Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Christ is risen! Truly, he is risen.

This will be the greeting for everyone night or day on the streets, in homes, or on the phone for the next 40 days.

Following about 3 hours sleep, I woke to the final preparations of Easter Masa that my host mother had been preparing for the last week without being able to sample or taste anything. Nonetheless, all was delicious! Domnul Valodya served vodka at our Easter breakfast and Domna made everything from Pasca (easter bread that is semi sweet) to pork, fish, chicken filets, salads (and one special for me with lettuce - Yum!) vegetables, and lots more on a little table. We had a delightful celebration just the three of us.

Domnul and Doamna la masa - Easter Breakfast.

Everything was so tasty, and Doamna said it was probably because lent was over and everyone could actually eat. These moments here, when I'm able to take my time and talk to wonderful people like Valodya and Ecaterina, I truly feel blessed and integrated in the society.

The whole day was wonderful!

After breakfast in Ialoveni, I was invited to masa with my host family from the summer in Truseni. So, feeling a little buzzed from the vodka and only 3 hours of sleep, I hoofed it up my ginormous hill to the bus stop and was whisked off to Chisinau. Unfortunately, transport to the outer villages was lacking because of the National holiday. I waited over an hour for a maxi-taxi to Truseni. When none came, I started walking. It took me a couple of hours and the day was very hot, but I made it to Truseni around 3:30 pm and we had another lovely meal. This time with Bunica, Mariana, Gelu and their other guests, Doamna Elena, her sons Christi and Eduard and Eduard's wife Valentina.

Spring was in full swing and the lilacs smelled heavenly as light spring winds gently chilled the hot afternoon. Because I was concerned about a lack of transport, I left the masa at about 6:30 and headed down the enormous hill that I hiked all last summer. I waited an hour for a maxi-taxi to Chisinau and when one finally arrived, it had over 50 people jammed in it. I rode on the dashboard.

I got back to Ialoveni, breathed a heavy sigh of relief and thought, "Now for a little rest and to catch up on my sleep..." No sooner was I settled in my PJs then the phone rang and my friend Andrei said, "Mr. Tim, Hristos a înviat. Hai la masa. Come to dinner" in 5 minutes. So, off I went to a third meal and I was sooo glad I did. The friends I've met and made in Ialoveni are worth their weight in gold. They are the best.

We had a barbecue of pork, mushrooms, salad with beer and great (and I do mean GREAT) house wine to wash it down. Amazing conversations, fun, laughter and I got to meet the wonderful maker of the house wine, a friend of the family and father of one of my students. We had such a great conversation that I barely realized it was after midnight and definitely time to head home.

Walked with my buddy Vadim Saracuta to the house and shared yet another intense conversation completely in Romanian - because Vadim pretends not to know English so he can help me practice - until close to 1am.

What an amazing and full Easter day!

Mulțumesc frumos to everyone who made me feel so welcome and loved. No one can say that Moldova doesn't have soul! Cu adevărat a înviat!

Paște Fericit - Happy Easter

Normally, the Orthodox Easter is exactly 1 week after the Roman Catholic Easter, but this year it ended up being a whole month later and no one was able to explain this. As Moldova is 98% Orthodox, Easter is a very important holiday in the country.

Post - or lent - lasts 40 days and is extremely strict, especially for the last week. There is to be no meat, dairy, fish, eggs or fat (in short - no animal products whatsoever) eaten. Alcohol is out except for a wee bit of wine. Needless to say, the countdown is in full swing just before the holiday. Lunch at the school cafeteria got down to tea, bread and some boiled potatoes. But, on the bright side, Easter marks a second spring vacation for a week.

My friend Oleg Saracuta invited me to Easter services, and so we headed to the far side of Ialoveni to a tiny church that was packed at 11pm on a Saturday evening. We bought candles and purchased prayers for friends and relatives who are living (Easter is not a time for buying prayers for the deceased), and headed into the main sanctuary where we stood in one spot for over 4 hours. The service was very beautiful and was mostly sung with call and response from the priest and the choir. There was an oil anointing, a confession of sorts, a form of communion and many, many sung prayers and repetitions that "Christ is risen, truly he is risen."

Everyone's feet were pretty sore, legs were stiff and faces looked weary until the final blessing of the Easter bread and colored eggs (and anything else that required blessing. The priest walked by with a bunch of sweet basil and holy water and drenched everyone. Oleg told the priest to bless us with some "soul" and we were pretty wet afterward. It was nice to see the priest smile as he pelted us with water in the wee hours of the morning.

The altar area separate from the people.

Ziua Drapelului - Flag Day

Last Saturday was a special day among many in Moldova: it was a celebration of their national identity through their flag. Very much like the flag of Romania, the Moldovan flag is tri-colored with blue, yellow and red. The blue symbolizes the blue sky and hope of future generations; the yellow represents the sun and the color of grains ready for harvest, and therefore the work Moldovans undertake every day; and the red speaks of the blood shed by numerous generations to reach an independent and democratic nation.

Ceremony at the Lyceum - the 12th grade boys were honor guards.

Students in Moldovan costumes proudly recited poetry about their flag and their country.

The school had a couple of ceremonies and the flags were flown everywhere. I was especially moved by the drapes behind the monument to Stefan cel mare (the patron saint of Moldova).

As an outsider, I was struck by a couple of things: 1) How passionately proud Moldovans are of their flag and country; 2) How much like Americans they are in their ambivalence - one minute defensive and patriotic, and the next ready to list the problems they face. With some of my students, when they complain that they have no options, or that they don't like the way their country is run, I tell them to create the change that they want to see; to be the change they want to implement. With other students who try to compare how things are in the United States with how they are in Moldova, I point out that the U.S. had many problems when it was only 21 years old.

And, as an outsider, perhaps I have the distance in this country to see so many beautiful things here, and how quickly Moldovan society is developing and changing. Of course, many of my students see what is available in the U.S. or in the major countries of Europe and they want that for themselves, NOW. But, it is happening, pas cu pas (step by step)

The side effect of watching Moldova develop and grow is that I make my own comparisons with the U.S. and I question many of our own policies while also contemplating the direction that our country is heading. Of course, the only news about the U.S. that registers here is the negative news, but I am often asked why we are such a violent society, if it is true that all Americans carry guns, why we don't take better care of our sick and poor, why so many Americans are fat and eat fast food. Then, the shoe is on the other foot. I tell them how proud I am of my country and how much I respect it's people and liberties. But I'm also able to say that while all countries have problems, like Moldova, one of the most beautiful things about being a citizen of the United States is that we are able to freely voice our opinions, to point out the weaknesses and celebrate the strengths, and for this ability alone we must be proud of our countries.

God bless Moldova and God bless the United States.

Welcome Spring

Hello everyone keeping track of my journey. I'm sorry that I haven't posted for some time. I've been extremely busy teaching, working with other teachers, attending in-service trainings for the Peace Corps, working on some major Peace Corps projects that should sustainably promote the learning of English here in Moldova long after I'm gone, and continuing my work integrating into the community at large.

This week I hit the 9-month mark in Moldova and still I find it hard to believe that a) it has been so little time - the weeks last three or four months here; and b) it has been so much time - it's going too fast! I know it's a contradiction, but it's true.

As beloved as winter is in Moldova (if it snows), still the people celebrate spring with a passion as well. The first day of March is the unofficial first day of spring and it is welcomed fully. Marțișor (martsi-shor) - or little March is a big celebration here in Moldova. Everyone gives a special someone a little handmade or store-bought artificial boutainnere that contains some red and white. Tradition holds that the beautiful maiden of spring fought against a winter witch and was cut. Where her drop of blood fell, snowdrops (the flower) sprang up and thus, winter was defeated.

I'm proud to report that I received about 20 of these little gifts from various students and one of my partner teachers. The result was a lapel full of small artificial flowers, red and white hearts, tassles, and braided strings. I felt very blessed and loved. The Moldovans continue to wear their marțișors through March and on the 31st, they hang them from blooming trees. Great way to bring in spring, eh?

Sample Marțișor - These get very creative!

Vacanță - Winter Fun

As I've said before, and will continue to delight in saying, I have some of the best students in the world. Two of my coolest are Victor and Cristi who have taken it upon themselves to make sure that Mr. Tim stays healthy and fit. How else will they find me a wife so that I can stay in Moldova the rest of my days? :o) So, they make sure that I get lots of exercise by inviting me running or to introduce me to winter fun in Moldova.

Victor, who is in the 10th grade, and Cristi, in the 11th grade, are both the kind of students any teacher would dream of having. They are extremely kind, inquisitive, respectful and attentive. "Mr. Tim, Mr. Tim, be attentive, there is a car coming," they often comment, or are quick to try and support me if I slip while running on the ice. (Which only serves to make me feel that they think I am ancient :o) )They assist me with my Romanian with gentle corrections and ask for corrections with their English. We discuss topics as deep as Moldovan political structure, the possibility of Moldova integrating with the E.U., and core values to becoming a good human being. Then again, we'll also talk about their favorite topics: girls, movies, martial arts and having fun. They are very curious about the weather in the U.S. as well as topics such as gun control, Presidental politics and what life is like in the major cities in the U.S. In short, between trying to catch my breath while running, we are never at a lack for conversation. Plus, they're just a lot of fun to be around. Like normal teens in the U.S. they wrestle with each other, try out new martial arts moves, and generally laugh a lot.

So, the other day, we were running down a long steep road that was completely covered with ice and packed snow. I was trying to think about how to retain my dignity and not break something sliding down this hill, when we stumbled upon some trashbags. Well, that stopped everything. We now had sleds. After several runs down this hill, we headed to the nut orchard hill and met up with some other students from my school who happened to pull their impromptu sleds out of their back pockets, and everyone joined in the fun. After several runs, a serious snowball war erupted, and I was very glad of the aforementioned respect. No one tried to bean Mr. Tim!

A hearty thank you to both Cristi and Victor for being such great students, but also for renewing my faith in the upcoming generation. Some of these kids are going to change the world in ways we never dreamed, and I think for the better.

Vacanță - Crăciun - Christmas

While more and more people in Moldova are recognizing the 25th of December as Christmas Day, it is still vastly considered here to be the "new Christmas". Nonetheless, there was celebration and it was a great day. First I met up with James Tiger and several other volunteers at the Catholic church in Chișinau, were we attended services in Romanian. As the Romanian language is so Latin centric, it felt and sounded like what my parents described as Mass in Latin.

I was struck by a couple of powerful thoughts: 1) The Mass was beautifully done with Romanian carols, and lots of singing; 2) Aside from the sung parts, I was able to keep up with about 65% of the service, and the homily was really wonderful in a foreign language. The church was tastefully decorated with simple trees and a beautiful manger scene.

Afterward, I found a small supermarket that was open (basically all the businesses were open because of the difference in dates -- kind of handy), and bought oranges, then found a stand with some tangerines and bought a half kilogram of those as well, and headed to Trușeni to spend the day with my first host family.

Mariana made traditional Christmas fare (not) of pizza and a roast chicken. It was delightful and later, some of Gelu and Mariana's friends came over from their church group and had a small prayer gathering and sang traditional colindas -- carols. It was fun to spend the day with my adopted family, bring them some gifts and receive the gift of inclusion.

After a full day, I headed back to Ialoveni, met up with some of my new friends and current adult students who showered me with gifts of food and alcohol, and lots of hugs all around. Then I got back to my room about 10pm to Skype with my family who had all gathered at my older brother's house for the holiday. This was a marathon bout of Skyping as the family is large and I still didn't get to chat with my nieces and nephews.

So, on this second Christmas -- the 7th of January, I wish all the world, but especially Moldova, a very happy holiday and much joy and light in the new year!

Vacanță - Christmas Eve

The first semester ended last Friday, and as I posted in Facebook, it was a semester that I will remember for a very long time. It's very hard to believe that I've been in Moldova a little over 6 months now. It seems like at least 3 or 4 years have passed. Each day zips by, but continues to be packed to the hilt.

And now, while the students are on vacation, I get a brief respite to gather my energy for the next semester. Yet, there is still so much to do. I am planning classes for the next semester, trying to decide which play to perform for English week in April, making plans for an upcoming training for the Peace Corps which will take place the middle of January, and even in my dreams I am teaching English.

Still, I'm making time to relax as well:
Christmas Eve was spent at Jennifer's apartment. Jennifer and her boyfriend Kit (both volunteers as well) hosted an incredible dinner for a number of other volunteers to celebrate the holidays. For volunteers faced with the potential of being alone on Christmas Eve (in Moldova, Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January by most people), this was so incredibly wonderful. And it was made even more wonderful with the terrific company and great food! A heartfelt thank you to Jennifer, Kit, James, Richard, Darnell, Matt, Laura, Natashia, Andy and Alexandra for a lovely celebration!

Jennifer assists while Andy carves



Kit carves the roast beast

There was roast duck, the requisite mashed potatoes, salads, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp scampi and other goodies that we don't often get to eat here in Moldova. For dessert, Jennifer made fudge and Christmas cookies!

Then, we had a magical surprise with three children knocking on the door to come in and sing us colindas or Christmas carols. All in all a magical night.