By disposition, I'm a cheerful person. I wake up cheerful and I go to bed cheerful. At least the great majority of the time.
Today I've been in a funk. I think it's been building for a while. I spend a lot of time alone and am feeling quite lonely and homesick today. I think the idea of my birthday Saturday so far from home is weighing on me.
The good news is that these kinds of days don't last for me and tomorrow I have a meeting I'm looking forward to.
I've been reporting pretty fully on my days here, so thought that, even if it's not up-beat, I'd report on this one too.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Stray Thoughts
Well, although my Turkish restaurant lunch was delicious, it wasn't what I thought is was going to be. The Romanian menu word was berbecut so I made the (false) assumption that it would be grilled meat over rice. It seems that berbecut means ram, as in male sheep. So I started with a rich lentil soup followed by boiled ram over well spiced rice. A dish of yogurt on the side added to the flavor. It was good.
While in the restaurant, I noticed that we were the only ones sitting in the non-smoking room. That's my stray thought: everywhere we've gone, the level of smoking among both men and women and teens is really high. I've seen kids who were obviously too young to smoke, puffing away. In Moldova, a carton of Marlboro Red (locally produced under Marlboro supervision) cost 140 Moldovan Lei - about $12.50 in US dollars.
And water. People drink a lot of water. Apa plata is "flat" water or no gas. Apa minerala is gassy or sparkling water. Both are equally popular.
And eating outside. I have been completely happy eating outside every day. but now the really nice weather seems to have moved into cooler, wetter weather, so two days ago, I started eating inside. You really notice people smoking when you're inside.
That's enough stray thinking for one day.
While in the restaurant, I noticed that we were the only ones sitting in the non-smoking room. That's my stray thought: everywhere we've gone, the level of smoking among both men and women and teens is really high. I've seen kids who were obviously too young to smoke, puffing away. In Moldova, a carton of Marlboro Red (locally produced under Marlboro supervision) cost 140 Moldovan Lei - about $12.50 in US dollars.
And water. People drink a lot of water. Apa plata is "flat" water or no gas. Apa minerala is gassy or sparkling water. Both are equally popular.
And eating outside. I have been completely happy eating outside every day. but now the really nice weather seems to have moved into cooler, wetter weather, so two days ago, I started eating inside. You really notice people smoking when you're inside.
That's enough stray thinking for one day.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Back in Bucharest
Arrived in Bucuresti about an hour ago, cool and rainy. It seems that the glorious weather is finished for this year and that rainy much cooler days are ahead. The forecast for the week doesn't have any day that reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit and my birthday weekend ahead is forecast rainy and cold.
The train ride from Chisinau was uneventful. This time we were in the first car of the train and it made for a much smoother ride. No terrible odors this time either. In the train schedule a full three hours is allotted for border crossings.
Chisinau was a wonderful time for me. I immediately felt embraced by the people I met and spent time with. Those who came to my meeting on spirituality and communion service have already been in contact by email and I may just have made some friendships that will last.
Wednesday or Thursday, I will have a second meeting with some of those who came to my meeting in Bucharest at the beginning of the month. I could not be more delighted about this.
Now I'm going to get in a long hot shower and take a nap. Maybe some people can sleep on a train - I'm not one of them.
The train ride from Chisinau was uneventful. This time we were in the first car of the train and it made for a much smoother ride. No terrible odors this time either. In the train schedule a full three hours is allotted for border crossings.
Chisinau was a wonderful time for me. I immediately felt embraced by the people I met and spent time with. Those who came to my meeting on spirituality and communion service have already been in contact by email and I may just have made some friendships that will last.
Wednesday or Thursday, I will have a second meeting with some of those who came to my meeting in Bucharest at the beginning of the month. I could not be more delighted about this.
Now I'm going to get in a long hot shower and take a nap. Maybe some people can sleep on a train - I'm not one of them.
Columbus Day for you. Travel day for me.
It's a really gray, rainy morning in Chisinau. We didn't stock our apartment very well with food, so we had Russian potato salad for breakfast with a cup of tea. Lean, Nataly and Mihai kindly sent some home with us last night.
We will head out shortly for a noon meeting at a human rights organization called Gender-Doc, then we will come back to the apartment to pack up and head to the train station for our 5p.m. train. We will be in the same train car as when we came from Bucuresti but a different sleeping compartment - not the very last one so may not have the same disturbing odors as on the way here.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Moldova. The people I've met have been so warm and friendly and willing to go out of their way to make my stay enjoyable and full of good information. Once again, I have collected email addresses so I can continue a dialogue with my new friends here.
We will head out shortly for a noon meeting at a human rights organization called Gender-Doc, then we will come back to the apartment to pack up and head to the train station for our 5p.m. train. We will be in the same train car as when we came from Bucuresti but a different sleeping compartment - not the very last one so may not have the same disturbing odors as on the way here.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Moldova. The people I've met have been so warm and friendly and willing to go out of their way to make my stay enjoyable and full of good information. Once again, I have collected email addresses so I can continue a dialogue with my new friends here.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
An excellent Sunday in Chisinau, Moldova
I had an absolutely wonderful day today. After our terrific meeting and communion last night at our apartment, one of my new friends, Yevgeniy (Eugen) came to get me so we could go to the Wine Festival. Moldova is full of good vineyards and excellent wine. We took a mini-bus that was jammed full of people but was cheap transportation. About 25 cents for each of us. We walked around the park where the wine festival was going on. Many well-known names of vineyards were represented. We tasted some and constantly smelled the food vendors who were cooking kebabs over coals. An incredible smell. After we left the festival, we walked through an old park that must once have been beautiful but is currently in disrepair.
I got back to the apartment about 3 after walking back - an incredible distance on a hot day. I made myself a cup of tea and lay on the couch to read until Florin returned about 3:30. At 4, Nataly and Leah picked us up in a cab and we went to a new mall that is really impressive and beautiful. While the others attended a board meeting, I went to a great coffee shop and drank cappuchino shi apa plata (cappuchino and still water (not gassy)) and read.
After the board meeting, we came back to Leah and Nataly's apartment where Mihai, Leah's 14 year old son was waiting for us. He had made a really delicious potato salad that he told me about when I saw him in Pittsburgh in July. Then the food started coming out. Unbelievable. The table was groaning with food, as was I after eating it. Because they knew sarmale was my favorite, they cook it. Do you remember that Sarmale is cabbage rolls? There were roasted peppers and a kind of farmer's cheese called brinza. There was herring. After filling ourselves, there was fruit and fresh walnuts and chocolate cake. We picked constantly and drank wine.
It really has been a splendid day. When I checked my email, I found that some of the people who attended my workshop in Bucharest on the 2nd want to have another session with me during the week. That is terrific!
A few pictures from today can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/20091011#
I got back to the apartment about 3 after walking back - an incredible distance on a hot day. I made myself a cup of tea and lay on the couch to read until Florin returned about 3:30. At 4, Nataly and Leah picked us up in a cab and we went to a new mall that is really impressive and beautiful. While the others attended a board meeting, I went to a great coffee shop and drank cappuchino shi apa plata (cappuchino and still water (not gassy)) and read.
After the board meeting, we came back to Leah and Nataly's apartment where Mihai, Leah's 14 year old son was waiting for us. He had made a really delicious potato salad that he told me about when I saw him in Pittsburgh in July. Then the food started coming out. Unbelievable. The table was groaning with food, as was I after eating it. Because they knew sarmale was my favorite, they cook it. Do you remember that Sarmale is cabbage rolls? There were roasted peppers and a kind of farmer's cheese called brinza. There was herring. After filling ourselves, there was fruit and fresh walnuts and chocolate cake. We picked constantly and drank wine.
It really has been a splendid day. When I checked my email, I found that some of the people who attended my workshop in Bucharest on the 2nd want to have another session with me during the week. That is terrific!
A few pictures from today can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/20091011#
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Playing the tourist
On Friday, Florin had some work and meetings to take care of so Leah and Nataly very kindly offered to take me to a cave monastery in a village called Orhei Vecchi about 35-40 minutes from Chisinau. Nataly borrowed her father's car and they picked me up. It was a crystal clear warm morning with full sunshine. We stopped at a supermarket to pick up picnic lunch supplies and headed out.
Almost immediately out of the cities we began to see the agricultural nature of the country. There are vineyards everywhere and hundreds of walnut trees lining the road. The roads became more and more rural before we reached Orhei Vecchi and we walked up a fairly steep hill to reach the cave monastery. The area is a bowl-shaped valley surrounded by limestone cliffs. A small river winds all around it. When we arrived at the monastery, they were having worship because it was an Orthodox holy day, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. We walked down into the cave church. It was simple and lovely, the walls were the whitish limestone of the very cliffs. There were about 20 villagers present for the service. The candelabra over the sanctuary wasn't electric, it was candles. It was really beautifully primitive. I could imagine the exact same service being celebrated centuries ago. After worship we went through a door that literally took us out onto a cliff with a two foot ledge. It was kind of shocking scary beautiful.
After leaving the church, we walked along the cliff road to see a new church that was being build. We passed a very colorful cemetery and a limestone cross overlooking the valley.
After leaving the monastery area, we drove a short way into the valley to see the river filled with ducks and geese. There were the ruins of a Turkish bath from days when the Ottoman Empire included this part of the world. Then we walked a fair way along the river to find a place to have a picnic lunch and to relax and talk. Nataly gathered walnuts. I found them more delicious than any walnut I ever had. I couldn't get enough of them.
We arrived back in the city around 4 to meet Florin but he went off to another meeting or two and Leah and I walked downtown while Nataly returned the car to her dad and met us downtown for dinner. We returned to the restaurant the Florin and I had eaten at the day before. I had a local beer, a bowl of zeama (a local specialty: a chicken noodle soup with a lemon-sour broth) followed by pork medallions and a pear poached in honey and red wine. Nataly also had zeama while Leah had potato leek soup. They had interesting looking salads. We walked across the street again to the patisserie called Delise for coffee/tea and dessert. Natalie and Leah had rich chocolate tortes and I had an apple tart with a nut bottom crust.
We walked back to the apartment and chatted with Florin for a while, planning a meeting we're having Saturday night. The women left and we crashed. Long, wonderful day. Pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/20091010#
Almost immediately out of the cities we began to see the agricultural nature of the country. There are vineyards everywhere and hundreds of walnut trees lining the road. The roads became more and more rural before we reached Orhei Vecchi and we walked up a fairly steep hill to reach the cave monastery. The area is a bowl-shaped valley surrounded by limestone cliffs. A small river winds all around it. When we arrived at the monastery, they were having worship because it was an Orthodox holy day, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. We walked down into the cave church. It was simple and lovely, the walls were the whitish limestone of the very cliffs. There were about 20 villagers present for the service. The candelabra over the sanctuary wasn't electric, it was candles. It was really beautifully primitive. I could imagine the exact same service being celebrated centuries ago. After worship we went through a door that literally took us out onto a cliff with a two foot ledge. It was kind of shocking scary beautiful.
After leaving the church, we walked along the cliff road to see a new church that was being build. We passed a very colorful cemetery and a limestone cross overlooking the valley.
After leaving the monastery area, we drove a short way into the valley to see the river filled with ducks and geese. There were the ruins of a Turkish bath from days when the Ottoman Empire included this part of the world. Then we walked a fair way along the river to find a place to have a picnic lunch and to relax and talk. Nataly gathered walnuts. I found them more delicious than any walnut I ever had. I couldn't get enough of them.
We arrived back in the city around 4 to meet Florin but he went off to another meeting or two and Leah and I walked downtown while Nataly returned the car to her dad and met us downtown for dinner. We returned to the restaurant the Florin and I had eaten at the day before. I had a local beer, a bowl of zeama (a local specialty: a chicken noodle soup with a lemon-sour broth) followed by pork medallions and a pear poached in honey and red wine. Nataly also had zeama while Leah had potato leek soup. They had interesting looking salads. We walked across the street again to the patisserie called Delise for coffee/tea and dessert. Natalie and Leah had rich chocolate tortes and I had an apple tart with a nut bottom crust.
We walked back to the apartment and chatted with Florin for a while, planning a meeting we're having Saturday night. The women left and we crashed. Long, wonderful day. Pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/20091010#
Report on the train ride to Chisinau, Moldova
Sorry I haven't been able to post in a few days. I haven't had internet access for long enough to get on the blog.
We caught the Bucharest-Chisinau train on Wednesday night at 8pm. We found our first class sleeper car. It was the last car on the train and our compartment was the last compartment on the car. Our compartment was about 5 feet wide and about 6 and a half feet deep. There was a padded bench seat on each side of the car with a little table between. The padded seats were the beds, very narrow. The conductor came to bring clean sheets. Oh, I forgot to mention that our compartment was right next to the toilet. The toilet empties directly onto the tracks. Sometimes we got the odor of the fuel, sometimes the cigarette smell from the next compartment and sometimes the toilet.
Now the fun part: imagine Saturday morning TV cartoons. Now picture a train with the last car flying from side to side and bouncing up and down. That was us. At times, I was sure I was going to hit the ceiling and other times I thought I'd be tossed onto the floor.
We reached the Romanian border around 3a.m. and were there for an uneventful hour. We started again and reached the Moldovan border where first they stamped our passports and then the customs person came to see if we had anything to declare. They weren't at all interested in my luggage and I didn't have to open it. Florin had some sex-education/HIV prevention booklets and the rather dour woman looked extensively through each booklet. Florin offered her a copy but she firmly declined.
We arrived in Chisinau about 8:45 so the 200 mile trip only took twelve and three-quarters hour. Our friends, Leah and Nataly met us and we went to our apartment to settle in. Then we went out for a very expensive breakfast.
I'm learning a new currency. The Moldovan Lei (Lei is the same name the Romanians use for their currency).
One US dollar is about 11 Moldovan Lei. The bills come in various colors and are smaller than the US dollar.
After a nap and a shower, we walked downtown. The city appears old and somewhat run down. There are some interesting churches and other buildings. The National Cathedral is in the middle of a park. I'll try to get a photo of it. Florin took me to the place where the bus of LGBT Pride marchers was attached and almost overturned last year. Then we went to a really nice restaurant. I had borscht for the first time in my life and found it delicious. For my entree I had Moroccan chicken over rice pilaf. Florin had a potato-leek soup and a veal stew that was served in a very hot covered pot right out of the oven. The smell was amazing. After dinner we walked across the street to have coffee and sinfully rich dessert at another place. I had my usual capuchino and a cake called Torta Mozart - lots of cream and chocolate. I was so caught up in my dessert, I just don't remember what Florin got. After that, we walked the 20 minutes back to the apartment and crashed. That's our Thursday.
We caught the Bucharest-Chisinau train on Wednesday night at 8pm. We found our first class sleeper car. It was the last car on the train and our compartment was the last compartment on the car. Our compartment was about 5 feet wide and about 6 and a half feet deep. There was a padded bench seat on each side of the car with a little table between. The padded seats were the beds, very narrow. The conductor came to bring clean sheets. Oh, I forgot to mention that our compartment was right next to the toilet. The toilet empties directly onto the tracks. Sometimes we got the odor of the fuel, sometimes the cigarette smell from the next compartment and sometimes the toilet.
Now the fun part: imagine Saturday morning TV cartoons. Now picture a train with the last car flying from side to side and bouncing up and down. That was us. At times, I was sure I was going to hit the ceiling and other times I thought I'd be tossed onto the floor.
We reached the Romanian border around 3a.m. and were there for an uneventful hour. We started again and reached the Moldovan border where first they stamped our passports and then the customs person came to see if we had anything to declare. They weren't at all interested in my luggage and I didn't have to open it. Florin had some sex-education/HIV prevention booklets and the rather dour woman looked extensively through each booklet. Florin offered her a copy but she firmly declined.
We arrived in Chisinau about 8:45 so the 200 mile trip only took twelve and three-quarters hour. Our friends, Leah and Nataly met us and we went to our apartment to settle in. Then we went out for a very expensive breakfast.
I'm learning a new currency. The Moldovan Lei (Lei is the same name the Romanians use for their currency).
One US dollar is about 11 Moldovan Lei. The bills come in various colors and are smaller than the US dollar.
After a nap and a shower, we walked downtown. The city appears old and somewhat run down. There are some interesting churches and other buildings. The National Cathedral is in the middle of a park. I'll try to get a photo of it. Florin took me to the place where the bus of LGBT Pride marchers was attached and almost overturned last year. Then we went to a really nice restaurant. I had borscht for the first time in my life and found it delicious. For my entree I had Moroccan chicken over rice pilaf. Florin had a potato-leek soup and a veal stew that was served in a very hot covered pot right out of the oven. The smell was amazing. After dinner we walked across the street to have coffee and sinfully rich dessert at another place. I had my usual capuchino and a cake called Torta Mozart - lots of cream and chocolate. I was so caught up in my dessert, I just don't remember what Florin got. After that, we walked the 20 minutes back to the apartment and crashed. That's our Thursday.
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