Just under 4 weeks until I leave now. PC has a lot of paper work for us to complete before COS (end of service) so today is rainy and I will probably be on this.

I spent the past few days in Chisinau and visiting with another volunteer friend in her village. Once I'm away from my house for a bit--spending time with friends and volunteers--it can be very hard to return home. The village is sometimes a nice refuge, but often it has also been a very lonely place. I think I will probably enjoy being in a social environment next year, living around other people that I feel comfortable with and with whom I can easily, freely communicate.

I had a little riff with my host family when they came home the other day which is a shame. I had planned my end of 2 year celebration for Sunday and so invited a few American PC friends to come stay at my house to meet my Moldovan colleagues. The night before the party my host family showed up unannounced with food to make a BBQ (around 10pm). They were not happy that two of my friends had put their backpacks in one of the bedrooms of the larger house (casa mare) as it would be more comfortable for 2 to be in there and 2 in my casa mica--for space reasons. My host sister was with her husband, his mother and sister and they moved my friends' bags out of this one bedroom and into the hallway near the exit of the house. I didn't really understand at that point why my host sister was mad at me, but I was a bit upset that they hadn't called to tell me they were coming to the village. I told her that I wished they had called to tell me they were on their way to the village (from Chisinau where they live) so it wouldn’t be a surprise to me when they show up and she replied that the casa mare is their space and the casa mica is my space and that I should never have anyone “foreign/unknown” in their home. I had never thought of the situation that way as I was given a key to the casa mare and asked to leave doors open during the summer to air it out. Plus, last June the brother of a friend of mine from home visited me in Moldova and I let him sleep in one of the casa mare's bedrooms. My host sister was home for a day while Michael was at the house and must have observed his belongings in the larger house, but didn't say anything about it or seem to have a problem with us using the larger house. The family does not store any personal belongings in the casa mare as no one actually lives there, so there wouldn’t be a major fear of anything being stolen, and I certainly wouldn’t allow a person in the house who might destroy furniture. It's a bit confusing to figure out when and why the rules for how I could use the house changed over this past year. Whatever the case, I apologized to my host sister for the misunderstanding that might have been either a language misunderstanding or simple lack of communication (what can you do?) and I assumed the problem was resolved and that the rule was that I could enter the casa mare—as I was given a key—but that I can not invite guests unknown to my host sister into this space/area of their property.

Anyway, I decided to cancel my party for the next day as me and my volunteer friends felt uncomfortable/awkward about the situation. Plus, having X number of Moldovan community members at the house to eat outside that next day might have bothered the host family if they were planning to use the outdoor dining area. I left Sunday to go to Chisinau and when I arrived last night I tried to enter the larger house to get the telephone (as my host sister had asked for it when they were home) and I found that the locks had been changed. So, I suppose this is my host families way of communicating to me that they do not want my friends OR me to enter the larger house. It might have been a simpler, more adult solution for my host sister to ask me for my key when we discussed the issue than to switch the locks after I went to Chisinau. I have my space heater (issued by PC) in the casa mare because I left it there for my host dad to use while he was home… so now I need my host sister to return home to remove this for me. My hands are a little up in the air in exasperation on this one. We’re both speaking Romanian, but I’m apparently lost in the translation this time. I spoke a little with Viorica and Ecaterina (nurses) about the issue, but was careful to not make any accusatory statements, as nothing here seems to remains private. I’ve encountered some nasty, confusing conflicts over the past two years—typically on my own, solitary side with limited language skills—while fighting harder than should be necessary to spread peace and love. With four weeks left, I’m thankful that this is a situation I can peacefully and quietly leave behind.

I have another issue that I’m not sure how to deal with. I previously mentioned that the English teacher at school sold the books to students—for personal financial gain— that the last volunteer in our village shipped her as a gift for classroom use. I realize that the right thing to do is confront this woman in a peaceful yet assertive way, but dealing with conflict on this level is hard for me to do. I’m still furious about the situation and don’t know when I will have the opportunity to appropriately address the situation with her… Wish me luck.