Well a few minutes ago I decided I should write a blog. I grabbed my converter, laptop and charger and sat down to update all of you. Two seconds after plugging in my computer the screen goes black and nothing will turn on even though it’s plugged in. *Enter mini freak out mode!* After a few frantic moments of plugging and unplugging we discovered the converter got zapped by a power surge but not my actual computer. PHEW! Luckily I brought another converter that is also an adaptor. This is the one I will use from now on…every single time! So after hugging my computer for a few seconds; here I am now writing to all of you. J
The work we are doing here in Tiraspol honestly is really hard and tiring. Every morning we wake up at seven, eat breakfast and set out on our two mile walk to teach english class. After four hours of teaching we walk the two mile walk back to our living area to eat lunch. Starting at two p.m. we put on our dirty clothes, truck outside, grab our shovels and hoes and get to work. The past few days we have been digging out certain areas of the land as well as transporting dirt to a new location via wheelbarrow…they want to level the ground to put in a basketball court for future youth. This isn’t just any old dirt either. It is ROCK hard! For real, I mean rock hard. Today there were literally drops of sweat pouring down my face into my eyes blinding me. I don’t know if I have ever sweat like that in my life. We all joke that the five slices of bread we eat each day get canceled out by our demanding physical labor. (and who knows, maybe it does!) We do construction until five, eat and from there we either decide to relax for the evening or make another two mile hike into town to get wifi. (Let’s face it, most nights I skip wifi and lay in my bed rubbing my sore muscles!) The days are long, but I honestly love it. There is so much satisfaction in being able to see the physical progress you are making towards a final project.
Teaching english really is fun. We have two different classes in the morning that last about two hours each. The earlier class has adults and the second class is children. I never thought it would be hard, but it really is. It’s confusing to know where to start with them when english isn’t their first language. Translating everything to make sense and figuring out how to be effective is much, much harder than you would think. For example, after I taught them something I asked “Does this make sense?” They all just stared at me with a blank face. After about five minutes I realized they just didn’t know what the term “make sense?” meant. So when I rephrased it to “Do you understand?” They all smiled and nodded their heads. Then other times you go over something and they stare at you with no expression on their faces so you continue to go over the same thing again and again. “The frog is green.” “This is a green frog.” The frog is the color green.” And after desperately babbling about the green frog for five minutes they stop you and say; “Yes, we understand. We all understand.” What they really mean is ‘Good gosh girl, WE GET IT! The frog is green! Move on!” Oh the joys of language barriers J
Although I am super tired every day I absolutely love it here in Moldova. I love being in the city where there are always people out. I love that we walk everywhere. It’s really refreshing to be forced to exercise…it’s also fun to people watch on your way to work. As well as pass the Moldovan ‘troops’ every morning on your way in. Most of the ones we pass are young and are in training. I’m pretty sure they are supposed to keep a straight face but once they see the seven American girls with their weird backpacks and awkwardly large sunglasses they bust out into ear to ear grins. The work is hard and the days are long but my heart feels so right here. The Lord is definitely teaching me the value of hard work. Sometimes the best way to serve the Lord is to physically serve others. Move the dirt and shovel in the hot sun so that they don’t have to. Free up more of their time so they can be helping in areas they are needed most. I had an extremely emotional moment with one of the girls in English class that I will blog about in a few days. It was set up perfectly by God and blew my mind away.
I love Moldova and can’t wait to see even more what God will teach m
