Alright, now that the nightmares have faded and I am once again sleeping through the night, it is time to fill you in on the "cel mai interesant!" (the most interesting!) Thanksgiving that I have ever experienced. Hold on folks... this is a real trip!

It all started a week or two before Thanksgiving.... I asked Nikolai where on earth I would be able to find a turkey to feed all of these people that I had invited to our house for Thanksgiving. I had a great group of volunteers, my family, the work partners of my site mate Liza, my fabulous site-mates, and my awesome family. What could possibly be better? Anway, Nikolai said "no problem!" and found a guy that would sell it for a good price. No problem! The day before Thanksgiving, I asked him about it again and he said "meet me at the piata Horelor and we will go and get it.

Chapter 2: I meet him at the Piata and we go past all of the food piata, down an alley, and to what looked like a former parking lot. There was a guy there with a couple of geese and a few tied up turkeys lying in the dirt on the lot. Here is the catch, THEY WERE ALIVE!!!!!!! Nikolai had to go back to work, so we shove the turkey in a bag (a bag too small!), with the turkey's shoulder's, head and neck sticking out of the bag. It was about 15 pounds, I was trying to hold it out at arms length (because I am not sure about this--do Turkey's bite?)

Chapter 3: Nickolai had to leave to go back to work, so I am walking through the town with a turkey in a bag gobble-gobble-ing at the top of it's lungs. People are stopping me the whole way, asking me what I am going to do with it, telling me it looks good, etc. I was holding it out at arm's length, my arms were aching, and about 2 blocks from my house we come accross a pack of dogs. Do you know that dogs don't like turkeys? The turkey freaked, flipped out of the bag, and I almost started to cry. I tried to reason with the turkey to get it back in the bag, but eventually I had to suck it up, pick the thing up by its sharply taloned legs, and shove it back in the bag. I ran the last two blocks home, dumped the turkey out of the bag in one of the out buildings, and slammed the door shut!

Chapter 4: The Killing of the Turkey. You know, I had always heard that chickens still run around with their heads cut off, but do you know that turkey's, being bigger, struggle for at least 10 or 15 minutes after you slit their throats? Nikolai joked that he was going to make me do it, but I held the knife and couldn't bring myself to cut it. He did it, but I had to help pluck it, pull out all of the guts, etc. Strangely enough, it didn't put me off turkey for the rest of my life. After we got that bad boy in the oven and browned it all up, it was mighty tasty!!!!!

Chapter 5: The Eating of the Turkey: This part was just plain fun. We went around the table and told (in romanian!) what we were thankful for, we ate until we could hold no more, and generaly had a great time. We ate Turkey (I like to call it Tom! We developed a real bond in that trip home!), twice baked potatoes with roasted garlic and cheese, carrots, cauliflower and hollandaise, salad, etc. All in all, it was a great success, but I don't think I will ever again look at turkey in the same way.

Nikolai doing the dirty deed!

Tom, when he finally stopped moving around!
This is my "I didn't freak out" smile
Step 2 for killing a turkey-poor boiling water on it and then start plucking the feathers.

Tom, mostly naked. (Can you get in trouble for turkey porn?)

After you pluck the turkey, you have to burn it off all over with a high flame. Turkey's have something around their feet and talons that comes off like a glove. Weird!!!!!!

Important part of the Thanksgiving ritual... Drinking homemade Vodka with your friends!

Thanks Nikolai!!!!

Nikolai and Alexandra posing with Tom. Aren't they adorable!!!!!

Nikiolai and Sandu, equally adorable!
Michelle, my fabulous site mate, and Marlena getting in on the Thanksgiving cheer!

The Peace Corps crew, right before they headed out. We had such a great time!

That is the end of my turkey story, but I have included a couple of pictures for your enjoyment. Hope everyone had a fabulous Turkey day and is cruising into a wonderful Christmas. I REALLY miss everyone, but I am about to catch a break and head off for Christmas in Germany, so I can get a break from the crazy life that is Peace Corps. Love to all!!!!!!





Jennifer

It is without a doubt starting to get more comfortable and like normal for me here. These lunatic women are my site mates Liza (standing) and Michelle (seated). This was at one of our dinners (this time at Liza's house!) when we girls get together, cook, talk, drink wine, and just basically let off steam. I couldn't ask for better sitemates!!!!!

Michelle, however, has a few issues that need to be addressed. She is addicted to "Shout" and cannot seem to stop rubbing it everywhere (and on everything). She spilled a bit of red wine and we lost her to the "Shout" for the next few hours....

...and she is still "Shout"ing while pretending to listen to me!

First of all, a big shout out to Margie for her pumpkin carving kits and decorations. Our American-style Halloween party was a smashing success. I can't tell you how much fum we had, but I think it is pretty evident by the pictures that we all had a good time.

Above and below are the first two brave women who decided to try this crazy thing called pumpkin carving.... Marina is above and Liza is below.....

and more scenes from the Halloween party.....

These two brave, handsome gentlemen are the only two young men that I teach. They are great, although Alex needs to come to class a bit more than he does....

It ain't Halloween if we don't bob for apples. These kids are crafty, however! They soon realized that it was easier to go for the stem instead of wrestling the apple to the bottom and biting it. I had to call a time out and remove all of the stems to make sure we were getting maximum face dunkage!

This coven of witches is none other than my favorite group of girls from the 0502 third year English/French group. They were totally into the "spirit" of the party!

I have to give a HUGE thanks to Sergiu. Sergiu is not in my class (yet!) but he did spend last year in the US and speaks absolutely unaccented English. I also must say that I would not have gotten this party off the ground without all of his help and his resources. He is a great guy and I am thrilled to have gotten to know him. Thanks Sergiu!!!!!!

That's all for now. I have partied a lot over the last few weeks, but it is heading toward the last half of the semester, so I am going to have to really buckle down and finish off semester 1 with a bang. Love to all my friends in America and thanks for taking the time to keep up with me in Moldova!!!! Love you...

Jennifer

Back in Chisinau, so I thought I would update the old blog, tell a few stories, and in general just let everyone know how it is going. The first picture is the gate surrounding my house and garden. This is traditional for houses in Moldova. The streets are lined with brightly colored wood fences and gates all the way down.
Next up is my outhouse. I know that you all have been wanting to see it, so I took a picture for your viewing pleasure. (This is a nice one, I have the tiled Taj Mahal version in Cahul!) Now you have a picture to match to my suffering.
Next picture is the table in our kitchen with the bounty of the late summer. Everything on it came from the garden. We have definitely had some good eats lately!!!
Dean, this one is for you. Nikolai has a still in one of the buildings and takes wine that has gotten a bit old and slightly bitter and turns it into a special vodka called Rachiu. It is some kind of potent!!!!!
This was one of the most fun days so far in Moldova! It is wine making time and we picked all of the grapes in our garden...

Loaded them up in baskets...

I really hoped that the purple from picking all of the grapes would stay on my hands f0r a while, kind of a badge of honor from all of the picking. Unfortunately, the color lasted about 24 hours and disappeared. Oh, well!My and my family out in the garden. I let them pose with me in the picture, but just for the record... I picked all of these grapes!!!!!

This is the machine we use for collecting the juice from the grapes. It is like a big smusher and grinder. You put the grapes (stems and all!) through it twice and it squeezes all of the juice possible out. It takes a bit of shoulder, but it is a lot of fun

Last, but definitely not least, my site mate Michelle. She came over to help with the process 'cause my family has a thing about making volunteers dreams come true! Michelle is great. She is a dynamo!!!!!

This is the beautiful Cahul State University. This is my work-away-from-work for my two years in Moldova.

These are my colleagues at a celebration of teacher's day. This is an awesome holiday. Students bring lots of flowers to their teachers, everyone congratulates you on the streets, and all of the teachers at each school (or university) get together and dance the hora, eat and are generally merry.

The last picture is my amazing host Alexandra and Unchi Nikolai (from next door). I cannot say enough about my family and how welcome they have made me feel in Cahul. Alexandra is an amazing woman. She is constantly singing, dancing and being generally fabulous. I love being with them. Unchi Nikolai is Nikolai's uncle, lives next door, and is an absolute sweetheart. (Anybody that lets me make wine is a hero in my book!)

So, this is the latest from Cahul. Next I will have to publish some pictures of my students. We will be having a big Halloween party, so I will be sure and take lots of pictures of Halloween Moldovan style!

Thanks so much for keeping up with my escapades in Moldova. I am happy, healthy and excited about what I am doing here. I hope that everyone is well and I look forward to seeing you in Spring!

Look out, I have new pictures!

This is my new friend Tarkus. She bit me the first day I came to visit Cahul, but we have come to an understanding and are friends now. She is going to have puppies soon, and I am going to be the Nanas! (Special godmother-not usually done with dogs, but I have insisted!)
I make sure I sneak her food under the table every day to keep the relationship tight!

This is my flower garden. My host family has the most beautiful flowers in the garden. Given my propensity for killing plants, I try to just smell and not touch too much!
This is my host "mom", Alexandra and my brother, Sandu. They are so great! This was just some spontaneous dancing in the hallway. Alexandra is constantly singing and really loves folk music of Moldova and Romania.
This is the way my famly does a "masa". The apples are from the tree in the yard and the flowers were from a student of mine. Moldovans definitely know how to throw a party!!!!! Finally, these are my hosts, Alexandra and Nicholai. I couldn't ask for a kinder or warmer host family. I really feel like a part of the family, not just a boarder or guest! I am so happy with them and am going to stay with them for the whole two years I have left in Moldova.

Later on I will share some pictures of my students because they are just awesome as well. They have really great English skills, so we are going to be able to talk about all kinds of great subjects and ideas that I am passionate about! I am teaching British Culture and Civilization, Mass Media, Conversation, a Selected Reading course and a Practical Course to prepare 3rd year English majors for a big state test they have to take at the end of the year. I am thoroughly enjoying all of the classes and really am loving the students and the subject matter. It is going to make the next two years fly by just being with them.

I am happy, but definitely missing all of you and looking forward to the spring when I cam come home and see everyone. Sanatate!

Time to at Least Tell You About My New Home in the South...

I am finally doing what I came here to do... teach!!!!! It has been a difficult time the past few weeks with packing up all of my things, meeting another family and trying to figure out their routines and habits, meeting my colleagues at the university, etc. I think part of my problem when I first got to Cahul was that I had too much time on my hands. I had almost two weeks before the term started when I couldn't start on my lesson plans because I had no idea what I was teaching, but I really didn't have much else to do either. (Those of you who know me well will know that the worst possible situation I can be in is one where I am bored!) Know I am in the full swing of teaching at the university here, I have some amazing students, and I am working really hard to plan well, to have interesting and relevent lessons/lectures, etc. I REALLY like the university here, and it is a novel and interesting idea to find myself standing in front of a group of students that really want to learn what I am teaching. This is going to make it very difficult to go back to teaching high school in America.... Jim, save me a spot at the university! I like it, I like it!
I am also lucky enough to have some amazing site mates. I have interesting things in common with both of them. Liza is working with the Pro Europa Center as a community developer. From what I understand so far she does translation and helps with grant writing. I only know a bit about the organization, but it looks like they are set up to encourage a more Western orientation for Moldova. (Looking toward Europe rather than Russia!) and they put together programs, social and business related, toward achieving that goal. I have briefly met some of the people in the organization and I am very impressed with what they have had to say. The "No Way!" connection I have with Liza is that she used to be an employee of good old Dillard's inc! She lived in Hillcrest and worked at corporate office with Dean about ten years ago. Sorry to say it wasn't her favorite job (go figure, Dean?) and she didn't live in Arkansas for a really long time, but kind of a weird thing. Michelle is my second site mate. She rocks!!!!! She introduced me to a great bar in town where the wine is in barrels and you order it by the pitcher. (People even come in with their own plastic bottles and have them filled there!) It is a dive by any standards, but a really fun one! There seem to be no women that go in there (we were the only ones and it was full!), but there are definitely some interesting characters there. On our first visit we met a man who proclaimed himself a Russian soldier that had just been in Iraq. After talking with us for a short time, he said that his job was to kill American soldiers in Iraq. (Keep in mind the language barriers we were facing. He spoke no Romanian, only Russian. We speak only Romanian and no Russian. Our conversation was a lot of hand gestures and a small amount of broken English on the soldier's part.) Needless to say we proudly proclaimed ourselves citizens of Canada and tried to encourage him to go back to his own table.
Thanks for keeping up with my adventures on the blog. I will try to figure out how to get pictures loaded some time soon and let you see some pictures of my new family and my new town. It is great down South!!!!!! Except for meetings and trainings, I don't have any need to leave here at all. We are all on what is called "lock down" right now, so we aren't allowed to travel anywhere in the first three months. It is designed to make us get involved in the community and to make us interact, but I know for people who live in very small towns it is very difficult. I am really lucky that I live in a small city with lots of shops, a few restaurants, etc. It makes life a lot easier!
For all of my wonderful friends starting the school year, I wish you the best of luck with your students and colleagues! For all of you folks with regular jobs, I wish you a swift end to summer in Arkansas, because I know how gross and hot it can be in September. Cooler weather is coming, along with the holidays. We are off lock down in the middle of November, so I plan to spend Christmas with my friends in Germany. (Andi, Susa.... Get ready!!! I am definitely going to be there to see you!) I am looking forward to indoor plumbing and lots of relaxing!!!!! Until then, I plan to work my butt off here and keep learning Romanian. Stay tuned for pictures....
Jennifer

Swearing In and Stuff

I decided to go ahead and do one more post before I left for the south. I wanted to include a few pictures from the Swearing In and a few from the festivities beforehand. We swore-in on the 16th, so of course, we had to have a celebration of the end of PST. Some of our guys in Moldova 20 decided 2 weeks ago that they wanted to have a mustache contest in the weeks leading up to swearing in. Needless to say, they were the butt of many jokes as their little 20 year old faces struggled valiantly to grow hair. At the celebration dinner they stood before the crowd, did a mustache "catwalk" and did some rather in-appropriate mustache stroking to get the voting crowd worked up. A good time was definitley had by all! A lot of the volunteers from groups that are currently serving in Moldova were there as well, so there were many stories, much wine, etc. It is a bit sad to think that some of the people I have been so close to over these weeks will now be pretty far away and I will only see them a couple of times over the next year!
Swearing In was a lot of fun as well. I sang the national anthem, gave a speech in Romanian and was sworn in by the ambassador himself. Our group is down to 28 from the original 34 that left from Philadelphia, but I think the ones who are staying are pretty committed to being here. It is such a wierd feeling when someone leaves. We are so tight that it definitely feels like there is a hole where they used to be. It is hard to imagine that we have only been together for 10 weeks!
I hope everyone is staying well, healthy and happy. Keep in touch!

Goodbyes and New Beginnings

I know, I have been a bit tardy with the updates! The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, saying goodbye, packing up, etc. Let me start with the best part of all of PST... Practice School. I was fortunate to be in the capital city at the continuing education university with some absolutely amazing students. They were from universities all over the city (state, medical, etc.) and were so much fun to be with. We talked about all kinds of great topics- including politics, problems in Moldova, problems in the US, etc. We ended the class with a community project at a small orphanage in the city. My student chose the project, found an orphanage to work with, put together a list of activities, and came to spend the morning with the kids playing games, hanging out, and leaving them with lots of gifts. Amazing, huh? I had so much fun with them! If they are even half as wonderful down in Cahul this will be a great two years. I am just afraid that they have spoiled me for all teaching in the US. I was definitely a great experience!!!!! (I have included some pictures of them with this posting.)

Next thing up is heading for Cahul. I have been way-laid by a bit of a medical snafu. (That is my code for saying I am a clumzy twit!) Last week we had our final party with the families in Peresecina and we had a great evening saying goodbye, playing goofy games, etc. After the party we went to the home of one of the guys in the group and hung out for a while. At about midnight I decided it was time to head home and one of my colleagues insisted on walking me (despite my very stubborn protests!). I learned a valuable lesson about the lighting situation in Moldovan villages that night--It is non-existant! There are absolutely no streetlights at all (not even on the main roads!) and the sidewalks are rough, full of holes and debris, or non-existant. Needless to say, I tripped, went face first into the concrete, and busted my chin open. I didn't think it was that big a deal (lots of blood, but it was on my face, so that is to be expected!), but when I saw it in the mirror the next morning (and it was still bleeding!) I realized it was probably going to need stitches. The best news in all of this is that Peace Corps medical is amazing! Within two hours of calling them I was in Chisinau with a plastic surgeon getting ready to neatly stitch up my chin. I will have a small scar and a great story to tell later! Unfortunately, it means I have to stay in Chisinau a couple of extra days before going to Cahul so that they can take the stitches out. Until then, I have a big white gauze bandage and some stitches on my chin to remember the evening by.
Yesterday we were officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. I didn't get to dance (who knew you needed talent?), but I was one of the four volunteers to give speeches and I sang the national anthem. It was a very solemn occasion with the ambassador to Moldova and media, host families new and old, etc. It was fun for our group to be together one last time before scattering to the four corners of Moldova.
I will be heading to Cahul at the beginning of the week to start getting ready for the beginning of the school year. I will update the blog as soon as I get settled in and figure out about internet access and the like. Thanks for keeping up with my adventures! More soon....