Apreciere profesorii (Teacher Appreciation)

Since this is the last year the 9th graders will be at this school (because this school is only for primary and middle school, and 9th grade here is the last year of middle school), they put on a whole production for the teachers at the school, who they've basically grown up with. I was so impressed by everything they did! It was at the school in one of the hallways. They used students' desks and chairs. It was 3 hours long. They had food (pretty good...they even had dovleac [pumpkin] placinte!!), ceai (tea), and vin (wine)...even the tort (cake) was pretty good (most of the cake i've had here hasn't been great)! 

They sang and danced a lot!

They played jokes on the teachers ;op

Everyone danced the horă many many many many times...it was the 1st time i've seen the horă...basically they dance in a cirlce over and over and over and over and over.

They played a game of dancing with their teachers on a piece of newspaper only...pretty funny!

Here they're trying to pop each others' balloons while still dancing with their teacher partners.

Overall, it was a fun evening! Again, i'm just super impressed by how much effort went into it! 

my work peeps miss me!! 😍

Feels good to be loved! I love you all too and miss you!!! ;o]

Miss Ritz!!! XOXOXO 
...side note: am i being flipped off?? ;op

Dr. Hamilton and Cin :o]

Cin & Cindy...miss you both!!!

I've always loved your style Ritz ;o]  Hey Glo! :oD

...and there it is...my throne!!! i REALLY miss my chair...my sanity...my love...sigh...i haven't seen even 1 single rocking chair in Moldova! i've been having serious rocking chair withdrawals! Is there tx for that?? And hey Frances! Sorry i kept missing you before i left! i'm curious to know what you missed giving me?? Please keep my chair in good working order! I know i can entrust you with that mission!! LUVU!!

I'm even starting to miss the food! Give my portion to Gail...she's lookn too skinny!! I love and miss you all dearly!!! 

o floare frumoasă din eleva mea

One of my 6th graders, Nicoleta, gave me this beautiful rose! It smells as good as it looks! 

facem placinte cu nepoata gazdă mea

This is my host neice, Rada. We're making placinte (Moldovan pastries) together ;o]

elevi harnici (hard-working students)

I'm really enjoying teaching health ed to my middle-schoolers! I try to have a lot of activities for them to do because i really want them to have fun while learning! 

The 1st week of school i did an overview class called, „Ce este sănătate?” ("What is health"). I taught „Triughiul de sănătate” (Triangle of Health) which includes the 3 aspects of health: fizică, mintală, și socială (physical, mental, and social). For their activity i cut up posters into puzzle pieces which were color-coded: blue = mental health, yellow = physical health, red = social health. Then i had them draw examples of the different aspects of health, depending on what color they received. Then, once the puzzles were put together, it makes the Moldovan flag - at least via colors and stripes. Then i hung them up in our sănătate classroom so the students can be proud of their work, and so they know i take their work seriously and am happy to display it! As you can see, not all the students showed up for all the classes that we did this activity for, hence the blank pieces. But the students gather by the posters now before class to show off their artwork to their classmates...pretty cute :o]

This is my 9th grade class. During the topic of „Exercițiu fizice” (Physical Exercise), i divided the class into groups and had them lead the rest of the class in exercises the next week. It was fun! Of course, it didn't go as long as i'd hoped, so my partner teacher had us play games for the rest of the time...we played one that reminded me of "Duck, Duck, Goose" but a more teenage version, which was a lot of fun. We also played "Red Rover" which was funny.

"salsa" making

this "salsa" stuff (i don't know the Moldovan name) is so good! as you can see, i did almost all of the grinding of the vegetables and fruits...which probably took about an hour! the palm of my hand hurt the next day! so worth it though...i eat it on everything: eggs, potatos, soups, bread, fresh vegetables, pasta...

funny tan lines in Moldova too!

my flip-flop tans...also from summer, but in Moldova! definitely not as cool as the tiger stripes from Malawi though!