I'm currently cozy in my 56 degree palace sipping black lemongrass tea. Last time I wrote was before winter vacation.
Vacation with Allison, my good friend and university roommate, was fantastic. I took a bus to meet her at the Bucharest airport, and from there we visited Budapest (NYE), Vienna, and Prague. My friend, Johanna, whom I also lived with in university, met us with her boyfriend in Vienna. It was really great catching up with both Alee and Johanna. The past two years have been times of change as Allison married this past summer and is now working toward her PhD at VCU. Johanna is living in Germany again and currently applying to graduate programs both in Europe and the US.
All of the hostels we stayed at were luxurious to me as I did not have to make daily fires and the water was always steamy hot for showers. Allison returned to Moldova with me and stayed for about a week. She met two of my partners and some of my Peace Corps friends. I don't know all of her impressions of Moldova, but I hope they were mostly positive. I had a lovely time relaxing with her in my village and probably couldn't have found anyone more easy-going and fun to travel with. And unlike me, Alee has the patience and orientation for map-reading.
Prague was our favorite destination. I felt like the entire city was a film set. Beautiful buildings, cute shops with cafes and narrow streets. We didn't spend many days in any one city, so things were slightly rushed though I feel we had sufficient time to see the major sights, wander around, eat delicious foods and relax with hot coffees.
So now I'm back in Moldova, Alee has been gone for weeks and the spring semester has begun. I've heard that this winter is the coldest Moldovan winter in the past 8 years. It has been hovering around and below zero degrees Fahrenheit this week and snow has been on the ground since before I left for vacation. It's currently snowing more, 10 degrees outside and now a rising 59 degrees in my house. I'm staying warm thanks to coal and the wood that some 11th grade boys are currently chopping for me in the shed by my house.
Work is going. Viorica and I started the year off with lessons on fire safety. This week we're focusing on natural disasters with discussions of current events such as the tragic situation in Haiti.
Viorica finished writing the grant for tables and chairs before winter vacation and I translated the grant into English and submitted it to the PC grant committee. This Saturday Viorica and I will go to Chisinau together to present the project and hopefully it will be funded. I'm very proud of her commitment to writing this project when nothing is in it for her. She will not be using the furniture next year as our school will sadly not continue the health education program, but the new furniture for these two biology classrooms would be great for the students. The current tables and chairs are falling apart in these two classrooms so she has done great work to try to improve learning conditions. I will keep everyone updated with the progress of the grant.
In other news afara din Moldova (outside of Moldova), I recently received acceptance to both University of Michigan's and Emory University's schools of public health! I'm very excited about this coming fall. I'm still waiting to hear from the two other programs to which I applied and I'm also waiting for more information about financial assistance/grants I might receive. It's intimidating and a bit frustrating trying to make this decision while I am so far away. At this point I have no idea what choice to make, but I have till April to respond to U-Michigan.
I hope that I will feel good about the end of my service in Moldova, whenever I choose for that to occur: May, June, July or August. Winter time in Eastern Europe makes me want to choose a school based on regional temperatures, and having family in certain states makes me want to choose these schools so I can be close to or live with people I know and miss. Living alone has it's perks (MAJOR perks!:), but I can't wait to have roommates again. I also have to think about what the programs offer and if it's the best fit and best educational opportunity offered to me. I hope that I can make the best decision for me and that I'll be happy with that choice.
My water pipes are still frozen so hopefully today I can get temperatures in my house to normal and have flowing water again... just a thought :-).
Thank you for keeping in touch with me and for your messages through the winter! It's going to be a great new year!
No comments:
Post a Comment