Monday, February 28, 2011

Valentine's Dance

Poster announcing the event at school
I thought I should probably get around to posting about the Valentine’s dance that I threw at my school while it’s still February, so here it goes. I originally wanted to do a Halloween dance at my school last year but with less than 2 months under my belt at school I didn’t get around to it. By February, I felt that it was time. I begin by telling my partner teacher at school about my idea. She originally thought it would be an English event, but I told her that wasn’t necessary. I wanted to incorporate everyone at school, whether they were learning French or English and the event would be held in Romanian. With that figured out, we talked to the director at my school and she gave us the green light.

English Club kids getting crafty making decorations

Finished product
Now, it came as a shock to me that schools here don’t regularly throw dances for the students because back home we always had dances in junior high and high school. I just wanted something fun for the students at school to attend and we all know that Moldovans love to dance. So with this idea being new to my partner, I explained to her that I wanted to serve refreshments and a light snack at the dance….you get thirsty after dancing and some munchies are always appreciated. She then asked me how we would pay for the food and drinks that we were to serve and I told her that I could front the money and then if we charged an admission (5 lei, around 50cents) it would pay for the food, drinks and decorations. My partner was sure that no one would attend the dance if we charged an admission but I kept a positive outlook.
Now back home, I would just drive on over to Party City to buy some Valentine’s decorations, you know…. balloons, streamers, signs, etc. but being here in Moldova I had no clue where to go. I luckily was able to find red and white balloons at a store called Metro (think Costco) and my English Club kids were more than happy to help me make decorations. In my raion, my partner introduced me to a store that sells drinks, snacks and supplies in bulk to people who own small magazines (small stores). There we bought 300 cups, bags of candy, a box of pretzels and liters of soda at a really good price. Now came the hard part….back home I would just take my purchased items in a shopping cart out to my car and drive home, but I do not have those luxuries here in Moldova. My partner and I had to carry punga bags filled with 20 liters of soda in hand from the store to the raion center. We would carry the bags for as long as we would, which seemed forever but in actuality was like 15 steps and then put the bags down to rest. It was so funny. Once we got to the raion center, I was able to get a cab home with all the items but then had to carry all the goods from the paved road that leads to my house, onto the dirt road that the taxis don’t drive on because it is such a bad road. Fun! It was all worth it though…sore back and all.


Inga (5th form) showing off her prize
My super cute, super yummy, heart shaped cookies
I made little goody bags for the students that participated in games we held during the dance. The goody bags were brown lunch bags that my mom sent me filled that I filled with candy, a caiet (small notebook for school), a pen and some stickers from my collection Everyone who entered the dance got a small heart shaped piece of paper with a number on it and then at different times during the dance a number was called and the winner received baked goods that I made, either a plate of cupcakes or a plate of heart shaped cookies. My host mom also helped me in popping bag upon bag full of popcorn to serve along with the pretzels.

snack table-pretzels, popcorn and candy
drinks
So the day of the dance came and I went to the gym to decorate and started pumping some 200 balloons. When school got out, I was accompanied by some of the 8th form girls who helped get the gym ready. I set up a backdrop for pictures which I craftily made out of my bed sheet and got nervous while the 4 o’clock hour came upon us. We split up the dance into 2 parts, the first dance was from 4pm-6pm and was for grades 5-8 and the second dance was from 6:30pm-9pm and was for grades 9-12. It was a long day but such a fun one. The dance was a success and we had around 180 students show up with smiles on their faces and I hope to continue the dance next year.
You are my life
They loved the backdrop

Strike a pose

Vogue

Notice my toothy smile compared to the others