I made it!!

Hey All!! Just in case you were wondering and waiting in suspense, I made it to Moldova!!! Okay so maybe you weren't since that is old news and I should have started this blog a week ago. So anyway, I just want to start by saying thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who have supported me financially and spiritually through your prayers for my trip to Moldova. I have been blessed so far to have made it here without any problems of any kind.

For those of you that didn't even know I was gone, I left the 23rd of May for Lancaster, Pennsylvania for three days of training at the HOPE International Headquarters. HOPE is a Christian micro finance missions organization that operates micro lending branches in twelve different countries around the world. The training was with the other interns that are working with HOPE for the summer. It was so much fun getting to know all of the other interns and the employees of HOPE. It was like God instantly provided a new network of friends who would be going through many of the same things that I will be this summer. Most of the training was an overview of the basic concepts of microcredit services and how sharing the message of the gospel could be integrated into this type of work. Basically, microcredit services are providing entrepreneurs in poor countries the opportunity for to take out small loans to either start new businesses or build up already existing projects. These people are either too poor to have any collateral for a loan or the banking system in the country is set up to only serve the rich. Small loans given by a microcredit agency such as HOPE International have the effect of creating wealth for the family involved in the business and anyone employed by the business. These loans have been known to completely change whole villages by giving people the opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty by their own creativity rather than just taking a handout that will disappear in a short amount of time. Along with microlending, HOPE also provides savings services for those who do not have access to a bank allowing the poor to provide themselves with a cushion of safety. So yeah, there is a free lesson about microcredit for ya! The training in Pennsylvania definitely got me excited about the work that I will be doing this summer. I feel so blessed to be a part of this type of ministry!

Another cool thing about my time in Lancaster is that a whole group of us from HOPE got to go on a tour in Amish country. As those of you who know me well would guess, this was definitely an exciting thing for me!!! If there is ever a time when I go missing and can't be found, don't worry. I'm probably just hanging out in Amish country and can't call because there is no electricity there! (this is a picture of me eating Amish ice cream next to this really cool shop that sold all different types of laid out insects.)

I left Pennsylvania Saturday evening and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at 7:30 Sunday morning after a long yet very comfortable flight. I had a seven hour layover there before flying out to Moldova so decided to get out and see the city a little bit. After asking for help from some uptight Germans (Chels, I think they were Nazis and luckily was able to escape from them), I rode a train into the city. It was really weird being there so early in the morning on a Sunday morning because there was hardly anyone out on the streets. There were so many beautiful buildings there and specifically churches that were just so huge and built so intricately. I really wish that I would have had more time to spend there to find out the best sites to see. One thing that I was able to do that was really neat was that I went to the Jewish museum that was there. It was so strange because I was the only tourist in the whole museum and everything was obviously in German so it was hard to know what was going on. The curators kept trying to help me understand and gave me some English guide books for the museum but it was still hard to know if I was reading the right part for what part of the museum I was in. Anyway Frankfurt was pretty neat but I was too excited to be going to Moldova to really be able to enjoy it.

So finally after so much anticipation, I made it to Moldova on Sunday May 27th in the evening. It was such a strange feeling to be in a place where English is not the main language spoken! I did not have any contact information for the person picking me up at the airport who is director of the office here where I work. Luckily I must have looked very lost or else very American because right after I got out customs he and his wife came up to me to ask who I was. It was such a relief and a blessing to have made it without any problems. (here is a map of the country since I know that many of you have no idea where I am)

One of the first things that I noticed right away in Moldova was how warm it was and how many trees there were in Chisinau. This city is the capital and largest city in Moldova and is where I will be living the whole time that I am here. For some reason I was not expecting the country to be very green or beautiful but there are definitely parts that are. After leaving the airport, Ghena and Lena (the director and his wife) and I all went out to to eat at the most common and cheapest restaurant here, Andy's Pizza. It is like a nice version of American fast food yet is cheaper for me than any restaurant in America. The funny thing is that there are a lot of McDonald's here but only rich people eat there and the service and food quality is much higher than in the US. I've heard that it is not uncommon to see people all dressed up eating there.

After eating, they took me to my host family's home. It was very dark out and we had to drive the car into these little alleyways along these very dark streets to get there. Ghena and Lena had warned me that the family was very poor and that the conditions of the house where not the best. They told me many times that if I did not think that I could handle the conditions that I could tell them anytime and I could move. I really didn't know what to expect when we arrived at the house. From what I could see in the darkness, all of the other houses in the area were very crammed together with no lawns or anything like houses that I often see in America. When I arrived at the house, there was only a curtain for a front door and I felt like I was stepping into an hut in Africa or something. When I ducked inside, I was very surprised to see such a clean and bright living area. I was greeted by a large woman speaking very rapid Ukrainian who hugged me tightly and kissed me on the cheek. It was quite a welcome to Moldova! (this is the closest thing I could get to taking a picture of my house...it is completely surrounded by other houses and structures so it is difficult to stand back to take a picture)
Right away all of my fears of living in a hut for six months vanished. The house itself is very small compared to what I am used to but it is very well taken care of and clean with all of the modern conveniences that I am used to (and there is a front door, they just have a curtain over the door to let cool air in :)) The family that I'm living with consists of Nadya, the mother, and her three teenage sons, Jake, Igor, and Dima. Their father died of cancer about nine years ago and from what I can see his death was very hard on the family. They are all so proud of him and talk about his accomplishments all of the time. It is very sad. Nadya also has a daughter, Irena, who is my age who is married and lives in an apartment with her husband. Even though the house is very small, my room is in fact very large and is the largest bedroom in the house. Amazingly enough, there is a piano in my room so hopefully I will be able to find some time to play. If I can find a piano teacher that speaks English, I will try to take some lessons.

(ha ha, no this isn't the toilet I have to use everyday....it is just one that I saw at church yesterday)

The people here are different in many ways than Americans. One difference is that people out on the streets in the city do not smile at all and often avoid eye contact. Its so hard for me to pass people on the street and not make eye contact or smile or something. Someone at my work told me that people will think that I'm crazy because he said that only the mentally ill walk around on the streets smiling! People here are also very direct in their speaking habits. People have told me here that I need to be very honest when someone makes food and I don't like it. I realized after they told me this that it is very hard to tell someone to their face that you do not like something that they made or bought for you. The other day I was shopping with one of my news friends here and she bought us cups of this type of drink made with yeast. I absolutely hated it but when she asked me, I couldn't bring myself to answer honestly. Its funny how different cultures have different ways of acting.

(this is a war monument to a battle between Germany and Russian during WW11, there were soldiers all around it when we walked by it doing drills or something. It was a very strange experience to see all of these military men all over the war monument)

Besides the drink that my friend bought for me, I can't think of any other example of food that I have not liked. The food here is just incredible. It is now a good fruit season so there are people always out on the streets selling fresh fruit. The best right now are the cherries and strawberries. The food that my host mother cooks is also very good. No matter how warm it is outside, we always have Ukrainian soup to start with along with this amazing bread. She also makes a lot of dishes with potatoes and chicken or crepes filled with cheese or jam. Oh, and the best thing so far has be the capote. When they first brought it out I was very scared because it looked very weird. It was in a big jar and it looked like pieces of potatoes soaking in water. They poured me some of the liquid and told me that one of their American friends liked it very much. When I tried it I realized that it was like juice but ten times better. They make it with all types of fruit and it is the best.

One of the interesting things about meals here is that we always pray silently to ourselves before and after the meal. They told me that we pray first to bless the meal and thank God for the hands that prepared it and then lastly to thank God for such a good meal. People here also eat so fast! I am always struggling to keep up and always the last one done eating. They are always trying to get me to eat more food here. Nadya is always asking if I'm hungry and offering me food. At first I didn't want to be rude by refusing but I have come to realize that if I eat everything that they offer me, I'm going to gain a lot of weight!!! Every morning when I have to get up early to go to work, one of the boys gets up and makes me breakfast since Nadya goes to work very early in the morning. I always insist that I can make myself breakfast and that I normally do not eat breakfast anyway but he always gets up anyway and has breakfast ready for me. One of the incredible things about this family is how giving and considerate they are.

One of the things that is very evident here is that the economy itself is so much poorer than that of the United States'. Most people here cannot afford to live in houses and instead must rent very tiny apartments. Everywhere I go I see these large apartment complexes. I suppose that it is true that most people cannot afford a house in big cities in the United States but in reality this city is not extremely large and with the skills that many of these people have should be able to afford to live in a house. I am very lucky to be with a family that has a house. So many of the buildings here are rundown and the city itself is just very poor in many areas. (this is an example of an apartment complex here)

Besides owning a house, it is also very expensive to own cars here. I only know one couple that can afford a car. Everyone else must use the public transportation in the city which is very highly developed and makes it very easy to get around if you know the routes. One of the easiest ways to get around and is the way that I get to work everyday is by minibus. These are basically twelve to fifteen passenger vans that have different numbers on them depending on routes and drive basically all over the city. Even though there is room for around fifteen people, sometimes as many as forty people will cram on to these minibuses. For me riding these minibuses is interesting because in order to get off I have to tell the driver in Romanian where I would like to get off when the bus gets near my destination. Since I do not know Romanian, this makes it a little scary for me to not only balance myself while riding the bus (oh yeah people drive so fast and crazy here), fight my way to the front of the bus and then tell the drive at the right moment where I need to get off. I learned that I must say "Opriti, va rog!" which means stop, please, and then point and say where I want to go. Its been quite the experience!

The reason why it is so difficult for people to earn a good living around here is not from lack of training or education but just lack of good income. Compared to the money that can be made in the United states, most people are only earning a fraction of what is possible here. Whereas it is not uncommon to see an income of $30,000 a year from a certain job in the United States, here in Moldova that same job may earn $2,000-$3,000 a year. In the family that I am living in, Nadya cleans for a living and earns $90 a month at a job where she works around six or seven hours a day, five days a week. I found out that this is a normal paying job and that she is lucky to be paid this much. For this reason, many people have left Moldova in the past ten years to find work in other countries since they can make so much money in other places. (this is the street that my house is on)

One of the great blessings about my wanting to learn Romanian is that the daughter of my host family, Irena, told me when I first met her that she would teach me Romanian without me even asking. She is studying to become a language teacher in college so she is very qualified to teach. I will be taking two lessons a week from her and hopefully soon I will be able to feel more functional in Moldova on my own! Most of the younger people here speak some level of English and most of the people that I know speak very well so it hasn't been too difficult to communicate here.

My internship here has been very good so far. There are about six other people that I work with in this office so it is nice to be able to be in such a small group of people. Every morning before we start work, we have a prayer meeting to pray for special needs and the work on the organizations. I'm so excited to be working in this type of organization here since it is so easy to see the need of the people for something as simple to us as loans to grow a business. Many of the things that I will be doing relate to writing up case studies to let people know how effective the ministry is being here. Please keep me in your prayers as I start new projects and case studies that they will have an impact on the people that will read them. I have learned so much about microfinance in the past week and a half and I feel so called to be a part of this type of missions. I praise God that I am exactly in the place where I want and feel that He has called me to be!!

(These are two girls that I work with, Valentina and Tanya)

Well I have so much more that I could say but I better wrap this session up. Next time I will write about my experiences of shopping here and also going to church. I'll also try to take more pictures! Sorry that this is so long...hopefully the ones after this will be better thought out and more organized. Thanks for your support and please keep me in your prayers! God bless!