I found that on this really depressing travel blog about Moldova, here where their other devices to boost tourism...
They're almost comical right? Not terribly convincing... I cracked up when I saw them.
They probably should just stick to making wine and not trying for the whole tourist thing. Also I would like to make a correction to my previous post about Cricova, according to this site it is the biggest underground wine cellar in the world, but Inga and Mikayla told me the biggest one is actually is a winery called Milestil Mici (which is also in Moldova). Cricova was only the second biggest.. so just thought I would clear that up.
Now that I've cleared all this up, I will share with you about my Tuesday.
Work was uneventful, as work usually is. Doing nothing can sometimes be really exhausting, and I wish I was joking when I said that. The days I do the least amount of work are the ones I feel the most drained. I never thought I would missing summer lifeguarding, coaching, babysitting, and catering, but I'd much rather be physically exhausted from running around all day than mentally drained from doing almost nothing.
After work, the Lehigh girls met up for ice-cream to cool off and chat about work. Hearing about Karina, Lindsey, and Mikayla's jobs makes me really appreciate mine.
Karina works for an NGO that deals with children that are "at risk". Sometimes for work they travel to small villages to surprise check ins on foster families. Usually this families are only taking in the foster kids for the money, Karina said the conditions are absolutely terrible. Most families have at least one parent who's an alcoholic and the foster kids are completely neglected. Karina also visits "institutions" for kids who are in free day care while their parents work. Karina usually has a pretty sad story about her day to day travels visiting these children. Yesterday she was talking about how this one girl loves being held by Karina every time she visits the institution, and then cried hysterically when Karina has to leave. Because she is inconsolable when Karina leaves, the people who run the care center instructed Karina not to pick up the little girl, who couldn't be more than one or two. Now every time Karina goes back, this small child just cries and cries. It's just the saddest thing, and Karina can only make her situation temporarily better by picking her up.
Lindsey's job is less depressing, she does office work at American Councils and helps at a camp as an English speaker. Mikayla's job seems terribly boring and unstructured, she does research for her environmental NGO to find grants.
I like hearing about what the other girls are doing here, and even though all our work experiences are different, there is the same underlying theme of a very loose structure.
After ice cream we went with Inga and Ana-Maria to the country-side home to have dinner with the whole family! It had felt like forever since we've seen "mamachica" and "papachica" (Russian slang for mom and dad). Also Ana-Maria is a counsellor for a summer camp where boys from Britain come to Moldova for a few weeks. Mikayla and I jokingly have told Ana-Maria "No boys!" for weeks before the camp commenced, but I think Ana-Maria is British boyfriend hunting anyway. They are actually hosting a boy British boy (Rafii --A Malaysian raised in Britain!) in their country home.
Before we got to the country house for dinner, we got a call from Ana-Maria who had gotten stuck in the bathroom. She then proceeded to jump out the window (though it is on the ground floor, it is definitely not very close to the ground.) What a nut, all these boys must be making her a tad crazy. (Only joking, I know you read this blog, Ana-Maria)
I love going to Ialoveni though. The countryside is gorgeous, and sunflowers are beginning to spring up everywhere. Stay tuned for more flower children pictures, I bet you're all just as hype as I am. Dinner was spectacular as always, there was the traditional Borș as well as a soup with cartofi (potatoes) and mushrooms that mamachica made. We demonstrated all our impressive Romanian words to Rafii, who was pretty confused why we were in Moldova.. " So, are you two here just for fun or something?"
Yes Rafii, something like that.
Papachica also had brought out his homemade wine, which is the best. He told the table last night that he "can always count on Madelena to accept a drink". At least I'm reliable right?
He also had us try a drink called Visinata, pronounced Vi-shi-na-tă, which is made from sour cherries even though it is surprisingly sweet.
All in all, it was another great (and extremely hot) day in Chisinau.
I promise I'll stop with the food pictures.
After this one.. This HAFER-FLOCKEN is not only hilarious to say, but fabulous to eat for breakfast.
As is Yoli, which is like a milkier yogurt that Inga and Ana-Maria put in their cereal.
On the way to the Ialoveni, which is only about twenty minutes from the city.
No more cherries in the trees, but apricots! I don't think I've ever had a apricot (except for maybe dried apricots), but I'm a fan.
Visinata. Mikayla and I both really liked it.
One last picture. I'm just now noticing these posters, but it seems there are people rallying for Moldova to join Romania again. The Moldovan identity crisis continues.
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