Driving

Driving in Moldova is a man's thing. I can probably count on one
hand the number of times I've seen a female mini-bus driver in
Chisinau, and I know only a few women in my entire village who even
know how to drive, let alone possess a license. This would seem to
place women in a less independent position than men. If a family
owns a car, the woman must always wait for a man to go anywhere. I
can't help but imagine this situation in my own family in America.
If my Mom needed my Dad to drive her everywhere she wanted to go, one
of two things would happen: (1) my Dad would never go to work because
he would driving Mom all over town, or (2) Mom would never leave the
house because Dad would need the car for his own tasks. From an
economic standpoint, this would seem a waste of time and labor, not
to mention chauvinistic.

Considering this situation, I was excited to learn of at least two 17-
year old women, Anna and Maria, in my village who are attending
classes to learn how to drive. [In Moldova, you can get your license
when you're 18.] However, when I learned the details of the process
from Anna, my excitement ceased. Getting a license here is pretty
damn expensive!

First, the girls had to pay 1200 lei ($90, though the price has since
gone up to 1350) in order to attend a 3-month long course. Each
class is 3-4 hours long and meets 2-3 times per week in a classroom.
Although payment for this class is mandatory, attendance is not.
Several of the students, who believe that they already know the rules
of the road skip the classes. In addition to this classwork, Anna
chose to get optional driving lessons at 75 lei a pop. She's taken
about 10 lessons. Then all students are required to pay about 300
lei for their actual driving exam. The exam is similar to the
driving test that nearly all American teenagers take when they get
their licenses, except a police officer administers the test from the
passenger seat and there's not parallel parking "question."

I've just told you that Anna's family will spend about 2300 lei for
her to get her license - plus there's the possibility that she may
need to give a 200 lei "gift" to the test administrator in order to
make sure she actually passes the test. So, if we assume 2500 lei,
that's about $190 just to get a license. Bear in mind that a
starting teacher makes about 600 lei per month.

In light of this cost, I can understand why a family might choose to
only get a license for one child, or for no children at all. Anna's
parents deserve some applause for breaking with tradition and helping
their daughter learn to drive. Hopefully she will use this privilege
to go places (figuratively, and literally) and leave on the curb her
way of thinking that men are inherently better drivers. [Someone
remind me that I said this the next time I go to make a joke about
women drivers...]

I don't remember exactly how much I paid to get my NJ license, but I
doubt it was so much - and it was nowhere near being over one-third a
starting teacher's salary. I also don't think I spent over 100 hours
in a classroom to learn how to drive.

What I do remember - and I'd welcome some comments here from those
who recall the process more clearly than I - is having a 3-week cycle
of my high school gym class that was devoted to driver education.
Assuming a 40-minute class, 5 days a week for 3 weeks, this means I
spent about 10 hours in a classroom. I, like Anna, also took
optional driving lessons, but I think I only took 2 of them and I
have no idea how much they were. The actual examination and license
was probably around $45.

Good tech advice

This post doesn't have to do with my Peace Corps service, but I found
some great advice by the NYTimes' David Pogue, and I thought I should
share it. Actually, considering the amount of grief that comes to
PCVs after laptops crash, perhaps this does have something to do with
Peace Corps afterall...

Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup
by David Pogue

If there's one New Year's resolution even more likely to fail than "I
vow to lose weight," it's "I vow to start backing up my computer."
After all, setting up and remembering to use a backup system is a
huge hassle. The odds are good that you don't have an up-to-date
backup at this very moment.

Fortunately, 2007 may turn out to be the Year of the Backup. Both
Microsoft and Apple have built automated backup software into the
latest versions of their operating systems, both to be introduced
this year. At the same time, an option that was once complex,
limited and expensive is suddenly becoming effortless, capacious and
even free: online backups, where files are shuttled off to the
Internet for safekeeping. Online backup means never having to buy or
manage backup disks. You can have access to your files from any
computer anywhere. And above all, your files are safe even if
disaster should befall your office — like fire, flood, burglary or
marauding children.

As it turns out, the Web is brimming with backup services. Most of
them, however, offer only 1 or 2 gigabytes' worth of free storage.
That may be plenty if all you keep on your PC is recipes and a few
letters to the editor. But if you have even a fledgling photo or
music collection, 2 gigs is peanuts. You can pay for more storage, of
course, but the prices have been outrageous; at Data Deposit Box, for
example, backing up 50 gigabytes of data will cost you $1,200 a
year. Nobody offers unlimited free storage, but lately, they've
gotten a lot closer. Two companies, Xdrive and MediaMax, offer as
much as 25 gigabytes of free backups; two others, Mozy and Carbonite,
offer unlimited storage for less than $55 a year.

(Note that this roundup doesn't include Web sites that are
exclusively dedicated to sharing photos or videos, like Flickr and
MediaFire. It also omits the services intended for sending huge files
to other people, like YouSendIt and SendThisFile; such sites delete
your files after a couple of weeks — not a great feature in a backup
system.)

XDRIVE This service, owned by AOL, offers 5 gigabytes of free
storage. It's polished, easy to use, and as fully fledged as they
come. Right on the Web site, you can back up entire lists of folders
at a time, a method that works on Macintosh, Windows or Unix. If you
use Windows, however, an even better backup system awaits. You can
download Xdrive Desktop, a full-blown, unattended backup program. It
quietly backs up your computer on a schedule that you specify,
without any additional thought or input from you. Better yet, a new
disk icon appears on your PC (labeled X), that represents your files
on the Web. You can open and use its contents as though it's an
ordinary, if slowish, hard drive. A Mac version of Xdrive Desktop is
in the works. As a bonus, you can share certain backed-up folders,
so that other people can have access to them from their Macs or PCs.
(This requires, however, that they sign up for their own free Xdrive
accounts.) You can view your backed-up photos as an online slideshow,
or organize and play your backed-up music files on the Web page.
Upgrading your storage to 50 gigabytes costs $100 a year, which isn't
such a good deal. But if your Documents folder fits in 5 gigabytes,
then congratulations; you've got yourself a free, effortless,
automatic backup system. Happy New Year.

CARBONITE This one's as pure a backup play as you'll find; there's no
folder sharing, photo viewing or music organizing. The Windows-only
backup software is completely automatic and stays entirely out of
your way, quietly backing up whenever you're not working. You get no
free storage — the service costs $50 a year — but you do get
something else few others offer: an unlimited amount of backup
storage. Carbonite is aimed at nontechnical audiences. It's sold in
computer and office-supply stores, for example, and it's the easiest
online backup software to use — in fact, to not use, since it's
completely automatic. The only change you'll see are small colored
dots on files and folders that have been backed up — and a Carbonite
disk icon in your My Computer window that "contains" all the backed-
up folders and files. At the moment, Carbonite doesn't back up
individual files that are larger than 2 gigabytes. It also doesn't
back up pieces of files, so if your 500-megabyte Outlook e-mail
database changes, the whole database must be backed up again. And, of
course, there's no Macintosh version. The company says that a new
version, due in April, will wipe out all three of these drawbacks.

MOZY In many regards, the recently introduced Mozy is a Carbonite
copycat. The price is $55 a year, storage is unlimited, an automated
background Windows program keeps your PC continuously backed up and a
Mac version is planned. Mozy offers 2 gigabytes of backup at no
charge. If you're willing to do the company's marketing for it, you
can nab another free gig for every four people you persuade to sign
up. Mozy is more flexible, too — and more technical. It can back up
only changed portions of files. You can specify times and dates for
backups (instead of offering only the Continuous option, like
Carbonite). You can view 30 days' worth of backups, too — a feature
that prevents you from deleting a file from your PC accidentally and
then finding its deletion mirrored in your latest backup. And Mozy
offers dozens of novice-hostile options like "Enable Bandwidth
Throttle" and "Don't back up if the CPU is over this % busy."

MEDIAMAX Talk about value. How does 25 gigabytes of free storage
strike you? The service began life with an emphasis on organizing
and sharing photos, video and music — which it still does well. But
its new Windows backup program, now in beta testing, adds automated
unattended backups of any kind of computer files, just like its
rivals. It's pretty bare-bones; for example, it offers no continuous
real-time backup, no choice of weekdays — only an option to back up
every day, every three days, or whatever. And you can back up only
folders, not individual files or file types. In times of disaster,
MediaMax will give you your files back, but won't put them in their
original folders. More important, the free account lets you download
or share only one gigabyte of data a month. That pretty much means
that to restore your hard drive after a crash, you'll have to upgrade
to a paid account. Still, when you're standing there, sobbing over
the smoking remains of your dead hard drive, you probably won't mind
paying $10 or $25 to get your stuff back.

SUMMING UP Now, there are some disadvantages to all of these
services. One of them is time: even with a high-speed Internet
connection, the first backup can take days to complete. Maintaining
your backup is much faster, of course, because only new or changed
files are uploaded to the Web. But if disaster ever strikes,
retrieving your files can also take days. (Mozy offers a solution
that gets you your files faster: a DVD of your files, shipped
overnight for an added fee. For example, to FedEx a 50-gigabyte
backup to you on DVDs, Mozy charges about $90.)

Then there's the security thing. All four companies insist that your
files are encrypted before they even leave your computer. But if you
still can't shake the image of backup-company employees rooting
through your files and laughing their heads off, then this may not be
the backup method for you. Corporate longevity may be a more
realistic worry. Since the Internet itself is very young, no Web-
based outfit has a particularly long track record. Any of these
services could be discontinued or sold at any time, which makes it
wise to make the occasional on-site backup, too.

In any case, the main thing is to have some kind of backup. After
all, there are only two kinds of people: Those who back up their
computers, and those who will.

Parties at School and At Home

Admittedly, my December 25th was a muted affair here in Moldova. Considering everyone else in my village holds December 25th to be a normal day, my quiet Christmas shouldn't come a big surprise. To expect carolers and feasts and presents under the tree would be like expecting to see a group of Native Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

However, the following week the Moldovan holidays arrived and the party scene really started to heat up. Let's start at the school. My host brother, Vitalik, and his best friend, Seroj, were tapped to alternate dressing up as Деть Морож (dyet moroj), sort of the Moldovan equivalent to Santa Claus, and my friend Anna and Maria were Снегорчка (snegorichka), translated as snow-girl, who is supposed to be the grand-daughter of Dyet Moroj. They all had to memorize this long poem that they would recite for children who came to school for a few hours worth of games, singing, and dancing. It was a little like Halloween, with most of the children wearing costumes - the girls as princesses and the boys as everything from Spider-man to a doctor.

December 28 and 29, the school hosted a kind of winter ball for the high school juniors and seniors. It was nice to see everyone all dressed up, though I felt sorry for the girls who sometimes wore their coats over their strapless dresses. The dance differed from what I remember of American proms and such in a couple ways. First, there were games. Volunteers were picked from the crowd to compete in funny competitions. These were interspersed with the prerequisite lengthy (sometimes seemingly endless and melodramatic) toasts and then dancing to one song. Then everyone would sit down again and start the next round of game/toast/dance. Second, all the teachers were there. It seemed to be just as gala an event for them as it was for the kids. They also dressed up and participated in the games. Third, the evening was over pretty early - I think by 8 or 9pm.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about New Year's in Copceac. This was my second time in the village, and despite not having anyone to kiss at midnight, I enjoyed this time around better than the first. Why, you ask? Well, first of all the weather was a lot warmer this year. That meant more people came to the center for meeting and greeting, dancing, and watching the fireworks. It also meant I didn't have to sleep with all my clothes still on. Second, I was invited to a party this year at the home of one of the village teachers, who prepared a real feast. There were all these salads and cakes and two roast chickens. Vitalik asked me to prepare some games to play - Moldovans really like party games. I MCed (1) charades, (2) a race between two girls to open a matchbox wrapped in multiple layers of paper while wearing oven mits, and (3) a kind of dating game where all the couples had to answer nine questions about their respective partners - like favorite color, where he/she wants to live, favorite meal, etc. - and then they had to see how well they actually knew one another. And we danced. Before the girls arrived, it was just me and three other dudes, but that didn't stop us from cutting up the rug. It was actually really nice to be in a place where it is acceptable - or rather completely normal - for men to dance. In America, particularly in high schools, I always felt like it was somehow uncool or feminine to dance.

I called it a night around 3am, and everyone asked me if I had somehow been offended and that was why I was leaving early. EARLY?! It was three in the morning! Of course, having lived here for a year-and-a-half, I was prepared for this. I know that Moldovan celebrations, particularly at weddings, usually go until sunrise. I just don't have the energy for it. I think my hosts know that as an American, I have different standards and likes and dislikes and I told them I was definitely not offended and had had a great time. [And I wanted to do laundry and clean up before my host-mother returned from her month-long vacation the following day...]

That about sums up. Hope you all had a happy and healthy New Year's. С Новым Годом!!!

Christmas in Copceac

I didn’t feel particularly Christmas-y this year. It’s probably due to several factors. No one celebrates Christmas in Moldova until the Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. I wasn’t getting together with a group of PCVs as I did last year. Actually, of the 8 people who gathered last year, only 3 of us are left in Moldova. Oh yeah, and I went to work.

However, the night before I was able to indoctrinate Krista in the beauty of It’s a Wonderful Life, which she had never seen. It also seemed that events beyond my control were conspiring to put me in the mood. Our electricity was out for most of Christmas Day and into the 26th. This forced me, Krista, and my host-brother, Vitalik, to shy away from our computers and televisions and VCRs and DVDs and just entertain ourselves. I showed Vitalik and Krista how to play Texas Hold ‘Em Poker and he showed us some game that’s called some bad word in Russian that is essentially the English equivalent of “F-ed.” [Gambling and Cussing: How Jesus celebrates Christmas.] Then we cooked by candlelight – well, really it was more by headlamp, but that doesn’t sound a romantic and quaint – and ate a hearty meal. Krista and I had mashed potatoes, gravy, fried veges, and cornflake fried chicken. I know that last part sounds a little white trash, but it was damn good that I’ll definitely be making it again. We topped it off with some white Jell-o pudding, a box of mix courtesy of a care-package. [FYI, don't send any more Jell-o, which I don't really like. Pudding, however, is welcome.]

All in all, not a bad December 25th.

By the Numbers

I have spotty dial-up service from my house, and occasionally keep up with events in America by reading a few articles from nytimes.com. Recently, I read one concerning the US Census’ release of its all kinds of findings – like the number of people injured each year by beds – yes, beds. I thought I’d disclose some numbers of my own:

5 – Countries visited this year (Moldova, Russia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Morocco)
3 – Beards grown and shaved off
10 – Computer classes taught
20 – Cost (in cents) for a great loaf of bread in my village
6 – Cost (in dollars) of a great tortellini dish at the most expensive hotel in Chisinau
4,000,000 – Population of Moldova
500,000-1,000,000 – (estimated) Moldovans working abroad
12 – Individuals (couples counting as 1) who have sent packages to me from America
2 – Cell phones stolen (from me) or broken (by me)
12 – Pounds lost
3.5 – Hours it takes for my PC-issued distiller to distill about 3 liters of potable water
1 – Bottles of shampoo purchased since I arrived in Moldova in Sept, 2005
172 – Postings on this blog

The State of Brad

In 1997, my first year away at college, I started writing a sort of “update on my life” holiday letter for friends and family who I saw less as a consequence of living at school. These letters were a chance to take stock of the year passed, reconnect with those scattered across the globe, and plan for what lay ahead. Last year, because I was abroad, was the first time I since I started these letters nine years ago that I did not write anything. Being in a village overseas made that process a little too difficult to complete. Well, I’m still overseas and still in a village and the process of writing and mailing 50-100 letters is still too difficult from here. But being the web-savvy feller that I am, I figured I’d use this blog as a substitute. So, here we go…

Happy Holidays! I hope as you read this you’ve managed to pull your computer screen next to a warm fire or can see some snow outside your window. I, myself, have neither, but the radiator in my room is toasty and snow, while pretty, would force me to walk 30 minutes into town instead of riding my bike, so I’m fine without it.

As many of you know, I’m serving in the Peace Corps in Moldova, a small former-Soviet republic wedged between Romania and Ukraine. I work in a mayor’s office, but am a volunteer for the whole village. Some projects completed or underway include an English Club, teaching the mayor’s accountants to use Excel and running a computer class, revamping the local television station, and teaching a 3-day small business seminar about once a month. I live with a 17-year old boy, Vitalik, whose mother works most of the year in either Moscow or Germany.

Moldova is a small country with a lot of potential and a lot of problems. It’s location on the edge of Europe and its excellent soil, climate, and wine-making tradition could be huge boons for its economy. However, this poorest of the European nations is still plagued by corruption, a seeming love for red-tape, and a border dispute with a break-away region to its east. There’s a very strong sense of community, at least on the village level, and it’s been a great joy to become a part of that community.

I get along well with Oleg, my counterpart and the village mayor, who was actually elected to office 8-years ago when he was only 26. I have several local friends and most people here have at least heard of “the (strange) American” who lives in town. Though I still get plenty of stares, I now get a fair share of waves.

Living in this part of the world has afforded me the opportunity to travel a lot this year. I’ve taken the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Mongolia, stood in the world’s 3rd-largest mosque in Morocco, seen the site of the Orange Revolution in Kiev, and ridden a horse along the Mongolian steppe during the 800th anniversary of Genghis Khan. Not bad for a kid from north Jersey.

In past letters, I usually have a little bit about my family, but it’s difficult to figure out what to write here since I haven’t seen them in so long. My brother, David, occasionally emails photos of my 4-year old nephew, Gabriel. He’s really into hockey now, dressed up as Gandalf for Halloween, and looks a lot taller than I remember him. Maria, my sister-in-law was tenured at George Mason University and will be coming out with her first book - and I just found out I'm due to become an uncle a second time over in July! Mom and Dad went to Ireland for vacation with friends, and Mom has seen an upswing in her art business – though I think she needs to be a little more aggressive in her marketing (right, Mom?)

Prior to coming to Moldova, I served for 6 months in Uzbekistan until that post was shut down and all PCVs evacuated due to an unsafe environment. Depending on whether or not my time there counts towards my 2-year term of service, I will leave here sometime between June and November, 2007. I’ve started to make plans for what to do post-PC, but nothing has been set in stone. Applications to 5 MBA programs are done (thank God). I’ve received 1 acceptance (wahoo!) and am still waiting to hear from the other 4. In July, I learned that I passed the written Foreign Service exam and in February, I’ll be back in America for its second round interview. Should I get an offer from the State Department, I’m not sure about going after the MBA or taking up the life of a diplomat. Any advice is most welcome.

My girlfriend and fellow-PCV, Krista, has also made plans for returning to America, but in this, as in most things, she’s way ahead of me. She will leave Moldova soon in order to begin her nursing education, first at home in Tulsa and then at the University of Rochester in May. She’s been a big help to me during my own graduate school application process and Peace Corps service in general. I’ll miss her while she’s away, but look forward to obscene amounts of care packages (hint, hint).

That’s about it from here. I recommend perusing through this blog for greater details on the things mentioned above. Have a bagel for me, and all the best to everyone in the New Year!

Brad