I’m Back Part 3 of 3…My Life Here in Chis!

OK, so last time I left you all I was talking about well I really forget. See I write the majority of my emails and blog posts from my laptop at home, then upload them to the web from work (where we just got wi-fi). I know what you all are saying, how is he in the Peace Corps…well I wonder the same thing every once in a while, then the following events remind me. This post promises to be pretty random and pretty long so sit back and enjoy the ride.

First off, I have heard a lot of questions about costs and such, so I will indulge you. The Lei (means Lion in Romanian…HAHAHAHA) is about 13 to 1 against the dollar. A beer costs between 6 and 30 lei at a bar, and much cheaper in a magazine (corner store). Food runs the whole gambit depending on where you eat. A pizza is usually about 30- 40 lei, some meat usually runs 10 lei for 100 grams, Mustard is 7 lei a small container, a washing machine (small) is about 4,000 lei, fresh veggies from the bazaar usually cost 16 lei/Kg for clementine’s, 25 lei/Kg for tomatoes (right now), 5 lei/Kg onions, etc. It seems that people make around 300 USD on average a month. However, I really cant be certain of that b/c I live in the capital and everything is different. I feel that this is all variable depending on where you are in the country. I feel income is much less in the rurals, if there even is an income for many of the people. I have heard of people not being paid salaries for up to 6 months…and pensioners seem to have it hard to as there is always a constant garage sale in my complex with pensioners selling their belongings.

Everyday on the way to work I walk by the most beautiful Eastern Orthodox church which is one of the few that survived the Soviet era. The picture is below. At work, well I do all kinds of things…of which none really account to work for me. I read a lot of ecological policy books and pamphlets hoping to understand exactly what is going on with the Nistru River. I also check email, look for similar organizations in the west, etc. I also think of ways that I can create an ultimate Frisbee team here, and work with the UNHCR which I just found out operates in Moldova!

The Next section is intended for a mature audience, so if you have small children hide their eyes, or if you are around Doug Buckmaster…you know what I mean!

O.K. some interesting stories for you all (well really one funny one). I don’t recall if I mentioned that have a dog and a cat that live with us in the house. The dog’s name is Topa and cat is Mortia. Well the other day a friend of mine gave me quite a few Heresy’s Miniatures from the states. So freakin delicious. So I took them home and shared them with my fam, leaving a little hoard in my room for a rainy day. Well the next afternoon I came home to my dresser totally messed up, laptop strewn on the ground, papers everywhere…and I was like what the (expletive deleted)! So I let it go, assuming the dog got into everything. That night I couldn’t find the chocolate everywhere. I mean I had a hankerin for some dark chocolate followed by a savory Mr. Goodbar, (of which I had been thinking of all day)…and they were gone. All except on little piece of wrapper nearly hidden under the carpet…TOPA!!!!! DAMN YOU!!!!!

Well the next night I got my revenge, a little too well. As we all know chocolate and a dogs innards don’t mix so well. Well to say the least, even though I have seen this dog devour things that the most hardcore goat could not eat, and I mean a goat can eat a steel can for god’s sake – the chocolate won. As I was stepping out of my luke warm shower, towel around my waist hair in the most crazy style believable, heard from the other room GafFFF GAFFFF Choke Choke PFFFF PFFFFF whimper whimper….SPLLLLLLLLAAAAATTTTT. And well use your imagination on what exactly just went down. And if you don’t have one, I will help you.

The most rancid, foul, and all consuming smell began to emanate from the other room. I instantly felt like I needed another shower. I began to hear shrill screams in Russian, I think a baby somewhere started to cry, an old woman on the street actually died - I had to see for myself. Call it the fascination with the abomination, but I had to see if I had the last laugh in the great chocolate saga.

As I turned to corner (now dressed) I became light headed, vertigo set in, I had to brace myself on the frame of the door at the catastrophe that was the carpet in my host mom’s room unfolded before me. She looked up at me with eyes to say… what the (expletive deleted) am I supposed to do about this. Something that appeared to be the collection from the last three days of old coffee grounds from McDolands was sprayed all over the floor. I stood there eyes locked on the destruction one 35 lbs spaniel had created, and all I could think was "CJ dont make this worse by vomiting all over the place". Instantly we all sprung into action. Knowing what had to be done. No, not kill the dog, but rather kill the smell and clean the mess. I took the dog for a walk, Dima set in on the stain, mom set in on the smell. When I returned they knew the remedy…VODKA!

I was a bit taken aback, thinking if I had uncontrollable explosive diahreea the last thing I would want is 200 grams (about 4 shots) of vodka. Well I’l be dammed if they didn’t think it was a great idea. So my mom, got a eye wash bottle (one that I would have used, if per say, I had a HUGE JAGGED ROCK stuck in my eye, and filled that little guy up with vodka. Next, she went to the stale bread and deluged a heel (quite a large heel) in the Vodka and proceeded to give it to the dog with a loving and affectionate HA (NA Russian for here) that dog ate it like it was the last piece of filet mignon on earth. Dima, hitting me on the shoulder, said, "this is gonna get funny". (in russian of course)

So we waited, about 5 minutes passed and they were obviously not happy with the results, so the following chain of events took place. But one tid-bit before I describe these fateful circumstances. Topa is old, I mean really old. We are talking about approaching 15 years old. And for those who don’t know, that’s really old for a dog. On top of that, she can’t hear. I mean you could shoot a gun next to her ear and she would be snoring away like a Cowboys fan on Sunday. On top of that, she is blind. I mean more blind than if she was born without any eyes. This dog runs into everything…I mean everything. Andy Sall’s old dog was blind, but that dog knew where it was…this dog, god help it, no idea! OK so back to the story at hand.

She grabbed that dog by the collar, grabbed that eye douche full of vodka and put it right down Topa's throat. At this point I almost lost it between laughing, wanting to cry, feeling pity, etc. Well that dog took it for a good 30 seconds then was like…”OK that’s enough” and pulled away. My mother, seeming glad with the final outcome sat and waited. Not 30 seconds later the dog came out from under the table like a drunk walking out of a bar in Chicago on St. Pat’s day only to find it was noon and began shaking his head wondering what the hell just happened. With black Spaniel ears flapping side to side, and a little studder in her step…the booze began to set in. From this point forward it all went downhill quickly. The dog, cataracts and all began looking towards the heavens almost wondering if this was meant to be heaven seeing as “all dogs go to heaven”. She bean walking into everything (even more than before). But even worse, she would walk into something, back up, then run right back into it. I felt so bad I had to leave. Soon enough they took her to bed, and the next morning Voila! No more diarrhea. So what I have learned from this is, when your stomach hurts…get loaded on Vodka! Thanks Moldova!

OK, that’s it from my end of the world. Hope you have enjoyed this last three part edition of See Jays World.

I'm Back Part 2 of 3

All right...where to begin where to begin, I guess talking about my frist few days/weeks here in the capital city and would be good. Well We all officially got to our new sites on Nov. 16 or 18th I really kind of forget, oh well. Either way, I was at my new families home for less than a week before thanksgiving rolled around...and let me tell you that was a site to behold (but I jump ahead). OK so a funny story then on to thanksgiving. Throughout my stay with my host family in Ialovene I felt that they really liked me and were sad to see me go. As I was packing up my room and getting ready to fill up the back of a car with my newly acquired folders (PC loves to give out paper and forms) I almost wanted to cry - thinking how I would miss the times I had here. Our drive to Chisinau was very somber, and quite. When I got to my new home my host mom inspected it thoroughly and gave it the seal of approval (only after a million questions to my new host bro.) After that...she looked at me and hit my on the shoulder and said “it was nice”. And walked out. Not a hug, a kiss, or even a good luck. She showed more joy when she had no idea who I was than after living with her for 9 weeks. Oh well, that’s Moldova for ya!

Now living in the Capital is a trip. The family is much cooler as we have nightly discussions and play the “what is this in Russian” game. This game often leads us to the computer where we type in random words into the dictionary and “poof” the English variant comes up on the screen. Quite fun, until it is 11:30 and you want to sleep and they want to tell you more about the spirits of the lake. Either way though, this is much better than being left alone or talked at…not talked to!

Our other favorite game to play is “why do you live in Chisinau, and the rest of the volunteers have no running water and outhouses”? This discussion proves to be more difficult as I think they really get mad about it and repeat it isnt fair. Eventually I just end up saying “it’s because I am amazing”. And they look at me oddly and drop it. However, I know it will be brought up again tomorrow!

Ok onto thanksgiving. I was pretty bummed leading up to thanksgiving knowing what a rocking time I have had the last few years in Chicago (if you were there you know)and would not be able to be there again this year. Thanksgiving was marked by our All-Vol conference which included lots of boring presentations by staff with volunteers sitting around hung over. I however decided to mark my thanksgiving by working in the kitchen to help prepare thetraditioanl thanksgiving day meal. Here in Moldova, PCV’s prepare and cook everything for a huge thanksgiving dinner the day of. In other words I felt right at home (almost back in Chicago minus the deep fryer)cooking for a large group on thanksgiving day all while drinking delicious wine and listening to great tunes. However, Chicago was a tabel of 14 or so…Moldova, 300! We cooked 15 huge turkeys, cut 40 Kg of Onions, 25 pumpkin pies, 25 pecan pies, 15 Kg garlic, 30 Kg Mac and Cheese. It was quite ridiculous when you think of it, but it went off without a hitch, no one died, and people raved. And now I have somehow found myself in charge of the whole thanskgiving shin-dig next year. Of course, I am once again in over my head, however, I have a great PCV right alongside of me named Annie! God bless her little soul, we will prevail yet. And if you happen to be in the neighborhood, I think I can finda seat at our table for you!

OK well that’s it for this round, however I promise some pictures and also a glimpse into my life and costs etc here in Moldova in the final part of my three part series. If you all want to hear about anything in particular pleaselet me know and if you want me to stop posting b/c it is too boring, I suggest that instead you just stop reading! Hope everyone out there is having a good run at life (finals, holiday, etc.) and know you are all in my thoughts constantly. Take care.

CJ

The Peace Corps Office In Chisinau, pretty sweet huh?

Check out the mad website building skills on that dude!

Sorry no real new information, but I have messed around with my sidebar all day today to give you some more info on my life here! So please check it out and feel free to send me texts (although expect nothing in reutrn) and feel free to send me shit. I promise another update on life here in Moldova after this weekend! Much love to all of you...esp those who wrote me today it made the day that much better off! Peace!

PS...pass this blog address around to anyone who you might think gives a shit! catch ya later!

I'm Back Part 1 of 3

Where do I begin where do I begin. To start, sorry it has been so long since I have looked at this page, and I realized that even when you don’t think you are that busy, the days always seem full. I believe my last post was about the wine festival and the events that took place after that. Well let me say that A LOT has happened. This is the 1st of a three part series about my life thus far since that glorious day and unfortunate following night. This segment is going to focus on the days that remained in PST after the wine festival up until my moving into a new site (which does in fact happen to be in the Capital City of Moldova…pack your bags and come visit).

PST was…well…PST. Here in Moldova it can be summed up pretty easily. Language classes were of incredible importance…the rest, take it or leave it. Some stuff was great, a lot of the other stuff was repetitive. It was marked by a few very sad events including a few of our fellow trainees heading home after a very short stent here in Moldova. Here’s to all of you! (as I pour some of my beer onto the ground) Otherwise PST was a normal 8:30 – 2:00 job which really didn’t end there b/c learning a language is a process…as is everything here in Moldova.

As we neared swearing in and our inevitable “lock down” better known asthe time when we are not allowed to leave site, (not such a problem for me, but for those of you in villages of 500…HAHAHAHAHA) we all were going through an array of emotions. First off, the PC was making sure we were all ready to go, language, professionalism, learning about sustainability one more tim, learning how the swearing in ceremony would go, etc. While the trainees were all busy living it up one more time before the inevitable security blanket was pulled off. At the same point I began to feel a separation with my host family, as if they knew I was leaving so they began removing themselves from me as I was from them. And finally the day came…move to the hotel in Kishinev and get ready for swearing in!

The ceremony was awesome, and the meal afterwards was great. I was able to show off my totally awesome dancing skills as a group of us preformed traditional dances in traditional garb for the crowd’s enjoyment. Once the excitement was over it all came to a head quite quickly. Throughout the meal people would just disappear off to their sites. This was a constant process – and then voila, my turn! AS I didn’t have to travel far I simply drove down the road and began the next phase of my new life…Working towards the normalization of environmental policies along the Dniester River between two riparian states and a semi-autonomous authority – in Russian. Fuck ME. Until next time…that’s it from See Jays World! Keep sending your love and your packages.

The bazzar in my staging village


My Group outside the Milesti Mici Wine Factory


In the wine cellar at "the mici"


My Russian Partner in "Mark's Bitch"