My heart,
We’ve passed our year’s anniversary, and I’m going to gush. It’s been the fast track for us, and though we’re still learning each other, I confess: I think this is the real thing.
Your idiosyncrasies have broken me, and I re-pieced myself into you (don’t gag, it’s sincere!).
You’ve brought me beauty.
Continue reading “In Love: A Letter of Admiration to Moldova”
Every summer, former EVS volunteers make their way back to visit Comrat and the Miras Moldova gang.
This summer, returned volunteer Cosma Billiotel-Roinel came determined to continue his mission! We collaborated on a video to celebrate volunteers and Miras staff, past and present – and to show off the New Face of Comrat.
Moldova is a curious trove for the explorers. When you ride round the country, observing through curtained маршрутка (minibus) windows, you might forget your coordinates.
He picked us up directly from the bus station driving a white Lada matchbox that he referred to as his “Russian Jeep.” He hesitated, first, in front of the автостанция entrance, then hummed up, presumably when he noticed the lime green hiker’s pack. He offered a serious smile when we got in the car, then stoicism. I joked about the little red-and-black flag above the air conditioning unit: “Batman?” No, he replied; the bat silhouette was the symbol of his army unit.
It’s common here for Moldovan teachers to hold themselves high above their students.
A thoughtful Moldovan spoke to me, once, about how education practices in his country are like the bureaucratic tactics of Soviet times: ruled by distance, leaders are told to keep things calm, make their people happy, and they’d be instructed on how to do the rest. Don’t ask questions.
My head is splitting, and it’s not an ache. I’d love to reduce it to anxiety.
The questioning: we’re talking paths, perspectives, without the Universal GPS.
What I’ve begun to understand is that when I question something, I’m questioning a belief: sometimes the ethics, sometimes the usefulness of that belief. It’s hard for me, now, to think in terms of “correctness” or “rightness”: it’s a belief…
Sundry Travels 