1/13/10

Hello Dear Friends:

I realize it’s been a couple of months since I posted my last blog.  And those of you have already heard these stories; never mind, it’s not necessary that you have to read them again, unless you really want to.

I hope all the Walkers & Talkers had a great holiday season. and can look forward to a healthy and peaceful new year.

My holidays were interesting and fun for the most part.  I went to Suceava, Romania (not far from the northern border of Moldova) for a few days, Christmas included.  This friend I went with is affiliated with a church in England and they own the house where we stayed.  We had a few problems, in order: a punctured tire in her big British-type jeep (the car was acting strangely on the way–about a 5-hour trip–and when we arrived at the house the tire was completely flat (she spent an inordinate searching for a spare tire but couldn’t find one); then the house hadn’t apparently been occupied for awhile, therefore, no heat, plus no water (think it was due to the pipes being frozen), so we had to buy bottled water to bathe, for coffee & tea, wash dishes, toilets, etc.; then to top it off we decided to have a roasted chicken for Christmas dinner so we put it in the oven and the oven exploded and we had black chicken, so we just washed it and boiled it, it turned out to still be quite yummy.  We did eat out a couple of times, plus they have a really nice modern mall there and she bought herself a new coat; we watched several movies on her computer, drank wine, ate snacks and chocolates, so that part was nice and relaxing. 

I definitely want to go back to Romania, but next time go to Bucharest & Brecev (which I’ve heard is beautiful) and Translevania to go to Dracula’s Castle.  Have been thinking of going to Moscow, I can hear the train at night on its way there, but am truly not too enthused.  Ukraine is close and would like to go to Kiev, plus there are other interesting places in this part of the world to explore – and am sure I will go back to Prague again.   

Our office had a dinner party at this very nice restaurant, there were 16 of us and we took up the whole second floor; there was an abundance of food & drinks, we all danced and sang traditional dances & songs and each one had to put on a skit–well I sang “My Funny Valentine” and I sang it quite dramatically – to mixed reviews – don’t know if they were laughing, amused or really liked it, there was of course the usual applause.  At these functions, it’s a bit difficult because they all know each other well and all speak in Romanian, so I just ‘go with the flow’, not understanding everything, therefore, not talking much.

Then my host family had their New Year’s traditional dinner at midnight with all their family (and me) – my host mother’s family came up from the village where they live, her mother is 72 years old and is this lovely little frail, stooped over lady and walks with a cane; my host mother’s sister, husband, and their two children, then my host mother’s son, wife and little boy who live in this area.  They set up the table in the ‘salon’ (similar to our dining room) and it was nice, cabbage rolls, shuba (sort of a beet salad) and other types of Moldovan food and of course, the usual preferred drinks, vodka and cognac.

Then the next morning we were invited upstairs to some neighbors in the apartment building where we partook again of a table filled with food and the usual preferred drinks, vodka & cognac.

Then that evening my host family invited those same neighbors down, plus some other neighbors, to partake of another dinner, and the usual preferred drinks, vodka & cognac.

I received a nice bottle of Moldovan white wine as a Christmas present from my host family (which was my preferred choice of beverage).  I gave them a nice Christmassy tablecloth & napkins, plus a nice serving dish, some tea for Gheorges and some bath gel for Minodora.

Since 90% of Moldovans are Eastern Orthodox, Christmas is observed on January 7th.  Most of the week the office was closed, I think I went in one day for a few hours.  

In the center of the townthere is a big Christmas tree, a Santa Claus smoking a cigarette, a horse-driven cart, a donkey and sweet children taking it all in (as I was).   One custom here is that children come knocking at your door during the holidays, sing songs and you give them money.

So now it’s back to work – have some projects to do for the NGO where I work, going to the capital (Chisinau) for a 3-day Peace Corps workshop end of January with one of the partners from the office and also have a big report due mid-February, so we are kept busy.

The weather has been cold, snowing, rainy, slosh, ice,
and not so nice, but what can you do.  I took a fall one evening and a kind young man had to pick me up.  I try to walk very gingerly now.

So this is it, hope you’ve enjoyed my stories and that you also had lots of fun over the holidays – would like to hear your stories too.

Missing my Tuesday and Thursday walks with all of you and enjoying the nice California sunshine.

Love, Marilyn

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