1st Moldova letter October 2007

Greetings from Moldova!

I have been in Moldova for just over a month now and feel that I am settled enough to give everyone a glimpse into the exciting new challenge I have undertaken. Our Peace Corps group of volunteers are know as Moldova 19- the 19th group of volunteers to arrive in Moldova since Peace Corps started its program here in 1997. Moldova has been independent from the former U.S.S.R. since 1995, so it has only been an autonomous state for about 15 years. The official language is “Moldovan” or Romanian, but the population is bilingual, educated by the soviet system in Russian. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe and also progressing developmentally at the slowest rate of any former soviet republic. Moldova has actually regressed economically since independence. Historically, the territory that is now Moldova has been conquerered, divided, and occupied by numerous tribes, empires, and states. Geographically, Moldova sits at the crossroads of the West and East- between Europe and Russia/Asia. These factors have certainly had an enormous impact and influence on the culture and politics of Moldova today.
Never having been to a former Soviet republic, I had no idea what to expect when I landed in the capital, Chisinau, September 13th, 2006. Chisinau is a relatively small city of about 700,000 people. Of course, the actual population of any Molodovan city/town is much smaller than officially stated, since ¼ of the population is working abroad at any given time. Chisinau looks like any soviet city from picture books- full of drab gray apartment blocs, small european cars and statues of Lenin. I was pretty surprised to learn that the capital offered very little variety in the way of consumer goods, restaurants (NO CHINESE), or tourist attractions. It is nice, however, to walk through a city in another country nowadays and see no sight of a pizza hut or starbucks!
I immediately moved to a town outside of the capital called Ialoveni (pronounced “Yalo-ven”) for the next two months of training before being sworn in as a volunteer on November 18th. I live with a local Moldovan host family. I have two parents, about the same age as my parents in the U.S. (but they look a lot older!), a sister who is 27 and eight months pregnant, her husband and their 1 year-old daughter. My family is extremely nice, as Moldovans pride themselves on their hospitality. Our communication is getting better and better each day becuase my Russian seems to be coming along rapidly- noone in the house speaks English. Apparently, the 3rd language taught in soviet schools was French and not English- go figure!
My house is very different from what we are used to typically in the U.S. The bedrooms are separate from the kitchen and bathtub (I don’t know if I would call it a “bathroom” ) which are outside and around the corner. The walk is nice- there is an arbor full of grapes encircling the house. We have running water, but no indoor toilet which means that yes- we have an outhouse!!! I was really confused when I opened the door for the first time and expected to see the traditional Turkish-style toilet, a.k.a. a hole in the ground, and saw an actual porcelain toilet mounted over the hole, but missing all of the innerworkings. We do have toilet paper however, which is a step up from my Indonesian facilities!
Moldovan families supplement their meager income by growing about 85% of their own food, so we have two large gardens in front and in back of the house. They grow many of the same vegetables and fruits we have in the U.S. : beets, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, dill, strawberries, raspberries, watemelons,pears, plums, apples, walnuts and hazelnuts. My Mom has been busy canning, pickling and jellying all of the above for the long winter ahead. Moldova is also famous for their wine and most Moldovans make hommade wine, which they are very proud of, so there are grapes everywhere this time of year! On the side of the house we have a coop full of chickens, geese, and turkeys that love to make noise when I am trying to sleep- usually at about midnight and 5 am. We also have two cows that have a small “cow house” next to my bedroom. My family makes fresh cheese two or three times a week, which is delicious. They also make sour cream, kefir (a sort of yogurt), and brinza, which is similar to feta cheese, but less salty. And of course, since we are in Eastern Europe, there are three ugly, skinny and very mean dogs chained at each corner of our house.
Peace Corps has been keeping us very busy almost everyday. At least 4 days a week we have language class, which I love. Out of our group of 37 trainees, two, myself included, were chosen to learn Russian, not Romanian, the national language. Learning Russian is going to be a great asset in the future I believe, so I am extremely happy. Two days a week we have Peace Corps specific trainings on health and safety, policies and procedures, and development tactics. On Sundays we usually have a field trip- this weekend we are visiting the south of Moldova and last weekend was the national wine festival in the capital.
As a whole, so far, so good! I am having a wonderful time, despite the initial culture shock and lack of language skills. I didn’t even get sick as I expected in the first few weeks! People are generally very welcoming and warm. The Peace Corps is taking good care of us and seems to have a very well developed and competent organization in Moldova. Hope all is well and would love to hear from you!

Das Vidania!

Anastasia

Anastasia Kolivas
Corpul Pacii
Grigore Ureche Str. 12
Chisinau 2001
Republic Moldova