There are times when I think there’s a wisdom to that one conception of telepathy – not the mind-reading, clear as day, but more on the side of premonition. You know, something’s coming. And I imagine the afternoon Danny’s school director announced her request, he had a little inkling bumming around the back of his mind, that sixth sense for potential projects. In this kind of ramshackle, seat-of-your-pants work, you learn to sniff out the blood pretty quick.
“Why the animals? They’ve got the earth and the sky – everything they need!”*
*I’ll toss in a little context to this conversation. I was talking to my host mother about finding a grant to rebuild a monument in one of Comrat’s cemeteries. While explaining that many organizations are looking to fund projects addressing specific issues, such as youth camps, civil society, and animals… she jumped on me with the above comment. Anna very much values history. In her opinion, the legacy of the locals that would be preserved through the restoration of the monuments outweighs the needs of the local strays. And I’ve seen her sneak the wandering mutts scraps from our table.
Two of the most revered sports in Gagauzia (and, from what I’ve heard, all over Moldova) are the close contact sports: wrestling and boxing. Not too long ago, I was invited to attend a boxing tournament in Cadir Lunga, another Gagauz village about 30 minutes from my home. And when I talk boxing, I don’t just mean the sport – the philosophy amongst the Comrat practitioners is that this brand is a martial art. I hitched a ride with my dear French friend, a visiting EVS volunteer and two trainers (whose boys took to the ring that day) from Comrat. Continue reading “Get Your Sports Fix”
For the past six months, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a fabulous EVS volunteer from France – Cosma Billiotel-Roinel. He came to Miras Moldova to volunteer as a cultural reporter, and is leaving as a new ambassador of Gagauzia to France! Besides assisting with the occasional translation for his reports, I was asked to collaborate with him to make a “video diary” of his time in Comrat. Continue reading “Comrat Short”
Occasionally, life in Moldova makes just about as much sense as the stories my English Club kids have come up with:
“Once upon a time… lived in small village grandmother and grandfather and grandfather say with grandmother “I love you.” Then grandfather picked potatoes, his dog began to bark, and grandfather said, “silence.” It wants to invade Poland. And then Tom Cruise came, bit the dog and sucked his blood. And Robert Downey Jr., in his Ironman costume, start to eat Tom Cruise. Grandmother said she saw this on the glass ceiling cause she was a witch. Grandfather has a dog, and this dog want to invade Poland, and grandfather put the magnet in the stomach, weapons, and Grandfather invaded Poland. And God destroyed the world”*
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, conscious of how it may be interpreted – conscious that it’s active frustration with how women are perceived in my host country. Conscious that it’s feminism.
I’m also conscious that it’s a worldwide problem, one that varies in severity and expression per culture, per ethnicity, per socio-economic status, per many other factors – but is still a human problem that must be addressed. Continue reading “Women are Weak”
Sundry Travels 