Doamna profesoara, va rog!

My partner teacher was out all week last week due to illness and I think it is a nice break sometimes when I get to teach bymyself....but sometimes it can be difficult. So on Wednesday last week, I was sitting at my desk getting stuff ready for class during the 10 minute break in between classes and one of my 11th form students comes up to me asking me for my permission to miss class. It's my experience here that if a student asks a teacher to miss class, for whatever reason and gets approval, they will not be marked as absent. No "a" will be written in the catalog for that day, they just won't receive a grade for that day....and here in Moldova, not every student recieves a grade everday. So she asks me if she can be absent and I ask her why. Sometimes if students say they are feeling sick or need to go home for whatever reason, my partner teacher will let them go.....so I figured I would give this a try. I would still put an "a" in the catalog but I wanted to hear her excuse/reason.

She then told me her reason was because she needed to go to the piaţa (outdoor market) to buy some shoes. I was kind of in shock, talk about being truthful...I mean, she could have said she was feeling sick and I would have never known she went to buy shoes so I will give her props for her honesty. I then ask her why she cannot buy the shoes on the weekend and she said that she goes to another village on the weekends to be with her mom and they do not have a piaţa. I tell her no, that she cannot miss class but then she puts her hands together like she is praying and begs me, saying, "Doamna profesoara, va rog!!" (Please teacher!) She continues to beg and I finally say to her in Romanian, "if buying shoes is more important to you than your education, go!" She left the classroom. A few minutes later the bell rang and she returned. I was really proud ....because maybe my words meant something or made an impression on her. I totally expected it to backfire and for her to skip class...but she didn't.

I later heard her talking to her friend saying that she could just go during geography class....so my victory was short lived....but at least she stayed for English. :)

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I've been to 19 cities in 17 countries

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China: Xinzhuang

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Ireland: Dublin

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Spain: Madrid

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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

Pics

                                                                My first little snowflake

Some more snowflakes

My host sister Valeria on the steps of the house

Walking to school

Me walking back from the store during break

The hill down

English Club girls outside of school

                                              The finished product of my snowflake tutorial

Celebrating 6 months in Moldova-dinner at Tulip, a Thai restaurant 12.10.12



Winter Wonderland

Winter is here in Moldova….well, technically winter starts on Tuesday but it started to snow here on December 1st. How appropriate is that? Rewind back to the 1st...I woke up for breakfast at 7am and went to the kitchen, which is under the house (think basement) so I have to walk outside of the house to get to it…anyways…it was cold so I hurried in the warm kitchen to eat my oatmeal with raisins and tea and then when I left to go back in the house and it  had started to snow! It was so pretty. It was only a little bit snow, but I don’t think I had ever had snow fall from the sky and land on me. I usually have just seen it on the ground already after it fell. Make sense? Needless to say, I was excited! I ran in to get my camera and took a pic of my first snowflake. This also shocked me too…because I could make out the shape of the snowflake…like the ones you cut out of paper as a kid.


So I have obviously never lived in snow before…I have visited Lake Tahoe before and seen the snow, and maybe stayed in cabin for the weekend…but never lived in the snow. It is so beautiful….but cold. Everything looks like a Christmas card out here…the big open fields, covered in a thick blanket of sparkling white snow. And then when I see the horse carts/sleighs on the streets and it’s perfect!

I made snowflakes with my English Club kids and taught them a wide vocabulary of Christmas words, which was fun because when I worked at an elementary school back in CA we weren’t allowed to talk about Christmas….so I’m happy I can talk all I want about Christmas here in Moldova. We even watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer but I’m not sure how much they understood because I wasn’t able to find Romanian subtitles and just had English ones.

I finally got my pair of Sorel boots that I ordered online and had sent home to me in CA. (Thanks Stacy for sending them to me!) They are really nice and warm and prefect for the snow. I haven’t broke down and bought a pair of leather boot like a true Moldoveanca. I just don’t see how walking in the snow in leather boots, usually with heels, makes sense. Knowing me, I probably would fall down and break my arm if I was wearing those type of boots…so I will have to deal with not being “frumos” (beautiful). Plus…I’m not a big fan of leather…and don’t see a need in buying animal skin products.

So anyways, there is a huge hill that I have to climb to make it to work but it only takes about 8 minutes to get there…but it’s pretty steep. I put on all these layers every morning and bundle up to make my snowy trek to school and by the time I get there, I am hot. I get to school and take off the majority of my layers off because I’m sweating now and then just get cold later. It’s a funny game that my body likes to play with me, and all I can hear is Katie Perry playing in my head…”cause you’re hot then you’re cold…”

So, so far, so good. I have only fell once, knock on wood. Of course it was coming down the steep hill home after school. I’m not sure who saw me, but I quickly got up and pretended like nothing happened. I have heard from other volunteers that have fallen and by the time they get home, their host family has already heard about their spill….because word spreads quick in a village. I wasn’t wearing my Yak Trax either…so I probably deserved it. Peace Corps gives us these cool little things to put over our shoes that provide traction on ice and snow but when I leave school, there really isn’t a place for me to sit down and put these things on so I figure I’ll be okay without them…until I fall. Then, if it is warmer one day out than the previous, the snow starts to melt and then it will just freeze over the next cold day and that makes for ice, which is not a clumsy gal’s friend. It’s cute though because the kids at school play on the ice and run and slide on it during their breakds from class while I try to avoid it at all costs.

They tell me it will get colder in January, which I can’t even fathom right now because it’s pretty damn cold to me know. If it stayed like this…I think I could handle it…but we shall see what January has in store for me. All I know is that there is one week left of school before winter break and I'm not sure who's more excited....me or the kids? Liz and I leave for Turkey on the 28th and will be back on Jan. 5th just in time to celebrate orthodox Christmas here on the 7th. My host mom told me that she wants to celebrate the 25th of December as well, since I am living with them, which I thought was really nice of her. So Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas to all my loved ones,

Love, Neet

One month teaching in Moldova!.

October is here and the 1st marked my first month teaching English here in Moldova which was followed by Teacher's Day on October 5th. On the Friday before Teacher's Day as I arrived to school, there was a bunch of students standing on the steps and they applauded as I walked into school. They then gave me a certificate on behalf of the 12th grade students and a little thank you speech in English. It was soo cute and unexpected. (They did it for all the teacher's that day when they arrived to school, not just me.) Later, my partner teacher told me how we were going to pick a student who would teach all our classes on Tuesday because on Teacher's Day, the teachers don't have to do a thing. Wow! After a few minutes thinking about our best students....we picked a girl in the 10th form (grade) to teach the classes. On Monday, we gave her the lesson plans and explained to her what she had to do and wished her luck!

On Monday night, I got a text from my partner teacher (Tatiana) saying that she wasn't going to come to school until 1pm so we could plan for Wednesday's classes.....I later learned that a lot of teachers don't even bother coming to school that day. I got up on Tuesday and as I was getting ready for school  my host sister gave me flowers and a box of chocolates. Very cool! I decided to text Tatiana and ask her what to do since she wouldn't be in class....do I just sit in the back of class and watch the student we chose teach the lessons...or what? Luckily she texted me back because she said that I should just sit in the teacher's lounge with all of the other teachers. If I hadn't got her text, I would have just gone to class and sat there and I'm sure all of the kids would have wondered what was wrong with me. So I get to school, go to the teacher's lounge and there is a nice little spread with coffee/tea set up, cookies, chocolate and fruit. Students would enter throughout the day to give their teacher's flowers and some of my students came in and presented me with flowers and kisses on the cheeks. I enjoyed some tea since it was quite chilly and later decided to run to the market down the road to buy a phone card. On the way....I saw a group of teachers who apparently did their shopping and were heading to their houses. It was soo strange to me that they didn't have to show up at school if they didn't want to. Oh well....I'm glad I was there to get my flowers. :)

On October 7th I held a meeting after school to see if kids were interested in joining an English Club at school. I made a little sign up sheet and brought with me some stickers and Chic-o-sticks to give to the students who showed up (not a bribe at all! Ha!). Two of my 5th grade students showed up 30 minutes early! Lol....I guess they were really excited about joining the club. I had a good turn out...the youngest girl was in the 2nd grade and the oldest was in the 11th grade. The 2nd grader's mother asked me how much the club would cost, and I explained to her that it would be free because I am a volunteer and am not allowed to take any money for my services. 

I was hoping there would be more students from the lower grades and older grades so I could split them up and do a club with the younger kids on Tuesdays and one with the older kids on Thursdays.....but we only had around 15 students so it looks as thought we are going to stick to one group. I asked the students what they wanted to get out of this club and told them what I wanted to teach them. I want to show a movie once a month, in English with Romanian subtitles (fingers crossed that I can download them), teach them about holidays and traditions in America, play games with them, like Uno or Phase 10, and teach them English of course! I just want them to have fun and have an interest in learning English....after all, the student who come to the club would do so on their own free will, not because they have to like class. 

During the week...I got a lot of students who heard about the club through friends who wanted to join. I am only teaching 8 classes so I there a lot of students who I don't teach who want a little piece of the Americanca. Our first "official" meeting