Happy Thanksgiving!

Safe travels to everyone this weekend! I worked today and was thinking of everyone at home.

I had my alcohol seminar with my nurse partner yesterday and it went very well. I hope that more people will come to the next presentation we give, but it was a decent turnout. My nurse partner, Efimia, ... cracks me up ... when I'm not stressed out. I ran to the medical center Tuesday to see her in person to remind her to come to our seminar Wednesday, and then Wednesday Viorica asked if Efimia knew I was doing a presentation with her that day. I laughed because why would she not know if I had dropped by to remind her the day before? Viorica insisted that wasn't enough and that I had to call the actual day of as well. So I called to make sure she was coming and found she was out of Pepeni--in our raion (larger city) center--and had to hurry back to make the time we had set. Once everyone was seated in the classroom we used for our presentation, Efimia sat down at a desk in the back of the room and I had to tell her to come up front with me. Multiple times throughout the presentation. Um... This is kind of our presentation.
Yesterday was memorable.
I also had to teach a lesson by myself because Viorica needed to do health checkups for students. I was with my sister's 5th grade class and it was a disaster. One kid got under his desk and I couldn't get him to sit in his chair. The kids laughed at everything I said and I couldn't even get my sister to stop talking. She was even laughing at my incorrect pronunciations and it made me furious. I had to excuse myself for a minute so I didn't flip out and then return to finish class. You start to feel confident with your ability to speak and then when you're in a stressful situation realize that you still don't know anything. Or it's that the people you're speaking to don't care to try to understand your accent or find it comical. My friend Suzanne and I decided that if PC is a government conspiracy then it's like the military where they first put you into situations where you're broken down and humiliated. And then, if you keep your sanity, you can continue serving. I hope that analogy didn't offend anyone. It sounds terrible, but it made us laugh.
Suzanne has been receiving harrassing phone calls from people in her village wanting her to sign paperwork for US work visas. "Could you come with me to the US Embassy to sign "some forms" for me?" Or as one woman pressed: "Could your family sign these forms to take full responsibility for my father's medical care and financial state while he's in NY?" She's helped so many people fill out the English application online she's memorized the steps of the application process. I haven't had any people in my village ask me about visas. The situations and issues we encounter are different from village to village.
The first class I taught with Viorica yesterday was frustrating. She continues to be agressive with the kids. She confided in me a week ago that her husband is abusive when he drinks. The last volunteer, Nina, sent me her site report (from her end of service) the other day and in it she had written about the problem of domestic abuse in Pepeni. Nina, during her service at our school became friends with other female teachers who were also in abusive situations. The second host mother she lived with in our village was beaten by her husband while Nina was living there. Nina had far more stressful host family situations than I dealt with. I admire the way she handled everything. Mainly because I never had any idea of what she went through until I read her site report... Meaning that she never told others in the village the real reasons for why she had to move. People still talk about how she was pretentious for moving so many times, but in actuality she's the classiest person I've ever met. She put other peoples' reputations ahead of her own. I wish I could have her in the village with me, but I'm very thankful to have her as a contact and friend. She's been amazing support to me every step in Pepeni. She asked me what kind of peanut butter is my favorite. I love her.