In early October, 2018, I helped to pick an acre of corn plus a few roles of alfalfa on a Saturday morning. My host family had a tractor cut down the stalks so we didn’t have to walk through the stalks and weeds; a lot easier than it was last year. It always feels good … More Picking Corn 2018
I met some new animal friends and enjoyed the start of the colors of fall, the pinks, oranges, and golds. I tried a new type of date and discussed dates and figs with Tatiana. She is the curator of the local museum and the mother of my PC work partner, Liliana.
On Saturday August 25, I visited one of the most amazing places in Moldova, Eco-Village Moldova. It is a sustainable living and community space. The buildings were created using local materials and the inside walls were painted with mineral paint. Straw was tested against reeds for construction; reeds won as they don’t compress as quickly. … More Visit to Eco-Village
August 16th marked one year in my village. I have learned so much and have come to love living in a village. I appreciate even more the beauty of nature, the cycle of life and death, living in the moment and enjoying everyday meals with friends and family. I very grateful for my M32 cohorts … More One Year of Service
At the beginning of August, people in the village were harvesting more items for the winter. For my host family, it was beans. The bean plants grow between the rows of corn. I helped collect the plants in one of their fields below their house. The plants are left to dry out and then are beat … More Harvesting Beans
Tudora’s peach festival was on Sunday July 15th and I was honored to be a part of the team to help organize it. During the festival, I was part of the group that welcomed people to the festival and handed out peach scarfs and peach compote. It was really fun to great all the tourist … More Hai La Piersici! Peach Festival 2018
My birthday celebrations continued as several other volunteers and I visited several wineries in my raion (District/County) the weekend after my birthday. Moldova has some of the best wine in the world and we visited two of the best, Pucari and Et Cetera. We stopped by an Italian Pizza resturant (L’angolo Italinano pizza) for probably … More Stefan Voda Wine Tour
I celebrated my birthday in May and had many wonderful celebrations with my host family, friends, co-workers and the children at the center. I had a wonderful few weeks and felt very much appreciated. The first celebration was on my birthday and my host mom and I prepared a meal for her family and my … More Celebrating My Birthday in Moldova
In April, I made pizza with the students in my youth club. They are expert dough makers but had never made pizza. It turned out great. I also go them to try red pepper flakes, which was not to their liking right now. Then in May, we made chocolate cupcakes and a chocolate cake. Cakes … More Making Pizza and Cupcakes
More Green!! The potatoes, grapes, onions, garlic and beets have turned the brown to green in the gardens. The cherry trees have fruit and peaches are starting to grow. Bright yellow squash flowers are showing up and tomato plants now have stick tripods to grow on. Baby turkeys arrived, nine and counting.
