I'm going to give a brief summary of each day, for my brain's sake as much as for your information, and I'll give details later....I should probably sleep tonight!
THURSDAY:
Arrived at 1 pm and was greeted by Meredith with a lovely bouquet of flowers (a very traditional gift in Moldova). We went straight to my new apartment and met my landlady and landlord and Meredith's friend, Evelina, who helped out so much with finding the apartment. Brandon met us at the apartment and was gentlemanly enough to drag my 69 lb. suitcase up seven flights of Soviet stairs to the fourth floor. I paid for a week (the end of September) and a month's rent, the week's rent was good sign of my landlady's honesty. She was also so kind to make up my bed for me and leave some dishes and toilet paper. The neighbors' son came over and offered to go ahead and set up my wireless. Between him and Brandon, my internet was working within about 30 minutes (definitely a blessing).
Once my landlady and her husband left, we went first to withdraw some Moldovan lei (their currency) and then to a pizza place for lunch. We devoured a mushrooms and capers pizza, Hawaiian pizza, and another pizza while we got to know each other. Two notes: the pizzas are much smaller than ours' so don't think we were that famished, and these people deserve respect simply for helping so much before we even really knew each other.
Then we headed off to the market to get a cellphone for me. I think it ended up costing about $30 USD including my minutes. We went to a different market to find an adapter for me. Then I got to tour the supermarket, Green Hills. We picked up a few things for me and then Meredith and I went back to my apartment. We spent a long time talking about what we've been learning over the past year, and Meredith shared a lot with me about her time in Moldova. It was really nice to get to spend this time actually getting to know the person I'd been emailing back and forth with for a month. She also approved of my packing and said I brought the right things :)
FRIDAY:
This day was a bit shorter, as I slept until 2 pm, but I even with the lack of sleep on the plane, the jetlag kept me up really late. I got cleaned up and situated a bit more, and then went in to the office around 4 pm. Brandon gave me directions, and I was pretty excited to have the chance to navigate around by myself for a little bit. It took ten minutes tops for me to make it to the office. I definitely have a great location. My first hour in the office was spent on a conference call with some of our partners who are planning a retreat for the Invest Credit staff and a group of American volunteers that will be coming as well.
After work, we headed by Meredith's apartment, then mine, and finally we met up with Brandon, a peace corp volunteer, and a Moldovan friend to head to "the Center" (basically the downtown of Chisinau). We went to one of the really nice restaurants where we met up with two other Americans for Meredith's send-off party. It was a neat restaurant. Most people were fairly dressed up, but foreigner status apparently gives us some leeway.... There was what seemed to be an anniversary party going on on one side of the upper floor. Middle aged couples dressed as if for prom danced and danced. It was fun to watch; Meredith and Pascha even got to join in on the last bit of the national Moldovan dance!
The food was pretty good too. I had a delicious spinach soup. I love all the vegetables here!
After the send-off dinner, we made our way down to an Irish pub to play darts. I have a whole year to practice at dart-throwing, and trust me, I need the practice :P As interesting as finding an Irish pub in Eastern Europe was, we were more amused by the three widescreen tvs on the walls. They were playing American and British music videos, really awful ones to be honest, and all of the commercials were in English. Definitely out of place for Moldova. We finished off the night with a stop at the Rock-n-Roll Club. I was looking forward to coffee and some of the group was looking forward to hookah (Pascha and I weren't interested in that part). We were able to grab seats pretty quickly, but the service was about as slow as the demise of the Cold War. Meredith and I were anticipating some apple cake and a pot of black tea, but they didn't have any of their deserts (or any hookah, lol)! So we ordered some fries instead. The guys ran over to McDonald's and came back in just a few minutes. Despite the lack of service, it was an interesting place filled with posters of Russian and Romanian bands mixed with a few western groups. Seemed like a popular local favorite for sure.
Back at my apartment, I still managed to stay up late. The late hours of the night here though, seem to be the best time to catch anyone back home on skype.
After work, we headed by Meredith's apartment, then mine, and finally we met up with Brandon, a peace corp volunteer, and a Moldovan friend to head to "the Center" (basically the downtown of Chisinau). We went to one of the really nice restaurants where we met up with two other Americans for Meredith's send-off party. It was a neat restaurant. Most people were fairly dressed up, but foreigner status apparently gives us some leeway.... There was what seemed to be an anniversary party going on on one side of the upper floor. Middle aged couples dressed as if for prom danced and danced. It was fun to watch; Meredith and Pascha even got to join in on the last bit of the national Moldovan dance!
The food was pretty good too. I had a delicious spinach soup. I love all the vegetables here!
After the send-off dinner, we made our way down to an Irish pub to play darts. I have a whole year to practice at dart-throwing, and trust me, I need the practice :P As interesting as finding an Irish pub in Eastern Europe was, we were more amused by the three widescreen tvs on the walls. They were playing American and British music videos, really awful ones to be honest, and all of the commercials were in English. Definitely out of place for Moldova. We finished off the night with a stop at the Rock-n-Roll Club. I was looking forward to coffee and some of the group was looking forward to hookah (Pascha and I weren't interested in that part). We were able to grab seats pretty quickly, but the service was about as slow as the demise of the Cold War. Meredith and I were anticipating some apple cake and a pot of black tea, but they didn't have any of their deserts (or any hookah, lol)! So we ordered some fries instead. The guys ran over to McDonald's and came back in just a few minutes. Despite the lack of service, it was an interesting place filled with posters of Russian and Romanian bands mixed with a few western groups. Seemed like a popular local favorite for sure.
Back at my apartment, I still managed to stay up late. The late hours of the night here though, seem to be the best time to catch anyone back home on skype.
WOW!!!!!! i will need to re-read this and process it again. oh emily...there is no one like you. your heart is so big and in God's hands it's only going to get bigger. but not in a medically life-threatening way--on the contrary!! i love you and will read your blogs and write more later. peace be with you russia chick.
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