I didn't sleep last night (by choice:) , but I'll try to update in fluent English.
As you can probably tell from the few Odessa photos posted, Odessa is a pretty city. The week there was spent eating, sleeping, relaxing with other volunteers. Parts of Odessa (namely the bus station) reminded me of Chisinau, but the rest of the city seemed more European and seemed fairly diverse (language/race/nationality-wise).
The bus ride from Chisinau was about 6 hours (~8 if you include time at the border) and although the driver was in a bad mood (he yelled that it doesn't matter whether he gives instructions to me in Russian or Romanian... though it does because one language I understand) the ride was fairly pleasant... We had the front row of bus seats and Mr. Chauffeur had his window cracked. Lovely! I've heard wonderful things about the cities of L'viv and Kiev and wish I had more time to travel more in Ukraine. But, I'm glad that I did decide to take up my friend Alex's offer and at least see the Black Sea :).
I'm back in my village and the man who owns my house (husband of "Doamna"/"Mrs." who stayed in the house last summer with me) has returned for a month. He will stay and work in the garden and then return to Italy. I heard him up and about this morning by 7am... it rained last night and the garden looks almost tropical from my window... Nice view. So, I'm happy about having the landlord at the house. He seems very nice and I feel relaxed and less isolated having him around the property.
Yesterday I withdrew the grant money for our community project. Our school director said that he has already ordered the table and chair units so I will go to Chisinau with him this coming Tuesday to pay for the materials and have them delivered. I'm very very excited about how smoothly everything has gone and that the furniture will be immediately used by the children!!! It's a great project and I'm extremely happy that it has been funded.
Work-wise classes are still going okay. However, I feel stressed for one of my coworkers because she came to school this week after having been slapped around by her husband. Her lip was swollen and he had scratched up her face. Domestic abuse seems too prevalent and there is little to no help for village women in these situations. This is NOT specific to Moldova. It's hard knowing my friend has to deal with this. I hope to speak more with her this coming week to offer support and maybe provide her with a help line where she could call for advice or additional support. Really, really sad situation. Physical abuse in any circumstance is wrong and any man who hits a woman (or vise-versa) in my opinion is absolute garbage. This coworker tells me all the time that one of the most important things I can do in my life is marry and bring children into the world. She has also told me how important it is that I make this decision to be with someone who is loving, kind, and open. Marriage is something that I want for my life, and victims are NEVER at fault and can't necessarily predict or prevent their abuse, but it's so important to be careful when selecting with whom to share your body and emotions. By listening to her and other women I have encountered here and at home I've developed more clear desires and expectations for my own current and future relationships. I could never even imagine or pretend to understand what my friend has gone through and the choices she has made or had to make. However, I know that she's a good woman and deserves so much more than that. She deserves the type of person every man and woman deserves to find in intimacy and marriage: someone caring, faithful, communicative, and gentle.
6 more weeks of teaching with an additional week spent in Chisinau with the other "23s" (my PC volunteer group number--my group consists of health and english teaching volunteers). This week in Chisinau is like the final group conference where we discuss our service, positives, negatives, where we plan to head in the future. It's basically a nice way for us to find closure in our work and experiences.
My parents are wonderful to me. I now have found and secured a place to live in Chapel Hill this August and could never have done this without their help. I'm so excited about this next phase of my life!
I've decided to take my blog off of the private setting and make it available to those of you I might have forgotten to add (oops) two years ago...
None of my opinions reflect the views of the US Peace Corps or the US Government. This is good news for everyone because I am not a writer!;) My entries reflect my development as an individual--sometimes revealing and expressing my own ignorance about the world, personal biases and discoveries. Off (or on) the record, I honestly treasure the experiences I have had working with the Peace Corps and have met many wonderful people in Moldova and have found this country--like anywhere else--to have many kind, honest and hardworking people. All of my (well or poorly) described experiences--sometimes understated, other times exaggerated--are purely my views and perceptions. If any of this is interesting to you or provides information and encouragement to join Peace Corps or simply find a way to volunteer within your local community or abroad, I hope you will enjoy reading backwards:).
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