Adventures in Moldova - Camp GLOWTOBE Part 2

Besides sessions, we had a number of fun activities at Camp GLOWTOBE for the kids during the week. There was an obstacle course, a water balloon competition, night hikes, a talent show, tie-dying and a number of arts and crafts like painting and making friendship bracelets. There were also games like football, capture the flag and sports activities like yoga, boxing and Zumba. These were great team-building exercises and they made camp a lot of fun for all of us!

There were no toilets at the camp, but I’m a pro at using latrines by this point. Interestingly, the holes were shaped like triangles in these latrines, which was a first for me. Although it is a lot harder not to look down when the holes are so big.

Camp also provided my first taste of Moldovan food, and overall I really liked it. They served fresh bread at every meal, and we had lots of cheese and fresh stone fruits. They also made this fresh fruit compote to drink everyday which I couldn’t get enough of. The only weird thing is that it was hot, which is pretty weird to drink at noon in the middle of summer.

I even got to try Mamaliga, the National dish of Moldova. It is made of cornmeal and tasted very similar to polenta. They served it with a delicious soft cheese. Some of my other favorites were a porridge that tasted like cream of wheat, rice porridge, and whatever this was:

The last night of camp we had a candle-lighting ceremony for the Campers to say goodbye. Each camper and All-Star was given a certificate for attending camp. Here is me and PCV Christine with our Dacian campers.

After the ceremony we had a bonfire and disco celebration. Then before I knew it, the kids were leaving on a rutiera and camp was over. It was a memorable week, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it. The campers, the All-Stars and the PCVs made me feel really welcome. The camp was a great way to get introduced to Moldova.

Four cheers for Glow Tobe Camp!

Adventures in Moldova - Camp GLOWTOBE (Part 1)

Camps are some of the best parts of our service as PCVs. I had a great time at Camp Sky earlier this year in Malawi. So what better way to spend the first week of my Moldovan holiday than as a Counselor at Camp GLOWTOBE Moldova?  Each year PC Moldova puts on this co-ed camp for students aged 14-18 to teach them about leadership, gender equality and volunteering in their communities. (GLOWTOBE is an acronym, but I can’t remember what it stands for at the moment.) Here is a photo of the whole camp, wearing their GLOWTOBE sunglasses.

"Super Pumped" was sort of the unofficial theme of the camp. Everytime someone said it, Liz (one of the co-coordinators) would jump up in the air. The kids loved shouting it at random moments throughout the week!

Camp was a blast! Each team of campers had two PCV Counselors plus a Moldovan All-Star, which is a former camper that was asked to return and help facilitate the camp this year.  Each team was assigned a particular color of sunglasses too. Here is a picture of the Moldavians Team sporting their coral shades.

Unfortunately, Colii got really sick and had to leave camp the day after we arrived : (    I stayed behind at camp, and ended up filling in for another PCV that also got sick (with something different though). That’s how I ended up becoming a PCV Counselor for the Dacian Team. Here they are sporting their red sunglasses.

Throughout the week the campers attended a number of sessions on topics including career planning, developing community projects, healthy relationships and gender equality. There were guest speakers including the US Ambassador to Moldova, local youth empowerment group representatives, PC staff and Moldovan community members. The sessions were mostly conducted in Romanian so I didn’t get all the information, but I could tell by the kids reactions that they really enjoyed them.

As part of the sessions each team chose an issue that they wanted to address in their local communities, and presented it to the whole camp. The Dacians did an awareness campaign about human trafficking, which is a big problem in Moldova.

During the middle of the week the campers were split up into their teams and picked up trash in different areas of the community. I was with the group that picked up trash near the sports field. The campers had the grounds all clean in no time.

More Camp GLOWTOBE Moldova in the next post...

Summer Holiday

It's summer holiday for us PCV teachers so that means vacation! Colii and I spent a month together, visiting each other's host countries. It was such an amazing time! She loved Malawi and I loved Moldova. We took a ton of photos and have lots to say about our travels so be on the lookout for blog posts to come. I'll try to make a special trip to the Boma sometime soon so I can post my photos.

Here is a little preview-- Colii's host mom took this photo of us at her house in Moldova: