See Jay's World

Lets Try This...Photo Journalism!!!!!

2007-12-12T01:51:00.000-08:00

3 am on an island just off of Oslo, Norway (thats the sun setting)

4 am, same Island....Yhea thats the sun coming up!!!

Cool Norwegian Church

Shoreline...Bergen, Norway

In the Fjord lands...Southern Norway! Freaking Awesome!!!!

From Above Pulpit Rock

Me and 700 Meters to the water....WINDY and SCARY!!!!

Pose for the Camera...Pulpit Rock, Southern Norway

Next, Poland...and the gates at Auschwitz

Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Extermination Camp

Grape Pickin Time....Wash the Barrels!!!!

1 field, 2.5 tons of grapes, 1 day....OUCH!!!!!

Me, Nastia, and Baba Sona...Grape Picking Threesome!!!

The Goal of the day.

Happy Camper Taking a reak...kinda.

Off to Serbia...With the Central Floridians!!!

Some Things Don't change...Talkin Life with Charlie.

Finally a few for Fun... Me and my neighbor Sasha...and a few more of me!

Rockin the Harmonica, and the Snow Pants

Just another Day in Chisinau...Hope you all enjoyed my Update!

Russia, part one of many to catch you all up!

2007-07-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

Hello there from heat and mosquitoe ridden Moldova!

I know I have been a little less than prompt with this whole BLOG thing, but better late than never right. So this is how I am planning the updates on my blog. This part will consist of what went down in Russia, and a few of my favorite pics to go along with it. The next part will cover Scandinavia, and some cool stories there, and then the final piece will cover whats been going on in Moldova...and how crappy the 4th of July was in comparison to the last many years I have been in DC. OK so without further a due, I will paint the pictures through black and white letters on a PC monitor.

So it was a balmy 41 C and 95% humidity when I walked to the train station at 11am on Wednesday June 30. As I approached the green circa 1967 Russian model train I realized that I was in for a real treat. So promptly 15 minutes late the train began to move, and I began to get really really hot. As did the other 64 people on my wagon, so they all took their shirts off. Now I love me some shirtless moments, but on a beach, not in a public train! Oh well, one American and 64 moldovans...they would have won. Plus they had the advantage that i couldn't hold on to them if we got in a fight due to the fine layer of sweat all over. But I digress. The train ride was 29 hours of me sweating like crazy, no one opening a single window for fear of the current, no one talking to me except in Moldovan...so I read and slept alot!

As I arrived in Moscow, everything went great! I met Mike Schwirtz without a problem at the train station and we went to his flat right near the center of the city.(thanks Jackson for putting us in touch again) He dropped me off and went into work and left me for a little exploring time. His apartment was awesome, and his neighborhood was the coolest. Artsy, relaxed, and 4 BLOCKS FROM RED SQUARE! I turned the corner and there perfectly framed across the river and between buildings was St. Basil's! Talk about awesome! The rest of the time in Moscow was great. Meeting his friends, the two of us wandering the streets for hours, going to a few Ex-Pat bars, seeing Lenin lying in state, etc. Then my last night there we had a few beers at the train station, watched the moon fly (so fast) across the sky, and I geared up for Peter and the white nights while he geared down for another week at the NY times.

Peter was interesting. As I arrived my hurt foot (which I hurt while in Moscow the first day) really acted up. I was laid up for three days unable to walk, or relay stand on it. Luckily I had the company of a 2 year old and his 9 year old sister all day in the apartment I was staying it. And you all know how much I LOVE kids! I was staying with my Host mother in Moldova's sister and her family. This was actually great because I stayed and ate for free throughout almost all of Russia. Plus I got an inside look at how home life was in Russia. The second to last night I got out and we took a drive around the city to watch the ancient draw bridges rise, and check out the White nights. Peter is so far north that the sun was setting around 1:30am and rising around 5:00 am. This would get shorter and shorter as my trip moved along. Each night I could not believe the phenomena and just stared for hours out the window.

The last full day in Peter, I took 1200 Mg of Motrin and set out to see the city...I HAD TO! I saw the hermitage, some churches, had some tea in outdoor cafe's and did the whole "peter" thing in a day. It was a great day, but my foot really hurt at the end. The next morning I took of for the Finland Train station and caught my bullet train to Helsinki. Foot hurting, fear of not being able to hike in Norway...All I could do was carry on and see what happened. However, that is for a different day and a different story!

So without a due, check out the pics below and enjoy a little glimpse into Russia!

Me in Moldova, and my home for the next 29 Hours!

Awesome Church in Moscow

Gates to Red Square

Armory in Red Square

Lenin's Vacation Resort Tomb

St Basils, All I could think was "This is Peter Jennings reporting from Red Square, Moscow"

St. Basils again

The Kremlin, What does go on behind those walls

Best Church in St. Pete

Bridge over Neva in Peter...Also famous in Crime and Punishment

Same Bridge, 1:30 am... Go White Nights (The sun is just about to set)

2 Yr old friend at home in St Pete

Obligatory Statue of Lenin and Finland Train Station

Is drought spelled with an “A” or an “O”

2007-05-28T01:56:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have officially become a slacker in regards with my blog as I don’t even recall the last time I looked at it, thought about it, let alone added anything to it. However, here I am, still in Moldova, and currently sweating my buns off. Kinda like the cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster (or so I assume). Which takes me to the subject of this email. We are undr serious stress here already as there was very little water from snow this year, and the spring has been ungodly. It has been about 35-38 C (95-98 F) for the last two weeks, without a drop of rain. Villages in the south are running out of water, and already rumors of people dying from the heat are flying around Moldova. The ther rumors have been about the impending drought, mixed with the import ban of Moldovan wine to Russia, forcing a huge economic crisis here. Should be interesting especially seeing as elections also happen in just over a week. The final crappy part (besdes not AC and therefore no escape from the heat) are the mosquitoes. They are worse then many months in Gainseville, and not only outside but in my apartment. All I hear all night is BZZZZZZZZ and if you have been camping you can sympathize. Alas, I digress and I will move on to brighter topics.

Either way, life here has moved along quite quickly, and all has gone well. So a few recaps and then who knows what I will write about. First I traveled to Bender (which is in Trans-Nistria) and all was well there. Pretty interesting situations however. At the border I held up the crossing because the “border guards” were shocked I was an American, and everyone had to see the passport. I don’t think they even wanted to hassle me, but they were just really curious about the passport. Either way, border crossing was more or less uneventful. In Bender I went to a few museums, and ten we had a small conference to celebrate the success of a finished proposal. All was well till a KGB guy showed up, and we left quickly…to not give any reasons for further questioning.

Recently I have been building a website, and it has been a good job for me. http://cjsmith4.5gbfree.com/EnglishRollSite/EngMain.html In the sense that it keeps me really busy because I don’t know anything about it, and that they are happy that our website will be better after I teach myself all about it. I also have taken over managing a few small grants throughout Trans-Nistria including the building of a nature trail (horrible memories of the nature trail I built at Blue Springs keeps me up at night), and also making sure an Ecological corner at a kindergarten get completed in time for the new school year! Should be a good workout for my language as well as management skills.

However, the best thing coming up is my vacation. I am heading to Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg and maybe a few more), Finland, and Norway. I am super super super excited for this, and am looking forward to a change of pace from Moldova. Sorry for the kinda crappy update, but it has been so long I forgot how to write and everything I did has also been forgotten. Either way, enjoy the pic of me below with long hair (8 months and growing) and know I will have some great storues upon my return from the Northlands!

Cheers,

Charles (See Jay)

So March Is Here, Why Not Let Me Sleep Till June?!?!?

2007-03-01T04:13:00.000-08:00

While I know that I said wake me up in March, I decided March here sucks, as does the end of February! The weather is awful (it was like -18 a few days ago, tons of snow). Now all the snow is melting and well it is a little different than the states. See they don’t clear the roads or sidewalks from snow, so there is melting snow every, which has taken on this putrid toilet brown/ blood in your stomach black look! Which you trudge through no matter where you are (even inside sometimes I feel). But enough about the weather, only people who aren’t really friends discuss the weather right?

Moving on, February came and went…with one huge event…MY BIRTHDAY! And we celebrated it like Moldovan’s know how…canned veggies, pan-fried chicken, and a ton of cognac. It was a small gathering of my family a Moldovan and a few Volunteers, but it was a great time. I got a cactus, some cologne, a book, and…A BOTTLE OF COGNAC! But enough about that stuff, onto a few interesting things that have happened throughout the long but short month of February.

To begin, I got out of Moldova for the first time! I took a trip to Chernovtsy, Ukraine. It was a great getaway even though it was for work. There we attended an OSCE (Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe) conference which was being held to draft legislation for cooperative management of the Nistru River Basin. It was really cool, but a long and arduous Russian weekend. While I spoke very little during the conference, at lunches and dinners I was a hit! Out of every adventure comes at least one great story, and this had to be the bus ride to Ukraine. So here it is…oh man I don’t even know where to start.

We got to the bus station at around 9:00am. The temperature was a blustery 2 degrees, with a humidity of “wet sauna” and a wind speed of “I didn’t really need that hat anyways”. Enough to say our party of 7 was an incredibly happy and chipper crew when we met. As we approached the bus, I could not help but laugh. I mean, this was by far the worst bus that I have ever seen. I mean I have seen some buses, in movies that they try and make look like the worst nightmare on the face of the earth…but this one beat it. I mean I couldn’t have imagined a bus any shittier than this. It was a Hungarian, circa…well…Stalin, and was, but of course, USSR RED. I believe that every single member of our party at one point before entering that bus made some statement to the likes of, what the &^!(^#!@+ is this. In addition to which as I entered they asked…do you have buses like this in America. I couldn’t help but laugh and say no!

So as we sat down, I realized…this bus is ridiculously cold. But it had been sitting all night in the frozen Moldovan bus station, so I figured it would get better. This was confirmed by our bus driver, and also by the fact that we each took a little nip of Cognac for a little “fire in the stomach”. This was followed by eating an open faced sandwich with Sala, which is in essence the layer of fat from a pig between the skin and the meat…with some seasoning on it. At first I said no as I try and stay away from seasoned pig fat, but an anecdote made me change my mind. That was, “When there was a conflict between Russia and Napoleon, each had cognac (insert second shot here). Because of that the soldiers were willing to fight. However, Russia had Sala and Napoleon did not, and because of that the Russian Soldiers were ABLE to fight, and therefore won”. Next thing I knew I was gnawing on some seasoned pig fat…who could argue against that.

As we set off for Ukraine, we began what would become an 8.5 hour, well, nightmare. An hour into it, we had gone roughly 20 Km, and I was wondering if the bus would ever warm-up, or stop smelling like gasoline. Quickly I realized no, when I looked into the back of the bus and saw that two windows were broken and gasoline enriched wind was blowing freely through the cabin. At that, I hunkered down, and got ready for a long day. 6 hours later we came to the boarder, where we had to go through border control and the routine of passport stamping. The process was going pretty well, until I looked out the window to a Ukrainian Soldier holding my passport and talking to our bus driver, next thing I know I was in a Ukrainian military outpost, with snow beginning to fall, trying to explain in Russian why I had been in Moldova for so long, why I was traveling to Ukraine, what my business was, and why I was with 6 other Moldovan’s including 4 from trans-Niestria! To say the least it was a bit intimidating…but at least it was warm!

When we finally got through the border, and began our way through Ukraine, the snow really started coming down…and also blowing into the freakin broken windows! Here I am, 7 hours into a freezing bus ride, and suddenly snow start settling on the seats in the back! I was not happy. Despite all these problems, we made it, and maybe in my next installment I will tell you some more about the city.

Hope you enjoyed this installment; I enjoyed reliving that fateful bus ride all over again. Much love!

CJ

When it Rainsit Pours, Wake Me Up When March Comes

2007-02-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last installment of See jays World, and I am sure you, my audience, has waited with bated breath. As stated above, when it rains it pours and this email will prove it. Well all in all, January few by in a holiday and work induced haze. I have heard since I got here that January is a tough month because of all the holidays, and well let me tell you it is true. Around every corner is either recovery from the previous holiday celebration or preparing for the next. My host mothers birthday spanned nearly 1.5 weeks, two Christmas’, new years, old new years, Day Tatiana (celebration of the name), of which I have 4 Tatiana’s in my life. Not to mention super bowl and so on. All in all, I need a break.

Life here has picked up dramatically. For the good and for the bad. The bad came about a week back, when I was tasked with maybe the worst thing I have ever done. My counterpart came in one day, and had mis-numbered a 200-page report, and did not want to reprint it without a mistake. Well, he handed me the report, and piece of paper with numbers 1-200 with two spaces in between each…AND A GLUE STICK AND SCISSORS. I am sure you can figure out how I spent the next three hours of my life! 10,000 miles, 4 years of college, managing thousands of students and a multi0million budget…and I am freakin cutting tiny pieces of paper and gluing them over other numbers! To say the least I was not so happy.

However, the next day I got some real work, lobbying parliament. There is currently a bill in front of parliament to remove protected status of some preserves here in Moldova and basically turn them into a hunting ground/ Summer home site for Moldova’s elite. I was asked to draft a letter to be passed throughout the EU, America, etc to lobby against this bill. It has been so awesome! Seeing MY letters come back from all over the world signed by members of the EU parliament, various NGO’s, Ministers of Ecology has been one of the coolest things ever! If you know people who might wanna jump on this lobby train, have them email me at cjsmith4@hotmail.com and I will pass the letter on to them, it is working and parliament is already dragging their feet with the bill!

Also in regards to work, I am planning a work trip to churnavsee (don’t know it in a non Cyrillic text) in Ukraine later this month. It will be a good get away from Moldova, and a great opportunity to practice my Russian for 2-3 days all while exploring a new city. Speaking of that, my Russian is really beginning to take hold. I am able to converse on a more abstract level and am understanding much more as well. It is funny how only a month ago I was afraid of having nothing to do and now I am busy everyday into the evening. I wonder what it will be like in a year!

On a different note, I want to thank all the people who have sent packages over the last few months which have been showing up all the time. Matt, Charlie, Mr. Meyer…thank you so much, you know how important it was. Felicia & Leslie…you all freakin rock and I can not thank you enough. Doug and Chris, so timely and everything is perfect. Mom and Dad, you always surprise me with stuff from home that I never think of but keeps me remembering what life was like back there, and I love it. Christy and John Uncle Cliff and Aunt Helen, the camera is perfect, as well as everything else that you sent. I really appreciate it!
Chisinau life is also going great. My mad harmonica playing skills are getting better and better, I have started an English club with a USAID funded group called winrock who works with women who are at risk for being trafficked, I might be getting a second assignment besides ECO-Tiras to work with the Moldovan Ministry of Ecology, I have signed myself up to be the Director General of the Moldovan MUN debate conference next year (you MUN nerds out there will respect that), I am working with a Fulbrighter here in Chi-town (not the real one but it reminds me of home) to start an English lending library, and who knows what else might pop up in the next few months.

Finally I want to brag a little. I dot know why, nor do the moldovans, but the winter here has been absolutely beautiful. Other than a few days below 0, we have been rocking awesome temperatures and many days with sun. The winter is actually a lot better than either I lived in Chicago, although I have not been warmed by the Hodge’s special in many moons! So to all of those living in Chicago, I love you, but HAHAHAHAAHA for I saw it was -24 the other day with windchill…BOOOOOOO!

Finally on a sad note, our family dog Topa passed away yesterday. She had a good run for nearly 14 years…so hopefully she is chillen with Rusty upstairs. We are thinking of getting a new dog, but not until next fall. So there won’t be any vodka induced Topa stories anymore, but maybe Topa 2 will be just as cool.

Well that’s it from See Jays World. Check out a few pics below, and enjoy! I miss each and everyone of you, my readers, in different ways. Take care, and hopefully you all will find your way to far east Europe, for I have a bed and floor space for you! Lots of love.

~чарли

Current Song: CCR - Fortunate Son
Current Attitude: Rockin' It

PICTURES BELOW!!!!!!

Here's Me and My Old Pal!

My New Room

The Flowers Host Mom Bought

Kiddies at school gettin ready for...

...THE HUMAN KNOT, and...

...THE MAGIC CARPET!!!!!

NSLC, thank you for all you taught me over the years HAHAHAHAHA!

Address Change/ Correction

2007-01-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

Dont know if it will speed things up but here's to hopin

Charles Smith (PCV)
Corpul Pacii
Str. Grigore Ureche #12
Chisinau, 2001
Republic of Moldova

From 10 to -10, the swings of a day…the swings of a year!

2007-01-02T02:08:00.000-08:00

Hello all, from my semi-warm office in the heart of Chisinau. This installment of See-Jays-World has great potential in my mind; whether or not the same eloquence is painted on the computer screen in front of you is a different story. Today is freaking cold. I mean really freaking cold. (it is x-mas day). Yesterday it was beautiful 9 degrees, and today it has plummeted to around -10, and freezing/snowing/hailing. However they expect it to warm up again soon!

This time last year I was sitting in the comforts of my Florida home (or maybe Charlie’s apt) hanging out and doing a lot of nothing. Knowing that I need to keep my mind busy and off the fact that I am not home for Christmas for the first time in 24 years, I decided to spread a little x-mas cheer in my house here in Chisinau. I cooked a huge turkey, made stuffing, the works. Myself and 7 other people (my family, Russian tutor, moldovan friends and a few volunteers) shared a real x-mas meal that evening. It was so nice, we drank in the x-mas cheer, and just had a good ass time. It has also come to my conclusion that Moldovan’s freakin love...I mean LOVE stuffing! So much in fact that the morning after we ran out, the first thing that happened when I came out of my room was…CAN WE MAKE MORE STUFFING??? (that was 5 days after christmas, of wich twice a day for 5 days we ate turkey and stuffing)

OK now it is time for the swings.

Xmas 06 –home for the holidays kickin it with my fam and friends. After that delicious meal my friends and I spent time behind a dumpster at dennys where this took place! (pic to come, too big)

Xmas 07- undercooked turkey, a lot of cognac, Russian/Romanian/English/ scherades.

Xmas 06 – presents, darts, all in all - carefree

Xmas 07 – cooking, haggling in Russian for a cheaper price on carrots, hoping my package came

Xmas 06 – missing Chicago and my friends and family there

Xmas 07 – missing America and my friends and family there

Moving on to New Years. This was an interesting experience to say the least. I have not had an issue with my plans for new years for a very long time. However, my mom here did not like the idea that I was gonna go out on the town by myself. (even though there were gonna be 10 other volunteers with us, if not more)! So it was a fight from the start, but I won it eventually! Me and a few volunteers decided to get a hotel (or a block of 4 rooms...a whole wing of a floor) at a local hotel and just rock it out new years style. Seeing as I didn’t have one Ms. HODGES in association with mike and Nicole (miss you all so much) to tell me what I was doing on New Years, I had to figure it out for myself. The night started out innocent enough, pizza, beer, martini’s, etc. Then we went on our run to the store…cognac, champagne, wine, beer, midgets, Shetland ponies, we bought it all! Then we headed back to the hotel to start taking care of business. We knew the Russian New Year was at 11, and ours at 12…so we had a few hours of celebration before we took it to the streets! The hotel was normal enough, with a few random partiers who spoke no English stopping by b/c they heard quite a gathering going on in our wing… After that we headed for the streets cognac and champagne in hand. And the rest is about to begin.

The city is set up with a central square and park in the middle of it. The square was where the stage and beer tents were set up, and all the droves of people were crammed for the new years celebration. It was quite a good time, and as the arch behind us chimed 11 pm we popped the first of our bottles of champagne and started dancing around. Everyone followed in suit and fireworks from everywhere started to go off (the stuff you can buy in South Carolina). Then the HORA (local dance) began and we all started twirling in circles dancing with whoever was near. IN the midst of this blur of colors, sounds, and emotions a fellow volunteer took a devastating tumble nearly bringing the entire hora circle with her. The night pretty much continued on from there ending with a beautiful fireworks display, a friend of mine falling out of a tree, two beds in the hotel breaking, making more Moldovan friends then ever though possible, and sleeping what seemed like 10 to a bed.

OK now it is time for the swings.

New Years 06 – bar with Mike, Nicole, and Hodges

New Years 07 – center square Chisinau wondering where Mike, Nicole, and Hodges were

New Years 06 – Drinking Gin and Tonics wearing a shirt and tie

New Years 07 – drinking champagne and cognac wondering what my neighbor just said to me

New Years 06 – ending the night (as usual) dance party USA at Hodges’

New Years 07 – starting and ending the night dance party Moldova at…Moldova

New Years Day 06 – Jaeger bombs, back of a cab w/ Hodges, 35+ bar

New Years Day 07 – laying in bed reflecting on what a difference a day... and a year can be.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I miss all of you very dearly, and know I will see you again soon.

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

2006-12-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-11T00:33:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-12-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

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"

Moldova 2 - See Jay 1

2006-10-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

Do I start with the good or the sad? I guess I will start with the good/sad. This last Sunday was the Chisinau wine festival. What a trip. Kinda like Oktoberfest, only instead of tents there were huge barrels and instead of beer it was Moldovan Wine. So to say the least it was quite delicious. I had pictures (but that story will come later). Sunday was a day of excitement as we left Iolovene in a state of unprecedented enthusiasm and ready to get our “Moldovan culture” on. All started great, I bought a cell phone and the entire transaction occurred in Russian. As I left the basement cell phone store (with money exchange attached) I climbed into a beautiful Moldovan fall afternoon with people buzzing around like flies on…well, ok, bees around a newly bloomed flower. As we entered the wine festival we started to drink a few of our local wines, and then decided to grab a bite to eat. Around the corner were countless vendors selling Shashlik (Kabobs), of the most amazing smelling and tasting beef, chicken, fish (MRACO) in the world. We bought, and devoured like there was no tomorrow. Afterwards, we went back to singing, dancing the “Hora” (a sort of circle dance), and carrying on like Americans in Moldova.

That Night Moldova won. Upon arriving home (about 10:00 pm) I went to bed. At midnight I awoke with the worst case of food poisoning I have ever had. And if anyone out there has ever had it, you feel my pain. I spent the next 6 hours fetal, and wishing I were dead. The next morning (well actually only an hour after I had the ability to go to bed) I made my way to school. As I walked in my LCF (Language and Cultural Facilitator) was like “dear god man, call the doctor!” I convinced her against it and went home – obviously vomiting the entire way. Upon my arrival home, I decide to take an inventory of my belongings…uhoh! My camera is gone…SHIT! Maybe my friends have it…NO DICE. Alas, I am destined to not have a digital camera in Europe. Chort! (Russian for devil or damn it). And above it all, everyday my host mom tells me not to eat meat from the street…and all I can say is…BUT MOM – IT WAS SO GOOD!

So that is how Moldova won the last two battles – shashlik = food poisoning (but so delicious) and a stolen digital camera. However, I won most recently in regards to site placement over the next two years. I was assigned to Chisinau to work with an environmental umbrella organization. It seems that I will be traveling around the country to site through the Nistru River basin (including Transnistria…if the US Embassy says yes) and possibly even to our donor countries of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. Although that will come with time, luck, and language. Here’s to hoping. This weekend is our site visit, and I will meet with my future host families, and my counterpart at ECO-TIRAS. Fingers crossed all goes well. Thanks for stopping by, miss you all. Peace!

This one's for Mike's mom!

2006-10-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hello America!!!

Mike is well...and sarcastic as ever!

All is well here in Iolovene

That is a picture of my town atop a hospital in Iolovene. The red arrow points to my apt block.

I have been informed that I have been slacking on my blog entries so here it goes. Life here in Moldova has begun to settle in nicely. Lots of language and technical training mixed with a good amount of "thinking time" (but more about that later). A normal day look a lot like this 8:30am-1:00pm language...straight. A lot I know, but well worth it. We actually figured out that we spent more time in Language during PST than we I spent in a classroom my entire college career. (not just me but every university). All in all it is going quite well, and I am anxious to find out where my final site is going to be (tues)

Today we had interviews with out program manager's and Anastasia and I (we are the Russians) will either be going to the south and doing leadership development and skill training with youth (sounds like NSLC Bleh), or heading into the capital and working with an environmental Umbrella organization that works with some 40 NGO's throughout Moldova. Both sound cool, and both have drawbacks (working with youth & not living in a Village). Ether or I am quite excited and ready to find out.

I was very sad to day to realize that I am going to be missing Mike and Nicoles wedding this weekend, so if anyone out there is reading this, and knows them...please tell them that I miss them, love them, and wish them the best of luck. So now a few things running through my head as of late...THE GREAT MRACO (me-ya-sa) (the R is backwards in Russian).

Here in Moldova meat is meat. Whether it is chicken, pork, beef, etc. This is ok for me who eats meat (all kinds) but for others has become a problem. SO we were discussing it the other day trying to figure out why. I decided that it was a throw back to the soviet times when they were just happy to have meat...many other PCV's say that it is because Moldova is a farming culture not an angus beef or purdue chicken raising environment. Either or, it is quite interesting and one of the many little things that are quite different. That's about all the time I have here in See Jays World, thanks for stopping by. And below you can find a few pics of my life here.

Me in a walnut tree in the Communal walnut orchard behind my house.

A picture of my room and my 5 year old host niece, Alina, enthralled with my computer.

2006-09-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I have arrived at my PST (pre-service Training) site here in Ioloveni. A town of about 10,000 it seems. I am living with a Widow (Tamara Ivanovna) and her youngest son (Maxim). Tamara speaks no English and Maxim has about the same level as I do Russian. So to say the least, quite an interesting set-up. We live in an Apartment with 4 rooms, three are bedrooms and the other is a kitchen. Luckily however, I have an indoor toilet and an indoor bath. To say the least, all quite accommodating. My host mother is quite the talker, and the first few days I would be paying attention so hard - and be so lost - I would start laughing. Kinda awkward... However, it has gotten much better and she enjoys sitting in my room, dictionary between us, helping my correct my homework.

The other day walking home from school, I ran into my host brother Maxim and he said "GET IN CAR" so I did. We went to his girlfriends house, then to a pizzaria where we had some drinks and I got to meet his brother Slava and ten of their closest friends. As the only non-Russian speaker I stayed pretty quite (go figure) however I did get to put a few words in. We snaked on dried and salted sardines and calamari. Quite interesting, and I will get back to you on if I lied them or not. Other than that life is good here. The people are very hospitable, and love to feed us. I hear KUSHAT KUSHAT (eat eat) in my house more than I breathe.

I will try and get some pictures up in a few days, as soon as I figure out how to alter them so they fit. Also, outhouses are not that bad...we shall see in the winter. And finally, cold showers suck esp when it is about 36 degrees outside.

Either way...so far so good! Until your next installment of See Jays World, drink a Guinness for me.

The Adventure Begins!

2006-09-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hello all from Moldova,

I have arrived here safely in Moldova, and let me tell you it is quite a trip thus far. 10 hours to Istanbul, 8 hour layover, 2 hours to cuisine and finally at the Hotel. We had a few great presentations from local artists, and few safety briefings, and then wine and bred...DELICIOUS! After that we went out with a bunch of current PCV's who met us at the airport and hung out all night. Drank a bunch of wonderful Russian beer and had a great time.

The next days have been very long laced with hours of jet-lag filled sleepy moments. Everything here has been great. I am learning Russian, and will continue to do so for about the next 3 months. After that I will head to my site and begin the two years of service to Moldova and the US of A!

Tomorrow I will meet my host family for the next three months and I am quite nervous. Seeing as they speak only Russian and not a lick of English it should be very interesting trying to communicate. Life here in the capital is juxtaposed to say the least. The fast paced cars zooming around seeming carefree about the populace who walked everywhere makes for quite an exciting time crossing the road.

A few highlights...Getting harassed by the police day one for sitting on the ground (apparently illegal), getting yelled at in Russian by the hotel housekeeper for a missing towel, bathing from a spicket in a rotted out bath tub, and much much more. Despite all this, the Peace Corps really has their shit together here, and well I am loving it. And one final note...all you people out there who said that the people here would be ugly...HAHAHA. The people here are some of the most gorgeous humans I have ever set eyes upon.

Until next time, Keep it real and I will continue to update you on my trolls. But for now, that's it from See Jays World!

Rockin out...one last time

2006-09-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you, if the Hideaway was any way to go out - it was in style. But I get ahead of myself. First and foremost, I had a rockin time at my farewell gathering which was highlighted by arrival from Doug, Jew-vara, and Marco, an incredible sunburn, some serious wavefrisbee, beers, brats, a turducken (chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey) and of course a wonderful GATOR WIN! Following that adventure we all headed to Orlando where we were nonstop all night! Thank you all for an amazing final weekend, and I owe you all when I get back. As I am about to head to Moldova, I just wanted to thank you all for your support and ensuring me the Peace Corps has nothing on me, and wont stop me. I owe you even more (esp Charlie). On that note, if you are reading this...keep it real and next time I will be saying hello from Moldova! Peace out!

And the e-mailing begins!

2006-08-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

So as of yesterday Moldova group 19 began e-mailing each other. Seems to be quite the eclectic group. Lots of females, people from texas, FL, graduates, youngsters, over 45er's etc. Promises to be quite the adventure. Despite this, I am still having a tough time swallowing the fact I am about to leave. I am sure it will hit me soon enough. The last few days have been wraught with work and details, but soon enough I will be able to sit back and enjoy the ride. I can't wait. And I promise that once I am away form this place, I will A) rock it harder than anyone has rocked it before...and B) begin to really do some cool shit with this blog. THat beaing said. Peace.

and so it begins...

2006-07-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

As my summer begins to wind down I begin to gear up for the Peace Corps. A conversation I had today with another soon to be departing PCV put me very much to ease. To sum it up...it went like this. "Amy, do you ever try to think about all the stuff that you should be thinking about and realize that such wondering is so hard to comprehend that you decide to just not think about it any more", "Yes, yes I do". That pretty much sums up my jumbled mind to a T these days. I know that I should be thinking and rethinking about everything, but every time I sit down to do so I cant get my mind around the idea that I am leaving for 2.5 years (give or take). Alas. I do know that I need to keep in touch with my friends, and thus a blog - voila. So, starting now I will be able to share my experiences and thoughts with you all, my loved ones and friends, and you with me. SO keep 'em coming and keep it real!