It's Been a While...(все хорошо )

I did it!

Women of PBN

Driving home through fields of sunflowers, one of Moldova's main crops

Since I have written.  I guess you might say writer's block.  I mentioned in a recent post that I was doing a lot of processing. I find in these times it can be difficult to properly express oneself.  But I figured an update is due, and while I am not currently in a state of intense inspiration or ponderance (I am usually pretty hyped about something when I write on here...maybe you will notice in my tone?), I want to share.

I moved to my permanent site, Balti, on Friday after officially swearing is as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV from now on).  My new host parents were there to watch me swear-in and then we drove me back to their apartment where I began to unpack and "settle in".  We live about two blocks from my new work site in the second largest city in Moldova.  On Saturday, I took a stroll with my host mom and her sister and found that there are stores for just about anything I could need here in Balti.  I know it's NOT a village, but somehow I was still surprised with the ease I will have in buying food and other products.  (On Saturday it was hangers I was after).  It was a beautiful day.  The weather since I have been here has been remarkable.  Sunny and dry with a cool breeze.  A good sign I suppose.

Yesterday,  Monday, was my first day of "work".  I put the word work in quotes for two reasons.  One being that I don't have a "job" so to speak as I am a volunteer.  In fact, I was inspired to join the Peace Corps largely due to exercise the concept of Karma Yoga, that is, doing one's duty and not being attached to the outcome AKA, selfless service.  But this is my partner organization and I do aspire to "work" as though I were an employee and to always give them my best.  Secondly, I quote the word because on my first day, we went on a picnic :)  It just so happened that the organization had worked over the past two Saturdays doing trainings and having wrapped up their summer series of training, decided to celebrate with a picnic!  It really was perfect.  Not only was it a relaxing day of fishing, walking, and eating, but I got to know the women I will work with over the next two years and their families in a relaxed setting.  I see this as an immense blessing in that we were able to quickly build a sense of familiarity and trust all while having FUN.  Key word here...I have a feeling that this word is going to be a big theme coming up so watch out for my lessons in this.

On a walk with Anna, who will also be my Russian tutor, we began to discuss the social and economic situation in Moldova and associating that with the health and happpiness of the people here.  I have realized, as has been stated by our Country Director as well, that yes, I may be living in a city and having access to modern day ammenities and supplies, that yes, my Peace Corps experience is not roughing it in a village with no other Americans for hundreds of miles...no the challenges I face are different.  Rather than difficult physical contraints, I will be facing difficult mental constraints: thought patterns old and outdated that don't allow for growth and development and belief systems that constrain positivity and peace of mind.  Are these "mind-forged manacles" more difficult to "fix" than an issue of clean water or shelter?  

Ok, for some FUN stuff; I have two remarkable stories to share from the day: one from the ride to the picnic, and one from the ride home.  I am not sure how the subject arose, but my work partner, Elena, told me the story that one of our trainers tells the women we train in positive lifestyle skills:  фсо хорошо (fso horocho, in Russian means: All good).  The story, which I will tell in lenght another time, is about a king and his prime minister, who was always telling the king that "all is good/all if for the best" and this annoyed the king until a series of events proved the belief true.  What is Очень круто  (ochen cruta, in Russian means: very cool) abou this is that Krishna Darshan, my Yoga teacher during teacher training at the ashram, told us the the very same story and it had impacted me greatly!  I remember calling friends back home and telling the story to them.  These women I will be working with are on a similare thought-vibration as me!!!  Sometimes our blessing are just so rich.

And then, on our ride home from the picnic, I asked what time I should be to the office the next day.  They told me noon.  "Noon?  Whatever will I do with my morning?" I thought to myself.  Immediately what popped into my head was the following (and it was in Russian which is so cool...to begin thinking in your new language and all): много (manoga, in Russian means: a lot) Yoga.  "MANOGA YOGA"  Love it!  I am totally coining that and since I plan on teaching free classes here, they now have a name :)

HARI OM TAT SAT Moldova!  I feel blessed to be here and together we shall discover много.