A weekend for the books

Hello, Hello! This weekend was really busy, so I’m going to try to back track a little… bare with me here.

Some things you should know that you might not be aware of:

Friday I moved in with a new host family! Because Francesca and I were constantly miscommunicating, and Francesca kept calling the program advisors with questions, they decided that it would be easier for everyone if I just moved to another family. Though I was willing to try to work through it with Francesca, this honestly came as a huge relief.

 

Some things I didn’t get to yesterday due to lack of wifi:

Satruday was crazy busy with adventures around Chisinau. As I mentioned early into my trip here, this city, beautiful in a very unique way, feels stuck in the past due to glimpses of disrepair. I am personally fascinated by things that have been long forgotten, so I love the cracks, old gates, and broken windows that make up this city. I am bringing this up again (sorry If I am becoming redundant) because yesterday we went to the Botonical Gardens and they were beautifully overgrown. I loved the old greenhouses with plants peaking through the glass roofs that seemed long abandoned. (Pax, you would have loved breaking in and exploring, as I assume your escapades in that Elkins Park gilded age mansion continue.)
Inga and Anna-Maria explained that the unkempt and crumbling historic buildings all over the city remained in their state of demise because the government won’t allow them to be demolished, but they also lack the money to renovate them. Though most may not, I find it all enchanting. I know I say this a lot, but Chisinau really has been like another world. This probably sounds a little crazy, but it is hard to imagine that my life back and Jenkintown or Lehigh is still a reality.

Ayyy green energy! 

Peeking in old greenhouses 

 and shattered windows..

 Pax would love the abandoned aspect of this city.

 Some tired explorers 

My new host sistas

Some things that happened today

Another busy day with my new host family! We left to see the historical site of Orhei today which is about an hour from Chisinau. We hiked up to see the gorgeous church and view, as well as the monasteries that were build in the side of the Mountain. The entire trip was really cool and definitely worth the hike.

After Orhei we went to Inga and Anna-Maria’s second house where their father grew up. His village was really cool, and I feel like I had time traveled even further back, between drinking water literally drawn from a well and using outhouses. It really was so neat. There were two hundred year old, two room on the property surrounded by an amazing garden. These Moldovan’s take their gardens very seriously; they don’t mess around with flowers and trees, like I am pretty sure you could eat from any plant on the property. So everything we ate was so fresh and really, really good. Vegetables just taste better here. Inga and Anna-Maria’s dad’s family casually makes wine, no big deal, so they had these huge barrels of wine in their cellar. This is the wine we’ve been drinking with all our meals, and I have to say Moldovan wine is quite good.

SO that’s my weekend, I know I’ve missed a ton of things that I’ll probably thing of tomorrow, but I’m too exhausted to write.

 And so Sunday's adventures begin

Hiking up!

 We befriended a bad ass goat

 Who was a tad camera shy

 It was gorgeous 

Just casually drinking some well water

 The church at the top. 

A lovely Moldovan view 

 Mikayla was kind enough to share her host family with me. She's a saint. 

 Again the goat..

 "Ayyy Moldova"

  Just four sisters

 "Mamachica" 

 A very successful hike!

Prom?

So there are a lot of superstitions here. We were told we had to circle the cross three times and make a wish. When in Moldova, right?

Ze hike.

Cliff side monastery

The cliff monasteries weren't the most spacious.. 

 A traditional village home.

No one was home though..

 But we took pictures on their property anyway

 And in their carriage 

 The countryside 

 Our adoptive parents and their "Moldovan smiling" (they say it's american to smile for pictures)

 Jumping for joy with our Moldovan hype

 Inga and Anna Maria's cousin, we are basically at the same level of Romanian speech, so we became good friends. 

 Moldovan Monestary fashion 101 

 Just your typical Moldovan country side cellar 

 With your typical home made vats of wine. Very casual. 

And well water which was clean and fabulous, but I did feel like I had time traveled. 

 Overall a very good day.