This morning as we were driving to church Vitali asked Preston “How was your weekend?’ Preston responded, “It’s been good. I’ve gotten a lot of work done.” Vitali laughed and said “we measure how good our weekend is by how much rest we got and Preston talked about how much work he got done.” Gives you something to think about!
We were discussing churches with Oleg and Vitali and they asked about the church we attend. We described some things about Lake Shore to them and said that we are considered a liberal Baptist church. They said if someone from a Moldovian church came to our church they would think it is conservative because our ministers wear robes, we have a choir, we sing old hymns and not praise choruses.
We went to church with Alex and Lucia again today and had some different impressions this week. We found out that the time they had to speak to people is not greeting each other but they have a specific topic they are to discuss with one another. Today the topic was “What does faith mean to you.” So we are wondering if the first sermon they have could be equated to Sunday School in which they have a lesson and then a 5 minutes break to discuss a topic. Then they come back together and start the worship service. The second sermon was again one hour! During the sermon on several occasions the pastor asks a question and gets responses from the congregation. Wonder if Dorisanne would be willing to do that or would she wonder what kind of answers she might get. We hold our breath even when Rachel asks the children questions during their sermon!
Both Sundays after church Genie has asked what was the sermon about and neither time has anyone offered to tell us. When you can’t understand the songs and sermons you watch the people around you. Preston says he does that even when he can understand the service. There is always a lot of moving around and children coming in and out. One lady didn’t like it this morning because she couldn’t see the screen for the words to the songs. She asked someone to move and then there was much discussion all around her. Would like to know what all they were saying. But the lady did finally move to another part of the auditorium.
We had cabbage rolls for lunch today and they were really good. Lucia and her girls really do prepare good meals. Yesterday morning we had pumpkin pancakes and as the students who stay here came to breakfast they all exclaimed “Oh, good. Pumpkin pancakes!”
Many times we feel like we are in the middle of a youth group. With the six children from the family, some of their friends, and the 4 students that are staying here it would make a good size youth group! Sometimes Alex, Lucia, Preston, and Genie just sit and watch all the activity!
The students we keep referring to are not really students; they just appear that way to us. They are in their mid-twenties and all college graduates. They work for Children’s Relief International which is affiliated with Texas Baptist Children’s Services. They are working at orphanages teaching English, working with youth groups in churches and doing other activities. They all have year long commitments. They seem to work hard and are committed to their work.
Tomorrow starts another week of teaching. We have really been working hard on figuring out the best way to teach social work practice to this group. We spent lots of time with Krist-Ashaman and Shulman (SSW folks will understand this) and hope we are prepared to teach them the theory behind the helping process and skills they need to apply it out. Where are you Ray? We need you.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
February 9, 2007
We have finished our power points for the rest of our stay here so we are feeling good! However, we did have a scare this afternoon when Preston tried to put the material on a flash drive and it wouldn’t work. He turned the computer off and tried to start it again and it wouldn’t start! All our work was on the computer with no backup on disk or flash drive. After about ten minutes Preston was able to get it started again. We then went to the college and made hard copies and also have it on the flash drive! So now we feel safe.
We have been very careful about drinking only bottled water and avoiding the water here as much as possible. However today we realized that we are eating grapes and apples that have been washed in this water! Guess we will give up on fruit!
Preston is having a hard time with his diet. We wonder what his blood sugar level will be when we get back. Fortunately, it was very good when we left. They have potatoes all the time and lots of other carbs. They use potatoes and bread to fill you up.
This morning we had homemade doughnuts. Lucia had put sugar on most of them and told Preston the ones without sugar were for him.
Lucia watches her grocery money very carefully. She told me that powdered sugar was so much more expensive than regular sugar so she makes her own powdered sugar. She used a coffee grinder with regular sugar and grinds it in to powdered sugar. Would you have ever thought of that? They are very resourceful.
Little Daniel was fascinated with the “Splenda” that Preston brought with him. He asked us what it was and we told him it was “like sugar.’ So now he calls it “like sugar.” Every morning at breakfast he asks for a packet of like sugar on his plate and he puts it on whatever he is eating.
At meals we sit on stools without backs. There are two tables that seat about 12 people. There are benches on one side of the tables and these little stools on the other. They use them in lots of places. Sometimes they are to sit on and other times they use them as small tables.
With so many people eating table manners are not a priority. Everyone reaches for whatever they want and serves each other’s plates. At least at mealtime we don’t have to worry that we are not following the proper rules of the culture.
We still forget sometimes about taking our shoes off. But we have decided that we like that tradition. So the next time you come to visit us you may find shoes at the front door!
They do not have trash collection or mail service in the city. Alex told us that a friend of his has some money he is trying to invest in starting a trash collection. Alex has a trash barrel in the front yard and a couple of times a week he burns the trash. That explains why there is so much trash around in yards and on the streets.
I don’t know how they get mail. We sent a package to them after we were here in 2005. Alex said they went to get it (I don’t’ know where they went) and were asked all kinds of questions about who it was from and what it was. Can you imagine having to answer questions about something you got in the mail?
There are lots of dogs all over the city. Alex said one of his friends said if he could do something for the city he would kill all the dogs. They run loose and there is loud barking most of the time. Some people do have dogs as pets but they don’t let them in the house. Most of the dogs I have seen are big dogs and are just roaming around.
We have been very careful about drinking only bottled water and avoiding the water here as much as possible. However today we realized that we are eating grapes and apples that have been washed in this water! Guess we will give up on fruit!
Preston is having a hard time with his diet. We wonder what his blood sugar level will be when we get back. Fortunately, it was very good when we left. They have potatoes all the time and lots of other carbs. They use potatoes and bread to fill you up.
This morning we had homemade doughnuts. Lucia had put sugar on most of them and told Preston the ones without sugar were for him.
Lucia watches her grocery money very carefully. She told me that powdered sugar was so much more expensive than regular sugar so she makes her own powdered sugar. She used a coffee grinder with regular sugar and grinds it in to powdered sugar. Would you have ever thought of that? They are very resourceful.
Little Daniel was fascinated with the “Splenda” that Preston brought with him. He asked us what it was and we told him it was “like sugar.’ So now he calls it “like sugar.” Every morning at breakfast he asks for a packet of like sugar on his plate and he puts it on whatever he is eating.
At meals we sit on stools without backs. There are two tables that seat about 12 people. There are benches on one side of the tables and these little stools on the other. They use them in lots of places. Sometimes they are to sit on and other times they use them as small tables.
With so many people eating table manners are not a priority. Everyone reaches for whatever they want and serves each other’s plates. At least at mealtime we don’t have to worry that we are not following the proper rules of the culture.
We still forget sometimes about taking our shoes off. But we have decided that we like that tradition. So the next time you come to visit us you may find shoes at the front door!
They do not have trash collection or mail service in the city. Alex told us that a friend of his has some money he is trying to invest in starting a trash collection. Alex has a trash barrel in the front yard and a couple of times a week he burns the trash. That explains why there is so much trash around in yards and on the streets.
I don’t know how they get mail. We sent a package to them after we were here in 2005. Alex said they went to get it (I don’t’ know where they went) and were asked all kinds of questions about who it was from and what it was. Can you imagine having to answer questions about something you got in the mail?
There are lots of dogs all over the city. Alex said one of his friends said if he could do something for the city he would kill all the dogs. They run loose and there is loud barking most of the time. Some people do have dogs as pets but they don’t let them in the house. Most of the dogs I have seen are big dogs and are just roaming around.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Yesterday and today we have spent preparing for classes next week. We have finished now except for a few finishing touches. It has been a very enjoyable two days. The weather has been beautiful, about 45 degrees today and the prediction is it will be in the 50s later this week.
We have slept later than we usually do, eaten breakfast after the children have gone to school, visited with Alex and Lucia, and returned to our room to work. We have taken time out for Genie to do some cross stitch and read a novel and for Preston to take a nap!
Monday and Tuesday nights we had movie night again. We moved the furniture in their family room around and made a theater and used our computer and projector to show movies. We have watched two movies each night. Lucia always comes up with fruits, cheese, cookies, and drinks. Some of the kids watch with us and others come in and out. It has been a lot of fun!
Tonight we went to Oleg and Natasha Turlac’s for dinner. Oleg is our official host at the college. Vitali, who is driving for us, is Oleg’s brother so he went to dinner with us. When we got to their apartment building and opened the door to the building there was absolutely no light! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of you! We could not tell where we were or what direction to go in. Vitali opened his cell phone for light. It did not do much good as we stumbled up a few stairs and ran right in to several (we couldn’t tell how many) people who were coming down the stairs! We turned a corner to a very small elevator that the three of us could just get in. It was very dirty with trash all over the floor but it did have a small light. We got out of the elevator into a small hall. Vitali unlocked a door and we went into another hallway. He opened another door and we were in another hallway. He then knocked on a door and Oleg came and let us in. It was an adventure just getting to the apartment!
The apartment was very nice. It had a large kitchen and a rather small living area. They had put a table in the middle of the living area for us to eat. They have a baby, Roman, that is 3 months old and Natasha’s mother came here from the U.S. to help with the baby. She has been here since the baby was born. She is from Moldova but lives in Minnesota now. She and Natasha had cooked dinner together they said. We had mashed potatoes, a beef dish, a salad of tomatoes, olives, and cheese and some cheese balls.
Roman cried most of the time we were there so we didn’t get to visit with Natasha very much. Both she and her mother were trying to get him settled. But we had good conversation with Oleg about the partnership of the School of Social Work with their college. He is an administrator with the college and has a great interest in making this partnership work. He has spent several years in the states so he has a good perspective on U.S. colleges and of course knows his college well. He presented some new ideas for possibilities for our continuing to work together. We are to meet with the college president, academic dean, and dean of social work later this week to discuss the partnership further.
Our departure from the apartment building was about as adventurous as the entrance but at least it wasn’t a surprise!
We have slept later than we usually do, eaten breakfast after the children have gone to school, visited with Alex and Lucia, and returned to our room to work. We have taken time out for Genie to do some cross stitch and read a novel and for Preston to take a nap!
Monday and Tuesday nights we had movie night again. We moved the furniture in their family room around and made a theater and used our computer and projector to show movies. We have watched two movies each night. Lucia always comes up with fruits, cheese, cookies, and drinks. Some of the kids watch with us and others come in and out. It has been a lot of fun!
Tonight we went to Oleg and Natasha Turlac’s for dinner. Oleg is our official host at the college. Vitali, who is driving for us, is Oleg’s brother so he went to dinner with us. When we got to their apartment building and opened the door to the building there was absolutely no light! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of you! We could not tell where we were or what direction to go in. Vitali opened his cell phone for light. It did not do much good as we stumbled up a few stairs and ran right in to several (we couldn’t tell how many) people who were coming down the stairs! We turned a corner to a very small elevator that the three of us could just get in. It was very dirty with trash all over the floor but it did have a small light. We got out of the elevator into a small hall. Vitali unlocked a door and we went into another hallway. He opened another door and we were in another hallway. He then knocked on a door and Oleg came and let us in. It was an adventure just getting to the apartment!
The apartment was very nice. It had a large kitchen and a rather small living area. They had put a table in the middle of the living area for us to eat. They have a baby, Roman, that is 3 months old and Natasha’s mother came here from the U.S. to help with the baby. She has been here since the baby was born. She is from Moldova but lives in Minnesota now. She and Natasha had cooked dinner together they said. We had mashed potatoes, a beef dish, a salad of tomatoes, olives, and cheese and some cheese balls.
Roman cried most of the time we were there so we didn’t get to visit with Natasha very much. Both she and her mother were trying to get him settled. But we had good conversation with Oleg about the partnership of the School of Social Work with their college. He is an administrator with the college and has a great interest in making this partnership work. He has spent several years in the states so he has a good perspective on U.S. colleges and of course knows his college well. He presented some new ideas for possibilities for our continuing to work together. We are to meet with the college president, academic dean, and dean of social work later this week to discuss the partnership further.
Our departure from the apartment building was about as adventurous as the entrance but at least it wasn’t a surprise!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Monday, February 4, 2007
We are not teaching this week but will be preparing for our classes for next week. So we have spent the day at the house. We enjoy being here with Alex and Lucia. They are so anxious to make us comfortable (comfort’able as he says) and be sure that we are happy.
They live a very simple life. The day begins very early with two of the children going to school at 7:00 a.m. Children get themselves up and have breakfast on their own. The oldest girl goes to work at 9 and the oldest son works with the youth at a church so he only goes to work a few times a week. Maria goes to school about 8 and Daniel, 4 years old, stays at home. Lucia spends her day cooking, washing clothes, and cleaning the house. She seems very content with her duties. Daniel loves to be with his mother and, as most little ones, says “Mama, Mama” about a thousand times to day! He is a very lovable child and gets lots of attention. Alex spends his day working on the house, always planning and adding to the house. He has had very interesting and varied jobs. He has had several businesses and says he is happiest and feels the best about himself when he has a business of some kind. Right now he is working on the possibility of selling medical supplies. He is very personable and seems to be a good salesman.
The house is two stories. Originally the first floor was a garage and the living quarters were upstairs. Through the years Alex has made the garage into living quarters to rent to missionaries or others who come to Moldova, usually to work in churches. When we came in 2005 that is where we stayed and the kitchen was upstairs. To get to the upstairs you have to go outside and up stairs on the side of the house. In 2005 the kitchen was upstairs so we went up there to eat. Now Alex has added to the downstairs and made a kitchen there and made a bedroom where the kitchen was upstairs. This time we are staying in a large bedroom upstairs and now we go outside and down stairs to eat. Four students are living in the bedrooms downstairs. They are here with Children’s Emergence International and will be here for a year.
Lucia loves to watch movies. Daniel asked today if we could have movie night again tonight and she immediately said she would like to. She said watching a movie is the only time she can relax. Otherwise she said she just sees things or thinks of things the need to be done and just keeps on working.
Alex and Lucia are in their early to middle 40’s. I think they think of us as parents. Their oldest children is Irina (pronounced Irene-a), 20 years old, and she works with an organization called “Travel and Work” that places students in the United States to work for several months and then have a month to travel. They usually work as housekeepers in hotels or in restaurants. Vadim is 18, Inna (E-na) is 14, Staska is 12 and Daniel, 4. Marie, 16, is a girl from one of the orphanages that they “adopted” last summer. I don’t know if it is a formal adoption but I think it is more like a foster child. All of the children are very good kids and very loving and caring.
One of Alex’s dreams is to develop a program for children at the orphanage to prepare them for life outside the institution. He plans to build a greenhouse and create other activities for them and have them stay at the house on the weekends. Remember that at age 16 they are put out of the orphanage usually with no real preparation for life. Lucia told us the other morning she found Maria crying and asked her what was wrong. She replied she had a bad dream and was back at the orphanage. She would be a good study in resilience. She is warm, cooperative and does well at school. Alex wants to send her to the states for college at a school in Pensacola, Fla.; this for a man who makes $12,000 a year and considers himself middle class.
Preston’s trip to the program for alcoholic and drug dependent people was a real adventure. Preston, Alex and Vatali went to a village just outside the city limits. The group has an attic that they are working on as they live in it. Eight men live there. Alex kept telling about the men who were there. “This man was in jail for two times.”; “this man was a thief;” “this one killed 2 people.” Eventually, the pastor of Alex’s church and his wife came in and Preston relaxed a little bit. He figured the pastor brought his wife, it must be OK. There were about 18 of us there. We don’t know how many were people in the program and how many were workers. Preston recognized several from the church we visited Sunday. He thinks it was sort of like an AA meeting but all that had happened by the time we left was a lot of passionate singing and the pastor’s sermon. Preston did not have to say anything and was glad. He had the feeing they knew a lot more about dependency than he did. They don’t call it a halfway house, but it functions a lot like Freeman Center or the Mission Waco half way house just with much less funding and no 12 step program.
On the way home we go stuck in the snow twice. Once Preston got real worried that they would spend the night in the car. He talked himself into believing it was just an adventure (cognitive restructuring, if any of his students are reading this) and anyway he knew that Gaynor and Rob were praying for us. They are colleagues at the SSW and the best prayers we know. We finally got home in one piece and early enough to participate in movie night. Daniel ate a whole lot of candy and was bouncing off the walls. I don’t know when he might go to sleep.
All is well here. We are well fed, warm, and loved. Van, “life is good.”
They live a very simple life. The day begins very early with two of the children going to school at 7:00 a.m. Children get themselves up and have breakfast on their own. The oldest girl goes to work at 9 and the oldest son works with the youth at a church so he only goes to work a few times a week. Maria goes to school about 8 and Daniel, 4 years old, stays at home. Lucia spends her day cooking, washing clothes, and cleaning the house. She seems very content with her duties. Daniel loves to be with his mother and, as most little ones, says “Mama, Mama” about a thousand times to day! He is a very lovable child and gets lots of attention. Alex spends his day working on the house, always planning and adding to the house. He has had very interesting and varied jobs. He has had several businesses and says he is happiest and feels the best about himself when he has a business of some kind. Right now he is working on the possibility of selling medical supplies. He is very personable and seems to be a good salesman.
The house is two stories. Originally the first floor was a garage and the living quarters were upstairs. Through the years Alex has made the garage into living quarters to rent to missionaries or others who come to Moldova, usually to work in churches. When we came in 2005 that is where we stayed and the kitchen was upstairs. To get to the upstairs you have to go outside and up stairs on the side of the house. In 2005 the kitchen was upstairs so we went up there to eat. Now Alex has added to the downstairs and made a kitchen there and made a bedroom where the kitchen was upstairs. This time we are staying in a large bedroom upstairs and now we go outside and down stairs to eat. Four students are living in the bedrooms downstairs. They are here with Children’s Emergence International and will be here for a year.
Lucia loves to watch movies. Daniel asked today if we could have movie night again tonight and she immediately said she would like to. She said watching a movie is the only time she can relax. Otherwise she said she just sees things or thinks of things the need to be done and just keeps on working.
Alex and Lucia are in their early to middle 40’s. I think they think of us as parents. Their oldest children is Irina (pronounced Irene-a), 20 years old, and she works with an organization called “Travel and Work” that places students in the United States to work for several months and then have a month to travel. They usually work as housekeepers in hotels or in restaurants. Vadim is 18, Inna (E-na) is 14, Staska is 12 and Daniel, 4. Marie, 16, is a girl from one of the orphanages that they “adopted” last summer. I don’t know if it is a formal adoption but I think it is more like a foster child. All of the children are very good kids and very loving and caring.
One of Alex’s dreams is to develop a program for children at the orphanage to prepare them for life outside the institution. He plans to build a greenhouse and create other activities for them and have them stay at the house on the weekends. Remember that at age 16 they are put out of the orphanage usually with no real preparation for life. Lucia told us the other morning she found Maria crying and asked her what was wrong. She replied she had a bad dream and was back at the orphanage. She would be a good study in resilience. She is warm, cooperative and does well at school. Alex wants to send her to the states for college at a school in Pensacola, Fla.; this for a man who makes $12,000 a year and considers himself middle class.
Preston’s trip to the program for alcoholic and drug dependent people was a real adventure. Preston, Alex and Vatali went to a village just outside the city limits. The group has an attic that they are working on as they live in it. Eight men live there. Alex kept telling about the men who were there. “This man was in jail for two times.”; “this man was a thief;” “this one killed 2 people.” Eventually, the pastor of Alex’s church and his wife came in and Preston relaxed a little bit. He figured the pastor brought his wife, it must be OK. There were about 18 of us there. We don’t know how many were people in the program and how many were workers. Preston recognized several from the church we visited Sunday. He thinks it was sort of like an AA meeting but all that had happened by the time we left was a lot of passionate singing and the pastor’s sermon. Preston did not have to say anything and was glad. He had the feeing they knew a lot more about dependency than he did. They don’t call it a halfway house, but it functions a lot like Freeman Center or the Mission Waco half way house just with much less funding and no 12 step program.
On the way home we go stuck in the snow twice. Once Preston got real worried that they would spend the night in the car. He talked himself into believing it was just an adventure (cognitive restructuring, if any of his students are reading this) and anyway he knew that Gaynor and Rob were praying for us. They are colleagues at the SSW and the best prayers we know. We finally got home in one piece and early enough to participate in movie night. Daniel ate a whole lot of candy and was bouncing off the walls. I don’t know when he might go to sleep.
All is well here. We are well fed, warm, and loved. Van, “life is good.”
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Sunday, February 4, 2007
This morning we went to Voice of Truth Baptist Church in Chisinau. This is the church that Alex, Lucia and several of their children attend. The oldest son goes to another church where he works with the youth group and one of the girls attends yet another church.
The church is about five years old. It reminded me in some ways of Lake Shore. It meets in the auditorium of a school (Lake Shore’s beginnings), has moveable chairs, and is very friendly. However, it is very different in many other ways. The service was more of a contemporary service with a praise group and songs on the screen.
They stood for the first part of the service, singing many songs and praying. Of course we had no idea what they were singing or saying. Irina, the oldest daughter, from time to time told us what was happening. They introduced a family that is going as missionaries to Russia and had a prayer for them. Then one of the four pastors gave his sermon.
After the sermon we had communion. When we came in we saw they were preparing for communion and asked Irina if we could partake. She was surprised that we ask and said that of course we could. She had never heard of a church that would only allow their members to have communion. This is the first time either of us have had communion with REAL WINE! Genie was impressed with the thought that we were partaking of the bread and wine in the same way that was probably going to happen at Lake Shore this morning and that Christians had participated in for centuries. What an awesome experience this is!
The auditorium was filled with people standing at the back. There were people of all ages from babies to elderly women. I did not see any older men. Families with small children sat at the back and came in and out as their children got restless. There were a number of older women that sat in front of us. They looked quite old, but on second consideration were probably our age and we thought about how different their lives have been than have ours. They have lived through persecutions for being Christian and other hardships of the Soviet era.
After communion there was a time of greeting with people turning to speak to one another. We thought the service must be over but everyone got quiet again and sat down. Then we had the SECOND sermon from one of the other pastors! His sermon was one hour long (Thanks Dorisanne for short sermons!!!). Preston got worried that since they had four pastors that we might have four sermons. It would be hard to sit through an hour sermon if you understood what was being said but to not know was really hard. We watched some children on a hill outside the church enjoying the snow with their sleds to help keep us awake. The entire service was 2 ½ hours! Although it was long and rather cold (everyone kept on their coats) it was a very worshipful experience. The pastor came to greet us before the service and spoke in English.
The church has a ministry to alcoholics and Friday afternoon we met one of the men who has been through the program. He was doing some carpentry work for Alex. He is an addict and was in prison for some time and is now a worker in this ministry. He claims only a 3% recidivism rate for the program. They take only highly motivated individuals and “God does the rest.” All of the people who work in the program are former addicts. It sounds like our rehabilitation programs in the ’60’s & ‘70’s doesn’t Martie? I wish you were here because I am speaking to their group tomorrow night and what little I know about addiction I learned from you.
The snow is about two inches deep today but is beginning to melt. It is very cold and damp. We are thankful for a warm place to stay—warm physically and warmth from this loving family!
The church is about five years old. It reminded me in some ways of Lake Shore. It meets in the auditorium of a school (Lake Shore’s beginnings), has moveable chairs, and is very friendly. However, it is very different in many other ways. The service was more of a contemporary service with a praise group and songs on the screen.
They stood for the first part of the service, singing many songs and praying. Of course we had no idea what they were singing or saying. Irina, the oldest daughter, from time to time told us what was happening. They introduced a family that is going as missionaries to Russia and had a prayer for them. Then one of the four pastors gave his sermon.
After the sermon we had communion. When we came in we saw they were preparing for communion and asked Irina if we could partake. She was surprised that we ask and said that of course we could. She had never heard of a church that would only allow their members to have communion. This is the first time either of us have had communion with REAL WINE! Genie was impressed with the thought that we were partaking of the bread and wine in the same way that was probably going to happen at Lake Shore this morning and that Christians had participated in for centuries. What an awesome experience this is!
The auditorium was filled with people standing at the back. There were people of all ages from babies to elderly women. I did not see any older men. Families with small children sat at the back and came in and out as their children got restless. There were a number of older women that sat in front of us. They looked quite old, but on second consideration were probably our age and we thought about how different their lives have been than have ours. They have lived through persecutions for being Christian and other hardships of the Soviet era.
After communion there was a time of greeting with people turning to speak to one another. We thought the service must be over but everyone got quiet again and sat down. Then we had the SECOND sermon from one of the other pastors! His sermon was one hour long (Thanks Dorisanne for short sermons!!!). Preston got worried that since they had four pastors that we might have four sermons. It would be hard to sit through an hour sermon if you understood what was being said but to not know was really hard. We watched some children on a hill outside the church enjoying the snow with their sleds to help keep us awake. The entire service was 2 ½ hours! Although it was long and rather cold (everyone kept on their coats) it was a very worshipful experience. The pastor came to greet us before the service and spoke in English.
The church has a ministry to alcoholics and Friday afternoon we met one of the men who has been through the program. He was doing some carpentry work for Alex. He is an addict and was in prison for some time and is now a worker in this ministry. He claims only a 3% recidivism rate for the program. They take only highly motivated individuals and “God does the rest.” All of the people who work in the program are former addicts. It sounds like our rehabilitation programs in the ’60’s & ‘70’s doesn’t Martie? I wish you were here because I am speaking to their group tomorrow night and what little I know about addiction I learned from you.
The snow is about two inches deep today but is beginning to melt. It is very cold and damp. We are thankful for a warm place to stay—warm physically and warmth from this loving family!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
February 3, 2007
We have completed our first week of teaching and think it was very successful. We gave each student a certificate of completion and wish you could have seen the smiles on their faces. They love to learn and have recognition of their accomplishments. We will get Steve Gardner to add a picture of the group that we have in class.
Yesterday the students gave reports about social agencies in Moldova. They had various groups to talk about, such as children and families, elderly, person with physical and mental disabilities, sex traffic and others. They all began by giving a picture of the issues globally and then compared to Moldova. I think they think much more about the world as a whole than Americans do! We learned a lot about Moldova through their reports and look forward to telling you about it when we get back home.
We asked if any of them were going to use the computer and projector for their reports and some of them said they didn’t think about that being a possibility. They said only teachers do that. Then one said maybe they would think about it next time. When we told them that students in American almost always use power point for their reports they were very surprised. Some of them don’t use the computer. However, several asked for electronic copies of our power points.
Some of you will remember that the last time we came we brought lots of pens and tablets. We didn’t have room to bring them this time but I wish we could have brought some. They are very careful with their paper. We did bring a few pens and they had fun deciding which ones they wanted. Thanks to Jim Ellor of the SSW faculty for providing these.
It snowed again during the night Thursday night so it was really cold Friday morning. One of the dangerous parts was how slippery it was. However, it is kind of like it is in Texas in the summer. We go from the house to the car, the car to the classroom, to the car and back to the house. We really aren’t out in the cold for very long at a time.
This morning Alex asked us if we wanted to go with him to the market. We took a taxi and went to buy groceries. It was quite an experience. People were everywhere, pushing and shoving trying to get to the counters. Most of the market was outdoors. They had beautiful fruit, lots of nuts, lots of vegetables that were right from the ground. Some carrots had been cleaned off a little but most of them had dirt on them just as they had been pulled from the garden. They had food, clothes, cleaning products, homemade oil—a lot of everything! Alex kept telling us not to get lost! We were very careful to stay very close to him! The driving of our first taxi driver would put the driving of New York taxi drivers to shame. We learned in class yesterday that old age pension was $25 per month and that the cheapest housing was around $50. Alex told us today that many retired police officers, doctors and others who have retired drive taxis to supplement their income.
The meat market was indoors and was something else. Fresh meat just out on the counter and people, mostly women, cutting off whatever you wanted. This was in a large building and the whole place was full of meat. Alex took us to one woman that he always buys from because he says she has higher quality meats. Genie wishes she had not seen where the meat we eat comes from! It is very good but Americans would not like these conditions at all. No cleanliness laws exist at this market!
The last place we visited was the spice counter. They had all kinds of spices in open containers out on the counter. I don’t know what Alex asked her for but she began taking a little bit from many containers and mixing them together. We asked him what it was and he said he didn’t know. He just comes to her every week and she makes him a mixture. The spices smelled wonderful. Much better than we get in bottles.
Then we went to a grocery store very much like HEB but much smaller. Alex said things are about 20% higher in the supermarket than at the open market. He said you don’t pay taxes on food at the open market and you do at the supermarket. You can get about everything you can get at home at this market. Well, not Mexican food products but at least the basics. I (Preston) wanted to find a package of chili mix to make chili for the family, but didn’t find any. If any of you have a recipe that is not too hot (Pam, probably not yours.) and does not depend on pre-mixed spices, please send it to me by email.
One thing we miss is Diet Coke. You know how we are about our cokes! Well we do have a bottle of Coke Light in our room. And who would have thought we would enjoy it without ice and not very cold? But we are drinking it and are glad to get it.
We cannot drink the water here. In fact the Moldovans do not drink the water either. They say they only drink it if it has been boiled. Do you know how hard it is to remember not to put your toothbrush under the faucet? I have only done it once and only once forgot and got water to drink out of the faucet. I took one taste and poured it out. Thankfully I didn’t get sick from it.
Tonight we have told the family we would like to have movie night. Vern and Debbie sent a number of DVDs so we are going to use the computer and projector and have movies. While we were at the supermarket we bought some “snacks” to have and make it a party. Wish we had thought to bring some kids movies for Daniel, 4 years old. The children have seen lots of American movies but were excited that perhaps we have a few they hadn’t seen. But we don’t have kids’ movies. Daniel asks us over and over when we will have kids’ movies! We told him we only have “chick flicks” and when he asked what that was we told him kissing movies. He didn’t want to see that at all! Since we have been here we have thought of a number of things we wish we had brought for our friends here.
Yesterday the students gave reports about social agencies in Moldova. They had various groups to talk about, such as children and families, elderly, person with physical and mental disabilities, sex traffic and others. They all began by giving a picture of the issues globally and then compared to Moldova. I think they think much more about the world as a whole than Americans do! We learned a lot about Moldova through their reports and look forward to telling you about it when we get back home.
We asked if any of them were going to use the computer and projector for their reports and some of them said they didn’t think about that being a possibility. They said only teachers do that. Then one said maybe they would think about it next time. When we told them that students in American almost always use power point for their reports they were very surprised. Some of them don’t use the computer. However, several asked for electronic copies of our power points.
Some of you will remember that the last time we came we brought lots of pens and tablets. We didn’t have room to bring them this time but I wish we could have brought some. They are very careful with their paper. We did bring a few pens and they had fun deciding which ones they wanted. Thanks to Jim Ellor of the SSW faculty for providing these.
It snowed again during the night Thursday night so it was really cold Friday morning. One of the dangerous parts was how slippery it was. However, it is kind of like it is in Texas in the summer. We go from the house to the car, the car to the classroom, to the car and back to the house. We really aren’t out in the cold for very long at a time.
This morning Alex asked us if we wanted to go with him to the market. We took a taxi and went to buy groceries. It was quite an experience. People were everywhere, pushing and shoving trying to get to the counters. Most of the market was outdoors. They had beautiful fruit, lots of nuts, lots of vegetables that were right from the ground. Some carrots had been cleaned off a little but most of them had dirt on them just as they had been pulled from the garden. They had food, clothes, cleaning products, homemade oil—a lot of everything! Alex kept telling us not to get lost! We were very careful to stay very close to him! The driving of our first taxi driver would put the driving of New York taxi drivers to shame. We learned in class yesterday that old age pension was $25 per month and that the cheapest housing was around $50. Alex told us today that many retired police officers, doctors and others who have retired drive taxis to supplement their income.
The meat market was indoors and was something else. Fresh meat just out on the counter and people, mostly women, cutting off whatever you wanted. This was in a large building and the whole place was full of meat. Alex took us to one woman that he always buys from because he says she has higher quality meats. Genie wishes she had not seen where the meat we eat comes from! It is very good but Americans would not like these conditions at all. No cleanliness laws exist at this market!
The last place we visited was the spice counter. They had all kinds of spices in open containers out on the counter. I don’t know what Alex asked her for but she began taking a little bit from many containers and mixing them together. We asked him what it was and he said he didn’t know. He just comes to her every week and she makes him a mixture. The spices smelled wonderful. Much better than we get in bottles.
Then we went to a grocery store very much like HEB but much smaller. Alex said things are about 20% higher in the supermarket than at the open market. He said you don’t pay taxes on food at the open market and you do at the supermarket. You can get about everything you can get at home at this market. Well, not Mexican food products but at least the basics. I (Preston) wanted to find a package of chili mix to make chili for the family, but didn’t find any. If any of you have a recipe that is not too hot (Pam, probably not yours.) and does not depend on pre-mixed spices, please send it to me by email.
One thing we miss is Diet Coke. You know how we are about our cokes! Well we do have a bottle of Coke Light in our room. And who would have thought we would enjoy it without ice and not very cold? But we are drinking it and are glad to get it.
We cannot drink the water here. In fact the Moldovans do not drink the water either. They say they only drink it if it has been boiled. Do you know how hard it is to remember not to put your toothbrush under the faucet? I have only done it once and only once forgot and got water to drink out of the faucet. I took one taste and poured it out. Thankfully I didn’t get sick from it.
Tonight we have told the family we would like to have movie night. Vern and Debbie sent a number of DVDs so we are going to use the computer and projector and have movies. While we were at the supermarket we bought some “snacks” to have and make it a party. Wish we had thought to bring some kids movies for Daniel, 4 years old. The children have seen lots of American movies but were excited that perhaps we have a few they hadn’t seen. But we don’t have kids’ movies. Daniel asks us over and over when we will have kids’ movies! We told him we only have “chick flicks” and when he asked what that was we told him kissing movies. He didn’t want to see that at all! Since we have been here we have thought of a number of things we wish we had brought for our friends here.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
February 1, 2007
We are almost through the first week! Our students are giving reports tomorrow so it will be an easier day for us and harder for them. Students are the same everywhere in a lot of ways. Today they wanted to talk and talk about what they were to do, how to do, how long it should be, what if they didn't have enought inofrmation, etc. Of course we had talked about all of that on Monday but as time gets near they get nervous!
Several things have happened in class that have been interesting. Since most of them can read some English they begin to get the idea of a power point before the interpreter tells them. Today one of the words was "widows" and before we got to it they wanted to know what "windows" had to do with what we were talking about.
Eye contact is very different. Who do you look at? The interpreter or the person that is speaking. When a person is speaking they are looking at the interpreter but when what they said is being interpreted do they look at the person they were speaking to or the interpreter. Many times you just don't get any eye contact the with person and miss out on all the facial expresions.
Working through an interpreter does give you time to think about what comes next. So while they are repeating what you said and students are asking them questions you can gather your thoughts for the next idea. Of course starting and stopping in the middle of an idea is not so easy. Sometimes we forget where we were going with a thought! That can't be "old age", can it?
We have become aware of how many sayings or expressions we have that don't translate. Some we encountered today were: "keep an eye on," holding out on me," "pit fall,"be ing ripped off." It seems best to use very straightforward, familiar words. And jokes and teasing just don't translate!
During our discussion of the poor today one student said "Most Moldovans would love to live as "poor" people in the US live." They really believe that all Americans are rich and even those we call poor are not poor at al. Everyone has a house to live in and enought to eat. We told them that there are homeless people in the US and childen who go to bed hungry every night. I am not usre they believed us.
We were talking about the history of social welfare today and were reminded that history is recorded differently according to who is reporting it. Also that people in different countries learning different history. They know very little about the history that we think everyone knows, that of western civilization. Irena, one of the daughters in the family we stay with, studied at a college in the US for a year. She said she was amazed what she learned about Russian history while she was there. She said it was not anthing like the Russian history she had learned in her schooling here.
We have heard a bell ring at the end of each class. Today we realized that there is a person whose job is to go to each classroom and ring a hand bell. She just walks through the hall ringing the bell at the end of each hour.
Today it was very cloudy when we got up and warmer than it has been. Later this morning I looked out the window in the classroom and there were snow showers. This afternoon the sun came out and on the way home it began to rain. Sounds like changes in Texas weather, doesn't it?
Glad the Lady Bears pulled out a win last night! Sounds like it could have easily gone the other way! I tried to look up the score on the Trib webpage this morning before we left for class and it wasn't there. Then I realized it was only midnight there and yesterday's paper was what I was reading. It is nice to be able to go to that web page and read Waco news. The family here have no TV, don't listen to the radio, and don't get a newspaper. Of course we wouldn't be able to understand them if they did but at least they could tell us if anything was gong on in the world that we would want to know about.
Again, thanks for all your messages! We love having e-mails from you! Keeping them coming!
Several things have happened in class that have been interesting. Since most of them can read some English they begin to get the idea of a power point before the interpreter tells them. Today one of the words was "widows" and before we got to it they wanted to know what "windows" had to do with what we were talking about.
Eye contact is very different. Who do you look at? The interpreter or the person that is speaking. When a person is speaking they are looking at the interpreter but when what they said is being interpreted do they look at the person they were speaking to or the interpreter. Many times you just don't get any eye contact the with person and miss out on all the facial expresions.
Working through an interpreter does give you time to think about what comes next. So while they are repeating what you said and students are asking them questions you can gather your thoughts for the next idea. Of course starting and stopping in the middle of an idea is not so easy. Sometimes we forget where we were going with a thought! That can't be "old age", can it?
We have become aware of how many sayings or expressions we have that don't translate. Some we encountered today were: "keep an eye on," holding out on me," "pit fall,"be ing ripped off." It seems best to use very straightforward, familiar words. And jokes and teasing just don't translate!
During our discussion of the poor today one student said "Most Moldovans would love to live as "poor" people in the US live." They really believe that all Americans are rich and even those we call poor are not poor at al. Everyone has a house to live in and enought to eat. We told them that there are homeless people in the US and childen who go to bed hungry every night. I am not usre they believed us.
We were talking about the history of social welfare today and were reminded that history is recorded differently according to who is reporting it. Also that people in different countries learning different history. They know very little about the history that we think everyone knows, that of western civilization. Irena, one of the daughters in the family we stay with, studied at a college in the US for a year. She said she was amazed what she learned about Russian history while she was there. She said it was not anthing like the Russian history she had learned in her schooling here.
We have heard a bell ring at the end of each class. Today we realized that there is a person whose job is to go to each classroom and ring a hand bell. She just walks through the hall ringing the bell at the end of each hour.
Today it was very cloudy when we got up and warmer than it has been. Later this morning I looked out the window in the classroom and there were snow showers. This afternoon the sun came out and on the way home it began to rain. Sounds like changes in Texas weather, doesn't it?
Glad the Lady Bears pulled out a win last night! Sounds like it could have easily gone the other way! I tried to look up the score on the Trib webpage this morning before we left for class and it wasn't there. Then I realized it was only midnight there and yesterday's paper was what I was reading. It is nice to be able to go to that web page and read Waco news. The family here have no TV, don't listen to the radio, and don't get a newspaper. Of course we wouldn't be able to understand them if they did but at least they could tell us if anything was gong on in the world that we would want to know about.
Again, thanks for all your messages! We love having e-mails from you! Keeping them coming!
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