Our travels over the last 2+ years have really reminded Joe and I how lucky we are. We feel not only lucky to have been born in a prosperous country, to families who cared about our development and future success, but also to have the opportunity to experience so many corners of this planet. Knowing that this isn’t the case for many people in the world, we decided to dedicate some of our travel itinerary to “giving back”.

After copious research and contemplation, all paths led us to Europe’s poorest country, Moldova, to teach English (and German). After 14 months of planning, an unexpected postponement, and some challenging communication between our volunteer organization based in New Zealand and the NGO in Moldova…we finally made it!!

This trip has definitely been one of our favorites, but not for the reasons one might expect. We didn’t see a lot of amazing places, nor did we do a lot of amazing things. What we did do, was learn about the people and culture of the country we were visiting, on a level that we never expected to.

It’s important to remind ourselves that we are never too busy or too poor to give our time, energy, possessions or money to others who are less fortunate. I have spent a lot of time contemplating altruism during my life and this trip provided me with more fuel for the argument that true altruism really doesn’t exist. Even though our goal was to give our knowledge and time to others, we still took away from this experience a whole lot more than we gave.

So, without further ado, here is our Moldovan adventure!

• Căuşeni, Moldova (inhabited uninhabitable buildings and flashes of death)
• Family Cioban (homemade wine and killer cat claws)
• Class is in Session (“Drink with Trysta and Joe!”)
• “Johnny” and the Church (holy awkwardness)