One year!

Sorry to anyone that has been trying to follow this blog. But I have made a couple of landmark dates and I want to note them here. First off it was a couple of months ago that I passed my first year in country and this week coming I will celebrate my first full year in site.

Just as other volunteers report having that first year under your belt changes your whole life. I am not sure why but life is getting busier. While I am still in conversation with my partner over a project we might do some day, I have almost completed one year of after school English clubs with about twenty some kids. But just recently I have been helping out other volunteers and their partners with strategic planning. In fact last week we did two days of strategic planning in three languages, Russian, Moldovan and English. There was lots of good conversation in the mix. It is called going with the flow.

One thing that happens at the mid service mark are medical check ups. I have passed all of mine with flying colors. In the next couple of months we will loose a TEFL and Health teacher group as they complete their service but we will be getting in new volunteers for all our programs. But that will make my training group the second most senior, we are not the babies any more, we are the experience.

Spring has come and the garden is in. It stays light much later now and that means I can take a later bus home from the capital and walk the last hour in light. Today is the first day of the last month of school and it is a holiday, labor day. We are all getting ready for the summer but what will we do?

Sorry there is no picture with this blog but I am going it on dial-up and I am not sure how long it would take to upload a picture but longer then I am willing to wait.

Back for a bit...

Christmas is over along with the loooog holiday that started with Christmas on the new calendar and ended with New Years on the old calendar. I took the opportunity to travel to Italy with Jus, my son and am now back home in Moldova. The picture at the right is one of the class posters that the kids at school posted just before the holidays. Living in an Orthodox country makes the Christmas holiday fair game in school. But as the poster reads it is all associated more with the New Year.

It has been ten months in country and since another group has gone through training and are in their sites we are now not the newbies on the block. I have settled into my wonderful host Mom's life and home and look forward to my birthday masa this coming weekend.

This week we are having a conference with the other Community Development volunteers in country. It has been great exchanging experiences especially with the more senior group that have been at this a little long then my group.

I spend most of my time in the south of the country either in my small village or the larger raion (like a country) center to shop for those things not available in the village. There also some volunteers in the larger city and it is an opportunity to talk to someone in English. No one in my town speaks English.

I am sorry to those that have been following this blog that I have been absent for quite awhile but I have no access from my village. I can not guarantee that won't happen again but thanks for keeping up.

I am in the capitol for a meeting and have the time to post something. Hope this happens again soon.