С днем рождения Америка
I write now fresh off a great last few days. Tiring but great. Saturday was actually a mixed bag. As part of our Peace Corps training, we go through "Cross-Cultural" training in which we learn about Moldovan culture and compare it to American culture. However, we have problems when things happen like did last Saturday, when we are basically told "Discuss what Americans value. You have one hour." One hour. That’s all we got to summarize a topic that people write PhD theses about. Of course, as a result we are forced to make broad generalizations, however unfair they may be (and usually are) to those outside the generalization. Then people get upset about the generalizations . . . . it’s quite the scene. But after that, they gave us broad topics and said "What do American’s think about these?" And these are issues like "Are Americans generally direct or indirect in how they deal with others?" Well, in our group we had nine people of varying ages from different parts of the country. Let’s just say that this discussion got a little heated.
But after, all the trainees went to the Chisinau for the Fourth of July party sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce. The three Russian trainees went early, were dropped off in the center of Chisinau by the monument of Stephan cel Mare, Moldovan national hero - from there we made the half-hour walk to the Peace Corps office to hang out for a while with other volunteers (not trainees). About 3:15 we took off with some of those for the party, taking a trolley for much of the way. And the party was awesome, more than making-up for the tension of the morning. We met all the trainees there as well as a lot more volunteers - I learned from our Country Director that those present were Peace Corps people and those associated with the Embassy - including staff - which made for a 2/3 American and 1/3 Moldovan ratio. The only people I saw there that I wanted to talk to but didn’t were the Marines who guard the Embassy, whom I later heard where great. But alas, it was still a recipe for a great party, especially for the trainees. Imagine the scene; take a large group of American’s under 25, put them in a highly structured and highly stressful series of situations for a month, then release them into an event in which there are a lot of new people to converse with, the drinks are free, and transportation home is provided. I’ll let you imagine what transpired . . .
To top it off, we had an excursion to the south of Moldova early the next day, departing 7:00 in the morning. Most people were in various states of exhaustion, but that didn’t diminish the quality of the trip. The south of Moldova is highly diverse with a lot of varied ethnic groups comprising the area. We spent much of our time in the semi-autonomous region of Gagauzia, which I’ve written about a little in the past. People who settled there are Christian Turks who left Turkey a few hundred years ago and settled in the south of Moldova, where today there are the only semi-autonomous region recognized by the government (the eastern-most region of of Moldova, Transnestria, thinks it has the same status but the federal government disagrees. Hence, the fifteen year stand-off and the warning by the US State Dept to not, under any circumstances, enter the area). But Gagauzia is legal, speaking their own language that is a combination of Russian and Turkish. We went to one town, Chadir-Lunga (should be on a map, southeast of Chisinau) and had an hour long meeting with their mayor followed by two hours at a restaurant where we ate Gagauzian food, watched Gagauzian dancers, and watched Gagauzian folk dancing, all of which were great.
Following we went to a village Tavarditsa that’s literally five miles from the Ukranian border, a place settled by Bulgarian immigrants 150 years ago and a place where Bulgarian is still the language of the people. It’s like a nation within a nation - again we met the mayor, toured a museum, and had a performance by Bulgarian folk-dancers who, we were told, have received numerous international awards due to their talents. I don’t doubt it too, as they were amazing.
We left for home after Tavarditsa, arriving at 10:15 at night. Yes, it was a 15 hour day. And we had to awaken at 6:15, 6:30 the next morning.
Actually, Monday night was the big day for a lot of people, as we finally learned where exactly everyone in our group will spend the next two years. Although it was anti-climactic for some of us, for most it was a nerve-wracking event. To tell us, they drew a huge map of Moldova on the ground and placed chairs every place that we were going. Then they drew names out of a hat, the named person approached, and they were led hand-in-hand to the chair placed at their site. Excitement abounded. I learned that where are two other trainees who will be within ten or so miles of me and another three who are within twenty-five miles. This weekend already we have trips to our future sites to visit with our host family options - we’ll visit three and pick one to stay with for a minimum of six months. We’ve received little write-ups on each of them but I for one have only glanced at them - two minutes with the people will tell me more about them than an hour looking at a write-up. And on Friday we’ll meet our ‘partner-teacher’(more on that later) and our school directors in Chisinau for an all-day, introductory conference. Should be exciting . . ..
Random Notes (My favorite thing to write)
- We’ve lost two people from our group, both of which were English teachers. We all think one was a real asset and will be missed terribly. The other . . .. I don’t think anyone is too upset to see him go. As much as it stinks to have lost them, we were here for just about a month before this happened, which is almost un-heard of. In fact, each of the last five groups here lost people long before that, most in the first week or so, which I think that says something about the ‘stay-ability’ of our group.
- Our first language assessment is Wednesday. It consists of two parts: 1) We have to talk about our families, talking rather extensively about each member as well as asking the facilitator (the test is conducted in an interview format) about their families. Then, we have to role play like we’re in a market buying things for dinner and trying to negotiate a price. Shouldn’t be a problem, especially because this is just a test to gauge how we are doing in our language classes and nothing is official. As Russian speakers we get a break too because we don’t have to do a part of the test - our teacher just told the managers that we’re learning a harder language than Romanian and that, as a result, we have to go slower and haven’t covered as much as them.
- Being TEFL teachers places us in a whole different Peace Corps experience than everyone else. The primary reason is that, in the end, we answer not to the Peace Corps or even to our schools but instead to the Ministry of Education, complying by their standards in the classroom. It’s the job of the Peace Corps to make sure that we do as the Ministry says. It makes our jobs a lot more pressure-packed.
- Each Peace Corps volunteer - in any field - has a ‘partner teacher.’ Basically, for TELF it will be the other English teacher in our schools. From what I’ve been told my countless people, our ‘partner teacher’ can make-or-break our experience. A good one is invaluable - they’re a tremendous resource to rely on for any information on things inside and outside the classroom Plus, if the teacher is good it means that the kids have been taught well, making it far easier for us to step in and continue their work. I know people who can’t say enough good about their partners. And I’ll meet mine on Friday.
- They have a tradition in this part of the world that I love - if you go into a store and buy something and they don’t have exact change in coins, they give you some gum or chocolate instead. And really, who wouldn’t prefer some gum to 50 ban (Moldovan coins) that converts to four cents?
- Small world - two people I’m in training with are connected to famous people. One girl has a step-father who is a legend in Texas football, who played for Bear Bryant in the legend’s first year at Texas A&M and who is one of the famous Junction Boys. When he called her house the first time and told his name to the girl I know, she told him "yeah, right," and hung-up. And another person has a first cousin, John O’Shea, who is a world class soccer player and starts for Manchester United and the Irish National Team. Insane, huh?
- There’s comedy, there’s high comedy, then there’s the comedy of Russian state TV. I have a new favorite show every few weeks - now it’s a show whose title translates to "Federal Judge": a "People’s Court" for Russia, with the exception that these cases involve murder and assault, not 400 dollars spent on a hair weave and vacuum cleaner. But people really get into it, with men chasing each-other around the room and women taking off their shoes and hitting people with them. I think if I could actually understand much, my appreciation for the show would actually reduce. And this show has nothing on another, "Let Them Talk," a talk-show that needs to be brought to America. That was my favorite but hasn’t been on for a few weeks.
- Everyone is basically exhausted now. From Monday June 26 through Tuesday July 4, we have had one day when we didn’t travel, only one day where we were only occupied for five hours and not nine. We do Peace Corps stuff for up to sixty-five hours a week, not including our time at home studying for hours on our own while talking with our families in a different language. It’s exhausting, but it seems like things are slowing a bit now. I hope they do.
- Finally, a word on language. Last Friday I actually had a bit of a revelation when my host brother and I went to a bar for an hour or so. While I literally said nothing for two hours, I could actually understand a good portion of what was said there, which was huge for me. Most of the things I’m surrounded with - outside the classroom - to hear Russian can get frustrating. If I watch Russian TV or listen to my family, I usually don’t understand much at all (the former because of the technical language on the shows, the latter because it’s half-Romanian). But in a casual setting, with people talking about real life things, I actually followed the conversation with few problems. It was nice.
But after, all the trainees went to the Chisinau for the Fourth of July party sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce. The three Russian trainees went early, were dropped off in the center of Chisinau by the monument of Stephan cel Mare, Moldovan national hero - from there we made the half-hour walk to the Peace Corps office to hang out for a while with other volunteers (not trainees). About 3:15 we took off with some of those for the party, taking a trolley for much of the way. And the party was awesome, more than making-up for the tension of the morning. We met all the trainees there as well as a lot more volunteers - I learned from our Country Director that those present were Peace Corps people and those associated with the Embassy - including staff - which made for a 2/3 American and 1/3 Moldovan ratio. The only people I saw there that I wanted to talk to but didn’t were the Marines who guard the Embassy, whom I later heard where great. But alas, it was still a recipe for a great party, especially for the trainees. Imagine the scene; take a large group of American’s under 25, put them in a highly structured and highly stressful series of situations for a month, then release them into an event in which there are a lot of new people to converse with, the drinks are free, and transportation home is provided. I’ll let you imagine what transpired . . .
To top it off, we had an excursion to the south of Moldova early the next day, departing 7:00 in the morning. Most people were in various states of exhaustion, but that didn’t diminish the quality of the trip. The south of Moldova is highly diverse with a lot of varied ethnic groups comprising the area. We spent much of our time in the semi-autonomous region of Gagauzia, which I’ve written about a little in the past. People who settled there are Christian Turks who left Turkey a few hundred years ago and settled in the south of Moldova, where today there are the only semi-autonomous region recognized by the government (the eastern-most region of of Moldova, Transnestria, thinks it has the same status but the federal government disagrees. Hence, the fifteen year stand-off and the warning by the US State Dept to not, under any circumstances, enter the area). But Gagauzia is legal, speaking their own language that is a combination of Russian and Turkish. We went to one town, Chadir-Lunga (should be on a map, southeast of Chisinau) and had an hour long meeting with their mayor followed by two hours at a restaurant where we ate Gagauzian food, watched Gagauzian dancers, and watched Gagauzian folk dancing, all of which were great.
Following we went to a village Tavarditsa that’s literally five miles from the Ukranian border, a place settled by Bulgarian immigrants 150 years ago and a place where Bulgarian is still the language of the people. It’s like a nation within a nation - again we met the mayor, toured a museum, and had a performance by Bulgarian folk-dancers who, we were told, have received numerous international awards due to their talents. I don’t doubt it too, as they were amazing.
We left for home after Tavarditsa, arriving at 10:15 at night. Yes, it was a 15 hour day. And we had to awaken at 6:15, 6:30 the next morning.
Actually, Monday night was the big day for a lot of people, as we finally learned where exactly everyone in our group will spend the next two years. Although it was anti-climactic for some of us, for most it was a nerve-wracking event. To tell us, they drew a huge map of Moldova on the ground and placed chairs every place that we were going. Then they drew names out of a hat, the named person approached, and they were led hand-in-hand to the chair placed at their site. Excitement abounded. I learned that where are two other trainees who will be within ten or so miles of me and another three who are within twenty-five miles. This weekend already we have trips to our future sites to visit with our host family options - we’ll visit three and pick one to stay with for a minimum of six months. We’ve received little write-ups on each of them but I for one have only glanced at them - two minutes with the people will tell me more about them than an hour looking at a write-up. And on Friday we’ll meet our ‘partner-teacher’(more on that later) and our school directors in Chisinau for an all-day, introductory conference. Should be exciting . . ..
Random Notes (My favorite thing to write)
- We’ve lost two people from our group, both of which were English teachers. We all think one was a real asset and will be missed terribly. The other . . .. I don’t think anyone is too upset to see him go. As much as it stinks to have lost them, we were here for just about a month before this happened, which is almost un-heard of. In fact, each of the last five groups here lost people long before that, most in the first week or so, which I think that says something about the ‘stay-ability’ of our group.
- Our first language assessment is Wednesday. It consists of two parts: 1) We have to talk about our families, talking rather extensively about each member as well as asking the facilitator (the test is conducted in an interview format) about their families. Then, we have to role play like we’re in a market buying things for dinner and trying to negotiate a price. Shouldn’t be a problem, especially because this is just a test to gauge how we are doing in our language classes and nothing is official. As Russian speakers we get a break too because we don’t have to do a part of the test - our teacher just told the managers that we’re learning a harder language than Romanian and that, as a result, we have to go slower and haven’t covered as much as them.
- Being TEFL teachers places us in a whole different Peace Corps experience than everyone else. The primary reason is that, in the end, we answer not to the Peace Corps or even to our schools but instead to the Ministry of Education, complying by their standards in the classroom. It’s the job of the Peace Corps to make sure that we do as the Ministry says. It makes our jobs a lot more pressure-packed.
- Each Peace Corps volunteer - in any field - has a ‘partner teacher.’ Basically, for TELF it will be the other English teacher in our schools. From what I’ve been told my countless people, our ‘partner teacher’ can make-or-break our experience. A good one is invaluable - they’re a tremendous resource to rely on for any information on things inside and outside the classroom Plus, if the teacher is good it means that the kids have been taught well, making it far easier for us to step in and continue their work. I know people who can’t say enough good about their partners. And I’ll meet mine on Friday.
- They have a tradition in this part of the world that I love - if you go into a store and buy something and they don’t have exact change in coins, they give you some gum or chocolate instead. And really, who wouldn’t prefer some gum to 50 ban (Moldovan coins) that converts to four cents?
- Small world - two people I’m in training with are connected to famous people. One girl has a step-father who is a legend in Texas football, who played for Bear Bryant in the legend’s first year at Texas A&M and who is one of the famous Junction Boys. When he called her house the first time and told his name to the girl I know, she told him "yeah, right," and hung-up. And another person has a first cousin, John O’Shea, who is a world class soccer player and starts for Manchester United and the Irish National Team. Insane, huh?
- There’s comedy, there’s high comedy, then there’s the comedy of Russian state TV. I have a new favorite show every few weeks - now it’s a show whose title translates to "Federal Judge": a "People’s Court" for Russia, with the exception that these cases involve murder and assault, not 400 dollars spent on a hair weave and vacuum cleaner. But people really get into it, with men chasing each-other around the room and women taking off their shoes and hitting people with them. I think if I could actually understand much, my appreciation for the show would actually reduce. And this show has nothing on another, "Let Them Talk," a talk-show that needs to be brought to America. That was my favorite but hasn’t been on for a few weeks.
- Everyone is basically exhausted now. From Monday June 26 through Tuesday July 4, we have had one day when we didn’t travel, only one day where we were only occupied for five hours and not nine. We do Peace Corps stuff for up to sixty-five hours a week, not including our time at home studying for hours on our own while talking with our families in a different language. It’s exhausting, but it seems like things are slowing a bit now. I hope they do.
- Finally, a word on language. Last Friday I actually had a bit of a revelation when my host brother and I went to a bar for an hour or so. While I literally said nothing for two hours, I could actually understand a good portion of what was said there, which was huge for me. Most of the things I’m surrounded with - outside the classroom - to hear Russian can get frustrating. If I watch Russian TV or listen to my family, I usually don’t understand much at all (the former because of the technical language on the shows, the latter because it’s half-Romanian). But in a casual setting, with people talking about real life things, I actually followed the conversation with few problems. It was nice.
posted by Andy Buchanan at 5:51 AM
4 Comments:
Andy,
It was great to talk with you today, after just now reading your blog I understand more about the things we spoke of and also I can see why you may be a bit tired. But as soon as you pass from a trainee to an actual volunteer and get to your assigned village I am sure things will slow down to a more human pace. Through the "eyes" of your blogspot the local geography is clearing up for me, in my imagination I am viewing the different dancers and seeing their beautiful folk costumes, feel the summer heat, yet I can still look at the unfortunate piles of trash that are here and there. It may be that these are potential tipping points in that if you see them disappearing something very positive and more fundamental is also changing.
Love,
Dad
65 hours a week? Wow! Hang in there! It does sound like you are having the time of your life. I do have one question. In the previous Blog, you said that they did not cut the jugular of the pig because it would waste blood. WHAT DID THEY DO WITH THE BLOOD? Do I even want to know?
If you have any links to a map of where you are it would be great to see.
Thanks for keeping up with the blog. I can't help to think that when you have been there for a year you will look back and seen how much you have grown. It is already clear to see that you are getting a does of the rare but extremely valuable "global consciousness". Do you think that after the Peace Corps you would stay in that area? How will this experience influence your view on the USA? How will it contribute to your future in the USA?
Sorry for all the questions. I would kill to be there and see some of the things you are talking about in the Blog.
TAKE CARE!
BC
bcollins@tranny.org
Hey andy where are you at on this map at this site?
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/md.html#Geo
BC
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