Here’s my debrief of the site visit to Baltsi……
Baltsi is considerably smaller than Chisinau even though
it’s the second largest city in Moldova (not counting Tiraspol in Transnistra,
a region next to Ukraine, which had declared itself autonomous from
Moldova). With about 145,000 people it
feels like a big town although I admittedly only spent 2 days there and focused
on a segment of the central portion of Baltsi.
My new world will be concentrated there as I live in a comfortable
apartment with a few more amenities than what I had in Ciorescu (secure
wifi). To get to my work place is about
a 10-minute walk through tree-lined streets, and we face a large park with lots
of trees and park benches as well as amusement rides for children (I’m talking
about a very large ferris wheel among them).
Within several blocks around me are a piatsa (open market with produce
as well as shoes, clothes, and sundries), restaurants, confectionaries, bakeries,
alimentaras, university, gelato shop, the primarie (mayor’s office), and other
municipal buildings. What’s also
fantastic about the area is that 4 other Peace Corps volunteers will be living
close to me – our own klatch of support for each other.
About 30% of the population speak Russian and many signs are
written in the Cyrillic script only so it will be difficult for me to
understand them. A good number of people
speak Ukrainian as well. My work mates
will speak Romanian to me as it is spoken in the office but they switch around
when dealing with clients and other collaborators. I figure I might have to get a basic course
in Russian just to maneuver my way around but that will be much later on. Romanian is hard enough for me to learn right
now.
My work partners are fabulous people – we hit it off very
well in the short time we were together.
Olga is a consultant and project assistant and Tatiana is the director
of Asociatsie Femeilor de Afaciera mun. Baltsi.
This organization is committed to advancing entrepreneurial development
among young people and women in the community.
They partner with several international development NGO’s to improve
opportunities for these population segments, especially those among them who
are unemployed but who have tangible skills.
AFA has successfully trained over 1500 young people in business
education and entrepreneurship. Working
with grant funds from NGO’s, AFA has helped 130 young people start their own
small businesses (from a hair styling salon, to an auto repair shop, to a clothing
store). Additionally, AFA formed women’s
clubs for economic, political, and social purposes. They are sponsored by women business leaders
in the community. Various events are
planned such as forums, roundtables, and conferences. I believe I can be of assistance in people
development, team organization, training, and motivational tools. Tatiana, Olga, and I discussed AFA’s mission
and strategic plan, and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the work at hand
when I start fully in August. Needless
to say, I’m thrilled to be a part of AFA and Peace Corps!!
Changing sites means changing host families. Transitioning from the Cataroga family in
Ciorescu with their country-style home and huge garden to a 12-story apartment
building in the center of Baltsi will be a leap. A definite contrast between a more simple
country lifestyle where most of our food was grown in the garden vs a
faster-pace, urban lifestyle that’s apparent in my new host family, a
two-income couple. They also have
another house in Baltsi that my host mother’s mother had owned and on which
they are making repairs. My new host
family is very busy and therefore are much more hands-off and will leave me
more freedom to see to my own needs (I can use their kitchen, buy my own food,
etc., - I missed cooking the dishes I like!).
The couple doesn’t speak English and I’ll be forced to practice my
Romanian as much as I can…. a very good thing!
Traveling to Baltsi meant taking my first rutiera ride, an
experience all volunteers must go through to get that local flavor. A rutiera is similar to a maxivan, probably
seats around 16-18 people. However, a
rutiera from Chisinau to Baltsi isn’t necessarily an express. The rutiera only leaves when it is full, and
passengers who want to go to destinations in between the two cities can get
on. Thus, the rutiera that I took made
about 12 different stops often in small villages along the way, dropping off
passengers but sometimes taking on new ones if they want to go further down the
road to the next town or the one after that. They’re paying a fare, and the
driver will not refuse a fare. A few
passengers didn’t get seats and had to stand in very tight spaces with no
headroom. Our rutiera driver was a very
careful driver, slowing down when encountering uneven pavement or potholes, so
he didn’t match up to some of the stories I had heard about such drivers. All this inconvenience is taken in stride,
and people get to where they want to go.
The whole trip took about two hours (Baltsi is about 135 km from Chisinau). Only afterwards
did I learn that there are actually express rutieras between the two cities but
you have to catch them outside of the main bus station. My next journey will be a non-stop one.
That’s the gist of my trip in summary form. I didn’t take photos of Baltsi from this trip
and will leave that to my actual move when I have more time to browse through other
parts of the city in August. You’ll be
getting greater details at a later date.
10
July
We’ve just finished week 5 of Pre-Service Training and my
world has expanded beyond words. My
Romanian has improved steadily and I can string together words into coherent
sentences that more people can understand.
We’ve covered the grammar essentials, and memorized scores of verbs that
are conjugated by arcane rules. We just
have to persevere ….. and continue to get tutoring on the side (as many PCVs
do). I might even get some tutoring in
basic Russian since that language is also very prominent in Baltsi. I’ve noticed something weird as I try to
recall certain phrases in Romanian – the Chinese phrase pops into my head! I haven’t used these Chinese phrases in
scores of years, but I must be extracting them out of the part of the brain
that stores language. How strange…..
The brood of hens in the back of my host family’s house has
hatched about a dozen chicks. They’re
doing very well, eating up a storm. A couple
of baby ducklings were included into the mix (I think they were from a neighbor
who couldn’t keep them) and they’re getting along fine with the chicks.
 |
| Eggs on a conveyor belt |
 |
| At the beer brewery |
On the 5th, we went on a field trip around
Ciorescu to take in a couple of local businesses. One was a beer brewery and the other was an
egg-laying production company. The
brewery is very modern with state-of-the-art equipment all computerized. We toured the immaculate facility and were
very impressed with the operation which employs some local people. Of course, we also tasted some of the
products and gave them a thumbs up! The
egg factory was also very modern and on a gigantic scale. There were 50,000 hens each laying a single
egg a day. Feed for the hens are
deposited along a conveyor belt, and the eggs are also collected via another
conveyor belt. The hens’ quarters were
cramped but we didn’t see any damaged chickens.
All in all, both of these companies are trying to bring more commerce to
Moldova and create jobs, something badly needed in the country.
13 July
About the dogs in Moldova ….
Or in Ciorescu which is the place I’ve spent the most time in. Let me just say there are a lot of dogs, dogs
of all shapes and sizes. Many are owned
and pretty much stay on their premises because they’re generally chained up,
and I rarely see them running around freely.
They seem to be largely guard dogs because when you walk by their
property, the dog will start barking wildly, raising a ruckus. They’re indeed handy to alert for any
strangers coming nearby. The chained dogs
look in good shape so they’re probably fed well and treated OK even if they
remain confined to a small space. The
other type of dog is the one out on the streets, and they number quite a few. They don’t appear to have owners but who
knows? When you walk down any street in
the neighborhood, they appear. Some
don’t look threatening but others will start barking at you like they might
attack. I’ve seen some with an injured
leg or even one missing. They have a
tough life. What’s really a pain though
is when a lot of dogs start barking altogether in the middle of the night, and
that happens a lot. People complain
about the noise but it doesn’t stop.
Luckily I wear ear plugs to sleep!
Ciorescu has both a village feel and that of a small
town. Very few roads are paved, most
having dirt and rocks as roadways. It’s
a bedroom suburb about 20 kilometers from the capital Chisinau so many of its
residents commute into the city. Changes
have been going on in the village – housing construction is widely evident, and
the new houses are nearly like McMansions as I’ve seen in the US. First of all, practically every house has a
wall or fence around the entire property – it seems that’s what goes up first. Maybe the citizens of the former Soviet
republic want to make sure their real estate has distinctive borders
(signifying that property which was wholly owned by the State now belongs to
the individuals living there). Many of
the gates that lead into the properties are ornate and elegant.
The houses themselves are architecturally diverse, many with
a western look. Inside the houses
interiors can also vary widely. While
the real estate may have some modern features, virtually every property has a
garden with a myriad of crops growing.
These gardens feed the households throughout the year which is why it is
essential to have adequate rainfall during the growing season. Construction may not finish on the houses for
years as people earn what they can spend on it, or remittances from relatives
working in other countries are transmitted back to fund the improvements. These are very much long-term projects.
I’ve been here now for about two months and already I’ve had
two separate incidents requiring some medical attention. Nothing serious but the Medical Office(MO) in
Peace Corps is super efficient based on my experience and others who have used
their services. About a month into
service, a fragment broke off from one of my molars. I notified the MO and immediately they
arranged for me to see a local dentist in Chisinau to have it repaired. Whenever you are provided services, a driver
from PC will pick you up and take you to your appointment always accompanied by
a staff member from the MO. I had my
tooth repaired in about 20 minutes, and was returned to Ciorescu. The tooth has been fine ever since.
The other incident had to do with my upper back and shoulder
on my left side. For weeks I’ve had a
burning painful sensation lodged there.
I believe the cause stemmed from several sources – working out at the
gym (before I left for Moldova), hunching my shoulders when I work on my
computer (like I’m doing now), and poor ergonomic positioning as I’m doing
language homework (since I’ve been in Moldova).
Plus, going to and from school carrying a backpack laden with language
books and water bottles and such wasn’t helping my neck and shoulders one
bit. I finally decided to hunt down a
good massage therapist to knead my tight, tense muscles but who to go to? Of course, I’ll ask some PC people if they
could recommend someone in Chisinau.
Well, word got to the MO that I was seeking out a massage therapist, and
they advised that it was better if they gave me some treatment. There’s some risk going to a massage
therapist who may do something that could injure the spine and the MO preferred
to send me to a physical therapist. I
also got meds for muscle relaxants and ointments. I went on the regimen and saw the physical
therapist four times in consecutive days.
Again, each time I was driven to and from my location to a clinic in
Chisinau where the treatment was performed.
Using ultrasound and connectors lodged onto my skin around the affected
area, I was given mild jolts which sent vibrations to my muscles causing slight
spasms. Then I had a steroid ointment
rubbed into the area. I was not given
any exercises to do as you’d might get in the US. Nevertheless, my symptoms are greatly
improved and I’m trying my best not to have them return. This is my first and only experience with
physical therapy and it was in Moldova.
The Medical Office is extremely attentive to the PC volunteers and I
can’t thank them enough!
18 July
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE MINE PERSONALLY AND DO NOT
REFLECT ANY POSITION OF THE US GOVERNMENT NOR THE PEACE CORPS.
Awesome to hear about your adventures! I can't wait until you move to Baltsi.
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