Cristina and I went on our long awaited Chisinau adventure Saturday. She bought a cute jacket but the buckle broke before she’d had it for an hour. It is so hard to find quality dry goods here. I’ve learned to just avoid buying stuff at the piata for that reason. I’m trying to make it through the next month without buying another pair of shoes. I don’t have any fall weather shoes. I have only sandals or boots and also my Nikes which have been wonderful but which I have had to duct tape so that the plastic in the heal support doesn’t cut into my Achilles tendon. 

 

We spent most of our time at the art piata on Stefan Cel Mare. We kept circling around debating the best gifts for the people on my rather extensive list. I’ve got the most important people taken care of so I’m gonna wait till the last couple of days before buying the rest. The main expenditure I have between now and then is the masa I want to have on the 7^th of next month. I need to buy spaghetti for that next time I’m in Chisinau. There are five of us COS-ing on the same day so we are thinking about renting an apartment for the last couple of days. We will have to be in Chisinau for the 72 hrs before departure to have our final medical examinations. My plan is to get Vitalie to take me and my baggage into Chis on the 14^th. Narf! That’s less than a month away! 

 

I just sent in the SPA grant report. Now I’m free to focus on cleaning things out, giving stuff away, and saying goodbyes. I want to buy a plant for the office. It’s not like we don’t have enough already but a few have died recently and I’d like to give them something living as a reminder of me.

 

Nadea found out just last week that the office is getting another volunteer! We had not been expecting that. But, the ACSA director in Chisinau has an idea for a project and he thinks would be a good thing to collaborate with a PCV. We’ve started looking for a host family for this volunteer. Nadea put an ad on our little local TV station. I will get to meet her (the volunteer) before I leave but she won’t arrive in Causeni until November. I’m looking forward to meeting her. I hope she wants to play baseball and I can leave all the equipment with her instead of hauling it to Chisinau. 

 

Quote of the Day:

 

“With the best leaders, when the work is done the task is accomplished, the people will say, we have done this ourselves.”- Lao Tsu, China, 700 BC