Tom Reade|Peace Corps

We nicknamed our little corner of eastern Europe “Posh Corps” because we have internet, we have roads, we don’t live in a hut and we don’t forage for our own food, though that depends on your definition of forage because harvest is hard work!!!!  Its the little things though that are deceptive. For example, today, I had to get up early so I can get to Leova ( my county seat ) to get some cash out and then head to Iargara ( where Jamie and my tutor lives ) and then back before 2pm so I can get to my English Club. I left the house at 7am, and just barely made it back to town for my English Club. Now how in the word could it take 6 hours to get back and forth between villages that are 12 and 21 Km apart respectively? 

First there is the 1km walk to the road, then there is waiting in the freezing wind that whips up around my town. Anyone from Chicago or New York knows what “wind chill” means and how serious it can get. After waiting for about a half hour for a ride, I get in a full car with all 20 something guys. Except the driver and 2 of the others are drinking a  beer at like 8am AND driving… I talk with my fellow passenger that is not drinking and after about 15 minutes, we get to Leova. I walk down the huge hill talking in broken Romanian-English with the guy as I get to the ATM to get cash. Then its the trek BACK UP that huge hill. That trip takes another 45 minutes. Then its waiting by the side of the road for a ride to Sarata Nou or New Salt as everyone from the Leova area is going north, not towards Iargara , which is east. But If I can get to Sarata Nou, which is east , I can get out there and hitchhike for another car to go to Iargara. Either way, I wait about 15 minutes until a 14 year old girl or maybe 15 yells for me and offers me a ride in her dad’s van. I wait there for like 20 minutes until her dad comes by and is disgusted that she picked me up for Sarata Nou, one stop, when he needs people for Chisinau as this is clearly his job.  She wants to speak English to me, so she convinces him to let me stay and he goes off looking for more people. Eventually, he finds 5 people and I sqeeze in next to the door to Sarata Nou. Next I wait at Sarata Nou for about 20 minutes with another guy and then an older couple comes by, so now there is 4. Car after car passes us. After another 15 minutes, a van of very russian looking guys comes by and gets us. After getting to Iargara, its another 20 minute walk to my tutor’s house. Its now 10:30am. I left 3 and a 1\2 hours ago!

After doing about an hour and a half tutoring with Ina, I leave around noon to get back to town. I walk to the center of town and wait for a ride. We wait almost a half hour until 2 girls come by and of course a car stops then and head to Sarata Nou. I hit my first break, the girl that came with us, also manages to flag down a shuttle van within 5 minutes and we’re off! I get back to town around 1:30 and off to class with no lunch to wrangle some 3rd and 4th graders!!!! Woot.

So, now, you can see how a simple thing as going to the bank and then to your tutor and then back home takes 6 hours! That is probably the one universal thing in all of Peace Corps- the little things take a lot of effort and work and especially time!