I'm back! I arrived in Moldova late last night after 20 hours of travel. I had layovers in DC and Istanbul. My flight to Istanbul was late because the computers for Turkish Airlines in DC were down and we waited 2 hours in line for them to come up. Luckily, my flight with Turkish Airlines included slippers, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and three meals (one of those meals was on my hour long flight from Istanbul to Chisinau). I'm happy to be back in Moldova. I will start at the orphanage on Monday. Today I will help Victoria with one of her ESL classes, prepare for my research, and do homework for my International Social Work class I am taking online. I am also waiting impatiently for school loans.
The weather here is beautiful; sunny and warm with a breeze. I'm staying at a different house this time, complete with its own orchard and am enjoying homemade jams and juice. I'm excited to go back to the orphanage but I'm a little scared to see how much the children have changed. I think I will work with group 5 again (infants) but because all the children I worked with last summer are now in group 1, I'd like to spend some time in that room too. I think I will volunteer at the orphanage three days a week and spend the other two teaching ESL, doing research, and doing homework. I hope it's not as busy as it sounds. My research will be centered around interviewing families who have been affected by orphanage care. I will ask them about their perceptions and experiences with orphanages. I also want to find out more about the foster care movement which is in an infant stage here and is slow to take off. Vicotria (my host) will be acting as my translator. If all goes well, I will be able to publish a paper sometime next semester!
