June

This month I told my host parents I'm interested in looking for an apartment of my own. Being 30 years old, it's about time I take care of myself and live by my own rules. And to be honest I'm REALLY excited about cooking for myself!!! Thinking I was being courteous and telling my host family in advance has become more dramatic than I ever anticipated.

At first my host mother was very understanding and realized my decision has little to do with them (mostly). She also knew I had visitors coming from America the end of June since I've been talking about it for months.

It turned out she also had important visitors arriving, her daughter's new in-laws visiting for the first time from Israel the same exact day my guests arrived. She told me I needed to find an apartment in 10 days so that her guests could stay in my room. That really put a lot of pressure on me and my partner who did her best to start looking. We were hopeful because the Bulgarian dance teacher was returning home the same week I was asked to move out. Unfortunately, his landlady didn't want to rent out to anyone!! So I'm still looking. :(

Janet & John Yoder arrived in Ceadir-Lunga which was an adventure in itself- listening to cooks and waitors fighting in the kitchen over what we presumed were lamb kabobs; eating freshly purchased melted ice-cream; and Lenin statue photo opts. I ended up spending the night at my partner, Tanya's house which turned out to be a special treat. Her sister was visiting from Odessa and we sat outside under the grape arbor and ate freshly picked cherries, drank wine, recited poetry, and talked well into the night.


The next day I brought John and Janet over to her house. They gave us a tour of their garden, showed us the well, we ate delicious cherry cake, and once again heard Lida and Lova recite poetry. We all really enjoyed this visit. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful and kind coworker!!

I'm still technically homeless. All my things are still in my room at my host family's house, but I'm not able to spend the night there even though I've paid June rent. Gotta love it.

Instead I'm now playing guide to the Yoders, who keep complimenting me on how well my Russian is... a much needed encouragement! Even though I've lived here almost a year I've been able to be a tourist in Chisinau for the first time! It was great!

Here are some photos of our adventures together: visiting Moldova