Semester in Review. OCTOBER

Peace Corps provides volunteers the opportunity to make their work their own and their experience what they will. I’ve had the opportunity to work in a lot of different areas already, English education, women empowerment, anti-human trafficking, business trainings for youth, and many local cultural events. October was full of festivities, parties, and opportunities to work on smaller projects…

The beginning of the month started with a conference for all the business and community development volunteers. I went out of curiosity and interest and found it very productive. Before the conference began, some volunteers got together for a cold and wet game of two-touch American football. It was a blast and a great start to what I found to be a productive conference. I learned about development opportunities for Moldova and what I can specifically bring to my community. The availability of resources for this country is incredible. Unfortunately corruption and a lack of accountability are preventing a lot of development from happening. I’m still trying to find my place in all of it.

Following the first weekend in October was Wine Fest. This is a giant celebration in the center of Chisinau where wineries from all over Moldova set up shop and give tastings to the thousands that gather for the event. The main street through the city is shut down for vendors to set up on both sides. Some are super posh with glass displays, fancy lights, delicate seating, and carpeted floors. Others are more laid back with grass roofs, dirty tables, and simple wooden chairs. But for the most part, people just wander from shop to shop and taste all the different wines that are available. My not-so-guilty go to was the hot spiced wine booth we found. It was a cold day and I was staying cozy with my down sweater on the outside and izvar (Romanian for hot spiced wine) on the inside.

There is a big stage set up where traditional dancers were performing in between what I can best describe as karaoke. Every Moldovan event has this karaoke type of entertainment. A series of singers get on stage with a microphone, a little number to sing along to some pre-recorded music with, and a modest two-step kind of dance to match their song. Lame. I know I’m supposed to be culturally sensitive as a PVC here, but seriously guys, can we switch it up a little? It was these moments that I avoided the stage and snuck around catching candid shots of all the bunice (grandmas) in their adorable matching headscarves. The one with the balloons is my favorite picture in Moldova to date.

The following weekend was a big celebration for the capital city. Every city or village in Moldova has a “city day”. They call it Hram, and it’s a big deal everywhere. Hram in Chisinau was bigger than Wine Fest. The city center (the same area they used for Wine Fest, and every other event the city hosts) was packed with people crowding around the stage to watch karaoke. I don’t get it. So again I avoided the stage and went instead with another Peace Corps volunteer to one of her friend’s booths. He happened to be a wine maker. His name is Igor, his company’s name is Et Cetera, and he makes some of the best wine I have tasted in Moldova. The house wine that everyone makes is fun, traditional, and good to take in shots with lunch or dinner. But this wine was real, bold, and sophisticated. I drank it out of a tall, shapely wine glass (as opposed to shot glasses) and savored every last dry, peppery drop of it.

  

My village’s Hram was at the end of October. In light of the celebration, my school has a week of events called Autumn days. Each homeroom class chooses a culture to represent and then spends the week preparing something about that culture to present at an assembly on Friday. They can do a dance, give a short presentation, or perform some sort of skit. Most classes also had some traditional food to share. One of my partner teacher’s classes decided to be Texas, and asked me to help them with their performance. I said “game on” and went straight for the most stereotypical representation I could think of. Western-wear and line dancing. I did some you tube searching and choreographed a dance. They asked Oxana and I to dance with them, so we did despite being the only teachers to participate. I forgot the steps to my own dance midway through, but the kids rocked it and the rest of the school loved it.

Hram for the rest of the village was filled with carnival rides, wrestling matches, a stage with karaoke entertainment, dancing, and fireworks. My family spent the week making the house spic and span in preparation for the celebration, and all of Saturday preparing food for guests that would come over for a big masa.

October for me was capped off with a Halloween party in the northern city of Balți. Two other PCV’s hosted the event and packed out their apartment with volunteers from all over the country. Everyone was in costume, but I took home the gold with my representation of Moldova’s iconic hero Stefan The Great. This costume also won me a first prize of twizlers at a party a couple days prior. They like to call me creative J.