Traveling

So Brasov turned out to be a pretty awesome place to visit. I got a chance to spend some time with a bunch of great people from all over the globe. When I first arrived in the city, I hadn't been in the hostel for ten minutes before I was invited to go out with a group of people from Argentina and Germany. These guys had been traveling all over, and had just recently came from Istanbul, Turkey; which is where I am headed on Monday. They all admitted that so far, Istanbul had been their favorite spot - and that it had the best food. Which right now is key for me, because Moldova has been hurting in that aspect. The next day, I got a chance to go out and explore the city, go up into the mountains, see the famous "Bran Castle", and eat some awesome food all before getting back onto the bus for another ten hour ride to Chisinau. For twenty hours of travel time, I'd say it was a pretty short trip; but it was definitely a great experience that was well worth it. I have found that most of the international bus rides here are actually really cheap; equal to or less than what I would pay for a night here in Moldova. So as soon as I returned here to Chisinau that next day, I taught another English lesson here in the offices, then hopped on another overnight bus to Kiev, Ukraine.

Kiev is a bit more modern than Brasov, but it is still home to some of the world's most amazing cathedrals that have been around for centuries. I was able to spend two days in this city, exploring, eating more good food (which really almost tasted like the best food I have ever eaten, after being in Moldova all this time), and hanging out with more awesome people from all over.  The guy in the bunk next to me was actually from Denver, Colorado. Small world. My first night there in Kiev, I went out to eat with a group of people from the Hostel, including the other Colorado guy. This guy, throughout the night, made sure to give me as much grief as possible about me not "representing" Colorado because I wasn't "doing as the Ukrainians do" by downing as much vodka as possible. Last I saw of him, he was passed out in the hallway of the hostel at 3:00am, with an upcoming flight to Chicago at 5:30am, haha. He was a nice guy though. Again for twenty hours of travel time the trip was pretty short, but I definitely enjoyed myself, and I am thankful for the experience.

Only two more English classes here before I head off to Turkey! Today is one of them actually, and we are throwing a party for a couple different birthdays, and my leaving; so it should be fun! Stay posted!


Here are some pictures from my travels:

A church in Brașov, built in the early 1300's.

 Part of Downtown, Brașov

Brașov

In front of Dracula's Castle.

Bran Castle (Dracula's)

Castle Courtyard.

View of Brașov from the mountains.

Part of downtown, Kiev.

Old Russian Orthodox Church.

Pretty awesome experience! 

Love And Be Loved

Cahul Round 2

This past week in Cahul was amazing. I spent the majority of my time working with the people from New Hope Moldova. A handful of the orphans here are sponsored by people outside of Moldova. Typically, donations from sponsors contribute toward certain needs of the child, or even gifts on a birthday or Christmas. This past week, I had the opportunity to take two different kids to the market to buy some new clothes, using money from American sponsors. I had a blast. I especially enjoyed hanging out with one of the two kids because he had been one of the kids in my group from a camp this past summer. His name is Dima. It was amazing to be able to spend some time with him, and his buddy Andrei, another kid from our group this past summer. Last Thursday I also had the chance to help out with a youth group that NewHope runs for the local teenagers. As usual, I was asked to give the speech or message on the spot. I've definitely been getting some good training and experience with last minute public speaking.

Although I still have my English lesson in Chisinau on Wednesday, I have most the week to myself. I've thought about trying to explore a bit since I've been out here, but haven't yet had the chance. Kiev, Ukraine and Bucurest, Romania were two possible options, but both are far and expensive. A couple days ago, I remembered that I had researched a bit about Romania, and seen that the famous Dracula's Castle (Bran Castle) is located in a beautiful city in the mountains called, Brasov. Earlier today around 11am, I found out that there was a bus today at 12pm heading toward Brasov. Like a Moldovan, I made a last minute change of plans, and am now on the bus. The castle was built in the early 1300's and has plenty of awesome history to go along with it. If you google, "Brasov, Romania" you can find some pretty cool pictures. I'll try to take a bunch myself. It should be a pretty cool adventure. I don't know where I'll stay or how I'll get to the castle, but I know not to trust any taxi drivers. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it all goes. 

This trip does not have to do with Twilight - for real.

Love And Be Loved.

Permeate

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

                                                                                                               - Jesus

                                                                                                             Mark 10:43-45

Bălți

At this point it has been almost two weeks since my last post, but the time has been flying. To start, I am no longer living or teaching in Orhei. Towards the end of last week I moved out of the house I'd been staying at, and stuffed all my belongings into a closet here in the New Hope offices in Chisinau. I've been doing a lot of traveling with the crew here at NewHope, so basically I've been staying at a different place every few days. Although I am back in the town of Cahul now, I spent the majority of last week in a city called, Balti.  As an anti-trafficking organization, one of the main focuses remains heavily on the orphans. So many of the innocent girls that have fallen victim to the underground business have done so simply because they were uneducated on the subject. Also, as sad as it is, many of the girls willingly sell themselves into the business out of desperation. Because of this, NewHope (and a handful of other similar orgs. in the country) spends a great deal of time and energy in providing both an education on the issue, and hope. So for a few days or so I had the opportunity to tag along with the crew from the northern region, and visit a couple orphanages on the outskirts of Balti. Basically, we put on an assembly for the kids that includes a few games, a short movie/cartoon with a positive message, and spoken message usually about, or relating to potential. I have actually been asked to be the speaker at all the orphanages I've been to so far, which has been a pretty awesome experience! One orphanage I visited last week was in an old Moldovan village. A real old Moldovan village. I definitely felt like I went back in time a few hundred years. People were riding carriages pulled by horses, donkeys, and cows. I saw old women walking down the street carrying huge buckets of water that they had just filled up from the local well. I'm pretty sure any of these old Moldovan women could kick my ass. It's freezing outside, they just walked however far to the well, filled up two huge buckets with water, they got no gloves, they gotta' walk however far back, while carrying the water, and they seem like it's not even a big deal - or like things could be worse. Haha anyways, it was an awesome experience to be able to spend some time in a village like that.

In Moldova, Balti is known as "The Russian City." The majority of the population speaks Russian, many of them not knowing any Romanian at all. Signs, advertisements, it's almost all in Russian, which has been pretty interesting. I've been having fun trying to learn the language, which is much more difficult than Romanian; but would also be much more useful in the future. For the four nights I was there I stayed with a young couple, Anatol and Mihaiella, who through Anatol are related to my buddy Alex, who also works for NewHope. Anatol's father has a boatload of bee's on his property, so during the summer he collects a whole lot of honey. So on my last morning, the couple gave me as a gift, probably 10 pounds worth of honey. It looks nothing like honey you'd find in a store in America, I've been told thats because it's fresh and natural.... So banking on that, I've been eating a whole lot of it. I've also had people tell me that what appears to me as two year old milk, is fresh and natural....

I'm back in Cahul for the week. I'll be visiting a handful of orphanages and public schools over the next several days, so I'm pretty excited to see how it all goes. Since I am no longer living in one set place, it has been, and will be harder to access my computer easily. I'll do my best to keep you guys updated on what's happening! This trip doesn't just have to be for me! Please let me know if you want any information on how to get involved with what's going on; either here in Moldova or elsewhere! I'm glad to help.



Love And Be Loved

We've been putting these posters up all over different cities. They provide information for people who are interested in working abroad; since that is basically the number one way people become involved in human trafficking.

That's my man Joseph, pretending to be spiderman on top of the closet. He was one of the two children I lived with for two months in Orhei.