Little by Little

I have another post I wrote that was supposed to come before this one but the computer Im using wont open it from my jump drive. Expect more posts soon.

After my first few days here in Moldova I am slowly starting to feel more comfortable and getting into the grove…

I can speak very basic Romanian and be understood.

I can find my way from my host family's house to the school (which is about a fifteen minute walk.)

I went into an Alimentara or shop in Chisinau and was able to purchase a bottle water and a Mars candy bar, basically a snickers sans peanuts, for a total cost of 20 lei or about 2 dollars.

I have not starved after three days of Moldovan food.

I have access to reliable electricity and an indoor bathroom (other volunteers weren't so lucky with the bathroom).

Some areas that I am still working on…

Under most circumstances I have no idea about anything anyone is saying….other than the very frequent "American".

I am for the most part watched over very closely which makes it good for my safety and transitioning but makes it difficult to be independent.

I am not thrilled by some of the foods that I have been presented with. My first night was awesome with basically Paine (bread), pui (chicken) and cheai (tea). However I was also given what resembled a crab cake for dinner last night and was not excited by the taste. and was definitely not thrilled when I was given my lunch for today and saw that it was basically a half dozen more of the little fishy tasting cakes. As a positive though I was able to tell them today what foods I liked and didn't like in Romanian so I think the food situation will only get better, plus this is the season for ciriesa (cherries) and capsuna (strawberries) and they everyone is literally begging everyone else to eat more of them. The soil here is amazingly fertile.

Internet. There is internet in the house but only one computer has access to it so it is usually being used. Which I don't mind Im trying to learn the language and adjust so I think the internet would just be a distraction but soon I plan on getting my own internet. Internet is apparently very cheap and very accessible both through the phone line with a DSL modem or with a 3g mobile card which is what I hope to buy and it will provide me with 3g internet throughout the country. Moldova has a very reliable 3g throughout the country apparently but for the most part not indoor plumbing....go figure.