Kusamba in a Bucket

Here in Malawi I bathe (kusamba) by taking bucket baths. I heat the water then pour it into a large plastic basin. I use a plastic cup with a handle to pour the water over me. Add a bar of soap, a washcloth and a towel, and I'm all set. (Thanks for the soap, Mom. I love it!)

I bathe in the bafa, an outdoor structure made of mud bricks. There are little windows to let light in, and a drain to carry away used water.

I have to bathe when it is still light out because I wouldn't be able to see anything otherwise. Also, bugs. Although I did take a few bucket baths by lantern light during homestay, which was kind of nice. Except for the mosquito bites.

While I do miss showers, I don't mind bucket baths. On a hot day it is very refreshing. And it uses very little water. Plus, it is part of the Peace Corps Volunteer experience!

Wildlife DOES exist in Moldova!!

I've been in Moldova now for almost 4 months, and up until a couple days ago, had yet to see any wildlife...well, wild mammals, at least (i saw a beautiful bright green lizard, and, of course, birds). But, after i hitched a ride home the other day (one of the main modes of transportation, and other than walking 7 km into my village, it's the only way into my village from the bus stop outside of my village) & was dropped off, I saw a dead rat in the road...and today, lo & behold, I saw an actual squirrel in a tree! I was so happy! Even though i was running a little late for my meeting with my new partner teacher, i had to stop to take pictures for proof (cuz some of my fellow PCVs probably won't believe me).

Sorry they're not the best quality, but hey, it's a frkn squirrel in Moldova... for realz!! 

So, here's a recap of the wildlife i've witnessed so far in Moldova: 1 huge bee-like creature, 1 bright green lizard, 1 critter in my ceiling that i know is gonna fall on me while i'm sleeping one night...which i'm sure will make for a great story to post...1 dead rat in the road (i regret not taking a picture for more proof of wildlife), & 1 squirrel in a tree! ...as well as birds, of course, and way too many stray dogs and cats.

Splish Splash

I woke up to a splashing sound this morning. I went into the living room to investigate and found this little guy:

I had left a little water in the bucket last night, and I guess he wanted to take a bath too.

Photo taken after I emptied all the water out of the bucket and tipped it sideways so he could escape. Because I am nice like that.

other PC Sister's finally in the hiz-ouse! ;op

YAY! I finally made it to our blog!!! ;op

Well...as you all have probably guessed by now, i made it thru 10 weeks of PST and have officially been a PCV now since August 13! I moved to my permanent site the same day after emotional goodbye's to my fellow English-speaking PCVs. I had 2 weeks to settle in and meet with my 2 partner teachers to plan lesson plans before starting teaching...IN ROMANIAN...on 1 Septembrie! 

I live in a small village near Soroca, a "raion" (similar to a small city) on the Nistru River, which is the border between Ukraine and Moldova! I love the area, especially Soroca itself! It's sooooooooo beautiful!!!

   (Ukraine on the left, Moldova on the right)

Mama-G (Mama gazdă = host mom) is great! It's just her and me that share the casă mică (small house) together. Her husband died a few years ago and her 2 sons are married with kids and live on their own. 

My "room" is more of a closet and has a door that doesn't shut all the way and half of it is opaque/semi-see-thru glass, but since it's just her and me, it doesn't bother me and the closet is actually quite cozy :o]  Her bed is in the kitchen, so at least i have a door...even if it doesn't completely shut. And hey, at least I have a mirror! I hadn't seen myself in about 3 months! 

(ya, that's Mama-G's sons picture hanging on the wall above my bed)

(Negru)

She has a dog named Negru (probably around 5ish years old) and 2 sister/brother puppies (not Negru's). I named the puppies (Mama-G doesn't know) Rachela (the "ch" in Romanian sounds like a "k") & Nicolae cuz they remind me of my cousins Jez (who was "Rachel" as a kid) and Nick when they were kids. Rachela is bigger than Nicolae (Jez is older than Nick) and kind of a bully, but Nicolae just takes it and just keeps following along. Nicolae is super sweet and loves to be loved and held and cuddled, whereas Rachela wants to be loved, but you hafta earn it. Their relationship is just like Jez's and Nick's when they were kids...it's pretty funny!

(don't be decieved by Rachelă's puppy-dog eyes...she's a brat...cute, yes, and with that comes brat! ;o]

(Nicolae :o] )

But enough dog talk (for now)...

So i started teaching with my partner teachers the 1st week of Septembrie. I'm teaching health ed to middle-schoolers (here middle school is 5th - 9th grades)...IN ROMANIAN! it's been 3 weeks completed now and i'm likin' it! 

(from left to right: Natlaia [one of my partner teachers], me, Maria [the dance teacher])

1 Septembrie = "1st Bell" = 1st day of school -- more of a formal ceremony! All the kids come to school dressed up super fancy...like fancy lacey dresses and 3 pc suits! The mayor is there, a priest is there, speeches are given (including mine about myself in broken Romanian), music is played...i had no idea! After all that, the elevii (students) give teachers and staff flowers! So sweet! :o]

(I found a broken vase in my class to put my flower in ;o] )

(my partners and i have our own sănătate [health] classroom...which is quite a luxury within the healthie [health ed educators] community!!)

Our school only has about 215 students - down from the 800+ it used to have! One of my partners told me a lot of people have moved away for work in other countries, which has been a big problem in Moldova, in general. 

Overall, it's been a lot of fun and adventure getting to know Moldova and Moldovans so far! 

...more to come!!

There's a toad in my bafa

This morning when I went into the bafa (outdoor bathing area) I saw this little guy waiting for me. Ah, it's good to be in Malawi...

Just looked up the word for frog in Chichewa. Frog is "chule". Although I guess this might be a toad? For toad, my dictionary says "chule wa ku mtunda koma amaberekera m'madzi" which translates to something like "frog from higher ground but born in water". Chichewa is awesome.

**UPDATE**

I checked with the lovely and intelligent Brandy, who is wise in the ways of Herpitology, and she said that it is "surely a toad, probably the African common toad, not endangered, and abundant in Africa." Thanks, Brandy!

Back to Sukulu

School (sukulu) started on Monday, September 8th in Malawi. The first week of school here is a bit different than the first week in an American school though.

The school system here consists of Primary Schools and Secondary Schools. Primary Schools go from Standard 1-8, which is the equivalent of Grades 1-8 in the U.S.  Secondary Schools go from Forms 1-4, which is the equivalent of Grades 9-12. In order to progress to Form 1, a Standard 8 student must pass an exam at the end of year. In order to progress to Form 3, a Form 2 student must pass the Junior Certificate Examination (JCE). These exams are taken in July.

So there we were, first week of school, and there were no Form 1 nor Form 3 students at school. Why? Because they had not received their results yet, so they didn't know if they had passed to the next grade. Apparently this is typical, so it is expected that there are no classes for those grades the first 1-2 weeks of the term every year. Thus losing those weeks of valuable instruction.

For Form 2 and 4, which will be taking certificate exams at the end of this school year, there were classes the first week. However, things weren't quite running at full speed.  Only about half the students showed up the first day. There was a lot of school cleaning going on, and end of term examinations were returned to the students. Some class periods did not have instruction as the teacher time tables with subject allocations were still being finalized. Then we had a staff meeting that first Friday in the middle of the day. I'm not sure if the students went home early or what.

Since I am teaching Form 1 Physical Science and Form 3 Biology, I had no classes that first week. So what is a Form 1 & 3 teacher to do? Plenty! I reviewed my course syllabi and prepared my Scheme of Record, which is my teaching plan for the term. This is required for all subjects. Then I started working on my first lesson plans.

So that was my first week of school. On Friday, September 12th the certificate examination results were released, so Form 1 and 3 classes were ready to start the following Monday. Stay tuned for a separate post about my first week of teaching.

Find the Buluzi

I had no idea lizards (abuluzi) were so active. They crawl all over the walls, and when I enter the room they freeze in the funniest positions. They appear active during the day as well as the night. For little guys, they make a lot of noise. But it's okay because they are my buddies now.

Can you spot the buluzi?