July has turned out to be quite a busy month. Between friends visiting, traveling and a summer camp to assist at my days have filled up quite nicely. But, before I get too ahead of myself I will jump back a few weeks to the very beginning of July when one of my oldest and dearest friends came to visit.
Meaghan had been studying and working all year in Germany and before she headed back home we both decided it was too good of an opportunity for her to miss, so she simply had to come visit me all the way over here in Moldova.
So, on the evening of June 30 I hopped on a rutiera and was off to the airport to pick-up Meg. Of course like a blubbering fool I cried when I saw her and we shared a big hug before I welcomed her to my new home, Moldova. We both hurried outside to catch a rutiera back in to the center of the city and only ran into a few scoffs and scuddles with the patrons on the rutiera who were unfamiliar with people speaking in English. That evening we took things slow, we went out to dinner and we headed back to a friends apartment in the city.
The following morning I had a meeting to attend for the summer camp I will be working at later this week. Unfortunately for Meg that meant she was dragged around with me to the meeting and got to listen in on all the insightful information sharing that played out. After the meeting we headed out into the city to do a bit of exploring. I showed her 'the sites' which takes surprisingly less time than one might think. After we picked up a snack and headed back to the PC Office to hangout before it was time to head out to watch the final game of the Euro Cup.
The next day we headed out to visit the most famous monastery in Moldova, Orheiul Veche. I had been once before with my training group but, I figured it would make for a good day trip for the two of us. So we went to the station and were directed to a rutiera that would be driving by the monastery that we could hitch a ride with. An hour later we were dropped in a field near the monastery and we were off to exploring the caves carved into the hills and the cows grazing in the fields. Now, if I had been a more prepared host I would have realized that getting to the monastery would be a lot simpler than getting back to the capital where we needed to pick up our rutiera to head to my site. So, after milling about the monastery for awhile I pitched the scenarios to Meaghan.
1. We could wait until the evening when the rutiera would be coming back through and could flag it down and hop on. This option would have us getting back to my site well after dinner time, and I still needed to get grocery's.
2. We could hitch-hike. Anyone in the US reading this is probably disturbed by the thought of this, and I was initially too. However, in Moldova it is common practice and completely safe, you even pay the driver who picks you up. It truly is a fair and square deal. But, after giving it a little thought I knew Meaghan's mom, the notorious Mrs. Britain would probably chop my head off if she found out I took her daughter hitch-hiking in Eastern Europe (Oh hey, Mrs. Britain!).
So, I opted for option 3. Ask the people at the monastery if they had space in the car to bring our sorry-bums back to a main street so we could hail a passing rutiera.
After conversing with a Moldovan family with a full car I began to think hitch-hiking might be the only option but, luckily enough for Meg and I, a family that was quite clearly tourists walked up the path. After some slight hesitation I asked them if they spoke English, which they did, and awkwardly explained our situation. "We are just visiting the monastery for a couple hours and had hoped to catch a public transport vehicle back to the capital, but we were told when we arrived it won't be coming until this evening. I know this is a bizarre question to ask but, if you have space in your car would you mind giving us a lift to a main road on the way to where ever you are headed? We are both American and would be happy to give you some gas money for the ride?" To our delight they gave us a slightly hesitant yes. The Swedish family, mom, dad and daughter were all very pleasant. Meg and I found it funny, the mom sat in the back seat with us while the daughter sat up-front. We know how that conversation went "I am NOT sitting next to them, mom." The car ride was quick and we were dropped at one of the main traffic circles only a few kilometers outside the city. Of course they wouldn't accept any money and wished us well as we left. We both wondered if our families would do the same if the scenario had played out differently, we both agreed our families would help out a couple of strangers in our position. After all, we are two pretty harmless looking girls. Moments later we were on a rutiera headed in to the city. Back at my site we cooked up some burritos for dinner, that I later shared with host mom and host aunt. We watched a bit of online tv before we nodded off to sleep. It had been quite an adventurous day.
The next morning we took our time getting ready and headed in to the center of Nisporeni town just after noon. I showed her the dance studio project I am currently working on, and my office. She was very patient while I worked for a couple of hours at the office. Later we picked up supplies for dinner and were able to get a lift back to the house by host moms work partner. That evening host mom cooked us some delicious placinta (homemade cheese-filled pastry) as always it was superb! We had another lazy night in Nisporeni, filled with picking apricots of the sparse tree in the chickens coop and stuffing our faces with delicious food.
The final day Meaghan was in town was the fourth of July. Unfortunately the celebrations were slightly underwhelming for her. But, we had a good last day. After a couple of hiccups we were able to get her bus ticket to the airport in Bucharest and she was on her way that evening.
It was such a fun visit, I'm so happy she was able to come and see my little life here in Moldova. I know it is something special that she and I will remember for many years to come.
So, when are you coming to visit? I'm patiently waiting for my next visitor! :)
Peace
Meaghan had been studying and working all year in Germany and before she headed back home we both decided it was too good of an opportunity for her to miss, so she simply had to come visit me all the way over here in Moldova.
So, on the evening of June 30 I hopped on a rutiera and was off to the airport to pick-up Meg. Of course like a blubbering fool I cried when I saw her and we shared a big hug before I welcomed her to my new home, Moldova. We both hurried outside to catch a rutiera back in to the center of the city and only ran into a few scoffs and scuddles with the patrons on the rutiera who were unfamiliar with people speaking in English. That evening we took things slow, we went out to dinner and we headed back to a friends apartment in the city.
The following morning I had a meeting to attend for the summer camp I will be working at later this week. Unfortunately for Meg that meant she was dragged around with me to the meeting and got to listen in on all the insightful information sharing that played out. After the meeting we headed out into the city to do a bit of exploring. I showed her 'the sites' which takes surprisingly less time than one might think. After we picked up a snack and headed back to the PC Office to hangout before it was time to head out to watch the final game of the Euro Cup.
The next day we headed out to visit the most famous monastery in Moldova, Orheiul Veche. I had been once before with my training group but, I figured it would make for a good day trip for the two of us. So we went to the station and were directed to a rutiera that would be driving by the monastery that we could hitch a ride with. An hour later we were dropped in a field near the monastery and we were off to exploring the caves carved into the hills and the cows grazing in the fields. Now, if I had been a more prepared host I would have realized that getting to the monastery would be a lot simpler than getting back to the capital where we needed to pick up our rutiera to head to my site. So, after milling about the monastery for awhile I pitched the scenarios to Meaghan.
1. We could wait until the evening when the rutiera would be coming back through and could flag it down and hop on. This option would have us getting back to my site well after dinner time, and I still needed to get grocery's.
2. We could hitch-hike. Anyone in the US reading this is probably disturbed by the thought of this, and I was initially too. However, in Moldova it is common practice and completely safe, you even pay the driver who picks you up. It truly is a fair and square deal. But, after giving it a little thought I knew Meaghan's mom, the notorious Mrs. Britain would probably chop my head off if she found out I took her daughter hitch-hiking in Eastern Europe (Oh hey, Mrs. Britain!).
So, I opted for option 3. Ask the people at the monastery if they had space in the car to bring our sorry-bums back to a main street so we could hail a passing rutiera.
After conversing with a Moldovan family with a full car I began to think hitch-hiking might be the only option but, luckily enough for Meg and I, a family that was quite clearly tourists walked up the path. After some slight hesitation I asked them if they spoke English, which they did, and awkwardly explained our situation. "We are just visiting the monastery for a couple hours and had hoped to catch a public transport vehicle back to the capital, but we were told when we arrived it won't be coming until this evening. I know this is a bizarre question to ask but, if you have space in your car would you mind giving us a lift to a main road on the way to where ever you are headed? We are both American and would be happy to give you some gas money for the ride?" To our delight they gave us a slightly hesitant yes. The Swedish family, mom, dad and daughter were all very pleasant. Meg and I found it funny, the mom sat in the back seat with us while the daughter sat up-front. We know how that conversation went "I am NOT sitting next to them, mom." The car ride was quick and we were dropped at one of the main traffic circles only a few kilometers outside the city. Of course they wouldn't accept any money and wished us well as we left. We both wondered if our families would do the same if the scenario had played out differently, we both agreed our families would help out a couple of strangers in our position. After all, we are two pretty harmless looking girls. Moments later we were on a rutiera headed in to the city. Back at my site we cooked up some burritos for dinner, that I later shared with host mom and host aunt. We watched a bit of online tv before we nodded off to sleep. It had been quite an adventurous day.
The next morning we took our time getting ready and headed in to the center of Nisporeni town just after noon. I showed her the dance studio project I am currently working on, and my office. She was very patient while I worked for a couple of hours at the office. Later we picked up supplies for dinner and were able to get a lift back to the house by host moms work partner. That evening host mom cooked us some delicious placinta (homemade cheese-filled pastry) as always it was superb! We had another lazy night in Nisporeni, filled with picking apricots of the sparse tree in the chickens coop and stuffing our faces with delicious food.
The final day Meaghan was in town was the fourth of July. Unfortunately the celebrations were slightly underwhelming for her. But, we had a good last day. After a couple of hiccups we were able to get her bus ticket to the airport in Bucharest and she was on her way that evening.
It was such a fun visit, I'm so happy she was able to come and see my little life here in Moldova. I know it is something special that she and I will remember for many years to come.
So, when are you coming to visit? I'm patiently waiting for my next visitor! :)
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment