Did I mention I am learning the Harmonica...
3-9-08 16:49
Let me brainstorm a little here on my week so I don’t forget anything really important. Well… work with dried plums, letting boxing go as well as the computer. Met up with some friends in balţi, stayed at other volunteers place in neighboring village, continued to dominate farina in chess, started my new gymnastics bar routine program, looking forward to summer, finished reading not a drop to drink, recommend it, watched a few good movies also recommend them, played with the puppy, helped partner with some excel functions, tried to put myself out there to help, still not sure how I can… I guess I have some time to figure it out. Translating material for this NGO out of Canada on project design, time consuming though rewarding. Going to begin learning Russian given the amount of time I am around it, and the new computer rule, might as well use an hour a day… or try to use an hour a day for it. I am open to suggestions here… and guests.
Ok that is really all that came to my mind there, ill put it down into words now to explain it. I guess if you don’t have time to read my entry just read that little description to figure out where I am and ask me questions from there.
Well Sunday after my last entry I ended up going to this concert in my town. It was a combination traditional singing with some comedy. It cost about $1.8 to go so my expectations were not all that great. I went with Farina and Andrea the other volunteers nearby. I went in thinking I would understand nothing, given I am supposed to first understand the langague then understand their humor. It was fun. To be fair I understood most of what the comedian’s said until the punch line came because the one guy seemed to speak really fast and had a style the he would almost mumble the punch lines while speaking faster. So I would sit there hang with the story and build up of the joke then miss why it was funny and just laugh with everyone else. Two comics did skit together wehre they stood next to one another while one said something in the clear Romanian language, then his buddy would repeat it but in Moldovenesc or Moldovaski (Which is Romanian slurred and mixed with country talk and Russian to form an almost completely different language). I laughed hardily as did the rest of the audience at this because things are funny when they are true.
Monday I went into the office with the idea that I am going to work with my partners this week and they are going to let me help them. I walked in stood around a little bit without getting my computer out to start translating trying to make small talk. I asked my main partner if we could kinda set up a schedule for when he would have a seminar or something important that I could sit in on or attend so I didn’t make plans in the future. He said he had nothing going on that week but he would be gone in Chisinau 3 out of the 5 days and just to find something to do. So I hung out a little with my other partner the Russian speaking one as he played on excel for a bit. I noticed he was having some difficulty and taught him a little about how to use addition formulas and a few other basic ones. He had never learned and found the whole program confusing. He is required to use it because it had has a template he needs to fill things in and then send it into the corporate office but they did not really teach them how to use the program. I did help him a little and felt great that I could do something in the office! I also walked with him to hand deliver some paper to the president of our rayonal district’s secretary in the middle of town so we get to get out of the office and walk around and “shoot the shit” with some guys fishing next to the pond in the park.
On this walked I expressed my utter desire to be involved in the organization and that if there is anything I could do I am game. I mentioned if he had any project ideas I could advise him on writing the plan so he could get money for it. This sparked his attention so he told me about how he wants to expand his fruit trying operation he has going on at his house. When we got back to the office after about 2 minutes he just told me lets go well be back. He took me to his house and showed me what he had and then had his sun who speaks Russian like him translate his ideas about what he wanted and showed me some plans. I told him to write the plan up and we will see where we are at. I will give him a template of things he needs to have in the project design before I will help him. Because I could see he just wanted me to write it in English. He fed me some soup and nuts at his house and then drove me around the town a little bit. So a possible direction for me will be studying up on what he wants to do and how to go about showing him the best way to get the money for his fruit dryer. (I think it is feasible to do with credit, we just need to run the numbers… and understand what we are saying to each other because Romanian is neither of our first language and we are both on near equal standings with it though I think he is better then he puts on).
This was also a week of new beginnings. I have decided to end my boxing career here in the Peace Corps. I have made this decision on the combination of two issues. The first one is the time commitment that is required. I did not join come here to Box and train while volunteer on the side I came to volunteer and box on the side. But the way things are going it is about a 9 hour a week time commitment just getting there and back and the actual time I am there boxing plus during those times I have class I give it priority over traveling or doing something else maybe more productive. The second reason is that this boxing thing is dangerous. This method of learning but doing is rough. I am nearly 23 and trying to learn a new language. Getting hit in the face repeatedly and very hard I might add I think can only hinder my progress with learning. Monday I nearly had my nose broken. It hurt most of this week and the day it happened I was almost certain it was broken or at least a small fracture. This boxing has become less about learning how to box and more about just trying to beat the ever living crap out of the other guy technique be damned. I have always had a problem with boxing given the fact that I don’t’ enjoy hurting people. During sparring I find my self apologizing to my opponents after delivering a good punch or if they are in a venerable position I pull my punch and don’t hit them for fear of hurting them. Don’t get me wrong once I take a few I get enraged and hold my own with out the feeling of remorse but all the same that’s not why I am boxing, to hurt the other guy, but to learn how because I really enjoy the sport and the technique aspect not the street brawling aspect these guys participate in. So without further ado I am throwing in the towel. This will be set in stone after I have gone to practice and told the trainer and the guys my decision .. I am a tad nervous about doing, and really the biggest thing that kept me from quitting so far.
I am also thoroughly dominating farina in chess. I know I have said this but I just want to further put it out there that I am doing so and have yet to lose. I am all that is man. I am not really that arrogant and I talk about his all in good fun because it is something that I do look forward to doing almost everyday. I have also started up this random program of running every morning at 6 and jumping rope. I am going back to my gymnastic days ( from 1st grade) and working the bars. Working on pull up strength and core training as I fool around on the pull up bars. Its fun and its keeping me in shape plus keeping me centered while leaving me the whole day to go about my business.
Friday I went to work as usual but at lunch time we had a big masa with the rest of the building. They toasted and did vodka shots. I refused the vodka shots but did have a couple of small plastic cupfuls of wine so I would not seem rude. This one guy kept calling me bill Clinton and throwing out random celebrity names that he knew, was a good time.
I went and met up with some other volunteers in the 2nd biggest city in all of Moldova. It is about an hour away from me. The name of the place is Balţi (beltz if you won’t want to sound like an American when pronouncing it). That place is almost completely Russian speaking as most of the citys and large towns are. I met up with them, bought a base ball cap, ate some pizza then went off to andrew’s place to the west of me. His village borders Romania and you can literally see the river that separates Moldova from Romania kinda cool. He lives in a smaller village like what I lived in during PST. We were celebrating Female day. Its like mother’s day but for all women not just moms. Anyway there was a small party where the vodka flowed like water and everybody generally had a good time. ( I refused as much as humanly possible and for my insistence on not having a hangover and taking about one shot for every 2 of theirs I managed to wake up this morning headache free.
I also have been doing some reading. I finished not a drop to drink that my dad sent me. Good book, and recommended for anybody interested in whats going on with our natural resources and the continued evidence that America is a huge resource glutton. It also had a nice chapter on global warming and reiterated a demonstration I remember seeing in that al gore video of how Americans view the coming crisis of global warming like a frog continually heated water. He points out that if you put a frog in boiling water he jumps out immediately but if you put him in lukewarm water and gradually heat it up to boiling he will stay in there until he dies. American’s or people in general have all the signs that disaster is on the horizon if we don’t change but as long as its gradual like our glaciers melting or hurricanes becoming more intense as the years go by but the time we reach that critical point where we have unchangeable circumstance it will be to late and we will all be dead…. Great analogy, it also made me want to boycott beef though for different reasons. Good book recommended.
Also Charlie Wilsons War, funny, interesting has tom hand and Julia Roberts in it, and No Country for Old Men. Recommend both of those films. Also Eastern Promises because it points out a huge problem that eastern Europe is going through which is human trafficking.
Last but not least I am giving up the computer until after 8 at night when I am not using it for translating or other volunteer related work. It is to easy to sit and watch movies in the middle of the day during down time or to play a computer game here and there. Not as if I really had free time before with boxing and basket ball until after 8 but not that I dropped boxing I am not going to let myself fill up that time with pointless watching of movies. I intend to learn Russian, read more, or just spend that time walking around talking to people, playing with the puppy or using it to plan projects or whatever.
I find myself wrestling with this constant drive to do and accomplish something. I knew that would be the biggest challenge going into the peace corps and it really has been. I just have to keep point the first two goals of learning about another culture and lifestyle and teaching them in return what is to be an American over coming here to help people. I think the inadvertent helping of others will be my greatest reward and being content with that is the first step to a successful term here in Moldova.
I miss you all. I do miss America. Unless you have been outside it for sometime you don’t know how great it really is. I also have no problem paying taxes. I know its beurocracy and what not and ya some tax dollars get wasted but for the most part things run on time. The roads work, there are public work programs, police that do their jobs for the most part, how about the promise of starting your own company. The access to credit markets that gives you the feeling that your future is in your hands… and a long list of things I always took for granted.
Let me brainstorm a little here on my week so I don’t forget anything really important. Well… work with dried plums, letting boxing go as well as the computer. Met up with some friends in balţi, stayed at other volunteers place in neighboring village, continued to dominate farina in chess, started my new gymnastics bar routine program, looking forward to summer, finished reading not a drop to drink, recommend it, watched a few good movies also recommend them, played with the puppy, helped partner with some excel functions, tried to put myself out there to help, still not sure how I can… I guess I have some time to figure it out. Translating material for this NGO out of Canada on project design, time consuming though rewarding. Going to begin learning Russian given the amount of time I am around it, and the new computer rule, might as well use an hour a day… or try to use an hour a day for it. I am open to suggestions here… and guests.
Ok that is really all that came to my mind there, ill put it down into words now to explain it. I guess if you don’t have time to read my entry just read that little description to figure out where I am and ask me questions from there.
Well Sunday after my last entry I ended up going to this concert in my town. It was a combination traditional singing with some comedy. It cost about $1.8 to go so my expectations were not all that great. I went with Farina and Andrea the other volunteers nearby. I went in thinking I would understand nothing, given I am supposed to first understand the langague then understand their humor. It was fun. To be fair I understood most of what the comedian’s said until the punch line came because the one guy seemed to speak really fast and had a style the he would almost mumble the punch lines while speaking faster. So I would sit there hang with the story and build up of the joke then miss why it was funny and just laugh with everyone else. Two comics did skit together wehre they stood next to one another while one said something in the clear Romanian language, then his buddy would repeat it but in Moldovenesc or Moldovaski (Which is Romanian slurred and mixed with country talk and Russian to form an almost completely different language). I laughed hardily as did the rest of the audience at this because things are funny when they are true.
Monday I went into the office with the idea that I am going to work with my partners this week and they are going to let me help them. I walked in stood around a little bit without getting my computer out to start translating trying to make small talk. I asked my main partner if we could kinda set up a schedule for when he would have a seminar or something important that I could sit in on or attend so I didn’t make plans in the future. He said he had nothing going on that week but he would be gone in Chisinau 3 out of the 5 days and just to find something to do. So I hung out a little with my other partner the Russian speaking one as he played on excel for a bit. I noticed he was having some difficulty and taught him a little about how to use addition formulas and a few other basic ones. He had never learned and found the whole program confusing. He is required to use it because it had has a template he needs to fill things in and then send it into the corporate office but they did not really teach them how to use the program. I did help him a little and felt great that I could do something in the office! I also walked with him to hand deliver some paper to the president of our rayonal district’s secretary in the middle of town so we get to get out of the office and walk around and “shoot the shit” with some guys fishing next to the pond in the park.
On this walked I expressed my utter desire to be involved in the organization and that if there is anything I could do I am game. I mentioned if he had any project ideas I could advise him on writing the plan so he could get money for it. This sparked his attention so he told me about how he wants to expand his fruit trying operation he has going on at his house. When we got back to the office after about 2 minutes he just told me lets go well be back. He took me to his house and showed me what he had and then had his sun who speaks Russian like him translate his ideas about what he wanted and showed me some plans. I told him to write the plan up and we will see where we are at. I will give him a template of things he needs to have in the project design before I will help him. Because I could see he just wanted me to write it in English. He fed me some soup and nuts at his house and then drove me around the town a little bit. So a possible direction for me will be studying up on what he wants to do and how to go about showing him the best way to get the money for his fruit dryer. (I think it is feasible to do with credit, we just need to run the numbers… and understand what we are saying to each other because Romanian is neither of our first language and we are both on near equal standings with it though I think he is better then he puts on).
This was also a week of new beginnings. I have decided to end my boxing career here in the Peace Corps. I have made this decision on the combination of two issues. The first one is the time commitment that is required. I did not join come here to Box and train while volunteer on the side I came to volunteer and box on the side. But the way things are going it is about a 9 hour a week time commitment just getting there and back and the actual time I am there boxing plus during those times I have class I give it priority over traveling or doing something else maybe more productive. The second reason is that this boxing thing is dangerous. This method of learning but doing is rough. I am nearly 23 and trying to learn a new language. Getting hit in the face repeatedly and very hard I might add I think can only hinder my progress with learning. Monday I nearly had my nose broken. It hurt most of this week and the day it happened I was almost certain it was broken or at least a small fracture. This boxing has become less about learning how to box and more about just trying to beat the ever living crap out of the other guy technique be damned. I have always had a problem with boxing given the fact that I don’t’ enjoy hurting people. During sparring I find my self apologizing to my opponents after delivering a good punch or if they are in a venerable position I pull my punch and don’t hit them for fear of hurting them. Don’t get me wrong once I take a few I get enraged and hold my own with out the feeling of remorse but all the same that’s not why I am boxing, to hurt the other guy, but to learn how because I really enjoy the sport and the technique aspect not the street brawling aspect these guys participate in. So without further ado I am throwing in the towel. This will be set in stone after I have gone to practice and told the trainer and the guys my decision .. I am a tad nervous about doing, and really the biggest thing that kept me from quitting so far.
I am also thoroughly dominating farina in chess. I know I have said this but I just want to further put it out there that I am doing so and have yet to lose. I am all that is man. I am not really that arrogant and I talk about his all in good fun because it is something that I do look forward to doing almost everyday. I have also started up this random program of running every morning at 6 and jumping rope. I am going back to my gymnastic days ( from 1st grade) and working the bars. Working on pull up strength and core training as I fool around on the pull up bars. Its fun and its keeping me in shape plus keeping me centered while leaving me the whole day to go about my business.
Friday I went to work as usual but at lunch time we had a big masa with the rest of the building. They toasted and did vodka shots. I refused the vodka shots but did have a couple of small plastic cupfuls of wine so I would not seem rude. This one guy kept calling me bill Clinton and throwing out random celebrity names that he knew, was a good time.
I went and met up with some other volunteers in the 2nd biggest city in all of Moldova. It is about an hour away from me. The name of the place is Balţi (beltz if you won’t want to sound like an American when pronouncing it). That place is almost completely Russian speaking as most of the citys and large towns are. I met up with them, bought a base ball cap, ate some pizza then went off to andrew’s place to the west of me. His village borders Romania and you can literally see the river that separates Moldova from Romania kinda cool. He lives in a smaller village like what I lived in during PST. We were celebrating Female day. Its like mother’s day but for all women not just moms. Anyway there was a small party where the vodka flowed like water and everybody generally had a good time. ( I refused as much as humanly possible and for my insistence on not having a hangover and taking about one shot for every 2 of theirs I managed to wake up this morning headache free.
I also have been doing some reading. I finished not a drop to drink that my dad sent me. Good book, and recommended for anybody interested in whats going on with our natural resources and the continued evidence that America is a huge resource glutton. It also had a nice chapter on global warming and reiterated a demonstration I remember seeing in that al gore video of how Americans view the coming crisis of global warming like a frog continually heated water. He points out that if you put a frog in boiling water he jumps out immediately but if you put him in lukewarm water and gradually heat it up to boiling he will stay in there until he dies. American’s or people in general have all the signs that disaster is on the horizon if we don’t change but as long as its gradual like our glaciers melting or hurricanes becoming more intense as the years go by but the time we reach that critical point where we have unchangeable circumstance it will be to late and we will all be dead…. Great analogy, it also made me want to boycott beef though for different reasons. Good book recommended.
Also Charlie Wilsons War, funny, interesting has tom hand and Julia Roberts in it, and No Country for Old Men. Recommend both of those films. Also Eastern Promises because it points out a huge problem that eastern Europe is going through which is human trafficking.
Last but not least I am giving up the computer until after 8 at night when I am not using it for translating or other volunteer related work. It is to easy to sit and watch movies in the middle of the day during down time or to play a computer game here and there. Not as if I really had free time before with boxing and basket ball until after 8 but not that I dropped boxing I am not going to let myself fill up that time with pointless watching of movies. I intend to learn Russian, read more, or just spend that time walking around talking to people, playing with the puppy or using it to plan projects or whatever.
I find myself wrestling with this constant drive to do and accomplish something. I knew that would be the biggest challenge going into the peace corps and it really has been. I just have to keep point the first two goals of learning about another culture and lifestyle and teaching them in return what is to be an American over coming here to help people. I think the inadvertent helping of others will be my greatest reward and being content with that is the first step to a successful term here in Moldova.
I miss you all. I do miss America. Unless you have been outside it for sometime you don’t know how great it really is. I also have no problem paying taxes. I know its beurocracy and what not and ya some tax dollars get wasted but for the most part things run on time. The roads work, there are public work programs, police that do their jobs for the most part, how about the promise of starting your own company. The access to credit markets that gives you the feeling that your future is in your hands… and a long list of things I always took for granted.
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