The good life

It’s quite a lovely day in this small, tucked away corner of Europe. The sun is shining, the roosters are cockadoodle-dooing, and the kids are merrily playing outside. For the past week it’s been brutally hot, but for the last two days we’ve been getting afternoon storms that have cooled things off a considerable amount. I know that I’ve been slacking with the blog, but instead of weekly posts I will be switching to bimonthly posts.

Last week the new group of volunteers to Moldova arrived, all sixty-nine of them. Ten mentors, myself included, and several people from PC staff anxiously waited for their arrival at the small, janky airport in Chisinau. We were all very excited for the new arrivals, and it was great being able to have a change of perspective and see what we all looked like coming in country only one short year ago. As a joke all, or at least most, of the male volunteers grew mustaches under the pretense that it was for community integration into small villages. Shortly after the newbies arrived you could hear a mummer of “They all have mustaches…” and then finally we started yielding their questions as to why. Most were quite mystified and one guy actually started panicking and saying “I mean I think I could grow a goatee, but I just don’t know about a mustache. Would that work?”

After several days in the capital we packed everyone onto their respective buses and sent them on their way. I remained in Chisinau to prepare a presentation on Social Networking and Communication for Pre Service Training and after nearly a week of being away from home I finally made it back yesterday. It’s really quite odd, but when I’m away from my village for an extended stretch of time I always experience a twinge of anxiety. It only lasts for several hours, and I usually wake up the next morning after a good night’s sleep in my own bed feeling relaxed and at peace. It’s good to be home though, and I’m glad to have saved my potted plants from the brink of dehydration. I have to keep them inside because my landlord told me that they would get stolen if I left them outdoors. I told him the world is more similar than we probably believe.

Right now I’m working on finishing up a grant for a compost demonstration plot I think I have mentioned before. Getting the information from this guy has been harder than getting a kid to take a bath, and I have come to appreciate the American “Let’s get shit done” business mentality. Other than that I am trying to start a kids summer camp that will focus on agriculture, environmental awareness, and volunteerism. The youth of Moldova also fall into the global trend away from the agriculture sector, and it is vital for the sustainability of the country that the youth be taught the importance of modern agricultural practices. Also, after all the environmental degradation that occurred from Soviet policies, they could usea good dose of environmental awareness education. Ideally, I would like to have presentations and interactive workshops teaching the kids about animal husbandry, greenhouses, beekeeping, composting, irrigation, alternative methods and fuels, recycling, tree grafting, and species varities. To finish up the camp I am going to try and get the Primaria (mayor’s office) or the Școala to designate an area that we can help clean up, paint a classroom, etc, to inspire the idea of volunteering in the community (which is nonexistent concept here). If all goes well and the kids have fun, I think it would be really cool to run with the idea and start to start a monthly volunteer club and work on various service projects within the village. If this is going to happen before school starts I’m going to have to kick into high gear, spread the word, get everyone in the community onboard, find volunteers and experts, and fundraise all before I go back to America for ten days in August for my sister’s wedding. Doamne ferește- oh my God.

If you have been following my blog, or at least have read multiple posts, I’m sure you can tell that I really like it here. Life has a slow element that focuses on interpersonal connections, and even though I am still adjusting to the business peculiarities, it has forced me to understand not only my role within my community, but also my role as a human being. I love working with people on a grassroots level, and the constant challenge keeps me stimulated and motivated to continue to work throughout developing countries. I am starting to realize all the possibilities that Peace Corps is opening up for me, and for the first time in my life I have found a passion and a dedication that I didn’t know existed within me. A year ago if you would have told me that I would be thinking about dedicating my life towards international development within developing nations I probably would not have believe you. I had it all planned out that I would graduate from college, go into the Peace Corps for two years, go to law school, start a career, get married, start a family, then thirty-five, forty years later retire. Believe me, there is nothing wrong with that and I’m sure I could be perfectly happy with that lifestyle, but I think I will take a couple detours along the way now and see if I can’t see more of the world. Lately I’ve been thinking about the possibility of extending my Peace Corps service in Moldova, or going into an Environmental Conservation/AgriBusiness program to either The Gambia, Morocco, Tanzania, Mali, Malawi, Madagascar, the Phillipines, Vanuatu, Niger, Benin, Zambia, or Miconesia. It’s pretty cool that I get to basically pick and choose the country (if they will have me) after serving an initial two-year stint in Moldova. The front-runners would definitely have to be Morocoo, Zambia, The Gambia, and Vanuatu. I’ve got about seven or eight months to make my decision so if you, or anyone you know has served, worked, or been to any of those twelve countries PLEASE drop me an email at ncolli2@gmail.com. I am going to pick cherries and work in the gradina. O zi buna!