Had chickenpox. Check.

In the spirit of non-plagiarism, I’d like to say that I found this on my friend Kelly’s blog. It’s kind of a life experiences checklist (or reverse version of “I’ve Never”). The bold ones are either ones I’ve done, or ones I felt like commenting on. Kind of random, but I found it entertaining. Enjoy!

●Started your own blog – Hmm, tough one.
●Slept under the stars – Many times at Covenant Acres—one memorable occasion on a water trampoline comes to mind.
●Played in a band
●Visited Hawaii
●Watched a meteor shower
●Given more than you can afford to charity – Not often enough.
●Been to Disneyland/world – Disney World (MGM and Epcot)
●Climbed a mountain – I “climbed” Pike’s Peak in a train—does that count?
●Held a praying mantis
●Sang a solo—Yep. On many occasions.
●Bungee jumped
●Visited Paris
●Watched a lightning storm at sea
●Taught yourself an art from scratch
●Adopted a child
●Had food poisoning—I drank some bad house wine once at a masa (a Moldovan feast, basically) for teachers at my school. Not fun.
●Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty—I visited NYC the week after America invaded Iraq, and security was pretty tight. They let us view it afar from a boat.
●Seen the Mona Lisa in France—Where else would you see the Mona Lisa? Does she travel?●Slept on an overnight train
●Had a pillow fight – My siblings and I were connoisseurs of pillow fights. Kenton and Sarah, remember our sumo wrestling days?
●Hitchhiked—Not yet…but I live in Moldova. I’m sure I’ll get the chance.
●Taken a sick day when you’re not ill—When I was in school, yes.
●Built a snow fort- Oh yeah.
●Held a lamb—I think so. The memory’s a little fuzzy.
●Gone skinny dipping – Gotta love the randomness. We go straight from holding lambs to skinny dipping.
●Been to a Broadway show in NY—Yep! Beauty and the Beast (on my senior class trip)
●Ran a Marathon
●Been in three states at once
●Ridden in a gondola in Venice
●Seen a total eclipse
●Watched a sunrise or sunset – The most recent one I can remember was a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico with my sister Kendra. Good times. :-)
●Hit a home run—In wiffle ball, most definitely.
●Been on a Cruise
●Seen Niagara Falls in Person- I’m from Western NY. I’ve lost count.
●Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors
●Seen an Amish community – When I was in high school I practically lived in one. We had Amish neighbors right down the road from us, and our local grocery store had a hitching post in the parking lot.
●Taught yourself a new language- Currently—Romanian and Russian (but I have help).
●Had enough money to be truly satisfied – Oddly enough, right now.
●Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
●Gone rock climbing
●Seen Michelangelo’s David
●Sung karaoke- Yes. I’m not really a fan.
●Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
●Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant –Actually, yes. Long story.
●Visited Africa
●Walked on a beach by moonlight—Yep.
●Been transported in an ambulance—Yes. But I wasn’t really injured, and I was too embarrassed by the hideous neck brace I was wearing to enjoy it. It wasn’t all bad though. The woman that ran the red light, hitting me and totaling my parents’ ancient minivan, footed the entire bill. And now they have a nice Jeep instead. You’re welcome, Mom and Dad.
●Gone deep sea fishing
●Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
●Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris—What’s with all the Paris questions? How about some more unique ones? How many people can say they’ve been to Moldova?
●Gone scuba diving or snorkeling- Yes to the second. Off of St. Croix. Quite heavenly.
●Kissed in the rain
●Played in the mud – Isn’t that a required part of childhood (as in, they don’t let you pass on to adulthood if you don’t)?
●Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco
●Gone to a drive-in theater – Yes! The world needs more of them.
●Visited the Great Wall of China
●Started a business—One failed attempt at a lemonade stand…the beginning and end of my sad career as an entrepreneur.
●Taken a martial arts class—A whole semester of Self Defense (aka Tai Kwon Do) at Roberts.
●Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
●Visited Russia—Yep. That’s one of reasons I’m in Moldova, actually.
●Served at a soup kitchen
●Sold Girl Scout cookies
●Gone whale watching
●Gotten flowers for no reason
●Donated blood, platelets or plasma – Yes to the first.
●Gone sky diving
●Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
●Bounced a check
●Saved a favorite childhood toy - My favorite “doll”—a stuffed Alvin the Chipmunk, whose bangs I mutilated before I realized they couldn’t grow back. I love you anyway, Alvin.
●Visited the Lincoln Memorial – Yep.
●Eaten Caviar- No, thanks. I have had goose liver though. Equally disgusting, I’m sure.
●Pieced a quilt
●Stood in Times Square -Yep. It’s really big.
●Toured the Everglades—A few times.
●Been fired from a job
●Seen the Changing of the Guards in London—No, but I have seen the changing of the guards at the Kremlin in Moscow and at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.
●Broken a bone
●Been on a speeding motorcycle—I guess they don’t think being on a motorcycle is enough of an accomplishment.
●Seen the Grand Canyon in person
●Published a book
●Visited the Vatican
●Bought a brand new car
●Walked in Jerusalem
●Had your picture in the newspaper—Oh, yes. When I was in 4th grade I won a county spelling bee. I was quite famous.
●Read the entire Bible—Only once. It took awhile.
●Visited the White House—Yep. On a 6th grade class trip.
●Killed and prepared your own meat
●Had chickenpox – Yeah. Don’t remember it though.
●Saved someone’s life
●Sat on a jury
●Met someone famous
●Lost a loved one—My grandma
●Had a baby
●Seen the Alamo in person.
●Swam in the Great Salt Lake
●Been involved in a law suit
●Owned a cell phone –Funny story…I bought my very first cell phone here in Moldova. It only took joining the Peace Corps and moving halfway across the world to convince Katie to join the rest of “modern civilization.” Whatever that means. ;-)

A Couple Stories

As is my custom, I’m guilty of waiting too long since my last post. Part of my excuse is that life has been pretty uneventful since Christmas. My days have been full of teaching and planning lessons. Not much to report there. Since nothing unusual or extraordinary has occurred, I’ll have to settle for a couple anecdotes.

Evil, Thy Name Is Mud
Mud and I have always had an amicable relationship. In the past I usually encountered it in places like camp or park trails, when I was wearing sufficiently grubby attire. I never minded getting dirty.

Alas, those days are long gone. For the past month, the weather here has been unseasonably warm. Instead of snow, we have gotten a steady supply of rain. As a result, there is mud everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Only the main street in my town is paved, which means most of my trek to school is on un-paved roads or foot-paths.

This wouldn’t be so bad if I could walk around in galoshes or barn boots. But I live in Moldova, which means I have to be “frumos” whenever I step foot outside my house (for you non-Romanian speakers, “frumos” literally means beautiful, but it’s kind of like “nice”—it gets applied to everything). This means dressy black boots, preferably with heels (I draw the line at stilettos). And to make matters worse, my host mom practically attacks me with a rag and bucket if I don’t clean my boots every day. Never mind that they are mud-soaked the minute I step outside the gate. It’s just not proper to leave the house with dirty shoes.

So, every night I clean my shoes, and every morning I arrive at school with mud up to my ears (I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the idea). The Moldovans, however, manage to arrive virtually mud-free. They seem to have some magic ability to walk on top of mud. I think it’s genetic. Which means there’s no hope for me.

Mud—100, Katie-0

Love Is in the Air
Upon learning that I am 23 and still “unattached”, most Moldovans advise me to find a nice boy and get married before it’s too late (apparently I’m running dangerously low on time). Other than that, they leave me alone to go on my merry single way. So I was beginning to think I might make it through my time here without any serious match-making attempts. I should have known better.

Last Tuesday, I came home from school to find two men from the telephone company outside our gate talking with my host dad. I knew they would be coming to set up Internet at our house, so I didn’t find this strange. When one of them grinned at me and said, “Good evening,” I thought nothing of it. I’m used to people practicing their English on me. I smiled and responded back, “Good evening.”

But then my host dad turned to me and informed me that the young man standing in front of me wanted to marry me. When I started laughing, my host dad replied, “Why are you laughing? I’m serious. Don’t you think he’s good-looking? You should marry him and take him back to America with you.” At this point I realized I had walked into an ambush. The only thing to do was cut and run. Putting on my best “I-don’t-understand-because-my-Romanian-is-still-bad” face, I carefully avoided making any further eye contact with my potential suitor and fled into the house.

I’m safe for now, but lover-boy still has to come back to hook up my Internet. Here's hoping I won't be home!