Up until two weeks before, I was set to go to Kazakhstan for my study abroad experience and study Russian in the heart of Eurasia. With shock to many, the country that few of us had known of before was thrown into the news and headlines everywhere. With a swift and professional change in plans, American Councils turned a tragedy that could have resulted in either a gap semester for me and others whose universities already began classes into a great three months in a country called Moldova.
Although I had been studying Russian for almost three years at that point, in no way was I comfortable with actually speaking with those who use it as their first language. One of our first days in country was when I felt my lowest. As a group, we were to get Covid tests before we left to live with our host families. As my turn came, I was processing how I would go about this interaction and which words I knew that would be key to use so the nurse could understand me. Unfortunately, all that hard thinking and trying to remember words did nothing for the complete embarrassment that followed. The woman barked orders at me, or so at the time my head made me believe. I was startled despite knowing that she would automatically speak in a different language than English. But ultimately, my face and my body language must have correctly told her that I was unaware of anything she said. And then a phrase that I would often hear (though less and less as my time in Moldova progressed)… she asked me “in English?”.
However, the brilliance of this program is that you are forced to speak Russian. There is no getting around the language. I was scared that my group would have varying levels of knowledge and ability when it came to Russian, and while that would be correct, each of us was placed into smaller groups which matched said ability. We got to learn at our own pace and never felt as if we were falling behind the curriculum that was handed to us. The assortment of classes also kept each day engaging and kept each of us on our toes. The days to me never felt as though they were a boring routine. These classes were tough and if you had a question, guess which language you had to ask it in. My Russian ability grew exponentially from day one up until the end. I could communicate with friends, with my host mom, with teachers, and even locals. For example, there was a Romani man who asked me and two other students for money. We politely said we did not have money on us, and I assume from our accent, he wanted to get to know us. And despite us not giving him money, he asked if he could talk to us a bit and we agreed. It felt incredible to be able to speak with someone about complex topics as well as funny ones which still make me laugh whenever I bring up the story. With the lack of the language divide, we can truly feel as though we are all really similar people with similar interests and similar hardships.
The last few days in Moldova were the hardest. After the first weeks of the war in Ukraine and not knowing what our circumstances would be, there was news in the middle of the night about explosions in the breakaway region of Transnistria and it was too close to home for many. We were immediately told that we would be leaving the country and that our trip abroad would come to an early end. The trip started from a crisis and ended in a crisis. However, both times, American Councils was able to safely and professionally weave their way around the obstacles and make it as smooth as possible for us. We grew so close to one another as well as with our teachers. The morning in class after hearing the news was pretty hard. I will admit that I shed tears and gave a lot of hugs that day. These teachers became like family and would speak to us about their hardships and dreams, their childhoods in the USSR as well as their life after its fall. They knew about our families and our dreams and what we wanted for our future. I will soon go back to visit them and hope to make progress in my Russian even more. I am so thankful to American Councils for this opportunity and the memories and friends I made along the way. A part of me will always be in Moldova and I am happy to have had it as my home for a short while.
Since returning, I have been keeping in touch with a friend from Russia I had made online during my time in Moldova. I began our conversations with an effort to help him with English conversational practice and while sometimes even with my joking efforts against it, he also helps me with Russian. I will say that being back in the United States, it does feel difficult to keep up with Russian if you are not in the environment where it is commonly spoken. Going back to American University, I will be graduating this year in International Relations as well as Russian Language and Area Studies. I hope to reconnect with some of my professors from last year who were either born in Russia or have family from there in order to seek possible career options in the field surrounding my studies. And after graduation, I hope to return to Moldova and help out with American Councils’ role in the country and after that, hopefully move my efforts to more of Eastern Europe and by the end of next summer, maybe even Russia herself.
Fulbright-Hays Recipient
Russian Language and Area Studies Program
Chisinau, Moldova
Spring 2022