44: Public Enemy #1

In contrast to the lovable and docile, albeit sometimes stubborn goats that sit peacefully in the pastures there are also marauding hoards of loud, exceptionally combative and forever grumpy geese whose chief goal in life is to wander around aimlessly in groups and make as much noise as possible when anyone or anything gets within a certain range of their personal space.

However...they are delicious...so I guess there's that.

45: Goats and Other Assorted Living Lawn Ornaments

Consistently one of my favorite parts of Moldova that always makes me smile is surprisingly the goats. They are everywhere...no really. Everywhere. Anywhere you go that might have even the smallest patch of grass is a good enough spot for someone to park their goat for the day.

Every morning anyone with a goat will take it for a walk to a nearby pasture and hammer down a post to keep them tied down. This isn't just true for goats but also for cows and horses as well, however goats are the most common. Although this isn't a year round occurrence as animals are usually kept at home in the winter and during the summer it becomes more common to have a shepherd take care of your sheep along with pretty much everyone else's in the village as everyone is too busy with the harvest and their gardens to take care of them. This has the added advantage of them most likely coming home pregnant in time to have a baby goat in the fall and the kid will have enough time to fatten up through the winter in order to be slaughtered in the Spring. The slaughter is all but assured since lamb or mutton is the traditional centerpiece of the Easter feast in Moldova.

Goats tend to be more common than cows and as such goats milk is more often used to make cheese and other dairy products which are a major part of the Moldovan cuisine. Although cow's milk is readily available at the market...however oddly enough it usually comes in a plastic packet and not a bottle which no one has been able to explain.

Seriously. I don't get it.

46: My Classroom

My classroom in Moldova that I taught in for most of the two years since I initially taught on the third floor of the building for a few months until we were moved to the first floor.

Some key elements to take notice of is the giant poster in the back of the class. Every single Moldovan classroom will have a poster of some sort of beautiful landscape. I would assume it gives the teacher something nice to look at while they are teaching. But for me it had a lot of practical uses and I can't begin to number the amount of times I used to illustrate a new vocabulary word we were learning that I somehow found a way to tie into that landscape.

The turkeys that set up shop outside my classroom window on Thanksgiving to not only remind me that I had to go to school but also that I wouldn't be getting any Turkey on Turkey day.

And lastly in the winter time the furnace that heats the school is right by my classroom so whenever the horse drawn cart full of coal pulls up next to the furnace the horse is perfectly positioned at the window to my class, which is always the biggest distraction you can imagine.

47: School Art

I showed these pictures in the Fall of 2011 but they are so well done I thought I should showcase them as an example of some very talented Moldovans.

48: Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy International Children's Day! Happy First Day of Summer! Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is just overrun with celebrations and I'm not sure which one I should showcase as part of my 50 days of Moldova. So instead of making a decision I'm just going to continue on the theme of Moldovan schools.


This is a picture of the hand written school schedule that sits in the main hall way. Anytime there is a change in the schedule for any classes the change is usually denoted on this schedule first before any of the teachers are alerted. So it's always best to keep a close watch on it.

I had to take the picture from an angle because the glare from a nearby window made the pictures I took from in front of it unreadable.

Essentially along the top you have the different classes and on the side you have the different days and periods. Every class and teacher in the school has a different schedule for each day of the week so anytime you need to know where someone is, it is quite easy to just check the schedule. Also it is important to note that each student has the same schedule as everyone else in their class all the way through school...so if you don't like one of your classmates or have a friend in another class you really are out of luck. But that also means that you form a much stronger bond with those 20 people that you literally have every class with from 1st grade to 12th grade.

49: Last Bell

Today was the last day of school in Moldova. Unlike America, Moldova has a set day for the start and end of school for the whole country, September 1 and May 31 respectively.

Instead of classes the school gathers in the front yard and holds and assembly just as they do for the very first day of school.

And the front entrence becomes a stage. 

After the assembly is over everyone takes lots of pictures...

Director of the school

Some of the graduating 12th graders 

My partner teacher

But most importantly everyone also gives out lots of gifts, mostly flowers but today I was surprised to find that I received quite a lot of love in the from of many thank you cards. One from each class I taught this year.

The director of the school also gave me a certificate of appreciation and some souvenirs for me to take home to America. 

Did I mention that I also gave a speech?  Completely in Romanian and in front of the whole school. Then a little while after I slow danced with a 12th grader...once again in front of the whole school. Let's hope that both of those were once in a lifetime events.

50: Hora Din Moldova

I am going to start counting down the last 50 days until I leave Moldova and as I count down the days I am going to share some of the things that I have come to love the most about Moldova.

For today, the piece of Moldova I want to share is the hora, Moldova's national dance. This video was released as Moldova's submission for Eurovision 2009 and while it is not the typical song that is used to dance the hora it is quite catchy and has a great music video that really showcases Moldovan culture, and of course there is even a few examples of the hora as well. Poftim!