meldruminmoldova's Xanga

1 Remaining and None Left

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:01:01 GMT

1 Giant Wish to Come Home! See you all soon!

What Did You Say?

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:12:21 GMT

2 Words I Am Most Likely To Accidentally Say In Russian While I Am in America:

1. "Schto? (What?)
2. "Da" (Yes).

This list is getting scarily short! Only one more day in Moldova. FABULOUS!

3 “Made in Moldova” Items That I Am Bringing Home So You Can Sample

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:41:34 GMT

3. Vodka

2. Candy (it is better than you think it is!)

1. House wine

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:32:26 GMT

4 Souvenirs That I Will Bring from Moldova

4. Soviet money, propaganda posters, and various related items
3. Moldovan, Gagauzian, and Trasnistrian (thanks P-E-T-E-R!) flags
2. Hundreds of pictures
1. The Moldova Group 17 t-shirt

Rocking Out in the 'Dover

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:42:14 GMT

My 5 Favorite Songs to Listen to on Russian MTV

5. “Smack That”- Akon featuring Eminem
4. “Number One Fan”- Dima Bilan
3. “I Miss You”- Avril Levine
2. “Zneish Lee Tee? (Don’t You Know?)- Maxim
1. “Umbrella”- Rihanna (Though it is more fun to rock out to this song with Sarah at the Peace Corps office!)

WAIT.....I'm an American, right?

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:44:48 GMT

6 Signs That I Am Slowly Becoming a “Moldovanka”

6. I use Romanian and Russian together in sentences

5. I no longer say “goodbye” when I am ending telephone conversations; throwing down the receiver means the conversation is OVER!

4. I reuse grocery bags and carry extras with me wherever I go

3. I think it is disrespectful for people to wear dirty shoes

2. I plan my days around potential power and telephone service disruptions

1. I know what “frumos” and “krascevee” are when I see them

What Did You Say?

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:09:35 GMT

I have my good days with Russian and I also have my bad days. Somtimes words flowly freely from my mouth and two minutes later I can barely manage to tell someone that it is nice to meet them. It happens and I have learned to deal with. Russian, like any other language, has many words that sound very similar and I have a particular talent for screwing up these words or using one when I clearly intended to use the other. Usually people understand what I intended to say. For example, they understand that I mean to say our house has a "roof" and not "cinnamon" or "corn" as I often accidentally say. Other times, however, I cause people to be very confused. Imagine someone asking me about my religious beliefs and I replying that "I am a peasant." Well, that explains a lot doesn't it Amy?

7 Similar Sounding Russian Word Combinations That I Perpetually Confuse

7. Roof/lid/cinnamon/corn
6. Light/flower/color
5. Folder/butt (always good for a laugh or two- Open up your butt and put the your other butt inside of it.)
4. Unclear/popular
3. Expensive/road
2. Peasant/Christian
1. Horse/teaspoon

Yes, I am going crazy waiting during my last week in Moldova! Chisinau's wine festival is just what I need this weekend!

"Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its Off to....." I Go!

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:40:37 GMT

8 States I Will Visit To Within a Month of Returning To the Other Side of the Pond

8. New York
7. Michigan
6. Illinois
5. North Carolina
4. South Carolina
3. Georgia
2. Florida
1. Ohio

Well, Of Course I Joined the Peace Corps to....

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:05:17 GMT

9 “Firsts” in During My Peace Corps Service

9. Picking grapes and making wine
8. Having ringworm (GROSS!)
7. Trying (and liking) things with a “meat jelly” flavor (Don’t worry, I only like the croutons of this flavor.)
6. Having my purse stolen
5. Taking a ride in a horse-drawn cart
4. Starting and finishing a Tolstoy book
3. Learning and performing a traditional Moldovan dance (Our swearing-in ceremony seems so long ago!)
2. Using three languages in the same sentence and not batting an eye (e.g. Hai (Romanian- “Come on”), we’re going to the magazine (Russian- “store”).
1. Using a squat toilet (Peace Corps- Building strong quads since 1964!)

Around the World in 730 Days

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:37:29 GMT

The 10 Countries I Visited During My Peace Corps Service

10. Romania
9. Bulgaria
8. Turkey
7. Hungary
6. Poland
5. Slovak Republic
4. Slovenia
3. Ukraine
2. France
1. America (This counts since technically I was “residing” in Moldova at the time.)