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....