This blog is for those of you who are mainly interested in the details of what’s happening on my side of the world. So here are some factual stories, some more entertaining than others:
My team is living in Ceadir-Lunga, Moldova for the month. We were placed here to help a pastor grow his church. We have done a little outreach, consisting of passing out religious pamphlets and on-the-spot bible lessons with children in the parks. Most mornings have been spent doing work outside at his home, his mother’s home, and the church. I have now helped manually de-weed and till (turn over) three gardens and helped dig yet another trench for a sewage line. In the afternoons, we attempt to teach elementary age children English. I say attempt because often kids don’t show up, and when they do, they’re just there for the candy.
The weather here reminds me of the weather back home in Kentucky for this time of year. Some days it’s very cold, with a threat of snow, and then we’ll have a couple days of really warm weather. We wake up each day having no idea what kind of temperature to expect. Even on the warmest of days, it is rather frigid in the morning and evenings. Our first weekend here, a local lady saw us walking to church, totally not dressed for cold weather. She came into the church and gave us a bag that had socks, scarves, and a few winter coats. Another lady from church stopped by the house later that same evening and brought over a bunch of winter coats. I wouldn’t have survived this month without this stuff because I did not pack for cold weather. I am rarely seen without the ugly brown scarf I was given because it keeps my neck and face warm. Just before heading to Moldova, I bought a pair of warm leggings to wear under my one pair of pants, so I have literally lived in those leggings and pants this month. Minus what I wear to church on Sunday, I have worn the same outfit nearly every day (and I’ve also slept in it). I finally broke down and let Natalie wash my pants and leggings, and when Emily noticed I wasn’t wearing “the pants,” she remarked that she knew there was something different about me. Needless to say, I think my teammates will be glad when I discard these pants that I live in.
Since we are living in the pastor’s home for the month, his wife prepares all of our meals. Most of our meals involve some form of porridge or include cabbage. While I have grown rather fond of a couple forms of the porridge, I’ll be glad if I never see or smell cabbage again. Oh, and I can’t forget the fish meals that have been served more than once. Let me start by declaring that I HATE fish – I hate the look, the smell, and definitely the taste. Early on in the month, I came into the main living space, which serves as living room, dining room, and kitchen, to find a fish being gutted and such on the table (see photo below). The following week, I was putting my shoes on in the front room only to look down and see several sets of fish eyes looking at me. There was a whole bag of fish, along with a bag of crawfish, with a few crawling around on the floor. Needless to say, both fish and crawfish were served for lunch and dinner that day. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be shocked much more by fish, one of my teammates came home this week and informed me that the pastor was bringing home a HUGE fish, enough fish to feed us for days. Lunch the next day consisted of fish soup and fish served nearly whole in a bowl. Her eye sockets (and yes, it was a female, and I’ll explain how I know that in a moment) were empty, but not to worry, an eye was found in someone’s soup bowl. We knew it was a female fish because for dinner, we were served something gray that resembled quiche. Come to find out it was fish egg “cake”, made from the eggs that were inside of the fish.
As I mentioned in my prior blog, the bathroom conditions at home are not ideal yet could be much, much worse. We have a bathtub with a hose connected to a handheld shower head, and when water builds up in the tub, you realize how dirty the water coming out of the faucet is. Water pressure varies from good to none. However, on a positive note, the water does get very hot, scolding actually. I have only used the bathing facilities in the home once, all month. For the record, I did shower at a hostel when our team visiting Odessa, Ukraine. All in all, I’m averaging a shower every two weeks. For those of you who are disturbed by this, let me just share that one of my teammates has not showered for 30 days straight. He’s working on beating a fellow racer’s stretch of not showering, which is 66 days. So when I feel less than desirable due to not showering for a couple weeks, I just remind myself that he is much filthier than I am. And may I just say, thank God for baby wipes! 🙂
I think that just about covers it. We’re leaving tomorrow morning to start our journey to Nepal. Hopefully internet will be much more easily available next month, and I can keep you all better updated.
As a last minute addition to this blog, I must share what I just witnessed. I had just finished writing this blog, and I walked into the main room, only to step right up to a fresh headless, bloody duck sitting in a bowl waiting to be de-feathered (again, see photo below). The duck scene didn’t disturb me nearly as much as the fish, yet a sight I could have done without. As I type this, I’m watching the duck being plucked; it is to be served to us for our last dinner in Moldova.
