Count Your Many Blessings

In my naive mind, I envisioned my second year here in Moldova as a seamless succession of good days. I had heard other volunteers gush about how much easier their second year was, and amidst my first year-struggles (learning Romanian, discovering the ins and outs of the Moldovan educational system, figuring out how to consciously teach a language I took for granted, etc.), I imagined that once I reached the midway point of my service, the rest would be smooth sailing.

In many ways, that has proved to be true. Several of the struggles I had last year are gone. But what I didn't anticipate was that this year would come with its own set of challenges: new classes of wildly misbehaving children, new partner teachers who have proven difficult to work with at times, and now a government-imposed H1N1 "quarantine" that has left me sharing crowded classroom space with fellow English teachers who have to try to teach their own group of students alongside mine (as if teaching a foreign language wasn't hard enough to begin with).

And I've come to the realization that year 2 isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows. Before, when I was waiting for things to calm down, I was impatient for my charmed life to begin and a little disgruntled about all my so-called interruptions. But now I've come to terms with the way things are, and--as a result--I'm a lot happier. I may have a lot of bumps in the road, but I also have a lot here to be thankful for:

--my 11th graders, who beg me all the time to stay in Moldova another year, so they can have me as their teacher until they graduate

--my two host nieces, who grin a mile wide whenever they see me and fight over who gets to sit next to Tanti Katea at the dinner table

--my church, which has happily adopted me into their congregation as their American-in-resident

--my trusty old computer, which functions just well enough to give me the Internet I use to keep in touch with family and friends back home

--my main teaching partner, Irina, who is my closest Moldovan friend and an amazing teacher

--my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, who truly understand the highs and lows that are Peace Corps service

--my daily walk to and from school, which lets me stretch my legs, clear my mind, and feel a little more alive in the process

--my Friday English club students, who speak better English than I do and never fail to make my day better after just 5 minutes with them

--my adopted country Moldova, which has some of the most hospitable and generous people in the world


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!