New Digs

I signed a contract today for my new place and it's great!  There's a real washing machine, hot running water, a modern fridge, and I even saw a microwave.  I feel a little guilty for taking a place that has all these modern conviences, but I think I've taken enough bucket/bowl showers to truly appreciate them.  And besides, a happy volunteer is a productive volunteer - and this will make me very happy.

The family situation there is a bit odd, but it's to my liking.  The mother is a widower who works 95% of the year abroad either in Moscow or Germany.  She has one grown son who lives and works in Germany and another 15-year old who lives in the house, most of the time alone.  So basically it will be me and my new brother.  [This is a microcosm of the situation in Moldova where parents work abroad to support families still here, and kids often grow up with grandparents or on their own.]

The only drawback to this place is its location.  It is way on the outskirts of the village.  Actually, after my house there's just the corn fields that surround the entire village.  The walk from my door to the office is about to go from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.  But, this should lessen the degree of my fishbowl-like existence as the first and only American to live in Copceac and I don't mind putting a little more forethought into trips to the store or packing lunches like most of my co-workers.

Since I'm not much of a "walker," I'm glad that PC helps PCVs purchase bikes in situations like these.  I will soon avail myself of this assistance and be cruising in style (with a PC-mandated helmet, of course, which will probably give plenty of villagers a good laugh).  I'm excited to pull into the fast lane and get some exercise on daily rides, just like when I used to ride to and from work in Boston.  And year-round there's a daily bus from Bolgrad, Ukraine that passes by my house at 7:45am on it's way to Chisinau, which apparantly I can flag down to get a ride into the village center - helpful in the winter.

I'll post pictures once I move in, probably the last week of May.