Well it's April and it seems that Spring has FINALLY arrived. So what's new? I spent the day writing reviews and tests for my students. Less than 2 months left in school :) I also spent the day cleaning out papers, clothes and things in preparation for my return to America! I'll be leaving (hopefully a large portion) of my clothes at the health center. I'm going to ask my counterpart, my nurse partner, to distribute clothes to families in the villages that she thinks are in need.
I recently returned from a "girls weekend" in Odessa, Ukraine which was my last vacation of my Peace Corps service. It's a funny little story. We left Chisinau, Moldova at 12:20am and arrived in Odessa, Ukraine around 6am. Before leaving one of the girls found a 24-hour cafe where we could relax with coffee/food until we could check into the hotel around 9am. We took a taxi to this cafe, but to our surprise. It does't exist (at least not in that location). We decided to walk (6 am, cold, raining) in search of a new cafe. Finally, we spotted those glorious golden arches aka Mcdonalds. As we approached, we quickly realized that they were remodeling and not open. On to the next option- Sit in the train station and wait until 8am. Nope! We were quickly shooed out because only customers and those people willing to pay $7 are able to sit in the station. Walking, walking, walking. Finally, we found a lovely cafe, had our fill, and made it to the hotel for a much needed nap. It sounds like a rough start, but the Indian food for lunch and sushi for dinner made it all worth it. We made it back to Moldova on Sunday evening just in time for the first BBQ of the year at another volunteer's house just outside of Chisinau.
I am still teaching, and preparing to start 2 new projects- 1) a theater and 2) fitness room, both at the school. Did I mention that I'll be leaving Moldova in just over 2 months?! It's going to be a busy time, but I couldn't be more excited!
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Vatican City March 2013
During our last two days in Italy, we went to Vatican city. We toured Saint Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums. The Sistine Chapel is located in the Vatican Museums but, due to the selection of the new pope, it was closed. We were in Vatican City just a week before they selected the new pope.
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| A Vatican guard and what I assume is a tourist trying to go where she isn't allowed. |
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| The entrance to Vatican City! |
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| The tomb of the apostle Peter. |
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| Climbing to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. |
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| Camera crews waiting for the announcement of the new pope. |
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| The walls of Vatican city. |
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| Just two statues from the Vatican Museum. Yeah, I forgot my camera charger :( This is a statue of a sleeping cupid. It can be dated between the second half of the 2nd and beginning of 3rd century AD. |
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| Statue of Hercules. A Roman work, dating to the start of the 1st century, was sold to the Vatican museums by Prince Altieri in in 1802. |
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| Bust of Ocean. End of 2nd century AD. |
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| Statue of Narcissus. The famous myth of the beautiful young Narcissus who, refusing love of any girl, was condemned by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, to fall in love with his own reflection seen in a pool. First half of the 2nd century AD. |
March 23, 2013
I'm sitting in my room on a relaxing Saturday. I was supposed to go to the capital, Chisinau, today with the school nurse and school director to purchase some things for our most recent project but unfortunately it's snowing. Yeah, snowing. What a beautiful spring day :)
Last week the school nurse and I finished our health campaign at the school. The 11th graders created posters about healthy relationships, smoking, alcohol, human trafficking and self esteem which were hung around the school. On Tuesday and Wednesday we passed out brochures about the aforementioned topics and on Thursday the 11th graders led a seminar. Each class (8-12) presented a skit and/or video about one topic and then the 11th graders led a discussion with the audience. It was a bit unorganized, but we got good feedback, and I think the kids enjoyed it.
I've been working for the past few months with the physical education teacher to create a fitness room at the school complete with elliptical machines, weights, stationary bicycles, etc. We won the grant and will be working on that project for the next few months!
So, while writing this post, I decided to calculate exactly how many days that I have left in Moldova. Drum roll please.... 109 days. Is that a small amount or a long amount of time? I have no idea.
I wanted to explain, hopefully more simply, what I actually do here. (I don't think that I've ever made it very clear).
I teach 8 health classes per week with two different Moldovan biology teachers- Vera and Angela. With Angela, I co-teach grades 5 and 6 and with Vera, grades 7 and 8. This means that I talk for 10 minutes and explain one topic then Angela/Vera will take over and explain the next topic, it's basically a back and forth exchange. Why do we co-teach? Everything I do in Peace Corps is supposed to be done with a Moldovan. Why? Transfer of skills. When we co-teach, the students learn the information and the Moldovan teacher learns a new set of teaching skills (different classroom activities, modes of discipline, etc.). There is not a health education curriculum for Moldova so, with Vera and Angela, I created a long term (year long) plan for each grade and then, each week, we create a lesson plan. This is difficult and time consuming, but it gives us the freedom to teach the topics that we think are most important.
As I said earlier, I worked with 1) the school nurse and 2) a PE teacher to develop two separate projects. This is another aspect of my work here. I identify people that are interested in working with me, and together we develop whatever project or activity is needed at that time.
I also work at the village health center. Once again, with a Moldovan partner, Natalia who is a nurse. We have completed two projects at the health center- 1) an HIV/AIDS prevention mural and 2) we purchased resources (telephones, copy machine, etc.). Natalia and I have also taught seminars at the health center regarding HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. I currently meet with her every Sunday (to teach her English) and occasionally during the week to discuss activity/project ideas.
So, that was a bit long, but I thought it would be helpful to clarify (sorry it's about 21 months late) what it is that I'm doing in Moldova.
Dahnika
Last week the school nurse and I finished our health campaign at the school. The 11th graders created posters about healthy relationships, smoking, alcohol, human trafficking and self esteem which were hung around the school. On Tuesday and Wednesday we passed out brochures about the aforementioned topics and on Thursday the 11th graders led a seminar. Each class (8-12) presented a skit and/or video about one topic and then the 11th graders led a discussion with the audience. It was a bit unorganized, but we got good feedback, and I think the kids enjoyed it.
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| Through this health campaign project, we were able to purchase books and other resources for the school library. |
So, while writing this post, I decided to calculate exactly how many days that I have left in Moldova. Drum roll please.... 109 days. Is that a small amount or a long amount of time? I have no idea.
I wanted to explain, hopefully more simply, what I actually do here. (I don't think that I've ever made it very clear).
I teach 8 health classes per week with two different Moldovan biology teachers- Vera and Angela. With Angela, I co-teach grades 5 and 6 and with Vera, grades 7 and 8. This means that I talk for 10 minutes and explain one topic then Angela/Vera will take over and explain the next topic, it's basically a back and forth exchange. Why do we co-teach? Everything I do in Peace Corps is supposed to be done with a Moldovan. Why? Transfer of skills. When we co-teach, the students learn the information and the Moldovan teacher learns a new set of teaching skills (different classroom activities, modes of discipline, etc.). There is not a health education curriculum for Moldova so, with Vera and Angela, I created a long term (year long) plan for each grade and then, each week, we create a lesson plan. This is difficult and time consuming, but it gives us the freedom to teach the topics that we think are most important.
As I said earlier, I worked with 1) the school nurse and 2) a PE teacher to develop two separate projects. This is another aspect of my work here. I identify people that are interested in working with me, and together we develop whatever project or activity is needed at that time.
I also work at the village health center. Once again, with a Moldovan partner, Natalia who is a nurse. We have completed two projects at the health center- 1) an HIV/AIDS prevention mural and 2) we purchased resources (telephones, copy machine, etc.). Natalia and I have also taught seminars at the health center regarding HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. I currently meet with her every Sunday (to teach her English) and occasionally during the week to discuss activity/project ideas.
So, that was a bit long, but I thought it would be helpful to clarify (sorry it's about 21 months late) what it is that I'm doing in Moldova.
Dahnika
Venice, Italy March 2013
Third stop on the trip- Venice. Really loved this city, and I wish we could have stayed longer. Before going to Venice, a fellow traveler said, "Don't even try to use the map." She was correct, it was extremely difficult to navigate around all of those canals :)
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| Famous Carnival masks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Venice |
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