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"