Wednesday I FINALLY got to go to the field with my mom!!!!! Woohoo! I’ve missed working outside so much. I really don’t think I could bear having a desk job. We didn’t get a very early start, left the house about 10 o’clock. We drove out to the vineyard and ate an early lunch there. My mom had made plachenta (cheese or potato stuffed bread) which I love. Then we waited. It turned out we didn’t have anything to pack the grapes in so there was no point in starting to pick them. We left the men to walk down to our part of the vineyard and we drove off in search of the woman who owns the adjoining piece of vineyard. She also happens to be the mother of Sophie, one of my English students. Sophie had taken the day off from school and we had fun taking pictures with my camera. After that we took naps until the truck arrived from Chisinau bearing lots of old banana boxes. It was probably about one o’clock by the time we got started. Picking grapes is very easy. I had a pair of short bladed scissors which worked really well. You just walk up and down the rows looking under the leaves for the dark blue velvety looking bunches. Really the only problem is when the whole bunch has wrapped its self around the vine and grown horizontal. Then you have to cut and pry and I lost a lot of grapes that way. At first I thought all the grapes were going to go towards my mom’s homemade wine. But instead, only a relatively small amount was kept for the purpose and the rest were packed into the banana boxes for shipment to Ukraine. So, on a very small scale I got to be involved with the export of Moldovan grapes. This was not a good grape year. From what I could understand this year produced much less than half of what would have been produced in a normal year. It frosted too late in the spring. However, we did have a good summer and consequently what grapes are left are very sweet.
Jeff, our country director came to visit on Thrusday. He stopped by the house and I gave him a tour which I will never, reveal to my mom. She would be horrified to learn that anybody saw the house in such a wreck. We went to eat at the little pizza place near Nadea’s apartment. We’d never really talked before so it was nice to get to know him a little. We also visited the office where Nadea spoke quite well in English and Jeff used a little Romanian which impressed her. I told him he’d have to come back and visit our old church. He gave me a ride back into Chisinau. We talked about movies and how trainees should watch, “The God’s Must Be Crazy” as part of their cross culture experience preparation. For one thing it’s not an especially well known movie for Generation Y.
When we got to the PC I was informed that the Team Building Day had been postponed because it was supposed to rain the next day. I didn’t want to turn right around and get on a ruitiera for Causeni. Besides, there was already a bed reserved for me at the Turist. I did some looking up of info about pork and poultry production in the States. My co-workers are doing some seminars and Nadea asked if I would give a brief overview of what small time pork production is like in the US. I found quite a bit of info but I think I need to do a search for organic farms because most ordinary farms are too large to have any real relevance to the sort of farmers with whom we will be speaking.
When we got to the Turist no one was behind the desk. The receptionist and three security guards were all crowded around a TV in a corner of the room. Finally the receptionist tore herself away long enough to let us check in. As we were registering she went back to the TV. Then I heard what sounded like some very familiar music. I darted over to the TV and sure enough, it was LOST.:)
We went to the restaurant across the street from the Turist. I had chicken and everybody else had pizza. We were all pretty sleepy but stuck to our plan of going to the store and buying a ridiculous amount of sweets to eat during our Rummy game.
Relying on Larson’s knowledge of German brands I bought some of the best dark chocolate I’ve ever had with the enticing slogan “Square, Practical, Good.” We played Rummy until past two in the morning. I was trying to teach Larson how to play but we were pretty horrible at it. We slept in late into the morning only to be awakened by the maid knocking on our door to see if we were leaving yet.
Whenever I go back to Danceni I wonder why I stayed away so long. I got there I love it because they treat me like a member of their family. I feel much the same way I felt coming home from college after a month or so away. They are happy to see me and interested in what I have to say. But, life doesn’t stop. I played video games with Ion, helped Iulia cook lunch and just laid on a bed and read. By the time Aneta (host mom) got home Iulia and I were snuggled into the bed that was mine this time last year. Aneta came in and called me, “Rachecutsa” taking an unwieldy English name and giving it a diminutive Romanian form. She told me that when she got home the other night Ion told her I called and said, “Rachel speaks so well in Romanian!” She told me about the Football camp she’s been working at. It turns out she told Ion to tell me to come another weekend when she would actually be home to talk to me. But Ion begged her to let me come so he would have someone to play with. So, I didn’t get to see much of Aneta. However, when host dad got home he told me they are going to make shashlick to celebrate her birthday next weekend. Of course I told him, “If there is going to be shashlick I will be there!”
I only vaguely remember celebrating Aneta’s birthday last year. I couldn’t figure out what to give her, I remember that. We’d only been in country 2 weeks. I’ll be here for her b-day next year as well. I hope that by that time I can give a wonderfully horrifically long Moldovan toast. Right now I only feel comfortable saying the acceptable but not original, “Happy Birthday! Many years and much wealth!”
Even Vierca the dog made me feel like I’d come home. Vierca is a little feisty dog who had just bitten a neighbor when I was there in the spring. She was jumping on me with excitement as soon as she saw me. She has five new puppies not even two weeks old. Ion and I climbed into the low rooms under the house to see them Saturday morning.
I got back to Causeni Saturday evening where my mom was hard at work trimming the grapevines that grow over the driveway. Yesterday I helped both Mihiela and Olea with their English assignments. They are supposed to rework a traditional fairy tale into something different. Mihiela’s story of the Wolf and the Goats ends with the nanny goat shooting the wolf from her balcony with a machine gun. Olea was wanted to do the story of the 3 little pigs so I suggested the version I read where the poor wolf just wants to borrow some sugar to bake a cake for his grandmother. I’m looking forward to seeing them today and finding out how their classmates liked their stories.
Quote of the day:
"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems with just potatoes."- Douglas Adams
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intimidated
apathetic