The Lighter Way to Enjoy Culture Shock

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

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Location: Boone, North Carolina, United States

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The following are strictly personal views/observations and in no way reflect the views of the Peace Corp nor the federal government of the United States.

When I arrived in Moldova, I was concerned that the summer temperatures here would be lacking the intensity to which I am accustomed. Since, the first two weeks of my stint in Moldova consisted of plentiful, monsoon like, torrenenchial rain and cool temperatures (never over 60F). However, the past week has put my apprehensions, about a cool summer, to rest because now it is hot and extremely humid. I would equate the current weather to the past summer in Asheville; which, was one of the hottest Asheville summers I have ever experienced. What made last summer bearable was climate control. Here climate control is an advertised luxury, restaurants post signs in the windows stating the perk of air conditioning. Im okay living without air conditioning but a fan would be really nice. However, fans are also an unknown commodity here.

I did learn something from the frequent onslaughts of rain, storm drains are such an incredible invention. Here there are no storm drains nor any system for removing/dispersing rain water thus when it rains the streets literally turn to small rivers. With rain, it is impossible to move about town because the water becomes calf deep within 10 minutes. So, kudos to the inventor of the storm drain!

One of the best things about living in Moldova is the produce. I never knew fruits and vegetables could be so fresh and so tasty. Right now, the most plentiful products are raspberries, strawberries, cherries, tomatoes, and a variety of plums that are the size of cherries. The raspberries are my personal favorite. In comparison with American raspberries: these are sweeter, much larger (about twice the size), they come in two colors (red and yellow) and they are cheaper here. In the piata a kilogram of raspberries cost 10 lei -translation- in the local market two pounds of raspberries cost 80 cents. The tiny plums are quite unique as well, they are the size of a cherry but they still taste exactly like a plum. Its crazy! The tomatoes available here also are better than the average tomatoes available in American grocery stores. The tomatoes are similarly sized however they are more ripe, fresh, juicy and sweet. One word: INCREDIBLE!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

The following are strictly personal views/observations and in no way reflect the views of the Peace Corp nor the federal government of the United States.

Went to Chisinau yesterday, I haven't been to the capital city since we first arrived in Moldova. We got to go out to eat, I have really missed that activity. We ate at a Lebanese restaurant, and at a pizza restaurant. The Lebanese food was fantastic, very ethnic. The restaurant had the feel of misogynism. Pizza in Moldova is pretty much the same as pizza in America but they have a more unique variety of toppings here, like pickles and corn. Moldovans don't set limits on the possibilities of pizza toppings, here the sky is the limit.
At every restaurant I have been to thus far in Moldova, all have hookah. I have yet to have partaken, but I intend to sometime. I think more restaurants in America should have post-meal hookah.
One of the coolest things here is the variety of restaurants in Chisinau, any ethnicity of food you can imagine, there is a restaurant for it in the capital city. Uzbekistan, Lebanese, Moroccan, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, British (in the form of potato bar), American, etc. I cant wait to try them all!
We went to a big alimentara (grocery store) yesterday, it was the most exciting trip to a alimentara ever. Its crazy how much you appreciate something once you have been deprived of it for an extended period of time. I got potato chips (flavored: barbecue, sour cream and dill, bacon, hot dog), white chocolate/chocolate/hazelnut nutella, a coke, and baby wipes.
This upcoming week is the American embassy/Chamber of Commerce independence party. It is in Chisinau and its for the whole American community in Moldova, which consists primarily of Peace Corp, embassy employees and missionaries. Thus it will be quite the motley crew at this affair. Its gonna be food, open bar, fireworks and lots of English speaking! (English speaking is another thing you never miss till it is gone) I have my fingers crossed for hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, and coke. But, I hear its going to be a pig roast/barbecue, known in Moldova as frigaroi, which is cool cause I do like barbecue!
Then later in the week we are taking a trip/tour of the south of Moldova. Ill let yall know how that is...

Sunday, June 18, 2006

The following are strictly personal views/observations and in no way reflect the views of the Peace Corp nor the federal government of the United States.

Finally...internet acess, oh how I have missed it.
Moldova is quite a change from the United States, more than I had anticipated.
The capital city, Chisinau, was everything I had imagined that a city in a post commuist country would be; crumbling buildings and a plethora of monuments honoring Lenin.
I am currently living in a village outside Orheii, which is a medium sized town north of Chisinau. Here in the village there are a tremendous number of farm animals roaming the streets. Goats, sheep, cows, horses, ducks, turkey, chickens, and some incredibly mangy cats and dogs. Hopefully soon I will be able to post some pictures.
The electricity is available most of the time, occassionally it will just go off for a half a day or so. Although the power not being available doesnt seem to phase any of the Moldovan locals, obviously it is a very common occurance.
There is running water, however, it is only running about one hour a day. What hour of the day it is, no one knows. Could be in the morning, could be at night, could be that it didnt come on at all. Its a guess and check system, you turn on the faucet and hope that something resembling water comes out of it. When the water is not running, which is almost all of the time, then it must be fetched from the well. The well is not the kind from the 1900s with a pump, its the kind from the 1300s with a bucket that is dropped into a stone lined hole. I have gotten water from the well several times and it is a workout. Water is heavy!
Showering/bathing is done by fetching water from the well, then heating it on the stove and mixing it with a bucket of cold water. This produces water that is just below scalding temperatures. Then this just below boiling water is dumped into two small plastic tubs which are inside a large bath tub. After all the preparation comes the process of bathing and washing one's hair.
You stand in the tub and using a plastic cup pour the hot water over you. It is difficult to capture with the written word the complete unpleasantness of bathing/showering in this manner. Needless to say, Im a dirty girl. Ive cut back on hair washing to one or two times a week, bathing to three or four times a week.
The food is good, or at least I enjoy it. Although I do need some heat, and neither spicy foods nor hot sauce exist here. The Moldovan diet, from my experience, consists of alot of homemade cheese, bread, pork, cabbage salad, and wine. The wine is drank in quantity almost every day and thus far it has all been homemade and it is awesome! (Eat your heart out Corky)