The views and opinions expressed in this website are from my own experience and do not represent the Peace Corps, the US Government, the Republic of Moldova, Japan, SIT or any person other than myself. (Phew!)
I used to live in Orhei, for two months during training (north of Chisinau). Currently, I live in Ceadir-Lunga (pronounced Chadder Loon-gah). By bus it's about 3 1/2 hours south of Chisinau (including slow-going for pot-hole ridden roads, and a few stops in towns along the way.) My guess by car, is that it would take only 2 hours to Chisinau. It's a large town, or a small city, depending upon your definition of urban life. I've been told it's the cultural center of the Gagauzian region, whereas Comrat is the political and educational center. Fortunately for me, this means there are lots of plays, dances, and musical performances! On the otherhand, there aren't any university students around to tutor me in Russian. Language will come with time, so I'm definitely happy to be placed in such a culturally rich area!
The first day of snow in Ceadir-Lunga happened to be the day I was planning to go to Chisinau, the capital, to watch a Japanese Speech Contest. Yes, Japanese! Unfortunately, no bus drivers were brave enough to go the normaly three hour journey while it was snowing, so no Japanese for me. Instead, I walked around town with my camera, and below is the result.
как дела? меня зовут ерен. я из америки. сеичас я изучаю русский язык в молдове.
Learning Russian is definitely one of the most challenging aspects of my experience in Moldova so far. My English mouth cannot mesh 3 or 4 consonents together and make it sound smooth and comprehensible as everyone around me. Oh, and rolling r's is also quite entertaining. Nevertheless, I'm trying and can at least understand a lot more than I can speak which is a good start.
In the very beginning, after four hours of over-active brain malfunction(Russian lessons), Neha, the other Russian learner and I would gobble to the turkeys nearby, and they always gobbled back! These were the first real conversations in a foreign language I had in Moldova - Turkish! To my surprise, the better my Russian became, the worse my gobbling became and the turkeys didn't always respond with their outstretched necks and fluffed-up feathers that I had become so fond of. Perhaps the real reason was they were tired of a silly human pestering them all the time.
Officially, before swearing in as a volunteer, I had to take a language acquisition test and I passed the Intermediate-Low level which is what I needed to start working. I'm proud of myself for getting that far in only two months, but I definitely need a LOT more to function in the work world and FAST! I'm still learning the basic words such as ice and sponge, while I also need to shove into my brain words like Non-Governmental Organizations, sustainable development, and strategic plan.
Even when I do finally have a word stick in my brain somewhere, the grammar craziness kicks in! Then I have to learn how to change the ending of the word fifty different ways depending on what comes before or after the word. This is when I start muttering the same word as many ways as I know how until someone understands me. Trying to figure out Russian grammar is like trying to build Mt. Everest with small pebbles one at a time. Sometimes I just want to start throwing handfuls of pebbles into a massive body of water. Kerplunk!
Since moving to Ceadir-Lunga in the south a month ago, I still haven't found a tutor. But I have my eye on a young English teacher at one of the schools I met last Friday who seems really nice. I can certainly use all the help I can get! даваи!
Mom! Thanks for the Russian stickers for my keyboard.. here's the result of my first project using it! I attended a fundraiser concert for a NGO that supports disabled children, filmed it and gave it to them as a present. This is the shortened version.
The Swearing-In Ceremony for the remaining volunteers who didn't return home (37 out of 40) was a very official and formal event. Our host families were present, many of our new NGO counterparts, Moldovan government officials, and of course the US Ambassador who swore us in. What you DON'T see in this video (unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me) is the speech I gave in Russian. But that means you also don't get to hear the roar from the crowd with all the cheering and applause I received for my tenuous effort. (Later at the reception a man came up to me and told me I was a genious. Yes, a genious. He said it was amazing I learned so much Russian in only two months. Little does he know that my language teacher translated my English version.. the only work I really put into it was trying to pronounce it well enough so people could understand me. I'll take the praise anyway.. I need as much encouragement as I can get when it comes to learning Russian.)
Ironically, in order to become a PEACE Corps volunteer we had to solemnly swear to uphold the constitution (fine with that), but also to defend it against foreign and domestic enemies! Interesting.... I wish I knew that BEFORE I signed up. I figure the enemies I'll run up against are open man-holes, faulty electric sockets, and homicidal drivers who don't care about pedestrians. Not sure how I'm suppose to defend the consitution from them, but confusion and ambiguity have become a normal part of my life anyway... Ehh!
So there you have it. I'm an official Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova!
Last Day of Training Skits promoting our skills & a yarn web stress session
Halloween Fundraiser in Magdacest One of our projects was to organize a fundraiser (even with our limited language skills). Entrance Fees for this event went to pay for audio visual equipment for the school. Oh! And I'm actually in this one! (Such is the life of a videographer, you never get to be in anything ;)
Peace Corps Trainees Visit Ceadir-Lunga! Fieldtrip! We drove 5 hours south to.. guess where? My new home in Ceadir-Lunga! So when I found out my placement, I had already visited the town! Here's a video of my fellow volunteers enjoying my new hometown.
For 2 months while studying Russian intensively and attending Peace Corps training sessions I lived with a retired couple in Orhei, a town 1 1/2 drive north of Chisinau (the capital of Moldova). They were very hospitable, especially considering I didn't even know how to say "hello" let alone anything else comprehensible when I first moved in. Interestingly, they are native Romanian speakers, but since everyone during the soviet era had to learn Russian we spoke in Russian to each other. Why am I learning Russian, you wonder? Because after training I was sent to live in Gagauzia, an Autonomous region in the south of Moldova filled with non-Romanian speakers who use Russian as their lingua-franca.
The two months living with Simion and Larisa were very memorable. I learned how to speak my first Russian sentences, and made many laughable mistakes in the process. We cooked apple crisp together. I played with their grandchildren- four beautiful girls! The youngest granddaughters didn't know Russian so it made for many interesting "conversations" mostly with gestures and silly facial expressions. Fortunately for me, the older girls (in high school) spoke practically fluent English and were often called upon for help- literally on the phone- to translate. Other highlights include Toby, a plump white and black spotted puppy who greedily wanted scraps of food and constant attention. He tore plenty of holes in my socks and ate the inside of one of my shoes, but was a great friend during the time when I couldn't communicate with people. I often held him until he fell asleep. He's also the only dog I know so far in Moldova that speaks English. I taught him to bark when I said "Speak!". My host mom tried to do the same, but instead ordered him to "Sneak!".
Here is a video of one fun Saturday afternoon with my host mom and granddaughters bathing dogs, skipping rocks, and being girls.
The first two months living with a Moldovan family was also filled with many first experiences. Many with Toby involved. The outside didn't have a door on it until a month after I moved in, and Toby followed me around everywhere... including into the potty. Outhouses usually have a deep hole above which you squat over as you do your business. Little tubby Toby would wander in with me and since I was afraid he'd fall into the pit of utter smelliness and die of the fumes never to be heard from again, I would hold Toby in one hand and wipe and put on my pants with the other. You can imagine how happy I was when a door was finally put on the outhouse! At least I won't be charged with puppy murder, as that would've been a grave hindrance to "community integration", as the Peace Corps likes to calls it. Other firsts in Orhei include an introduction to people's apathy that I heard so much about before coming to Moldova. If anything was broken, including the door handle, or if there was no water for 3 days, one grunt sound I hear continuously that expresses this apathetic attitude is "Ehh". In other words, who cares, not a big deal, not worth putting any energy (or money) into doing anything about it. Sadly this attitude is prevalent in many parts of life here in Moldova. Garbage in the streets, stray dogs, polluted water, alcoholism, domestic violence, the list goes on. "Ehh."
On the bright side, I've really found the people of Moldova to be incredibly hospitable. If you come here, be prepared to eat more food than is humanly possible to appease your hosts.
Here is short video of Orhei Town. Making this video was a training project to show what resources we have in our community. Parts might not be too exciting, but you can see where I lived for 2 months. (Please ignore the spelling mistakes as the software program I use decided to eat the last letter of most titles instead of publishing them that day. Very finicky.)
I'll leave you with someone else's video about a phenomenon in a parking lot by a restaurant in Orhei. Everyone knows that if you put your car in neutral at the bottom of the slope it will move forward, up the hill, on its own. I've been shown it about 3 times and it works. The car even jolts forward sometimes. Many people say it's because of magnetic forces, the Romania & Moldova Lonely Planet travel book says, "In the parking lot of Cafe Safari resaurant is a supposed 'magnetic hill'. Nazis were reputed to have buried Jews alive here, and strange happenings are alleged to occur in the area." Kind of spooky if that's true. Of course no local has mentioned the Nazi story.. just that it's a magnetic phenomenon. Certainly is interesting!
It only took me 3 months to compile an update! I've searched through my sparse journal entries during Peace Corps training and here they are for the world to see....
Some highlights of my journey to Moldova include losing a shoe after landing, and finding it 3 rows up. Very interesting crawling on my hands and knees looking under people’s seats. The group of 40 new volunteers “enjoyed” an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt and getting ousted from different corners of our gate in German. The flight to Moldova from Germany was also memorable because the small plane was painted only white with no logo, label, or any sign it was commercial. When I got on the plane someone was in my seat. It turned out we were given the exact same seating assignment- even with tickets to prove it. Fortunately I was able to sit in an extra seat as the flight was not completely filled. Hmmm… I also remember stewardists walking back and forth along the isles with paper cartons of wine that flowed freely since leaving DC. I also had my first taste of salami, cheese, partook from the breadbasket the stewardist carried. I definitely felt like I was heading to Europe.
When finally arriving in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, I was delighted to see friendly faces of current volunteers who greeted us with cheers. That was a surprising event, and most of the next few days are now blurs. I am happy to report that the Peace Corps staff, mostly Moldovan citizens are great and very capable people! They even gave our group a traditional Moldovan welcome, as shown in the picture by presenting us a beautifully braided breadloaf that we each broke off a piece and dipped in salt, then finished down with wine. It reminded me of taking communion in church. The traditional Moldovan outfits were beautifully embroidered.
First Impressions: Already I’m becoming accustomed to life here in Moldova, but looking back to when I first arrived there were, and still are, a lot of surprising aspects about Moldova I didn’t expect. The first night in Chisinau I was constantly awoken by stray dogs barking and fighting in the streets. There are a lot of stray dogs in cities, towns, and villages. It’s a big problem in Moldova. Someone told me that during Soviet times many people were forced to leave their homes and live in Soviet bloc apartments, but they couldn’t bring their pets, so many dogs and cats were abandoned. These poor creatures continue to reproduce and eat any scraps they can find in garbage heaps. Interestingly the stray dogs are not all mangy mutts, some are absolutely adorable!
The road rules in Moldova, if there are any, are not followed or I haven’t figured them out yet. I quickly learned in Chisinau that pedestrians never have the right of way. Literally people dodge cars and if one’s too slow a speeding car will honk at you without slowing down. Many of the volunteers in my group would run halfway across the street and turn back in fear because of an oncoming car. It was quite hilarious. I learned to stand right behind a native Moldovan and leave at exactly the same time to ensure I would get across safely. I’ve also noticed that a lot of drivers drive in the middle of two lines on purpose! The roads are pretty rough, and this is the smoothest part of the road. It’s so scary to watch though!
Continuing with life on the road and public transportation, I have a growing respect for Rutiera’s or personal vans that are the most common form of public transportation. There are bus stops and it’s possible to get onto a Rutiera there, but many Rutiera drivers aren’t legally registered so they have private stops around town. In many cases when I’m in a village off the main highway I just stretch out my arm and wait for the first Rutiera to stop on the side of the road and pick me up. This is how I get buses in rural places too. I have never hitch-hiked back home, but this really isn’t hitch-hiking as we know it back home. It’s quite normal and the quickest way to get to where you want to go without having your own car.
I’ve discovered on crowded Rutiera’s that the Babushka’s or older women like to take care of me, which has been a wonder comfort. If the driver doesn’t understand what I’m saying, such as “stop here please” in Russian, a Babushka will tell him I’m a foreigner (usually say I’m American) and she wants to get off. Babushka’s have offered to hold my bags when I’m forced to stand on a crowded Rutiera, and have also pulled me down into a freshly available seat. I love Babushka’s!
Another way some people get around in the villages are by horse cart. In many ways these horse carts are like trucks back home as they bring heavy loads of produce from their fields to home. I should mention that recently cart loads of corn stalks were brought to homes and harvested by hand in the streets. Amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen corn harvested in the States before, but I’m pretty sure people use machines and wouldn’t have the patience to do it all by hand.
For the most part I am very impressed with Moldovans self-sufficiency and hard work ethic! Most people grow their own food in their backyard or in a nearby field. The men grow grapes, and make their own wine! Many people have built their own house with their own hands. Most people in towns/villages have animals such as chickens, pigs, cows, turkeys, geese, etc for food. Many of my host family’s neighbors make their own sour cream and cheese. Many people not only grow and make their own food, but sell what remains in the local market to make ends meet. Apparently my lovely Babushka’s and older men living off of government social security only make about $30a month which in Moldova is really less than poverty wages, maybe just enough to heat your house with and that’s it. So many people sell their own clothes, flowers from their garden, or homemade cheese in the local market to subsidize their income. These people do so many things and work so hard to feed their families. My current host father,a dentist, also knows how to butcher pigs and geese that used to live in the back yard.
As a mostly agricultural society the landscape of Moldova is absolutely beautiful and reminds me of a patchwork quilt with different colors. The fall leaves were also brilliant and amazing to watch change over the last few weeks. On the otherhand, there is a lot of garbage along the road and in neighborhoods since for the most part there is not a reliable public garbage system. There is also no recycling so a lot of plastic bottles are scattered around. I hope this will change one day!
The people my age that live in town are usually married with kids. Otherwise they used to live here, but are now abroad and sending money home. Approximately 25% of the population works abroad. Almost everytime I meet someone new they tell me their son, or cousin, or another family member is working in America. The other volunteer in my town, Neha, is living with a woman who is taking care of her neighbor’s son, five year old -Jonathan. The mother is currently working in Greece and the father is working in Romania. There aren’t a lot of well paying jobs in Moldova, so many people work abroad- at a cost to family back home.
I can only assume due to lack of good jobs, and the availability of wine, vodka, cognac, and other liquor that alcoholism is prevalent here. It’s not uncommon for me to see a man staggering up the street in the afternoon wandering home after getting toasted at the local bar, or a friend’s house. Peace Corps also warns our families not to give us too much alcohol as it is a big part of the culture here. I’m happy with an occasional glass of wine, but don’t plan on drooling on myself or falling into an open man-hole on my way home. (One of the volunteers in our group actually fell into a man-hole at night!) On the otherhand, I was also amazed that 98% of the country practices Orthodox Christianity! In Rutiera’s near the driver often hangs a crucifix with mini portraits of saints. In almost every home I’ve seen a shrine on the wall of Mary & Jesus with saint portraits surrounding them. For a country that was forced to be communist only 17 years ago, and lived through years without churches since they were destroyed by the soviets or used as storage houses, this country is now freely expressing it’s traditional religion. Our group visited a church in a village, and the women all wore scarves on their heads and the men and women sat on opposite sides of the church. The priest was only 26 years old! He shared with us that the meaning of life was to be a good Christian, to get married, have kids, for women to take care of their husbands, and for husbands to feed their families. That was a fulfilled life.. so apparently I have a long way to go to be fulfill my role as a woman.
There are so many other impressions I’ve had about Moldova since being here, but perhaps one that surrounds me daily, particularly when watching tv is the identity struggle and political tug of war between Russia and Romania. Most of the tv channels are in Russian, yet many Romanian speakers prefer Russian speakers to learn and speak in Romanian. It's a cross-cultural and political mix that is really intriguing- opinions obviously differ depending upon one's ethnic and linguistic heritage.
Erin Erickson (PCV - M21) Corpul Pacii Moldova 12 Grigore Ureche St Chisinau, Moldova 2001
Gift packages always welcome!
From Sept '07 until March '10 I will be living in Moldova!
I am currently doing my practicum for graduate studies by serving in the Peace Corps as a Community Organizational Development (COD) Volunteer in Ceadir-Lunga, located in the Gagauzian Autonomous Region. I will also be attempting to live and function in Russian. Wish me luck!
