Teaching about American Christmas

Out of the 5 American holidays i decided to teach about this school year, Christmas was the 3rd/5 (I already taught about Halloween and Thanksgiving, and next will teach about Valentine's Day and American Easter).

In the beginning of the lesson i did a comparison with the kids about the similarities and differences between Moldovan and American Christmas traditions. I handed out a worksheet with 20 sentences and together we read through the list and wrote an "M" if it was Moldovan, "A" for American, and "MA" for both.

Here's the list:

1) Christmas is celebrated to honor the birth of Christ. "MA"

2) Christmas is celebrated on two dates: December 25 and January 7. "M"

(Due to strict Soviet restrictions of celebrating religious holidays, Soviet countries started secretly celebrating Christmas on January 7. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, January 7 (aka "Old" or "2nd" Christmas) is still recognized as Christmas, especially to the older generations who lived through the old Soviet times. December 25 is aka "New" or "1st" Christmas. Not all Moldovans celebrate both Christmases - it's usually one or the other.)

3) Santa leaves gifts under the Christmas tree. "MA"

4) Santa gets into the house to deliver presents by going down the chimney. "A"

5) People fast from animal products for 6 weeks before Christmas. "M"

(Not all Moldovans fast before Christmas, only the very religiously devout usually.)

6) Christmas is only celebrated on December 25, but Christmas Eve (December 24) is a special night of feasting and opening of a gift for some families. "A"

7) The Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts through December 31. "A"

8) Christmas carols are sung door to door, mostly by children who receive candy and money from the homeowners. "M"

("Colindă" or "Christmas Caroling" happens at least 4 separate days - 1st New Year's Eve (Dec 31), Old Christmas (Jan 7), Old New Year's Eve (Jan 13), and Old New Year's (Jan 14). It reminds me a lot of Trick-or-Treating in The States because kids dress up in masks and robes, go door-to-door, and instead of saying "Trick-or-Treat!" the sing traditional Moldovan Christmas carols and receive candy and money in their sacks.)

9) Children write letters to Santa Claus. "MA"

10) People go to church. "MA"

11) The Christmas season usually starts on December 31 with the decorating of the Christmas tree ("bradul Crăciun") and lasts until January 15 (the day after "Old" New Year's). "M"

12) Christmas carols are sung door-to-door, mostly by adults, who do not receive candy or money - they just do it to spread Christmas joy. "A"

13) Mulled wine and champagne are popular during the Christmas season. "MA"

14) Another name for Santa Claus is "Ded Moroz". "M"

(Apparently this is more of a Russian thing, it means "Father Winter".)

15) The Christmas tree is decorated usually in early December. "A"

16) Popular foods at Christmastime are eggnog, peppermint, chocolate, cookies, candy canes, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and gingerbread. "A"

(In Moldova, especially after fasting from animal products for 6 weeks, it is common for Moldovans to kill and eat a pig at Christmas, breaking the fast.)

17) If the children are naughty, they get coal in their stockings. "A"

18) On St. Nicholas' Day (Dec 6 or Dec 19, depending on the locality), children leave clean shoes or boots at the door or window to get small gifts from Santa Claus. "M"

(Moldovans are extremely strict about clean shoes.)

19) The Christmas tree is usually decorated on December 31, the night that Santa Claus leaves small gifts underneath it for children to find on the morning of January 1st. "M"

(It is common for children to sleep next to the bradul Crăciun to try to see Santa leaving their gifts.)

20) The children leave milk and cookies near the Christmas tree for Santa. "A"

After i taught them about the traditions of an American Christmas, i had them trace and cut out their hands on green paper that i made into a Christmas tree (my 9th grade class is missing because they didn't come to class that day, so the tree is smaller than i had hoped). Then i gave them pre-cut round ornaments to decorate, to decorate the tree with. 

The drawings i added around the tree (including the star at the top) were from the review game i made „Calea Curcubeului: Crăciun ediție” (The Way of the Rainbow: Christmas edition).

Halloween Party at School

This year I started a health club with one of my teaching partners and about 15 7th and 8th graders. For their 1st project i asked them if they wanted to organize a Halloween party for the school, and they responded with an immediate "DA!" (YES). Now, this may not seem like a health related topic, but i assure you it is. The great thing about teaching the subject of "health" is that pretty much everything falls under it, because we not only teach about physical health (nutrition, exercise, diseases, puberty, hygiene, etc.), but we also teach about mental and social health as well...which opens up the door to pretty much everything. :o]

They only had about 1 month to prepare, and this is what they came up with (I was pretty impressed).

This is my favorite jack-o-lantern...i love how they turned the top upside down!

I'm not quite sure what the red blotch is supposed to be on this poster...blood?...from what, i don't know, but the rest of it is cute. ;o]

I love these accordion paper pumpkins they created!

The party, like all other school events, took place in the hallway.

This was a donation box they made for future projects. They received over 60 MDL (about $3), which they were very excited about!

They did face painting at the entrance to the hallway. They really did a great job at face painting!

Apparently Moldova doesn't have actual face paint or costume makeup, so they literally paint actual paint on their faces (including lips).

Final results:

My favorite part was their costumes. They reminded me of when i was a kid, when we had to get creative making our own costumes...before those Halloween mega stores were around, which pretty much sell super cheap, overly slutty costumes. It was nice to see some creativity.

Here's Julia, the Vice President of the club, explaining the agenda of the party.

So, at every event i've been to at my school, musical chairs ALWAYS happens. When we were preparing for this party, i tried to switch it up a bit and offer more Halloween-specific ideas, like the mummy wrap, which they said they were going to do, and they even bought the toilet paper to do it...but, alas, the power of musical chairs took over. 

They had other activities planned as well...but the only one that actually happened, was musical chairs. Then everyone just wanted the ubiquitous dance party...happens every time. They're so serious about dance here, about a dozen girls even busted out a choreographed dance...it was like straight out of a movie that suddenly bursts out in song and dance...but for realz...it was a bit surreal.

Here's our club. Not everyone is there, but these are the more dedicated members. I'm on the left, if you couldn't tell from my "costume" ;op (yes, they painted my lips black too). I wore a sweatshirt with the symbol that's on the Moldovan flag and told everyone i was Moldovan for Halloween. They liked it.

Happy Mother's Day from the other side of the world!!

Happy Mother's Day from Malawi and Moldova!

Being a PCV required leaving behind our family, friends and basic modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and electricity. It takes a daily commitment to be here, doing what we hope is meaningful work for the people of Malawi and Moldova. But it takes more than that-- it takes our Moms!

To my Amayi (Mom), all the way from Malawi:

Mom, it's not our first Mother's Day apart, but there has never been quite so many miles between us on this day. I wish I was there to give you flowers and cook you breakfast and watch a Lifetime movie with you, and go to Kohls and get a latte and take a walk around the lake, and just basically spend the whole day trying to let you know how much you mean to me. I admire you so much for your strength, your faith, your generosity and your goodness. I am really blessed to have you for my Mom. You have always loved me and supported me no matter what, and it has meant so much to me to know you are always there. I'm an adult, but I will always need my Mom!

Thank you for all your letters and care packages and phone calls too. Without you, it would be a lot harder to be here, maybe impossible. Thank you for taking care of things for me while I am away, and for your support and love as I go through this crazy adventure called Peace Corps. I couldn't do this without you! Whatever good I do here is made possible with your help. Ndathokoza kwambiri! I love you!

To Mama mea (my mom), all the way from Moldova:

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!! 

I know you know i love you, but you could never know how much. God wholly blessed me by giving you to me to be my mom! I thank Jesus for you EVERYDAY. Thank you for being the BEST mom i could ever have! Thank you for ALWAYS being there for me, unconditionally. Thank you for your continual support, even with my sometimes perplexing, often crazy life decisions. I know i can rely on you for honest, yet gentle advice. And although i don't always heed your advice, i know i have your support and love no matter what, and that is worth everything! 

Iubesc și dor de tine foarte mult (I love and miss you so much) and can't wait to celebrate Mother's Day 2017 WITH you!! :oD ...or maybe even 2016 if you're in Moldova with ME :o]

I hope you have a day FULL of overflowing love (after sleeping in as late as you want, of course), accompanied by your favorite flowers (lalele - tulips), dark chocolate gooeyness (brownies with chocolate chips and walnuts), dinner at your favorite restaurant (The Cheescake Factory), and (a) gift card(s) to your favorite shopping destination(s) (Macy's & TJ Maxx), that you deserve (Are you getting my hints Phil and Dad??)! 

Know that my thoughts and prayers are always with you! 

LOVE your favorite kid...i mean, daughter ;op, cole

P.S. PPPLLLLEEEEEEZZZZ give the mudg-girlz overflowing LOVE from her Mama! :o] And thank you for taking care of her while i'm away!!

Mama-G gave me her 1st bloomed Iris of the season, so i'm celebrating you with it! Every time i look at  it on my windowsill i think of you!

Aren't we cute? :o] I had such a fun time with you in China and am so looking forward to your trip to Moldova next year!!