A Drinking Problem

Just got this article forwarded to me by another PCV. Looks like tough times are ahead for the Moldovan economy now that most of its wine exports to Russia have been banned. For some companies, 90% of their sales go to Russia.

Open Office

I returned from a 7 day sojourn to Chisinau to find spring has sprung in my village. The weather seems to finally have made up its mind not to be winter and for the first time, I see green. Green buds on trees, green shoots coming up from the ground. The whole thing makes me want to start a garden - we'll see if that actually comes to fruition this weekend. And I also wonder if my time would be better spent on language, teaching computers, or writing grants.

While in Chisinau I took plenty of hot showers, played basketball, cooked a dinner of made-from-scratch tomato sauce and pasta for 8 in a real American kitchen, awarded 3 grants to PCVs through the Small Project Assistance committee on which I serve, played the blues for the start of something called the "Tolerance Club," taught two PCVs how to use Excel, and attended a 3-day workshop on project design with my mayor. Though I had a good time and the workshop was moderately useful - and ate some amazing gorgonzola cheese at an Italian restaurant - it's good to be back home.

While in Chisinau, I also download a copy of Open Office. This is almost an exact copy of MSOffice, but 100% free and it comes in several languages. Any file you create in MSOffice can be used in Open Office and vice versa. So, if you're like many places in Moldova that have computers donated from America, and thus only operate in English, you can easily install an Open Office version of Word and Excel in Russian or Romanian - or any of the 15-20 available languages. And, you're not violating any copyright laws by making illegal copies of Microsoft software. The whole thing is about 115MB, so it easily fits on most flash drives or you can burn it to a CD and just copy it everywhere you need it. I highly recommend this program to all.

Dr. Strangecar: How I Learned to Love a 5am Bus

Yesterday, my mayor asked me to go to Chisinau with a couple
community members for a meeting with an aid organization, IREX. They
want IREX to give them money to fix a road (i.e. river of mud) -
which I spent an hour or two photographing and which you see pictured
below. I thought the participants of the meeting would be myself,
one community member, Oleg, and someone from IREX. This morning that
group changed to me, 3 members of the community, our vice-mayor, no
Oleg, some Turkish guy who needed a lift back to Chisinau, the school
director who had the day off and wanted to go to town, and two drivers

This many people could not fit in one car, and two cars were hard to
come by.
About 2 hours after we were originally supposed to leave,
we departed in two cars. Fifteen minutes later, at the local gas
station, we stopped for about 30 minutes to haggle with the owner
about giving us gas since we were at least mostly on "official"
business of the mayor's office.

When we reach the halfway point, a city called Comrat, our car stops
so the random Turkish guy can meet with someone in that mayor's
office for an undisclosed period of time. So I call my friend, Bryan
to see if he's free to meet me. He is, we go to a cafe and order
food, and just before my food arrives, the Turk's meeting ends and we
have to get back on the road - good thing I packed a Clif bar...

About 30 minutes outside of Chisinau, our car develops some sort of
mechanical or electrical problem requiring the car to shake a lot and
have frequent shut off.

So we get to Chisinau and IREX's office and the other car isn't there
- which begs the question, considering all our delays, what the hell
happened to the other car?! About 30 minutes later they arrive and
we have our meeting which basically goes like this:

VILLAGERS: So, we'd like you to give us money to fix our road.
IREX: Well, we don't just give money for projects. There needs to be
some kind of community development - like a community group that will
meet regularly to address this and other local concerns during the
project and into the future.
VILLAGERS: But, we want you to give us money to fix our road. Didn't
you see the pictures?
BRAD: [sigh...]

After the meeting, I ate a pretty good lunch at a cafe while waiting
for our driver to return from some mechanic who is hopefully
repairing the car. God only knows when that will be, so I take a
taxi to the PC office and while away the time there.

Several hours later I'm picked up in a working car, minus the Turk,
allowing me to stretch out in the back seat... for 5 minutes until we
pick up to random people headed to Ceadir-Lunga, so now as I type
this I am quite scrunched. Then we hit a pothole and got a flat
tire, which our driver changed (quite quickly) and I got home around
11pm, ate dinner, and went to bed.

Thought I'd give you a sneak into the "never a dull moment in
transportation" lifestyle that many people lead in this country.

Lessons learned:
1. Don't go to Chisinau and back in one day, especially in the
mayor's car.
2. I actually prefer the daily 5am bus to Chisinau. I leaves on time
- or at least never more than 15 minutes late - and doesn't make any
unscheduled stops.
3. Only go to necessary meetings in Chisinau.
4. I get more work done in my village than I do in the capital
(though I think I knew this already, but today really drove - no pun
intended - the point home).

Computer Center

Yesterday the mayor's office received two computers and a printer
from USAID, via the Urban Institute's Local Government Reform Project
(LGRP). As I've posted before, LGRP is an excellent project working
to make government at the local level more transparent, efficient,
and responsive to the people. Hopefully, this effect will flow up to
the federal government, which is still often mired in its
bureaucratic ways (will tell a story about this later - better to
report on something after it happens than while a decision is still
up in the air).

After the computers were delivered yesterday, everyone was pretty
excited, but the office was situated in such a way that only 2 people
could really see the screens. I suggested changing the layout of the
desks and other furniture, but like most things that involve altering
the status quo here, it was met with pessimism, reluctance, and a mix
of antagonism and a secret desire to actually follow a good idea.
So, I did it anyway. This morning I came in early with one other
accountant and we changed most of the room around before everyone got
here. Once people saw we already started, the work was mostly done,
and that it actually was better, they started to help and make
suggestions. So, now the office has a much better Feng Shui and 4
people instead of 2 can use the computers. [The posed picture is the
old setup; the other photo is the new setup.]

It's funny - there's often such a resistance to change that people
really want. I suppose that's true everywhere, but definitely less
so in America. I've found the adage, "Better to beg forgiveness than
ask permission" a helpful motto.

Training and Basketball

I spent this past weekend in Chisinau for an IST (In-Service Training), one of several 3-day trainings organized by PC during our two years of service. Usually they are for language - as was this one - but occasionally they're organized around technical classes (for PCVs working as teachers, health workers, agri-business volunteers, or in my community/organization development field). They're also good times for PCVs to enjoy each others' company, eat out, and take hot showers.

This time we also had the added benefit of basketball. And when I say basketball, I mean real American basketball. Don't get me wrong - Moldovans know how to play and I have enjoyed games with them - but the pick and roll, defense, crisp passes, and not reaching-in are just not part of the culture here. So on Friday night 6 PCVs played three glorious games of 3x3. We are pictured here, from right to left: Brad "one leg is enough," Craig "my last name contains the word 'height' so clearly I must be good," Dan "no concussion or pneumonia can keep me on the bench," Adam "No shoes, no service," Scott "I play better with a bum knee," and "Stewart "I play like I'm half my age."

We were also treated to an excellent chili dinner at one of the departing staff member's houses, and got to watch the BoomersTV episode (mentioned in an earlier entry) that features a married couple currently serving in my group. Yours truly makes a short appearance in the b-roll - watch it if you can but no need to tape it and send me a copy now that I've already seen it.

Lastly, through some discussions with other PCVs this weekend, I realized that we do a pretty poor job of sharing information between each other. I have no idea what projects my peers are working on and they don't know what I'm doing. For example, I've finished an Excel class and at dinner one night another PCV said he would be interested in doing the same. He's working on getting solar-powered street lights for his village, a great idea that I had never thought of but would love to copy for my village. And through an informal discussion with my Program Manager, I found out that there are already typing lesson plans from a previous PCV's project - and I've been working on getting a typing class together. So, next project is
figuring out the best way for the 130-ish PCVs to easily share information with each other every couple of months. No point in reinventing the wheel at each site.

Women's Day, Water, and Ukraine

March 8th is Women's Day, but we celebrated it yesterday. In my
village, it's basically the same as Man's Day (which used to be the
Soviet Army Day and took place about a month ago). My tutor invited
me to her school's festivities - a big lunch, lots of speeches,
dancing, drinking, me repeatedly explaining that actually I don't
want any more wine or cognac, funny games, and small gifts. The same
thing happened at the mayor's office after 5pm. I'm not really going
into a lot of detail here because I'm a bit partied out right now.
One can take only so much.

USAID and the Urban Institute came to our village this week to
celebrate the finish of a water project that built three small water
towers and ran a new pipe down one street. That was a good day. I
had three lunches as I and the other "dignitaries" were carted around
town to see where future projects might take place.

Was planning on going to Bolgrad, Ukraine today to do some shopping
with Mom, but learned that for some reason only people who officially
have documentation that states they live in Copceac can cross the
border at this one spot - God knows why. Up until last night, I was
still raring to go - I think in part because so many people had told
me (incorrectly) that it couldn't be done. For example, our office
passport "expert" kept insisting that I needed a Ukrainian visa, when
I am 100% certain that as an American I do not. Peace Corps is
certain that I do not and approves day trips like this for PCVs who
live near the border all the time. I even know Americans currently
living in Ukraine without visas. But eventually I threw up my hands
at the red tape wall that was continually mounting. Really, the
market in Bolgrad is nothing to write home about so it's not worth
the headache. I think I was just itching for a little adventure -
even getting (erroneously) turned back at the border would be a new
excursion. Maybe I'll figure out a way to go some other time, but
now I can look forward to a weekend of R&R...

On TV

As mentioned in an earlier posting, an older couple from my PC group
was filmed for a show called BoomersTV, all about baby boomers doing
unique things in their lives these days. The show is airing on many
PBS stations, which I've posted below. The PC episode, in which you
might see me somewhere in the background, is the 10th episode in the
BoomersTV series, SO IT AIRS 10 WEEKS AFTER THE START DATES YOU SEE
BELOW. The earliest date is March 5 (for places with a start date of
Jan 1).

Though I haven't seen the show - or for that matter any English
speaking TV for quite some time - I hope it will be a good
opportunity to learn a little bit about Moldova and PC. Enjoy - and
someone please make a copy for me!

Alaska
Anchorage KMXT-9 Tues, 10:30pm Starting Feb. 21
Anchorage KYUK-4 Tues, 10:30pm Starting Feb. 21
Fairbanks KUAC-3 Tues, 10:30pm Starting Feb. 21
Juneau KTOO-3 Tues, 10:30pm Starting Feb. 21

Arizona
Phoenix KAET-8 Sun, 2pm Starting Jan. 8

California
Chico/Redding KIXE Thurs, 6pm Starting Feb. 23
Eureka KEET-13 Sun, 9am Starting Jan. 8
Los Angeles KLCS-58 Tues, 11:00pm Starting Jan. 3
Rohnert Park KRCB-22 Mon, 7:30pm Starting Jan. 30
Sacramento KVIE cable Tues, 6pm Starting Jan. 17
San Bernadino KVCR-24 Fri, 10:30pm Starting Jan. 6
San Bernadino KVCR-24 Sun, 10pm Starting Jan. 30
San Jose KTEH-54 Sat, 12:30pm Starting Jan. 7
San Mateo KCSM Tues, 7pm Starting Feb. 28

Colorado
Colorado Springs Pueblo KTSC-8 Sun, 11:30am Starting Feb. 12
Denver KRMA-6 Sun, 11:30am Starting Feb. 12
Grand Junction Montrose KRMJ-18 Sun, 11:30am Starting
Feb. 12

Delaware
Seaford WDPB-64 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8

District of Columbia
Washington WHUT-32 Sun, 10:30pm Starting Jan. 8

Georgia
Atlanta WPBA-30 Sun, 11pm Starting Jan. 8

Hawaii
Honolulu KHET-11 Tues, 7:30pm Starting Jan. 10

Illinois
Champaign WILL-12 Sat, 9:30am Starting Jan. 28
Chicago WYIN-56 Thu, 7pm Starting Jan. 5
Chicago WTTW-11 Sun, 5am Starting Jan. 8
Macomb WMEC-14 Tues, 1:30pm Starting Feb. 7
Quincy WQEC-14 Tues, 1:30pm Starting Feb. 7
Springfield WSEC-14 Tues, 1:30pm Starting Feb. 7

Indiana
Evansville WNIN-9 Sun, 5:30pm Starting Jan. 22
Fort Wayne WFWA-39 Sun, 11am Starting Jan. 8
Indianapolis WFYI-20 Sat, 6pm Starting Jan. 7
Muncie WIPB-49 Sun, 11pm Starting Jan. 8
Terre Haute WUSI-16 Sun, 11:30am Starting Feb. 5

Kansas
Pittsburg KOZJ-26 Sun, 2:30pm Starting Feb. 5
Topeka KTWU-11 Sat, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 7

Kentucky
Bowling Green WKYU-24 Sun, 6:30pm Starting Jan. 8
Bowling Green WKGB-53 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Covington WCVN DT-54 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Elizabethtown WKZT-23 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Lexington WKLE DT-46 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Louisville WKMJ-68 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Louisville WKPC-15 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Madisonville WKMA-35 Wed, 4:30am Starting Jan. 11
Murray WKMU-21 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Owenton WKON DT-52 Wed, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 11
Paducah WSIU-8 Sun, 11:30am Starting Feb. 5

Maryland
Salisbury WDPB-64 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8

Massachusetts
Boston WGBX-44 Sun, 9:30am Starting Jan. 8
Springfield WGBY-57 Sun, 3pm Starting Jan. 1

Michigan
Alpena WCML-6 Mon, 1pm Starting Jan. 30
Cadillac WCMV-27 Mon, 1pm Starting Jan. 30
Detroit WTVS-56 Sun, 6pm Starting Jan. 1
Detroit WTVS-56 Sat, 5pm Starting Jan. 7
Flint WFUM-28 Sat, 7:30pm Starting Jan. 7
Grand Rapids WGVU-35 MOn, 2pm Starting Feb. 20
Kalamazoo WGVK-52 Mon, 2pm Starting Feb. 20
Lansing WKAR-23 Sun, 12:30pm Starting Jan. 22

Minnesota
Bemidji KAWE-9 Sat, 3pm Starting Jan. 7
Brainerd KAWB-22 Sat, 3pm Starting Jan. 7

Missouri
Kansas City KCPT-19 Fri, 1:30pm Starting Jan. 13
Springfield Joplin KOZK-21 Sun, 2:30pm Starting Feb. 5

New Jersey
Camden WNJS-23 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8
Montclair WNJN-50 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8
New Brunswick WNJB-58 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8
Trenton WNJT-52 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8

New Mexico
Albuquerque KNME-5 Sat, 3:30pm Starting Jan. 7

New York
Plattsburgh WCFE-57 Sun, 7pm Starting Jan. 1
Syracuse WCNY-24 Tues, 10:30pm Starting Jan. 17
Watertown WNPI-18 Sat, 6:30pm Starting Jan. 7

North Carolina
Charlotte WUNG-58 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22
Charlotte WUNE-17 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22
Greensboro High Point Winston Salem WUNL-26 Wed, 1pm
Starting Feb. 22
Greenville New Bern Washington WUNM-19 Wed, 1pm Starting
Feb. 22
Greenville New Bern Washington WUND-26 Wed, 1pm Starting
Feb. 22
Greenville New Bern Washington WUNK-25 Wed, 1pm Starting
Feb. 22
Greenville Spartanburg Anderson SC Asheville WUNF-33 Wed, 1pm
Starting Feb. 22
Raleigh Durham WUNP-36 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22
Raleigh Durham WUNC-4 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22
Wilmington WUNU31 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22
Wilmington WUNJ-39 Wed, 1pm Starting Feb. 22

North Dakota
Fargo Valley City KJRE-19 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Fargo Valley City KFME-13 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Fargo Valley City KGFE-2 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Minot KQSD-11 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Minot Bismark Dickinson KWSE-4 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Minot Bismark Dickinson KDSE-9 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Minot Bismark Dickinson KBME-3 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5
Minot Bismark Dickinson KSRE-6 Sun, 3pm Starting Feb. 5

Ohio
Akron WEAO-49 Sun, 8am Starting Jan. 8
Cincinnati WPTO-14 Sat, 3:30pm Starting Jan. 7
Cleveland WEAO-49 Sun, 8am Starting Feb. 19
Dayton WPTD-16 Tues, 2:30pm Starting Jan. 3
Lima WBGU-27 Sat, 4pm Starting Feb. 28
Youngstown WNEO-45 Sun, 8am Starting Jan. 8

Oregon
Bend KOAB-3 Thu, 6pm Starting Jan. 5
Eugene KEPB-28 Thu, 6pm Starting Jan. 5
Eugene KOAC Thu, 6pm Starting Jan. 5
La Grande KTVR-13 Thu, 6pm Starting Jan. 5
Medford KFTS-22 Sun, 4pm Starting Jan. 1
Portland KOPB-10 Thu, 6pm Starting Jan. 5

Pennsylvania
Bethlehem WLVT-DT Sun, 12:30pm Starting Jan. 1
Harrisburg WITF-33 Sat, 6am Starting Jan. 7
Philadelphia WHYY-12 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 8
Philadelphia WYBE-35 Wed, 9am Starting Feb. 1
Pittsburgh WQED-13 Fri, 2pm Starting Jan. 6

South Dakota
Aberdeen KDSD-16 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Brookings KESD-8 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Lowry KQSD-11 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Martin KZSD-8 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Martin KZSD-8 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Pierre KTSD-10 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1
Rapid City KBHE-9 Sun, 11am Starting Jan. 1
Sioux Falls KCSD-23 Sun, noon Starting Jan. 1

Tennessee
Cookeville WCTE-22 Sun, 11:30am Starting Jan. 1
Tri Cities Bristol VA Kingsport Johnson City WSBN-47 Sun,
11:30am Starting Jan. 15
Tri Cities Bristol VA Kingsport Johnson City WMSY-52 Sun,
11:30am Starting Jan. 22

Texas
Austin KLRU-18 Sun, 12:30pm Starting Jan. 15
Corpus Christi KEDT-16 Sun, 5pm Starting Feb. 26
San Antonio KLRN-9 Sun, 6pm Starting Jan. 1
San Antonio KLRN-9 Fri, 1:30am Starting Feb. 24

Utah
Salt Lake City KUEN-9 Fri, 8pm Starting Jan. 6
Salt Lake City KUEN-9 Sun, 10am Starting Jan. 8

Vermont
Burlington WCFE-57 Sun, 7pm Starting Jan. 29
Burlington WETK-584 Sun, 1pm Starting Jan. 29
Rutland WVER-554 Sun, 1pm Starting Jan. 29
St. Johnsburg WVTB-506 Sun, 1pm Starting Jan. 29
Windsor WVTA-632 Sun, 1pm Starting Jan. 29

Virginia
Marion WMSY-52 Sun, 11:30am Starting Jan. 15
Norfolk WHRO-15 Sat, 4:30pm Starting Jan. 14
Norton WSBN-47 Sun, 11:30am Starting Jan. 15
Roanoke WBRA-15 Sun, 11:30am Starting Jan. 15
Staunton WVPT-51/11 Sun, 1pm Starting Jan. 8

Washington
Centralia KCKA-15 Tues, 7pm Starting Feb. 7
Pullman KWSU-10 Tues, 9:30pm Starting Jan. 3
Pullman KWSU-10 Sat, 6pm Starting Feb. 4
Richland KTNW-31 Sat, 5pm Starting Feb. 4
Seattle KCTS-9 Sun, 2pm Starting Jan. 15
Tacoma KBTC-28 Tues, 7pm Starting Feb. 7
Yakima KYVE-47 Sun, 2pm Starting Jan. 15

Wisconsin
Milwaukee WMVT-36 Sat, 6pm Starting Feb. 4

Wyoming
Casper KCWC Mon, 10:30pm Starting Jan. 23

Virgin Islands
St. Thomas WTJX-12 Sun, 1:30pm Starting Jan. 1