#baphotochallenge

In central #Chisinau for new style #Christmas, the first of two Christmases that we'll #celebrate in #Moldova. We heard music from the center and enjoyed a concert in the square. It culminated in us dancing the hora around the decorated fir tree (not shown here, just the talents of the great performing singing us a new year's song full of great wishes for 2017). #BAPhotoChallenge #Crāciun #Holidays (at Piaţa Marii Adunări Naţionale)

Preparations for Christmas and New Year's are under way all over town. Here, a team is decorating the city tree, installed in the middle of the lot in front of our large statue of Steven the Great. This was the second tree I saw this day being decorated with a worker in a cherry picker. #Criuleni #Holidays #Celebrate #BAPhotoChallenge (at Criuleni)

I think one should consider themselves a smashing success if one inspires a spontaneous monkey dance party. So glad @jchrisflowers and I followed the sound of music and sighting of Krokodil Gena into this gym and found a great celebration under way! #Criuleni #Celebrate #BAPhotoChallenge (at Criuleni)

View of the Etosha Pan, with the most beautiful tree in the park. #Namibia . . . . . . #celebrate #BAphotochallenge #RPCV #art #like4like #follow #travel #instadaily #picoftheday #instatravel @bloggingabroad (at Etosha National Park, Namibia)

Lots of #PeaceCorpsVolunteers out for the national #FestivalulVoluntarilor / Volunteer Festival in #Chisinau. I'm pretty confident that one of these fine folks is going to be the 2016 International Volunteer of the Year - wish them luck! Grateful to be out celebrating the spirit and importance of volunteerism with friends today! #WhatPCVsDo #Celebration #BAPhotoChallenge (at Teatrul Eugene Ionesco)

On #MyWalkToSchool today I met a great companion: A black cat at a black gate! We should friends. Maybe this new friend will introduce me to his group, the gaggle of geese hanging out in his yard. For some reason, this quick moment made my morning quite lovely. I don't meet as many "farm" animals when I stick to the center of my host town, #Criuleni, so it's delightful when I do. #ThisIsMyLife #BAPhotoChallenge #CatsOfMoldova #MyAnimalFriends #ItsABirdDanceParty (at CRIULENI R.M.)

As aspect of life that has shown up in my work off and on is #menstruation. As a student, my activism and writing sometimes centered around it, including the amazing opportunity I had to be a part of the Cincinnati-based feminist zine The Rag. Much more recently, I am grateful to have been involved in supporting future #PeaceCorpsVolunteers in preparing around menstruation and how to support menstruators in general. I am honored to have been a part of our successful push for partial coverage of the cost of menstrual products for current #PCVs in #Moldova. I'm grateful to have helped #TEECH install indoor bathrooms with stalls in a school this summer, which helps menstruating students be able to fully participate in school. Now I'm excitedly working on workshops about menstruation that can be taught in general by teachers/volunteers here and that will be coupled with #LetGirlsLearn projects that agree to it. #MenstruationMatters #WhatPCVsDo #ThisIsMyLife #BAPhotoChallenge

#latergram of the World War II memorial near the #Cahul bus station. Nearly every place I've been in #Moldova, I've had the opportunity to see the local WWII memorial and I genuinely appreciate the variety of shapes and styles they show. This is the second I can remember seeing that has a tank/big weapon. This one also has a spot for an eternal flame. #ThisIsMyLife #OnTheRoad #BAPhotoChallenge (at Cahul)