6/20/10 Moldova: Day 10
Honestly, looking back on last night, the bar scene really isn’t my thing. My favorite part of the night was walking home and seeing how clear the stars were. I would much rather sit around talking with a group of people than dance the night away. It has been hard to feel healthy here because I feel a lot of pressure from different places. First, I don’t really make any of my own food. I eat a lot and my host mother still says I don’t eat anything. Also, with the training schedule we have, it’s really hard to get up early to go running or do yoga. I want to socialize with the other volunteers, but a lot of them want to do that by drinking. I’m pretty good about saying no when I want to, but I definitely need to get better at it if I want to stay happy and healthy in Moldova. There are some things you can compromise because you’re in another country and some things you can’t. So I made a list of things I want to do for my health and sanity that I do not want to compromise while I’m here. I’m putting it on the blog because maybe putting it out there will make me accountable to someone besides myself. Please don’t worry. I’m very happy here. I’m just trying to look to the future and how beneficial a routine will be through the hard times. Tonight we are going into the forest for a birthday party of a neighbor. I think it will be a good test of these principles. You might think I’m leaving out Sunday, but I don’t want to exercise on Sunday because we’re not allowed to take showers or wash our clothes on that day. So making it a running day would be pretty smelly.
- Run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
- Do yoga on Wednesdays and Fridays
- Drink a glass of wine with dinner, but say no to all other alcohol
- Stop eating when I am full and tell my host family
- Get up at 5:45, run at 6:00
- Go to bed by 11:00 whenever it is possible
*A note to my Grammy: I was able to tell my host mother you said thank you for taking care of me, and I said it in Romanian without any gestures.
Knolls in The Peace Corps 
Bre,
I am a close friend of Susie’s in MI….so enjoyed your writing this morning. I have recently experienced a life altering event as well…a weight loss of 100 pounds and so respect you for documenting your routine, listing your health goals and also for saying NO. It is sooo hard to do that especially in stress filled times. And here you are practicing these positive affirming strategies so far from home in such an early chapter in your new life. I follow the practices of Judy Beck, a weight loss cognitive behaviorist, and am today renewing some tenants I follow…one of which is “strengthening my resistance muscle” to say NO to poor food choice and food pushers. Every time you say NO you make it easier for the next temptation. I respect you and wish you well “strengthening” your NO muscle!!
Look forward to watching you and Tim grow into your new lives~ Best wishes,
Lori Morse
Susie’s walking buddy
Rockford, MI
YAY! A good Moldovan Day in Rockford! I got to chat with you both this morning (Nice to wake up to my computer skype-ringing) and then new posts as well! I will try to remember to take my computer upstairs with me so I can be alerted to your possible call. I know some days you will want to just eat lunch and socialize, so maybe we can designate a day or two for possible calls?
Good to get some more Moldova moments in your posts! Keep ’em coming!!!
~Susie
I am so proud of you for saying NO. G & G has already said you two have always enjoy a glass of wine but from your blog and pic we could see you were exposed to drinking as if you were party animals back in college HA,however, enjoy your group and have a pepsi on me. HA I am sharing your blog with several of my friends and they are enjoying your writing and have a lot of question about the area you are living in. Sounds like Sun can be a day of reading and or studying. Does your host family encourage you to go to a place of worship with them? Love you all and most of all love hearing from you. Hope someday I see you skype but for now I am OK if we hear from you.
G & G (Grammy & Granpie)
WONDERFUL! Leah and I are thrilled with what you are doing.
Two mundane questions today: Tim, is it possible to be a vegetarian in Moldova? I would suspect not.
What is your Skype address? Do your Skype in Moldova make video chats possible?
Make that three questions. Many of thee RPCV’s I have known have talked about culture shock. It sounds like that is not a big problem…….but have there been minor things that have been sort of a jolt?
Chip
Actually, I am able to keep my vegetarian diet (for now, at least). I am not sure how it will be for me after the winter comes though. There are lots of fruits and vegetables here and I’m probably getting even more variety right now then I used to back home. After the weather gets cold, everyone’s gardens clear out so it’s down to canned meat and pickled vegetables.
To answer your second question, we do have skype and our address is knoll.trek . We try to be on every weekday from 1-2 PM here (+7 relative to EST I think). We have had two or three video chats as of yet.
Lastly, we have either not gotten to the point of culture shock or Bre and I having eachother around has made it much more bearable. My bigger fear is actually the culture shock of coming back to the US. I have heard that is much more difficult. I can already tell my body is very accustomed to our new way of life, and I’m not gonna lie, It’s great. Lots of stuff to do in the morning and afternoon, but after that everything is very relaxed and moves at its own pace.