, or made to pull heavy carts. Anything else is garbage. Besides, its cheaper to kill them than to deal with them in a humane way!

Probably some of the adorable dogs I've been feeding on the streets had their last scraps of food early this morning. The murderers came out in force around 6am. Can you imagine doing that?

Aaaaaaaaah! Since coming here I've thought about doing a documentary on stray dogs.. hearing about Garlic's slaughter makes me want to do it all the more.

On the flipside I know many Americans back home spoil their animals. Some dogs eat only grand gourmet meals, and get better health care than most people! Then there are so many other countries, like Moldova, where dogs on the street are considered dirty, disease-infested nuisances. But aren't we the ones responsible for making them that way?

Grrrrrr.... This post goes out to those dogs that were slaughtered this morning.

May you enjoy Doggy Heaven, eat whatever tasty morsels you didn't get on the streets of Ceadir-Lunga, and (if reincarnation exists) may you be reborn and raised by a rich dog-lover.

My brother's alive!!

ABC News http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/256.0/popup/index.php?cl=7104793

I just found out my brother's fishing boat in Alaska sank on Easter Sunday. Four people died. I'm so grateful that Dave's ok!! From what I've heard from family, it was pretty traumatic and he almost didn't make it out alive.

Thank you God for sparing my little brother! Give those you love an extra hug today!

Spring

Finally, the sun is peaking through the clouds earlier and longer each day. As the plum trees blossom, I'm finally crawling out of my winter hibernation and exploring more around town - finally!

One day I took a two hour walk, outside of Ceadir-Lunga's city limits (I later learned toward the Ukrainian border) and I saw a small airport! There were three mini-planes and one semi-large plane. I've never seen or heard a plane fly overhead except for in the capital, Chisinau, so this was a revelation. I wonder if they actually get used?

In the local park little lambs are nibbling the new grass in bunches of energy next to their parents. On my way home from work I had an interesting conversation with some shepherds- about politics of course. Imagine, my broken Russian mixed with Gagauzian words; two shepherds; lots of sheep in the park on the way home; talking about George Bush, Iraq, Putin; and the meaning of life.
A very surreal moment.

Other news? Yesterday I did a thorough spring cleaning- whacked the large floor carpet outside (a great stress reliever), moved around furniture, and organized all my paperwork, and realized I moved the tv too far away from the cable. Oh well, so much for "studying" with the tv, until I get a new cable, or the energy to change my room back. So... since I was exhausted after wiping down the floors, walls, and any other place I thought needed to be wiped, I took a nap. Guess who came calling? My horsecart man, Pyotr!! Now this is getting embarrassing. He's stopped by the house twice now asking for me. I have no interest in going to a bar with the guy, since that's really the only place to hang out other than in his horsecart, and who knows where that might lead! Flattering as it is, the time will soon come when I need to dash his hopes of courtship. I'm learning my lesson about smiling too much, and the signals it sends... Definitely makes for fun stories though.

On a hopeful note, my host mom and I have planted lots of seeds in their dark-soiled garden. I included lots of foliage like lettuce and some other yummy looking greens that I haven't eaten before but am desperate to chew on a daily basis! I'm really tired of lack of vegetables, and mentioned it to my host mom, politely of course. She bought two carrots- I sliced them up and we ate them! It was such a treat! That's how exciting one vegetable has know become to me. Imagine when the seeds we sowed actually sprout into edible deliciousness. God-willing there isn't a drought again this summer because I plan to roll around in the garden munching on whatever green thing I can grab out of the ground!

I also smuggled over a few seeds from Japan last summer that I've planted in yogurt containers and placed on the kitchen windowsill where I watch daily for baby sprouts to appear. If they decide to thrive in Moldova I'll have yellow mini-tomatoes, Ao-shiso, Aoba leaves, and yellow watermelon! Can't wait.

Work? Hmm.. It's a challenge working for two counterparts who both want to be active. I'm not complaining because many other volunteers sit around twiddling their thumbs begging for work to do! At the same time, it's uncomfortable sitting in a room with both your counterparts (coworkers) while they're arguing over YOU! Basically they both think I spend too much time with the other person. To think I should once again feel flattered to have people fighting over me, but in reality it's more of a headache. I've come up with a solution! Recently BOTH my counterparts have offices for their NGOs (before only one did). So despite neither partners really having consistent schedules, I've decided to hang out in their offices on certain days of the week, starting tomorrow. I know events, meetings, activities will still conflict but at least it's a start!


Right now the biggest time consumer is the English Club at the elementary school. One of my partners wanted me to run this club for her daughter's class. As much as I LOVE little kids 1) I still don't speak very good Russian enough to lead a group of active youngsters, and 2) I didn't come here to teach English. So I decided to enlist the help of teenagers from the local high school to "lead" the English Club. It requires a lot more work on my part as I meet with each group of volunteers and go over possible themes, games, and methods on how to deal with rowdy kids. Fortunately over 20 youth volunteered to help with English Club, and breaking them into groups of three or four means a new group teaches every week making it more likely they'll want to keep volunteering (less commitment). I'm also excited because it's teaching them organizational and leadership skills that many don't have opportunities to develop or practice. Sounds so Peace Corps!

So the first English Club day was GREAT! Personally, I believe because my partner was their to help keep the children listening. The theme was animals and we played lots of games, including Duck, Duck, Goose - definitely a favorite!

The second time my partner couldn't come, and the youth that were teaching were incredibly soft-spoken. So guess who did all the directing, encouraging, and child calming?? Yours truly! It was a nightmare... it wouldn't have made a difference had I broken out in Japanese. I tried to implement a way for the children to be quiet by not starting the next activity until everyone put on their moose antlers. It worked the first few times... but then the teenagers, and later I also resorted to raising my voice at the antler-less kids. It was pretty funny.

The whole purpose of the English Club was for kids to ENJOY learning with lots of games, unlike a typical Moldovan classroom. I thought it was great when the teenagers gave each kid a piece of paper, and then asked them to draw a picture of the words they learned through other games. I was shocked when I saw them collect the papers, and while I was trying to control the classroom (since they weren't starting a new activity) I saw they were GRADING their artwork!!!!!!! One of the youths was giving out 7s, 8s, and 9s (the highest mark is 10). I felt like they completely missed the point. At least I know it's not just important to teach games and how to play them, but also what NOT to do... in other words, how to play the Americana way- smile, smile, smile.

Also when first agreeing to do this club, my partner told me that parents would come help out - easing my fear about the current language barrier. Well, so far no one has come. Cross your fingers for me... If I end up resorting to yelling at little kids every week, someone else will have to take this club over ;)

Which leads me to... Since I'm asked so often to do English-related activities, I mentioned that they should apply for a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Volunteer. They agreed, applied for one, and will get one in September!!! So guess who will inherit the English Club? And guess who will visit when she wants to play? Yup! That's how to work it baby.

Onto more adventures...

Just for Fun

Horse-drawn Carriage

Wow! I just had a surreal experience. When horse carts go by I usually watch, like the foreigner I am, because its still exciting for me to watch people drive carts like cars. So this afternoon, while walking home, I watched a horse cart and nodded to the driver as he saw me looking in his horse's direction. About 5 minutes later the same cart came towards me. Apparently the man (and his horse) had gone around the block and stopped in front of me.

I had a feeling where this was going when he said "Privet" and tipped his hat to me. He asked my name... and his second question was if I was married. Hmmm...

Pyotr (English equivalent: Peter) was pretty forward asking for my phone number. I managed to not give it to him politely, and he asked where we could meet again. I told him where I worked... figuring if he really does come I can convince him to be a volunteer in our organization- sneaky, I know.

Anyway, he offered to drive me home. I normally don't get into cars (or horse carts) alone with strangers, but considering he couldn't drive fast, we were literally out in the open, and I had never ridden in a horse cart yet I quickly accepted his offer. Upon arriving home, my host father saw me get out of the cart. I couldn't help thinking about Sense & Sensibility and how controversial it would've been so long ago. Of course I didn't have a long dress to get caught on the way down, nor fancy white gloves, but I do have ample time to imagine.

Thus was another day in Moldova.

Turning 30!

Amazingly February has come and gone- and without an entry in my blog!

I seem to be obsesses with only making entries when I have film or photos to share. Perhaps I should get over this desire to display visuals and openly write comments as well.

So February. One of the biggest highlights happened on the 2nd. It was my 30th birthday! As my long-time friends back home couldn't be around for the big bash, I instead had a warm dinner party in my host family's house. I invited new friends from different parts of my life here in Ceadir-Lunga. Expecting everyone at 5pm, Neha and I began cooking around 2pm. Three hours later we still had massive amounts to do! People began arriving, and I was frantic in the kitchen. I decided to stop pretending to be Moldovan having a beautiful table prepared for everyone in advance, and put my friends to work. There were probably about 8 people scurrying around a tiny kitchen. We made homemade gyouza (also known as potstickers), and thanks to a large food package of goodness sent from Japan, we also made sushi rolls! I taught them how to make and roll them, and my friends did all the work. It was great! The Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage cakes) were a hit!

As more people began pouring in, even people I didn't invite, I began worry that we wouldn't have enough food so I made a huge pot of Japanese curry. To my delight, and surprise, my host mother brought to the table a baked goose, and delicious rice-filled cabbage rolls. Everyone was stuffed, slightly buzzed from the champagne and cognac, and lavishingly giving toasts. It was a fun night. Little girls that I didn't know would arrive began pounding on the piano, pretending to perform a classical masterpiece, then fortunately decided that reciting poetry would get more applause. Extended family member began arriving, more guests I didn't expect. The house was so full that we were in two rooms eating and laughing.

All in all, it was a good time. My friends cooked the meal, and we were entertained by adorable children. What more could I have asked for?

And yes, here's a video.