My Week Alone

       I have a couple of events to report on. Two tuesdays ago, the other volunteers and I were sitting at home after work drinking tea when Vika asked us if we'd like a healer to come to the apartment that night to give us massages. We were a bit shocked by the suddenness but said we would like that. Valeru had told us about this healer before. He said he is the best in Moldova. That night, at 8, Valeru, his wife and two kids, and the healer, with an assistant, arrived. First, Valeru got worked on in the living room while we stayed in the kitchen. After an hour it was my turn. I walked into the living room and the healer started asking me questions while Valeru's wife translated. He asked me if I had had a problem sense I was born. I said yes. He asked if it was my spine. I said no. He asked if it was my hips. I said yes. Then he asked me to disrobe except for my underwear and bra, and to lay on a blanket on the floor, face up. His massage was more about acupressure than actual massage. He was very interested in my history and told me I should've come to see him years ago. He told me to stop drinking cola and to change my diet. I asked him how I should change my diet and he didn't really tell me. He also told me to take calcium pills. However, I had just gone to the doctor before I had come to Moldova and he had said that my calcium was a bit high and I will need to run some more tests when I get home to see why. I told this to the healer and he said it didn't make sense. He worked on my neck for a bit and then told me my circulation problems have been fixed. I haven't been as cold as I normally am, but it's been 80 degrees here and I've been mostly sweating. He told me two more things that I have a lot of contention with.

     First, he told me not to drink anything half an hour before eating and at least an hour after. This is a commonly held belief here. Drinking with your meal dilutes the acids in your stomach and makes things harder to digest. This is something that I personally do not believe. In fact, it goes against my intuition, along with information a gastroenterologist once told me. Because of my stomach issues, drinking water with meals actually helps me digest. It breaks down the food before it gets to my tummy. I did some research online too and Mayo clinic says the only way you could dilute your stomach acid is to drink a lot of water.  

    Second, he told me not to carry things. Vika asked if it would be okay if I carried babies. He said I could hold them but I couldn't carry them. This is something I am completely ignoring. I have really good upper body strength and am not worried about carrying around babies. That is the whole reason I am here. I did enjoy my visit with the healer. He said I should see him again. It only cost $20 for an hour massage, so it was definitely worth it.

     On Saturday night, after one of the volunteers had left to go back to England, the other volunteer and I went to the Moldcell Purple Festival, in the park by our apartment. Moldcell is the cell phone company here and they were having a huge 15th anniversary party. The street in front of Parliament was blocked off and a huge stage was built. We wandered over around 8. We had to pass through a makeshift gate where Police Officers stood with metal detectors, checking bags. Once inside, we got as close to the stage as possible to listen. The singer was singing Lady Gaga 'Bad Romance'. She wasn't very good but it was very entertaining. We had looked online to see who was performing and saw that Oceana was their main performer. We had never heard of her. We listened to some other performers for a little longer and then went to get a drink. Then we headed back toward the stage. About 20 minutes later, after a guy from Istanbul who sang in English and issued directions to the crowd like 'let's start a wave' which no one understood, Oceana came on. We both really liked her. She sings in English and her top hit is 'Cry Cry'. She is from Germany originally. I really liked her music and downloaded some of her songs. It was a really fun festival but it started to get really crowded so we headed home. We were a little disappointed because the website said there would be special effects that had never been seen in Moldova before. All we saw was the Parliament building lit in a purple light. However, later that night we heard fireworks going off and assumed that had been what the website was talking about.

     This week has been a bit lonely without my friends but I've managed to keep busy. On Sunday, after dropping the last volunteer off at the airport, I hit up a second hand market. I bought 6 shirts for around $15. Monday I didn't go to the orphanage because it was a holiday and Vika asked me to go with her to her mom's house and then to a picnic. Her mom lives in Transdniestria, an area of Moldova bordering Ukraine that considers itself a separate country from Moldova. They have their own President, Police Force, Currency, etc. They just aren't recognized by the rest of the world. I had to bring my passport and we had to go through customs (I didn't get a stamp in my passport though). It reminded me a bit of the DMV, a kind of no-man's land. Once through the check point, we went to Vika's mom's house. Vika's mom was very nice. She didn't speak any English and when Vika wanted to run to see her cousin and told her mom to entertain me, I asked to see pictures of Vika as a baby. She was very sweet, and gave me some wine to take home to my mom.

     After lunch with Vika's mom, Vika, her boyfriend, three of their friends, and I went on a picnic. We were on the bluffs high above the river Neistre. We had fresh veggies and bbqed meat. It was very delicious. We were there for 6 hours. It was a little hard because everyone spoke Romanian and Russian the whole time. I did engage a couple of people in conversations and we played a card game, but it was long. We didn't get home until 11. I was exhausted.

      The next day, Tuesday, I worked in the Orphanage all day. I had missed the babies and gave them lots of kisses and hugs. I found out today that the baby I call Baby John is going home. His grandma was coming to get him. I was very happy for him, although I will miss him. Also, Cristian, one of the twins, is back. Yesterday, I asked one of the caretakers where he was because he has been gone for three weeks. She said bonav, and since I didn't know what that meant, I wrote it down and asked Valeru's wife (Victoria). She told me it meant sick, so I assumed it meant he was in the hospital. However, when I came in today, he was back. I was very excited to see him. 

      Across from the orphanage is a military compound and last week a bunch of the guys from the military compound were at the orphanage doing some construction outside. It looked like they were building a set of stairs that led nowhere. We were very interested to see what the finished product would be. Perhaps a cool playhouse or a set of swings. Then, when we arrived last Friday we were shocked at what we saw. A life-sized replica of Jesus on the Cross, complete with blood and cuts. It was not what any of us expected, especially at a government run orphanage. A lot of the rooms have pictures of Mary with Jesus, but this thing was huge. It had spotlights shining up on it. I'll put a picture of it on facebook. It was very shocking.

     Wed and Thurs I only worked until 12 at the orphanage because I had told Valeru's wife that I would help her in her English classes. It was a lot of fun teaching, I forgot how much I liked it. On wed, I taught two intermediate classes, and on thurs there was a beginner class and an intermediate class. One of the classes was a group of 14 year old boys and they were a lot of fun. They asked me lots of questions about America. Each class was an hour, although I usually went over. I mainly played games and talked to everyone. I really enjoyed myself.

    Valeru's family is so nice and I really enjoyed spending time with them. They cooked me lunch and dinner and I ate a lot.

    Tomorrow I'm going to go shopping for sandals. I only brought one pair of shoes along and am really kicking myself for not bringing my comfy sandals. There is also an American Film Festival that might still be going on, so I thought I would check that out. On Sunday, three volunteers are coming and I'm excited to meet them.

 Check out my pics on facebook.