Cultural adjustments, etc.

I may be in another commercial, this time for the Peace Corps!  Two PC staff members from Washington DC were on an official tour of Moldova, visiting with selected PCVs to build a portfolio of videos and photos capturing their stories about their experiences.  The duo were Sarah and Juan Carlos of the communications department, the former a writer/reporter and the latter a graphics designer/photographer.  Their charge was to interview the group of PCVs who represented the diverse spectrum of volunteers serving throughout the world.  Other teams were going to South/Central America, and to Africa.  Sarah and Juan Carlos were visiting Moldova and Ukraine.  I was asked to participate because I’m an older, Asian-American volunteer.  The episode reminded me of the other promotional article that appeared in ActiveOver50 in which I was featured.  (Hey Larry!).

They asked to meet me at my new apartment after work, and only gave me a few hours notice.  I notified Emilia to make sure their visit to the apartment would be OK, and she assented but was concerned about the look of the place and raced through the rooms cleaning up.  Fortunately, I left work early and was able to help her with tidying up (although her home is pretty spotless to begin with).  Because the crew would be filming, and adequate lighting would be essential since it was now darker at night, we also put higher wattage bulbs in the living room (my bedroom) to ensure good illumination.  Emilia also hurried outside to the market because as the perfect hostess that she is, she insisted on serving the guests tea, cookies, small cakes, and bomboane (candies).  I tried to get her not to fuss, that the Americans wouldn’t expect anything like that.  However, this is a Moldovan custom to always serve refreshments to guests.  Emilia was so thoughtful – she got out the good tea set and chinaware.  I made sure that Sarah and Juan Carlos gave Emilia her due because she had gone to so much effort to demonstrate her hospitality.  And they were heartily pleased that they took lots of photos of the beautifully set table along with those of Emilia and me.  Needless to say, Emilia was delighted!  Now I think she thinks I’m important!

Now back to the interview…..  After tea, I was interviewed for almost two hours sitting in a stiff chair with the camera focused on me.  Juan Carlos had very heavy, professional level equipment much like TV road crews have.  Sarah barraged me with questions sitting off-camera.  I can’t say that I was particularly witty or insightful, but just gave them candid responses on the spot. 

This morning, they met me at the office early to take some short videos and photos of me with my co-workers.  Originally they had wanted to take videos around certain scenic spots around Balti which would likely be areas around the piata and main square.  However, they had changed their minds the previous night and asked if we could all come in around 8 AM for the shoot.  I really didn’t think that Olga and Dragos would be able to make it that early but after I called them, they voiced willingness to do so.  Perhaps the chance of having your photos used for Peace Corps publicity intrigued them.  The crew shot a lot of photos with the three of us around the office and outside.  Tatiana unfortunately was working in Chisinau (and has been for several weeks), and wasn’t a part of the experience.  She had however wanted to make sure that the office was tidied up and clean!

                                                                                     5 November

Anna, school mistress

I've been giving a hand to Anna who started a language school funded by an NGO as it targets people who cannot attend regular language schools because they have to work or they lack the money.  I volunteer to help her students practice English, and she in turn helps me practice my Romanian.  They're enjoyable students, and are curious about me and why I'm here in Moldova.  I've just started to teach a few of the classes on my own - using my TESOL certification at last!

Me with the intermediate English class

   

 









HR Workshop

After much anticipation and preparation, I led a 5-hour workshop on human resources management for several beneficiaries of AFA.  They had been budding entrepreneurs when AFA gave them the resources, training, and support they needed to launch their businesses along with small grants for equipment purchases from a funding foundation.  These sole proprietors have become reasonable successful, and now they employ people (from 1 to 8 were represented).  Along with managing customers, they had to likewise manage employees, which they lack some basic knowledge and tools to effectively execute.  I was there to help them!

After this training experience, however, I truly learned what attitudes and norms the locals subscribe to when dealing with meetings.  Notices were not sent out by AFA; instead calls are made to the beneficiaries to announce the training and solicit their participation.  The training is free but information was pushed out to only a small group of beneficiaries.  About 12-15 people said they would come, and I even pushed the start time back from 9 to 10 AM which would allow folks from villages adequate time to get to Balti.  (Villages are close distance-wise, but the roads are terrible and traffic can easily build up.  Nonetheless, people should still plan better when they know they need to be somewhere by a certain time.)  The overall duration of the training was from 10 AM to about 4:30 PM. 

I arrived early at the training room, and we got ourselves set up, ready to go.  One participant Svetlana showed up a little early.  As for the rest, we waited ….. waited…..  waited.  Two people came about 10:30, another man came 10 minutes later.  I finally said we would start at 10:45 because the one woman who had been waiting for almost an hour deserved to get trained!  One man arrived after 2 PM!  It is odd that Moldovans believe they can pop in at any time and feel they got trained. I know Dragos had been calling the no-shows starting around 10 and they either gave an excuse that they couldn’t make it, or they said they would be there as soon as they could get away.  Granted they were at their businesses and being the owners, they have some reluctance to leave their business exposed, so to speak.  But we do these trainings for their benefit.  If the issues they are having with their employees are of paramount importance, the knowledge and tools they would gain in the training will improve their work environment and possibly their productivity, which enhances their business.  Small business owners continue to think and operate for the short-term and not strategically. 

The other issue is a universal one – people are very tied to their cell phones.  I expressly stated that cell phones were to be turned off and if they needed to talk on the phone in an emergency situation, to take the call outside of the room.  One latecomer who wasn’t present during my instructions took a phone call and I pointed to the door when she started talking.  She left.  During class, she proceeded to text quite often, clearly not engaged with the workshop content. 

                                                                                                           8 November

REGIONAL FORUM FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

Sofia, Excutive Director of Winrock, and Tatiana, President of AFA

 

 

Participants at the Regional Forum of Young Entrepreneurs

I attended my first regional forum organized by my business partner Asociatia Femeilor de Afaceri.  They hold these events twice a year as a way to provide highlights to the sponsoring partner Winrock International of the accomplishments of AFA’s beneficiaries, the young entrepreneurs who have successfully launched their small businesses.  

We held the forum at one of the fanciest restaurants in Balti – the President.  Actually, it is more of a banquet hall where wedding receptions and other municipal affairs are held.  The place was well appointed and stately, with high-quality technical arrangements for the presentation and slideshow.  Olga and Dragos were the key staff who coordinated the logistics and other arrangements for the event.  Over 60 people attended throughout the northern region, including leaders from a couple of raion centers, the head of the city’s employment bureau, and the Director of Winrock International.  The affair was even covered by the mass media as at least 4 journalists attended and took photos and videos.  The key notes were given by various dignitaries but the main speakers were the entrepreneurs themselves – about 12 of them who talked about the importance of the training that was provided to them by AFA, the associations they made with their fellow business owners from whom they exchanged ideas, and the integration with the community along with the educational institutions in order to keep themselves sustained. 

Add caption

I'm usually by the food!

Each beneficiary who attended represented a business, and each put up an apple on the tree to signify growth and prosperity for their future. 



The most delicious array of refreshments were brought out for the attendees from Fourchette, and served by the President Restaurant's staff.  So much food was left over that AFA and Winrock took lots of doggie bags back to their offices!
                                                                                               15 November

EcoSan Waterless Toilets

Yes, the subject switches back to outhouses.  I'm thankful that I have an indoor toilet especially in the colder months.  But even indoor toilets may not be very well maintained - for example, the one at our office doesn't have a seat and requires constant cleaning.  But in the villages, conditions can be quite horrendous.  

Here’s a very worthwhile project in a rural area of Moldova.  The school site in this small village of Tintareni has sanitation problems because of decaying toilet facilities and they’re trying to raise money to replace them with an eco-style toilet.  The story is compelling and if it tugs at your heart strings (and your purse strings), please consider a donation so this school can achieve their modest goal.  You’ll be helping children reach a healthier situation allowing them to concentrate on their education.

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-261-014

Having a functioning, sanitary toilet is something we take for granted but never so in Moldova as you might guess from the above.  I saw this video about thanking your toilet, and honestly, I certainly do here in my Balti apartment, compared to the outhouse I had been using in Ciorescu.  http://now.msn.com/world-toilet-day-explained-by-singing-toilet

Salut Balti!

Today, Nov 17, I spent most of the day assisting other PCVs and community leaders training about 30 high schoolers who are launching into volunteerism in Balti.  It’s a city initiative (Salut Balti) to promote volunteering especially among young people.  Volunteerism isn’t something that’s part of the Moldovan culture – they don’t quite understand why people would help others and not get something back.  With the stream of PCVs that have flowed through Moldova, people have begun to see what volunteering can accomplish and that it has its own rewards.  Balti wants to get young people involved early so they can realize the fruits of volunteering and carry it on throughout their lives.  Not surprisingly, more girls were involved than boys but quite a few of the boys showed leadership capabilities.

This particular day was spent on team building through various games to build up trust and confidence, identifying what attributes good teams have, and what bad teams have as shortcomings.  It was a grand OD exercise in group behavior. 

The MBTI team and David

 Another session focused on the students' different personality styles - yes, they took the MBTI questionnaire, and then we went through the interpretations of their ratings with them.  Most of these teenagers were extroverts for sure, most also intuitive.  They were very engaged in uncovering what traits they had, and of course, what others had.  They learned a lot about how to deal with different personality types so that both they and others can collaborate and win. 

David and Leah (to the right), along with Matt were the key PCVs who organized the full program. 

                        23 November

 

Curious factoid:  Why do the vast majority of female names in Moldova end in “a”???  Practically all the females I’ve met have names that conform --- Tatiana, Liliana, Ina, Olga, Svetlana, Diana, Ana, Iuliana, Iulia, Viktoria, Zina, Elena, Angela, Emilia, Irina, Sofia, Valentina, Tanea (Tanya, Tania), Natasha, Nadia, Natalya, Alexandra, Tereza, Ludmila, Liuba, Magdalena, Carolina, Olesea, Aurelia, Georgeta, Viorica, Vera, Elvira, Lucia, Violeta, Cristina, Felicia, Nina (all of the local women who work at the PC office are on this list).  All names end in “a”.  From Google searches, men’s names by and large end in consonants, never in “a”.  

National Forum of Young Entrepreneurs

Nov 26-27 featured this forum with over 80 guests including some of the best of the young beneficiaries along with leaders and representatives of NGOs, funding organizations, academic institutions, national and regional agencies and ministries, and me!  I was the only American there.  They came from Cahul, Soroca, Telenesti, Hincesti, as well as Balti and Soroca.  Our Association’s contingent from the northern regions numbered about 20, the largest representation, and seemingly the most successful thus far.  We were very proud of how far our beneficiaries have progressed, and they had a voice at the meeting.  

Four of Balti region's successful entrepreneurs

The event was well arranged in the Hotel Codru’s large ballroom, lots of PowerPoint decks, few handouts (nice!), and outstanding refreshments and meals (Moldovans always have plenty of this).  The format was primarily a lot of speakers presenting their information to the sponsors, and the meeting structure was not conducive to in-depth discussions and debates.  Most of the speakers spoke Romanian but there were a handful that only spoke Russian and their slides reflected that.  I obviously could not understand any of their materials but I was able to follow along for a good part of the Romanian presentations.  I am still far away from being able to converse in the language let alone having an intelligent discussion on a business topic, but slowly there has been improvement in my understanding and speech.  

                                                                                            28 November 

Thanksgiving in Balti

Thanksgiving at Matt and David's

David and Matt frying the turkeys

About 22 PCVs and other local Moldovans feasted on turkey and the fixings on Saturday, Nov 30, to celebrate our version of Thanksgiving.  Some of us worked on the actual holiday (me!).  Two turkeys were deep fried in an outdoor pit (which might have been against the law).  Cooking had gone on for two whole days at least.  There was so much food!!  Of course, loads to drink with many home-brewed (ginger ale, cherry mead, ginger beer, host families' wines, cognac, etc.).  It was a stuffin' evening!

                                                                                         30 November

Stay tuned to the next narrative of my Moldovan adventure.....  Barbara 

Last weeks of October

THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE MINE PERSONALLY AND DO NOT REFLECT ANY POSITION OF THE US GOVERNMENT NOR THE PEACE CORPS.

Additional comments are in order on Chisinau’s Wine Festival which I had mentioned in my last blog posting.  It took place Oct 5-6, and is a prominent event for the city and the country as it features virtually all of Moldova’s wineries, about 30 present.  Many people from other European countries attend, and even delegations from other parts of the world, to explore the latest offerings in Moldovan wine-making, and to make deals.  The ordinary folks, of course, are simply there to taste the wide variety of wines, and maybe purchase some at very reasonable prices.  Some of these wineries don’t sell much of their output within Moldova, preferring to mass-market to Europe and former Soviet countries.  After all, Moldovans by and large are not exactly middle-class.  Likewise, many Moldovans make their own wines at home and can’t see spending money for another’s product. 

WINERY TOUR

As a follow-up to a private wine-tasting of Asconi wines that we had prior to the wine festival, several of us PCVs were fortunate enough to attend a private tour of Asconi winery in Puhoi which is a small town outside the city limits of Chisinau.  Andrei Sirbu is the sales manager for the winery and whose family has been in the wine business for several generations.  He was gracious enough to spend an afternoon walking us around the complex which incorporates state-of-the-art technology and processes to produce massive quantities of white and red wines with virtually foolproof quality.  Living near Napa and Sonoma where I’ve been on many a wine tour, this one of Asconi was like no other tour I’ve witnessed.  Their process is monitored for all manner of metrics through equipment spread out over the entire operation.  Asconi uses some of the most advanced technology in the Moldovan wine industry.   Their reputation is so good that other wine makers use Asconi’s equipment and processes (when capacity allows) to produce their own wines. 

Main wine storage facility and reception facility

Tanks waiting to be put into
refrigerated storage space

Filling and labeling bottles

Nothing gets wasted – the stems from the grapes are cut off and used in compost.  The ‘sludge’ from the grapes including the skins and seeds are also re-purposed.  Even the remains from the yeast fermentation are squeezed out until the last drop of wine is yielded.   

One of the storage rooms

Gas bag

Andrei explaining coolant system

Very specific kinds of yeast are introduced to the vats depending on the types of grapes.  In the crushing rooms, massive bags of nitrogen gas or carbon dioxide gas are used to gently crush the grapes – no foot-stomping here.  This method significantly slows down the oxidation process that naturally goes on when grapes are exposed to air during crushing.  These bags are very impressive as you can see.  They look light as air; how heavy could a gas be?

Our gang along with Andrei

Reception room on top floor
in rustic Moldovan style

Another impressive piece of equipment was a very expensive tester that takes a small sample of the wine and analyzes it for about 24 different readings.  This analysis can be done during any stage of the wine production, an advantage to Asconi as it can then re-align the process as needed to remedy any problems that might be diagnosed from the readings.  



All of these efficiencies have saved the winery a lot of money and time, making it a leading producer of some of Moldova's finest wines.

American oak barrel

MASTER CLASS IN COSMETOLOGY

AFA had coordinated a class for beauticians who wanted to learn additional techniques for make-up artistry.  For this particular session, an experienced cosmetician provided instructions on eye make-up.  Each student was also supposed to bring along a companion to serve as a “model” for their practice session.  Out of curiosity, I sat in for the afternoon session.  The instructor drew different shaped faces and demonstrated how to draw in the “right” shaped eyebrows for each face.  I got enlisted as a model for the instructor (probably because I have a foreign face).  The students were taking a lot of photos of me as the instructor went through excruciating detail on how to make up my eye.  Yes, the mascara was tricky because like most Asians, I have very skimpy eyelashes.  Only one eye got made up.  But I did get a photo of my two eyebrows after they had been worked on for about 20 minutes!  

CHANGING HOST FAMILIES

I have a NEW host family!!  YAY!  You probably recall I had bemoaned the fact that my host family in Balti has been absent during my 3 months here.  They appear at random when they need to use the clothes washer, or take care of small household tasks.  I had decided by early Oct that I wanted to find a different host family with whom I could converse in Romanian and socialize with during downtimes.  I had been missing a key part of the PC experience by living as a tenant rather than as a family member.

My program director finally agreed with me, and referred a previous host(ess).  Emilia is an older woman, probably in her late 50’s, a widow.  She had hosted an older couple in 2003-05 and from all accounts, she fulfilled her role very well.  Her apartment is located closer to the central plaza (less than 2 blocks from my office!) in a very nice high-rise building.  In the early days, PCVs could stay in any apartment but in recent years, PC had set a rule that no volunteer could live above the 5^th floor of an apartment building.  We were told it was implemented for safety reasons.  (Many high-rise apartments have old elevator systems from Soviet days, and they do rattle and make noise.)  Emilia’s apartment is on the 11^th floor, so her place had been ruled out for at least 5 years.  Given my situation with the current absent host family, however, I think my program director made an exception for me.  I met with Emilia last Friday, and liked her immediately.  I could even converse with her in my fragmented Romanian, and understood her speech fairly well as she spoke very clearly (not always true among the natives).  We agreed I would move in by the end of the month.  Emilia has elderly parents who live in a nearby village so she visits for 2-3 days about every other week to help attend to them.  Most likely, we’ll have a few dinners together to further bond.  I’m looking forward to really developing a friendship with a native Moldovan. 

Another great find was my new friend, Anna.  She heads a small NGO that concentrates on offering language classes to young people.  The latter are usually not enrolled in the regular high schools (lyceum) or university but they also are aware they need to learn other languages, especially English.  Anna is a young, energetic, dedicated teacher who has taught English, Romanian, and Russian, and also knows Italian and some French.  She is going to coach me on my Romanian two times a week.  And the amazing thing is that she lives in the same building as my new hostess, Emilia!  I in turn will be assisting with Anna’s English conversation class 1-2 times a week.  I met with one class last week briefly, and they seemed very intrigued about learning American English with me.  I can tell this will be a lively group.

As for my own tutoring in Romanian – alas, the tutor that I thought I would have after an initial meeting in mid-Sept has canceled on me for several weeks, apparently due to other project priorities.  However, I’ve been disillusioned with her despite that, and altogether my lack of language studies has set me back even more.  It’s been frustrating trying to find a reliable tutor.  I’m going to try another one with whom several other PCVs have used but who lives considerably farther than any others I’ve been in contact with.  These other PCVs all vouch highly for her, so I’ve got to make the sacrifice and attend her classes on a weekend morning.  I will feel like a dunce since everyone else is so much farther ahead of me!

A word on English clubs – there are quite a number of them.  Many are affiliated with an educational institution like a high school or university.  Others are operated out of an NGO who provides a facility and a volunteer leader.  They all reach out to PC to solicit native English speakers.  These students are very serious about getting more proficient in English, and their motivation inspires me to do my best for them.  In terms of my own drive to learn Romanian, it certainly doesn’t compare to theirs but then again, there is a big gap in the availability of Romanian conversation clubs!

                                                                                                        21 October

Julie is a very energetic and competent PCV based in Soroca, consulting for a business incubator organization funded by a Norwegian NGO and which has been successful with several small business enterprises.  (Note:  several other European countries have invested in Moldovan development, partly because they want Moldova to join the EU and provide a labor pool as well as an additional market, and partly to help thwart the Russians who keep eyeing the country for their own economic hooks.)  Julie’s also heavily involved in secondary projects, mostly targeting assistance for the minority Roma population which is prevalent in that city, and also young people for whom opening equal opportunities to achieve is very important for the sustenance of the country.  On this particular Saturday, Julie was leading an event for the teenagers, introducing them to the idea of a “haunted house”.  Several volunteers signed up to help her create this house, me included.  She wanted to simulate the terror and fright engendered from the movie “The Shining” for the teens’ experience.  They have never heard of people going through a “haunted house” for the “fun of it” and to subject themselves to scary actions for entertainment. 

Dismembered dollies

Talk about blood bath

Severed leg

Clown with strange appetite

Chip as Sweeney Todd

We were fortunate to have among us PCVs, someone who had actual experience in creating haunted house scenes.  Chip had spent some of his teenage years working at a haunted house, and he came up with great ideas to strike fear in the tender psyches of the unsuspecting Moldovan teens.  Of course, we put up scary effigies around the dark corridors, ghosts, sheets splattered with blood, and various actors who took on the typical roles of a dead corpse on a bench who would rise up as the onlookers approached, a hooded grim reaper, a screaming young lady whose bloody leg was dismembered, a grotesque woman screaming over a pool of blood in a bathtub, a Joker-style clown eating the guts of a dead child, and finally, the butcher himself coming towards the spectators wearing a bloody apron and wielding a bloody cleaver.  For a small-time operation like ours, the haunted house came off quite well for the attendees and they enjoyed their first experience being scared out of their wits.
                                                                                                      28 October

Moved to New Host Family

Many of you have been following my experience with Tatiana and Vlad who were my host family in Balti when I arrived.  You were aware that this couple was absent virtually the entire three months that I’ve been resident in their apartment.  Now I’ve moved out, and found a terrific replacement in Emilia.  What a stark contrast she presents! 

New bedroom

Cozy kitchen

I had a very nice welcome dinner my first night at the new apartment, and Emilia was practically waiting on me, making sure I had enough to eat and drink.  I too celebrated by bringing a bottle of wine as a gift to her, but she insisted we drink it with our meal.  We had chicken pan-fried in egg and a little flour, salad, bread, and grapes for dessert.  Emilia is a terrific cook – the next day she made a big pot of soup (zeama) using the leftover chicken meat, and filled it chock full of vegetables.  Again, it was delicious! 

Emilia's bedroom

Another view of the kitchen

Bathroom with
stand-up shower!

I decided to make dinner on Sunday as she works most of the day in her little gift shop.  I cooked spaghetti with mushroom and tomato sauce and made a salad.  Italian food is readily available here in Moldova especially their own kind of pizza and pasta, but it's hardly true Italian.  But homemade spaghetti the Jue way is much tastier, I think!  This would be quite a different dish for Emilia.  I like my sauces spicy but Moldovans aren't known for favoring spicy dishes.  However, Emilia really liked my spaghetti and even commented that it wasn't really spicy at all.  Watch out next time!  We drank her parents' home-made white wine along with the meal.  I can tell that Emilia and I will enjoy some very nice home-cooked meals together and she's up to trying more of my own recipes.  HHhhhmmm, I found out she has a spring-form baking pan -- gotta try that NY cheesecake recipe again!  Baking will be such a joy - I’ve been missing scones. 

A word about beds – in all three of my host family situations, I have slept on a convertible couch, the latest one being a grand wrap-around sofa with a pullout trundle that can sleep two people.  The other two sofa beds were just 2-3 inches longer than my height but it’s a good thing I don’t move around much when asleep.  Many of the other PCVs also have this kind of setup in their host families.  Sofa beds are versatile pieces of furniture, and with a general lack of space in many households, they bear multiple functions when beds have less utility.   I will say none of my beds have been soft, and come to think of it, my back needs another massage!  

I took in a Ducu Bertzi concert at the V. Alecsandri Theater here in Balti, courtesy of Dragos, my co-worker at AFA.  It was my first time at the theater, and it is a very classy venue.  The government subsidizes the costs so the tickets are quite affordable.  Bertzi is a very well-known Romanian folk singer, with many hit songs, and practically everyone in the audience sang along with him.  He's probably similar to a Kris Kristofferson.  Accompanying him was a virtuoso violinist - amped up, of course.  It was definitely an enthralling concert!   You can catch his music selections for yourself on this website:  http://www.last.fm/music/Ducu+Bertzi

Ducu Bertzi concert

                                                                                                      3 November

Love to all!