I had dinner on Saturday night with Alec and Becky Zama. They live in Ankeny and Alec is originally from Moldova. We had such a great time. I loved hearing all about the people and he showed me all sorts of pictures from when he lived there (during Soviet occupation) and on his visits since moving to the US. One of his brothers lives in Ialoveni (pronounced yalo-veen) and is a minister. I am excited to already have a contact in the city where I will be doing training for 3 months. Alec also said that he has a British Missionary there and so that will be great as well because she can help me get around during my first few weeks since I don't know the language. I am so incredibly excited.

Alec also gave me some reading material about Moldovan History. The book is called "The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture" by Charles King. It is all about the different periods of time when Moldova was part of Romania and Russia as well as how they are today as a free state. Moldova is statistically the poorest country in Europe and Alec said that many individuals of the older generation feel that if they had stuck with Communism, they would be better off today. That could be why they elected a Communist President in the last election. It is definitely going to be a challenge and I am really looking forward to it.

Only 28 days left til I leave for staging!