A Watermelon Patch in Ceadir-Lunga

Best news of the week?  I have my Russian MTV back.  I lived without it for two weeks, but now it is back.  Not only can I watch MTV on channel number two, but now also on channel number fourteen, which is conveniently right before Eurosport, the only other channel I really watch.  So, I have nothing to complain about any more these days.  I can watch American music videos and practice my Russian just in time for my final Russian exam on Thursday.  Life is good in Moldova!  Oh, I nearly forgot to write that all is still fine in the world of Russian lovers.  Dina T. is still waiting for Igor K. to return and she really loves him!

In other good news, I have a new friend in Moldova.  Her name is Maleasha and she has four legs.  Who said that my friends have to be human?  I never discriminate against anything that understands my “hick” Russian.  She is actually our neighbor’s dog, so it is usually easy to find her but usually she is looking for me.  She knows that I will feed and pet her so she comes running toward me when I am coming home from somewhere.  She is adorable even though this picture doesn’t do her cuteness justice. 

Starting last month every couple of days I would buy a watermelon at the bazaar and lug it home with me.  I used to hate dragging watermelon from the bazaar to my host parents’ house because it was such a pain.  The watermelons are heavy and I was always afraid that the bags I carry them in would break and I would be left standing in the middle of the road with a ripped bag and a busted watermelon.  Not to mention the fact that I live up a pretty decent sized hill- any volunteer who has visited me can attest to this.  I did not develop good legs muscles in Moldova by accident you know.  Anyway, my host mother has recently been telling me that I should stop buying watermelons at the bazaar because she claims that they are not good.  I disagree as I have yet to eat a bad watermelon here so I ignored her requests.  Besides, where else should I get them if I don’t purchase them at the bazaar?  Last time I checked we weren’t growing any watermelons on our property.  Then she started insisting that I should eat their watermelons (the ones sitting in our cellar).  I also ignored this request because I felt guilty about eating their food.  Watermelon is super cheap (2 Lei per kilogram), but I did not want to eat something that I was not paying them for.  I finally started eating their watermelons this week when my host father came home from work with an entire car full of watermelons.  He told me that he bought them for me because he wanted me to stop buying the poor quality watermelons that are hurting my liver.  WHAT?  I am pretty sure that is not true, but I am now doing my part to help my host family devour these watermelons before they go bad.  The picture below is of some of the watermelons sitting in our cellar……there are three more bags just like this one.  I wonder how long watermelons keep?

It seems that I have a talent for keeping doctors puzzled.  During my first winter in Moldova, as many of you may remember, I somehow had bacteria in my stomach that the Peace Corps doctors had not seen in volunteers in seven years.  A few months after I recovered from that several other volunteers contracted it.  Now I have something on my leg that is once again causing the doctors (even a dermatologist) to shrug their shoulders.  At first I thought it was an extra itchy mosquito bite that I infected from excessive itching.  I ruled that out when I took a good look at it and its very odd shape.  One of the other volunteers immediately said it looked like her case of ringworm as soon as she saw it, but it didn’t look like ringworm to me.  The Peace Corps doctor was not entirely sure what it was so she called a dermatologist to look at it, but he also was also uncertain.  So, now I am left putting all kinds of creams on this nasty looking thing to get it to go away and keeping my fingers crossed that something will work.  I just hope that it is not contagious and that someone else doesn’t end up with the same problem soon.  It is not a pretty site, let me tell you.  Check out the picture below if you are brave.

I am very proud of myself these days because I am making substantial progress on my thesis paper.  I am known as a professional procrastinator, but I have surprised even myself with the amount of progress I have made.  I have already met my first two deadlines and should have no problem meeting the next one.  The main goal right now is to keep the momentum rolling until the end of next month, which is when I hope to be done with the whole thing.  To reward myself for my progress, I resumed leisure reading in the evenings.  I just finished reading Mother Tongue: The English Language, which is a phenomenal read that I suggest for everyone.  I could not put the thing down and it was incredibly entertaining and informative.  I love Bill Bryson!  And now, I am on to War and Peace; it will be interesting to see if I can finish it before I head home.  That’s my goal! 

And for those of you keeping track, I have only two months left in Moldova!  WOOHOO!  I should have an exact departure date later this week so I promise to keep you updated!

To my former Moldovan Ruskies: Good luck with grad school!  Moldova is not the same without you.  I miss you!