The Barbecue That Almost Wasn't

Last weekend, I went to a friend's village about an hour north of my town. It ended up being me, Liezel, Amanda, Sinh, and Greg. We decided to have a super awesome relaxing weekend. We got there on Friday afternoon, watched Grey's Anatomy season finale (there was lots of yelling at the computer) and drank wine. 

Saturday morning, we woke up with plans to walk to a nearby lake and have a picnic/barbecue. Well, the day started with rain. Not good, so we decided to wait a little to see if the rain would subside. It eventually did, and then started to rain again. However, we didn't let this stop our fun. The rain stopped, so we packed up a blanket, beer, food, and wood and set out.

We walked for about a half hour and ended up next to a beautiful lake.

Sinh and Liezel set up the blanket, I peeled vegetables, and Amanda and Greg attempted to start the fire. Yes, they attempted. It took a while and a lot of wood.

Before we set out on our adventure, Greg made meatballs. They were raw of course, with the plan of cooking them over the fire. One flaw in the plan... there was no grill or anything to cook the meatballs on. However, we did have skewers so we stuck the meatballs on them. 

 

It seemed to be working, when the meatballs started falling off. So, new plan...

Let's make hamburger patties and cook them on the skewers!

Nope. Didn't work again. We were feeling quite frustrated at this point. We didn't want to eat just salad. Lame. 

I continued to cook my vegetables.

But the vegetables didn't work either. Lame again. 

All of a sudden, Boy Scout Greg finds a rusty old can!!

What can you do with a rusty old can, you ask?

Well....

Wash it in the lake and stick the meatballs in it of course! 

It's a mini-oven!
Brilliant Greg!

Mmm look at those meatballs cookin'!

Finished product?

Nice!

We sat down to enjoy our meatballs, salad, grilled cheese sandwiches (good idea Sinh!) s'mores, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It was a successful barbecue, and none of us got sick.

I know what you're thinking! 

"Eww, that's really disgusting cooking meatballs in a rusty old can that's been who knows where!"

But,

We're Peace Corps Volunteers!

It's how we do Baby!

Killer Snails From Moldova

These snails are EVERYWHERE. 

And they are HUGE.

It has been raining a lot lately, so these snails and huge earthworms are coming out more frequently then ever. You have to watch where ever you walk, because you most likely will step on one. I've seen many a cracked gooey shell the past few weeks. 

I was at school the other day when I passed by some of my 2nd grade girls playing with a snail. They would poke one of its antennae things, and it would shoot into its head. Slowly it would come back out, and the girls would poke it again. 

Although I am 23, I had fun poking the antennae as well.

English Club

Today was one of the nicest days so far this spring, and it was a perfect day to take English Club outside. Although not much English was actually spoken, the kids had a great time. We played Uno as usual, then also went down to the park. The park next to the school has several lakes, so we walked around those. We also played on the jungle gyms next to my school. 

*Only 2 1/2 weeks of school left!

When I Grow Up...

This is my neighbor, Boba Lida, taking her cow to the field this morning.

Boba Lida is 74 years old.

She is amazing, and I hope I can be as awesome as her when I'm 74.