Wednesday, July 17, 2013

230. Pictures speak louder than words

A man from the village I use to live in while I was in Moldova has a blog I would like to share with you all.  It is SergiuCretu.wordpress.com.  Since it is all in Romanian it might be hard to understand, but this blog post titled Moldova, țara fără de părinți (Moldova, A Country Without Parents) has very powerful pictures.  The post discusses people (children, fathers, mothers, grandparents) who have a loved one(s) abroad.

Note:  This blog post was written in 2011.  While I will not translate the whole post, here is the caption for each of the photos:

  1. Three children living alone, their parents left in 2007 for Italy.
  2. This girl is solely taken care of by her grandmother.
  3. This girl is speaking with her mother on the phone who is in Italy and has been there since 2007.
  4. This 16 year old girl takes care of her 9 year old sister, their mother is in Italy and their father is in Russia.
  5. This is a first grade class in a village.
  6. A gym in the same school as the above photo.
  7. This boy has been living under his grandparent's care since 2004 when his mother left to work in Italy.
  8. Three daughters are taking care of their mother.
  9. A mother speaks via Skype with her husband and son who are in Moldova.
Many stories are difficult to hear and comprehend.  Adults have difficulty finding jobs, or at least jobs that pay very much and are stable, so many travel to other countries to make more money.  Three countries where many Moldovans work are Italy, Ukraine and Russia.  Italy because Romanian is very close to Italian, so it is easy to learn.  Ukraine and Russia because and most Moldovans and Ukrainians speak Russian as their first or second language.

It is true that some people leave for other countries and stop all communication with their loved ones, start new families and never return to Moldova.  But there are also good stories about people working for a few years, saving up money and returning to Moldova to live with their loved ones.  Others make a huge sacrifice by living abroad for a long period of time and sending the money that they save to support their family and parents.

Working abroad isn't always bad, but it can be.  Don't judge those that do, because sometimes it works out for the best or it could literally be their only option to survive.

Leia Mais…

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

229. Chisinau, I love you

This is a video shows what the Capitol of Moldova has to offer.  Take a few seconds to enjoy the view of Chisinau, Moldova!

Leia Mais…

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

228. My Village

This video is about the Moldovan village I lived in while I was in the Peace Corps.  The video was posed on YouTube in 2011, which is while I was in Moldova, but I do not know when it was filmed.  While I did not have much of a relationship with the man managing the community's wells, I have met him a few times.


Also, he does not pronounce the name of the village correctly.  It is spelled Antonești and pronounced "An-t-on-eh-sh-t".

Leia Mais…

Saturday, February 16, 2013

227. About Moldova

If you only had three minutes to learn about the Republic of Moldova, this would be a good video to start with:

Leia Mais…

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

226. Moldova on my mind

I thought this blog would end after I left Moldova, but Moldova keeps coming to my mind.  I try to stay up to date on what is going on in Moldova because I care about the country and its people.  I have a lot of good friends there that I hope to see again one day.

My host family hopes that I continue to write in this blog.  They said that they want to understand life in America and keep up with how and what I am doing.  So maybe I will continue to write...

A few days ago I found this ticket for the trolley in the capitol city Chisinau and I remembered all of the good times I had in that city.  This is a one time ticket that I paid about 17 US cents to purchase.

Leia Mais…