Anna, go get your boys!

Ha! I've been meaning to blog about this for some time, but as I was on sabbatical, I waited. Now, I'm ready. It's a good one! So, there's a group of five male volunteers who are doing a test-run of a new type of camp plan here in Moldova. Instead of holding their own camp, they are training Moldovan counselors all over the country on how to conduct team building exercises, and how to share a variety of educational and developmental skills with the kids that these counselors will come into contact with in the various camps they will be working at throughout Moldova this summer. Hence, these five guys travel all over Moldova to counselor schools and conduct day long seminars with the counselors. They are all very high energy, enthusiastic, and fun-loving guys, just the type you'd want to be conducting team building exercises. Well, last month, Greg (one of the five) asked me if they could stay at my place since they had to do a training in Balti the next day, and my village is not far away. I told them of course they could!! I thought, "it'll be like having my brothers around again!" :) So, later on that afternoon, I headed down to the local bus stop to meet the first round of fellows coming in: Greg, Evan, and Patrick (that's them in the first picture in order from left to right). Not too long afterwards, we met Chris at the bus stop, and instead of heading back to my house to wait for Rok, the final volunteer, we decided to buy ice cream at the little store in the center of my village, and hang out there, till Rok arrived. The guys decided that while we waited, we should play some of their camp games, which sounded like fun to me. I mean, if we were gonna wait, we may as well have some fun in the process. So, they started teaching me a variety of very loud American games which included such things as yelling, "BIPPETY BIPPETY BOP!!" and "YEE HAW!!" at the tops of our lungs. Needless to say, the locals were quite shocked and somewhat intrigued. We started collecting a curious crowd of onlookers, most staying at a safe distance, in case "those crazy Americans" started charging or biting. Although many of the onlookers knew me, they had never seen this side of me. I suspect many were questioning, not only our sanity, but also our sobriety at that point, and although a few asked me what I was doing, many tried to avoid eye contact entirely. I told the boys that, within the course of thirty minutes, they had probably undone a year and a half of community integration on my part. :) Finally Rok arrived, and we headed back to the house with the stares of many flabbergasted locals boring into our backs. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them that night, and it was kinda like hanging out with all my bros back home. I enjoyed their company so much that I suggested they return the next night after their training that day, since my village was much closer to their training, than Chisinau. They agreed to do so, and so, the next evening, they all showed up on my doorstep yet again. That evening I had decided to prepare good 'ol American hamburgers, and had bought ground beef for the occasion. When I arrived home from work, I noticed that the guys were not at the house. I figured they must have decided to explore the village, and decided to start making the hamburgers. After preparing the burgers, the guys were still nowhere to be seen, and it was starting to get dark outside. I began to wonder how far off they had wandered. That's when a neighbor showed up at the gate, and started animatedly talking to my host mother. I thought they were just visiting, till host mom came in and said dramatically, "Anna Maria, the neighbor says your boys are playing a game in somebody's field of cow grass. You had better go get them because somebody has run to tell the owner what they're doing, and if the owner of the field gets there before you do, they will be in a lot of trouble!" So, off I went to go get my boys. :) As I was walking down the road towards the fields, I noticed more and more neighbors outside on the road, talking excitedly, and as I passed, they kept saying things like, "you better hurry!", or "you going to get your boys?", or just chuckling. As I approached the field, I realized, to my dismay, that I was not quick enough. There stood the owner of the field, a short, squat "baba", and she was not happy!! She was yelling off into the distant field where stood five dots, such things as "YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!", and "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!" and "WE JUST SPENT HOURS PLANTING ALL THAT GRASS, AND NOW YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND IN IT PLAYING IN IT?!?!?!" and "IF YOU WANTED TO PLAY, WHY DIDN'T YOU GO TO THE SPORTS STADIUM?!?" and other such furious sentences. I hurried up to her, and tried to explain, "oh ma'am, I'm so sorry. They're foreigners. Not from around here. They didn't realize that this was your field." She replied, "Why didn't they go to the stadium instead of choosing my field to trample all over?!" I responded, "well, you see, they're Americans. And in America, not very many people farm. So when we see a field of grass, we assume it IS a stadium." -Angry Field Owner: Well, it is obviously NOT a stadium!! It's my field, and I just planted all that grass, and now they've destroyed it!! -Me: on the contrary ma'am, they have just performed a "rain dance" on your field. Now it will rain on your field, and your grass will be taller than anyone else's. -AFO: (cracking a small smile and cocking an eyebrow) Oh really? A rain dance, eh? -Me: Yes, in fact, next week, when everybody sees how well your field is growing, they will all be begging these boys to do rain dances in their fields as well. -AFO: (now smiling a bit wider) I see. hmm....well, why didn't they just go over to the stadium? I JUST planted this field! -Me: they didn't realize there was another stadium. Tell you what, you go get some more seeds, and we'll put these guys to work. We'll make them tear up the whole field, and replant EVERYTHING!!!!! AFO: now now, there's no need for that. I'm sure things will be OK. By this time, the guys had arrived at where AFO and I were standing, and when they realized why she had been yelling at them, they began to appologize profusely. AFO softened considerably. Meanwhile, more watching villagers had been gathering along the road. Several local boys that had been playing with the volunteers came up to me and said, "Is it OK if we take them to the stadium at the school so we can keep playing?" I told the kids, "I'm sorry boys, but I've just made them dinner and it's time for them to come home and eat." I felt like a mother of five, as I led the procession back to the house. It was a hillarious walk of shame, as they fell in single file line behind me. We had to walk back past all the nosy villagers that had lined up on either side of the road to watch, and the boys hung their heads, not only in shame, but also to keep from breaking out in laughter at the whole scenario. I personally couldn't help myself, and kept laughing as I walked by different villagers who made comments like, "taking them home, eh?", or "your boys are foreigners. They just didn't know. " or "it's their dinner time, huh?" hahaha!!!! When we arrived back at the house, they kept appologizing, and that's when I really started laughing. I told them, this is probably the most excitement my village has had in years!! They actually just perfomed a community service by giving the locals something new and exciting to gossip about. And, they also provided me with yet another crazy and exciting Moldovan adventure to share with you!! :D As a sidenote: A day or two after the guys left, I ran into the AFO as she was walking her cow out to pasture. As we passed, I couldn't help chuckling. She responded in mock anger, "What are YOU laughing about, huh?!" but I caught the smile that she couldn't quite hide as we each went our seperate ways. :) Oh the fun!