I had been struggling through college and thereafter to limit the distractions in my life and find true direction. It was not that I was an epic failure by the least. I managed to earn high marks in college, dedicate myself to all responsibilities, and make financial ends meet. The one thing I did not…
A project which started in the cold, frosty month of February in the capital of Moldova is now receiving its finishing touches as eight volunteers of the Peace Corps in Moldova, otherwise known as the (self-proclaimed) Dream Team, will collaborate with 20 government and business officials to put together the event titled Storytellers. The event will…
Over the past three months, I have been working with a local entrepreneur who is growing a quail egg and meat production business in a poor village in the southern region of Moldova. He came to us at Incubatorul de Afaceri Leova in order to receive financial assistance through a small financial grant program managed by…
Peace Corps The first motivating factor of my decision to look into graduate school programs was directly linked to our organization, the Peace Corps. In June 2010 after graduating from DePaul University in 2009 and accepting my first job with Vibes Media in Chicago, I realized that I wanted to serve others, learn a new…
Over the weekend I visited my former host family in Cricova, Moldova. I spent the summer of 2012 studying Romanian and receiving plenty of business and organizational trainings on behalf of the Peace Corps while living there. In that time I became very close to my host parents Slavic and Svetlana and especially their two…
25 years old, thank you. An incredible year that started in the Chi, took me to Istanbul & Paris, and allowed me to set up shop with the Peace Corps in Moldova. Thank you for teaching me how to feel like a minority, to experience incredible lows get crushed by incredible highs, to develop a…
– Rise in chicken feed prices will lead to 60% of the Moldovan poultry industry to go bankrupt in 2013. An estimated 15,000 jobs will be lost and $20 million dollar monthly losses will hit the agricultural industry. Reports say that the existing 40% of producers will dominate the domestic market along with increased poultry…
“The difference between the individuals that leave a footprint on this world and those who simply walk in those steps is that there is no unattainable goal. There are simply adverse avenues to greatness and smooth roads to mediocrity.” – A pack of cigarettes costs 6.5 lei (approximately $.50). – I spoke with the grandfather…
12-26-12 Dear Pat, I dug out these old Christmas cards I bought in 1994, thought you’d get a kick out of it. You were 7 years old when I bought them. Boy have you come a long way. This Skype technology is wonderful. I think I would have a much harder time with you so…
As evidenced by the picture I posted, I made a visit to the doctor’s office. I was not a patient but an invite. My new roommate Eugen is a general practitioner and offered to let me job shadow him for a few hours after lunch. He dressed me in a laboratory jacket and gave me…
– Translated a 7 page business document into the best Romanian I could muster. It was extremely dry to begin with so going through it in another language made me feel like a zombie upon completion. The funniest part is that I am not finished yet. I now have to find a native proofreader to…
– Welcome to the first day of Spring and Mărțișor (pronounced Mart-see-shore)! I walked into my business partner’s office only to be greeted with a gift. I was handed a pin-charm with two threaded snowflakes, one white, one red, and a woven leaf dangling from a metal pin. It is believed that the red string…
– Yet again, I could not stick to writing a post daily but for good reason. – Last night was my friend Slon’s birthday. We began the night by going over to the office building behind our friend Alex’s hardware store. There we had a giant feast with pork chops, sausages, homemade pizza, egg casserole, three…
On a Friday, I am writing my 13th post… ironic but I dig. The American: My partner did me a favor and called a local hotel owner in order to get a price check on rooms. He told the guy over the phone that someone was simply trying to receive information, not book anything. The…
– Lost out on the apartment. My Peace Corps manager, who handles contract discussions with property owners, informed me that the landlord was charging at minimum 1,500 lei per month for rent alone. My rent is fixed at 700 lei. Not to mention utilities would add anywhere between 500-1,900 lei to the monthly billing throughout…
– Sign, sealed, delivered. Best bud Christian all in for Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria this summer. It is going to be an amazing trip as he will join my cousin Brigid and I. We plan on doing a lot of Couchsurfing, visiting old friends, canyoning, checking out the Alps, camping at the Openair Frauenfeld…
– My friend Sasha and I are heading to Odessa, Ukraine for April Fool’s Day weekend. He says the celebration attracts a ton of foreigners so it should be one crazy time over there. We plan to stay with a Couchsurfing host. What I am imagining now is that I would speak to the host…
– I was really proud of the students in our English club today. We had 6 participants and watched Apocalypto. If you are not familiar with the story it is about one Mayan tribesman named Jaguar Paw who escapes from being sacrificed in order to save his life and those of his abandoned family. The…
– Writing a blog post titled #7,8 for a series called 30 Days Straight is hypocritical. – I received some pretty great advice from a fellow Peace Corps volunteer about the attitude I carry at site. I told him some days it is very difficult to be in a positive mood based on the gray…
In exactly 7 months, I will see my parents again for the first time in 1 year and a half. In mid-September they will be coming out to visit me in Moldova where we will spend 4 days traveling around the capital of Chișinau, visiting my summer training site and wine capital Cricova, and then…
Southeast Dispatch 