158. Finding friends and family

I never really thought about how the collapse of the Soviet Union affected its citizens.  During the Soviet Union it was very easy to travel to countries within the Union, it was like going from one state to the next in the USA.  Due to this and the way the Soviet system worked, many people left their home countries to work in other areas of the Soviet Union, there were also some that did not have a choice, like those deported to Siberia.

Once the Soviet Union collapsed, I am not really sure how people’s citizenship was determined.  I do know if it was hard for the deported people or those working in another Soviet State to get back to their original homes.  

There is a Russian television show that works to help families and friends to find each other.  The reason the person is ‘lost’ could be because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, lost contact, working abroad or many other reasons.  It is a very interesting show, especially when the show partners with a TV station in Moldova because when that is done they either speak in Romanian of have Romanian subtitles, so I can understand.  This show partners with places all around the globe to help people find each other.

It is a heartwarming and sad show.  You get the stories of runaways, people that left for work in another country but did not stay in contact, past flames, and other interesting stories.  Usually one person is in the crowd and they play a video about his story and the loved one he is looking for.  Then the story of the other person is played and they are both reunited on stage.  They also have a time during the show where people can talk for one minute and show the picture of who they are looking for, if you know anything you call the toll-free number on the screen.

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157. Da Sau Nu (Yes or No)

Have you watched Deal or No Deal in America?  Moldova has a version as well.  I enjoy watching it because the host is pretty funny and I can understand close to 100% of what the host says because he does not mix in Russian while speaking except for the simple things that I know.  It is interesting because all of the conversations are pretty basic and the way the host and the participants interact makes it fun to watch and for me to listen to.

The show itself runs just like the show in the USA.  There is a host, participant, participant’s friends and family and a banker that tries to buy the participant out of the game by offering different amounts of money throughout the game based on the odds.

The one difference is in the amount of money given away.  This gives you an idea of how far money can go in Moldova.  You have to keep in mind that since the USA has so many citizens giving away a lot of money is easy if the show is popular due to commercial income, so you compare the amount like apples to apples.  In the USA you the most you can win is 1 million US dollars.  In Moldova the most you can win is 250,000 Moldovan lei or a little more than 12,000 US dollars.

If you want to see some price comparisons, here are a few Moldovan prices in USD:

Loaf of bread:  0.50

Pack of cigarettes:  0.25 to 1.50

Cheap restaurant meal:  3.00 to 5.00

Half a liter of beer (17 ounces):  1.40

75 mile bus ride:  4.00

Chisinau Inner-city bus:  0.25

Chisinau Inner-city trolleybus:  0.10

Taxi within Chisinau:  2.20 to 7.00

1 Gallon of gasoline:  5.55

Leia Mais…

156. Professional Day

I had just gotten back to the house from a weekend in Chisinau and sat down with my host mother to eat a late lunch.  She then informed me that it was ‘Professional Day’ which is a day to relax with your coworkers, thank your boss and for your boss to thank you for your work.  She said that my host dad, his coworkers, his boss and his colleagues from another village are having a cookout by the lake.  She said if I wanted to go, I could.

While I was a little tired from the weekend away from home, I figured that I needed to experience this event.  Plus I knew the food would be good and I enjoy hanging out with my host dad’s coworkers.  So I finished my lunch and let my host dad I was on my way.

Like any event Moldovans put on, there was a huge amount of food.  Grilled pork, placinta (thin bread flat and round with cheese, potatoes, cabbage, or other foods inside), watermelon, grilled chicken, cucumber and tomatoes salad, brinza (traditional homemade cheese) and many other good foods.  There were seven men that worked for the gas company at the event with their children and wives.  Each of the seven men brought a drink to share.  My host dad brought our homemade liquor, another brought homemade Champaign, and the rest brought homemade wine.  Throughout the afternoon and evening the group sat down to the table on three different occasions to eat, usually when a new dish came off the grill.

The one thing that I noticed that is a major cultural difference between what I am use to and the Moldavians at the event, after the final meal the women were cleaning up and the guys took some food to snack on and brought out some more wine.  They then said, let’s dance and one guy turned up the music and all of the men age 35 to 62 started dancing.  It was defiantly something I was not use to.  But eventually the women came out to dance with their husbands.

Overall it was a very fun event.  I enjoyed the discussions and tasting the different people’s wines.  I hope that in the future, the company I work for/run will have some fun event like this for ‘Professional Day’.

Leia Mais…

155. Nebraska?

When I see the photo above, which was taken in Moldova, I think of Nebraska.  Ohio has some irrigated fields, but mostly for vegetables not field crops (corn, soybeans, wheat).  While I was in Nebraska I saw a lot of irrigation systems and asked a lot of questions about why they were used and how they worked since I have had little experience with irrigation systems.

During the Soviet Union times irrigation was a common practice in my area of and throughout Moldova.  In the southeast corner of Moldova, where I live, they used to grow mostly tomatoes and cucumbers to supply the Soviet Union.  After the Soviet Union collapsed the water pumping stations became too expensive to use, so for the last 20 years the majority of irrigation pipes and pumping stations have been unused or dismantled.  In my village there are irrigation systems that are stationary and still in the field which the farmers plow around.  I would guess that there is not a demand for the irrigation systems and the scrap metal is not worth the work, but I am not sure.

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154. McDonalds

How many people in the world do not recognize the golden arches of McDonalds?  I would say that due to it being in so many countries as well as in movies and TV shows that there are few that do not recognize the brand.  But McDonalds can mean different things depending on where you are.

I really enjoy McDonalds.  I enjoy the fries, how things look pretty similar no matter where you are, how the ordering system is similar everywhere you go as well as the memories it brings back of being a small boy and getting a happy meal.

I have been to a McDonalds in the US, Canada, China, Moldova, Romania, Serbia… I cannot remember if I visited one in the Dominican Republic or Israel.  I never really mean to visit them while traveling abroad, but sometimes you just want something fast and that you are accustomed too.

What does it mean to eat at McDonalds in the USA?  I think, it means a quick meal and a pretty inexpensive place.  It is not a place you would take someone on a first date.  You would not take someone there for their birthday (unless they were young).  It is fast food… the food is not the best or the healthiest but it gets the job done.  You will see people of all ages and salaries in McDonalds, but I am guessing people with a high profile do not really choose to go into McDonalds unless they want a fast meal.

What does it mean to eat at McDonalds in Moldova?  Well, first off, there are very few fast food places, so if you want something fast to eat or a drive-through you pretty much have to go to McDonalds in Moldova.  Secondly, this is a medium priced restaurant in Moldova.  The prices are similar to US prices, but there are cheaper restaurants in Moldova where you can eat for 3 to 5 USD where McDonalds is usually 5 to 8 USD which may not seem like a lot of difference but when you realize that a retired person could be trying to live off their retirement of 50 USD per month 1 USD makes a lot of difference.  So not everyone can afford to eat at McDonalds (or restaurants in general) in Moldova, it is considered a special meal for many Moldovans and you can see middle and upper class people eating at McDonalds who are not looked down upon.

I find the differences between McDonalds in Moldova and the USA.  It is interesting to see a staple of the USA in other countries and it potentially being viewed in a different way.

Leia Mais…

153. 9-11

It is amazing to me that 10 years have passed since the terrorist attacks of September 11th.  I did not realize it was the 11th of September until I saw it on the news with my host family.  They were showing video and images of the atrocity.  I remember that day I decided that I would join the army… I never did join, but not from the lack of trying.  But I am serving my government in a different way.

It was touching to hear what the Moldavians thought of the events that took place which their shared during the news segment.  There was also a display of photos and such at the US Embassy in Chisinau.  Many of Moldova’s leaders paid their respects to the US by placing flowers around the US Embassy and sharing their thoughts and giving well wishes.

It was also interesting to hear what my host parents thought of that day.  I never really thought much about how others countries perceived the events.  My host dad said he had not heard anything and saw it on the news when he returned home in the evening from work.  My host mom said she was scared that World War III had started.  They also said that people in Moldova really do care and cried for the people of the US.  It was a touching conversation that I will always remember.

Leia Mais…

152. English Camp Video

In August my organizations, a few churches in Moldova, an international English organization and volunteers from churches in the USA and Canada camp to Moldova and led an English camp for 50 youth (See past blog post).  Here is a video that was created to capture the event:

Leia Mais…

151. First day of school

One the first day of September school starts in the Republic of Moldova.  I remember last year on September 1^st I was asked by my host mom if I was going to school.  I was confused as to why I would go to school, but since my language was limited I said ‘no’ and did not ask any questions.  Well after that day all of my friends were posting online photos and stories from the first day of school.  So I made sure to experience it this year.

At the school in my village, everyone was lined up around the courtyard by grade and in the front was where the teachers would address the students.  When they started the 12^th grade class walked with the 1^st grade class in a circle on the inside of circle of students and then they took their positions.  The director and a few teachers greeted the student body. 

Then a few students did a skit that showed an uneducated boy who wanted to ride his bike and trying to talk everyone into quitting school while the other student said why school is so important and all of the exciting things that would happen over the school year.

Then the 12^th graders said a few poems and the 1^st grades sang a song with an accordion player.

A few more addresses were made.  The director of the school signed a large poster which I think was something like, “We’ll have fun and respect each other…” type of agreement.  My host dad made a little address when he donated a few books to the school library about Moldova’s history.  Then two 12^th graders and two 1^st graders walked around the circle and then into the school ringing a bell.  The Moldovans do not call it the first day of school, they call it, ‘the first bell’.

I then walked into the school and watched the ceremony with the 1^st grade class.  All of the parents were in the back of the room and there were three 4^th graders who gave flowers to the new students and read a little paragraph about the student as a 12^th grader escorted the new student into the room and to his or her seat.

I was asked if we do anything like this in America by a teacher… I did not know what to say.  I just know that we did not do anything like this at my school, ha ha.

Leia Mais…

150. Hog Harvesting

In my village, you can only purchase at the local stores salami, sausages, frozen chicken, and frozen or salted fish when it comes to meat.  If you wanted specific cuts of meat or fresh meat you must travel to the nearest city which is 15 miles away.

One reason you cannot purchase fresh mean in the village very readily is because many grow and butcher their own chickens, ducks, pigs, etc.  I assisted my host family slaughter one of our pigs.  Unlike most Americans, I have actually helped butcher a pig before so it was not a new or shocking experience.  But they did butcher the pig differently than I had experienced.

We purchased the pig about three months before we butchered it.  At the time it weighed about 210 pounds.  The pig could have easily been over 300 pounds when we butchered it.

First thing we had to do, was to go around the neighborhood to see if any able bodied men were willing to help us, at least for the beginning park.  The group ended up being six people, my host dad, host brother, three neighbors and me.  We left the pig out of its pen and into a larger fenced area.  My host dad did not trust his pistol to work properly so all five of us pounced on the hog and laid it on its side.  We then held it down as my host dad stabbed its heart.

We then pulled the pig to the front of the house, outside of the gates.  There we burnt off the hair as well as cooked the skin of the hog.  Many do this process using a propane torch but the more traditional (and tastier) way to do this is to burn the hair with straw.  They would throw some straw on it and then after the fire died down we would use knives to scrap off the hair and charred areas to see if it the skin was fully cooked.

Then we put some hot water on it and covered it with plastic and blankets.  Then everyone relaxed.  I was really confused.  We had not drained the blood yet (which I thought had to be the first thing done) and everyone was just relaxing.  I then found out that they were letting the skin that had been cooked and hardened to soften up.  We then proceeded to scrub the pig with brushes and hot water and the scrapping the skin clean with knives.

After the pig was clean then we cut off the head and let the blood drain and started butchering the pig.  There are no photos because I was busy helping.  We used just about everything from the pig.  The intestines were used as casings for the sausages.  The film around the stomach was used to make patties that were made of up meat, the heart, lungs, kidneys and probably some other things.  They cut out the loin, bacon and the skin is considered a treat and best eaten the day of the butchering.  The rest of the meat was ground up to use in the sausages and the meat around the bones was left and the bones chopped into small chunks so that they could be used for making soup.  The head was cut up and boiled for a while; I am not really such what was done with that.  All of the fat/lard was ground up and bottled to be used in cooking and such in the future.

Cleaning the intestines

Patties made from heart, lungs, liver.. wrapped in a stomach membrane

Meat grinder that ground up meat and lard

After butchering before the individual cuts were seperated

Sausages made from the intestine

Lard before it was ground and canned

Leia Mais…

149. Moldovan Cookout

Here are a few pictures of how a BBQ is done in Moldova. It is a great time. We had pork, vegetable salad (tomatoes, cucumbers and onions), corn on the cob, fried potatoes and the mayor brought some wine for the volunteers to taste who were staff at the English camp (Past post). The mayor wanted to thank the volunteers because they were the one of the main funding sources and around 15 youth from our village participated for a small fee (and some free depending on their situation).

Leia Mais…

148. Auction

At the English camp we gave out tickets as positive motivation for helping someone else, cleaning the table after meals, giving a correct answer in English lessons, showing up on time… etc. These tickets were used as money at the auction on the last day.

The auction had everything from headphones, jeans, shirts, Frisbees, balls, cosmetics, glow sticks, candy, hats… etc. The camper that had the most tickets had around 200, the least was around 50 or so, but there was enough auction items that I think everyone got at least one thing but even as much as 10 different items.

When this idea was presented, I was hoping to be a 'spotter' (the person that mingles in the crowd finding bidders and making sure the auctioneer sees the bidders). I really enjoy watching the spotters because they will try to talk people into purchasing things/bidding just a little more. The good ones are also very animated and they yell and flail their hat around when they get a bid. The problem was that the campers did not have a high enough English level to run the auction in English, so the auctioneer had to know Romanian. Also, auctions are not done in Moldova (or at least not very common) no Moldavian had really experienced an auction so I was appointed as the auctioneer.

I was not too worried. I have done auctions like this at camps back in the US and had been to my share of animal actions at county fairs and the Ohio State Fair. I was slightly worried that I would not remember my numbers in Romanian and I did not know if I would be able to say it fast enough to make exciting and fast paced.

But overall it went really well and I had an awesome time. The kids loved it and really got into bidding. They actually learned how the auction worked very quickly (faster than in the American camps I have been involved in) and I do not think we ever had anyone bid more than they actually had in their possession. The one thing they did not get, which was not well explained was that I would call out the price of the next bid, so I just called out the current bid I had and kept my finger pointed towards the person who had that bid and the youth would call out what they wanted to bid.

It was really a lot of fun. I have decided to put 'auctioneer' on the list of potential careers. The people that I work with also saw the auction take place and they think it would be fun/interesting for the people of my village if we do a large yard sale/auction as a community with me as the auctioneer.

Leia Mais…