SATURDAY:
Saturday was chaotic, but lots of fun! A little after 8 am Meredith came over to my apartment, so that we could make it to her Russian tutor's apartment by 9. Her tutor lives in another part of town, so I was able to see a little bit more of Chisinau through the window of our racing rutiera (minibus)! Her tutor is a very nice Moldovan lady. We met at her apartment, a small clean, modern space. Hopefully, I'll be taking lessons from her soon! Her mother had recently moved in with them (after spending eight years in Italy), and while they were working and I was reading, she brought us some warm drinks. It was steamed milk with honey and some sort of spice or tea. Heavenly!!! Seriously, I'm going to figure out how to make that.
After the lesson we were supposed to head to one of the villages outside of Chisinau. Despite Adriana's best efforts at calling us a cab, we missed the eleven o'clock bus and had to wait until 12:30. We spent the time going through the central marketplace, a very large market with just about everything. Meredith showed me the craft market too. This is where I'll go to get some authentic Moldovan souvenirs.....but don't get to many hopes up. There really aren't any touristy things. I saw a few keychains, but I've yet to see postcards or other standard tourism items. We'll see though. The tastiest stop was at the Green Hills. This one was quite a bit smaller than the one near my apartment, and more of a bakery than a full grocery store. We picked out some cookies to take to the family we were heading to visit, as well as a pastry and drink for each of us. I had some kind of shortbread type pastry with a light creme and orange, kiwi, and pineapple on the top. De-lish! We purchased some bread in the market for the family, and made it to our bus on time.
Fourty-five minutes later we were in a Russian-speaking village. A young girl ran out and exclaimed delightfully, "Meredit! Meredit!" This was the ten year old daughter of the couple we were visiting. The dad (T) is a carpenter, and the mom (N) teaches. They have another daughter, 9, and a son, 6 or 7. This family lives in a two room home. The conditions are quite poor by western standards, but they have sturdy furniture (thanks to T's workmanship) and indoor plumbing. The mom had been quite busy putting together masa (a large meal shared with guests) for us. The little boy was eager to show "Meredit" his school work and his good grades.
T led us back to the workshop he had recently finished. He built the cinderblock rectangular building complete with wooden beams and a tin roof all by himself. Inside the workshop, a couple of beams crossed the floor. They were covered in the fine dust a saw leaves behind, and clearly there to support his most recent piece of work. He showed us some of the doors that he built. Absolutely beautiful pieces, carefully constructed with a elegant, yet contemporary design. He cut, assembled, and stained each piece. He also showed us some cabinet doors he had stained, and some pieces he was refurbishing. The front yard of T and N's home was lost under a spread of cinderblocks; these will one day complete the new house that T is building for his family. It may take a while though, as he is workly late into the night on his woodwork and saving to pay for the house without a loan.
Despite their seemingly humble conditions, T and N are able to enjoy some modern conveniences. We spent a good bit of time before Masa on the internet browsing for a second laptop for T. Having a good laptop would greatly assist him in marketing his business.
Masa was held in the backyard under the limbs of a mimosa (?) tree. A shipping palette resting on crates served as our table and we sat on small stools and sideways tubs. We stood in a circle holding hands while T prayed in Russian over the meal. N had prepared some incredibly delicious dishes for us. The main course was stuffed peppers. Yellow and red peppers were filled with rice, carrots, chicken, onion, and other vegetables and boiled in a pot of water. They were tender and juicy. We were instructed to put sour cream on top of them (Moldovan sour cream is thinner than ours), and the first time T shook his head and chided us for not putting enough on them! My favorite dish was an eggplant sandwich. N had cut eggplant shortways and then pan-fried them. Then she placed some tomato chunks on top and poured a little garlic mayonnaise (that she pressed and mixed herself) on top, then repeated the process with a second layer. These eggplant creations then would go on top of a piece of bread. I liked it just as much by itself as on the bread, though. The fresh grapes disappeared quickly! We also had another eggplant dish that was cooked eggplant mixed with onions, also normally with sour cream. The kids got up and played, but Meredith and I talked with T and N for awhile longer. We had hot tea and some cookies, and then she gently urged us to try the sunflower spread she had made. "It might not look that good, but it is pretty good," she told us. "It's crushed up sunflower seeds mixed with butter." It looked like pesto, but had a nutty, slightly sweet taste, almost like pistachio. That's going on my list of dishes to make!
After Masa we climbed up the sloping hill in the back to play with the kids and get a better view of the village. It was a farming community, but unlike in the states where each farmer owns a large field, these farmers own strips of each field. During the Soviet era, the government owned the farms and the people worked the farms for a small salary. When the farms were privatized, fields were divided in narrow strips among the people. Though they still have very little land, N assured me that the farmers' lives were much better owning the land than when working for the government. T and N also grow have some fruit trees as well. We played futbol with the kids for a little while before heading down to catch our bus back into town. I guess its a natural thing in farming communities around the world to share with your friends and guests some of the products of your harvest. At any rate, Natasha insisted that Meredith and I each take a jar of the jam she had made and a jar of a tomato, onion, pepper, mix she had made. I'm told it will be great over bread in the winter. N and T were so enthusiastic and generous. It was humbling to be able to spend time with them and hear their dreams. They are hardworking people with tender hearts, and I look forward to spending more time with them in the future.
Once back in the city, Meredith and I had to prepare for another celebration. Her Moldovan friends were coming to my apartment for another send-off celebration for Meredith. I'm so glad we had my apartment to gather at! We met up with Evelina at the handy Green Hills to pick up our supplies for a fajita night. Another friend, Nina, was waiting at my apartment when we got back. The girls were so great and helped me get the place cleaned a bit more before the other girls arrived. We had a lot of fun squished into my tiny kitchen chopping up tomatoes, Nina and I crying from slicing onions, Evelina cooking the chicken and peppers, and learning about each other's lives. We attempted to make salsa, and while it must have been good for the rate at which it disappeared, we didn't have the spices Meredith and I would have liked to give the girls a true taste of American salsa. We ate in my living room, and they shared how they met Meredith and some of their memories. We tried out my hotpot and "fixed" coffee and tea to go with our Chisinau cake (a local cake with twelve yummy layers...light and slightly sweet). The girls were so funny comparing my accent to Meredith's Chicago accent. My Southern accent is pretty mild, but sometimes there's no denying it, such as when I said I was going to "fix some coffee." Apparently they don't say that in Chicago, but then they also pronounce the "l" in folks and don't use the word "tote" either :)
Off to sleep now, dear friends! I'll share about church and my trip to the "Policlinica" later :)
~ Redeemed
