This year marks the 20th year that Peace Corps has been serving in Moldova. This is a special anniversary and a group of volunteers worked tirelessly to put together an amazing two-week long event that brought two groups from the north to chisinau and the south to chisinau.
I joined in on the southern group walking from one of the southern most regions of the country all the way to the middle part of the country (to the capital). Though I only joined the group for the first couple of days of the walk we had a really excellent time.
The event, Turul Moldovei (or Tour Moldova) serves as a chance for us Peace Corps volunteers to increase awareness about both volunteering and about Peace Corps and our objectives for serving here in Moldova. Everyday of the tour we, as a group, walk from village to village, putting on events and increasing our exposure across the entire country.
I took part in walking early this week in the event. The tour started in Taraclia (a region center in the south). The two volunteers living in Taraclia put on the event, they put together both an NGO fair and a English movie showing. The event was attended by interested local community members.
That evening the group had dinner with one of the volunteers host families in the town. It was a great meal of chicken soup, fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and of course a plentiful supply of house wine. The older woman who prepared our dinner was a really excellent host. She invited us to take pictures of her garden and to make ourselves at home.
The following morning we woke up early and began our more than 20 kilometer walk to the next town, Corten. We weren't sure what to expect upon arrival. The mayor of the town only spoke in Russian and the volunteer who had gone ahead to prepare only spoke Romanian. It was going to be a surprise. When we arrived in the early afternoon we were all exhausted. The sun beat down hard on us by the final few kilometers of our walk and we were all ready to sit/lay down. When we arrived the Russian speakers all took to doing what they do well, conversing with the locals. We were brought to the mayors house where we relaxed for a bit before our afternoon activities began. We were told we would be speaking to a group from the community. We were all very relieved that we wouldn't be doing manual labor, we were all quite tired from the walk. Later, when the group had formed we were walked to the center of town. A large very fancy pavilion and restaurant in the center of town was going to be the host for the event. The pavilion was gated off so we couldn't see inside. The mayor told us to wait on the road while he went in to make sure everything was in order. A few minutes later he emerged telling us to enter.
The pavilion was full of community members all sitting around the outer edge of the large gate. We were greeted by two young women dressed from head-to-toe in the traditional Moldovan dress. They carried with them a giant loaf of round bread (colac) with a small bowl of salt, and a tray of glasses filled with wine. Traditionally, when a person is welcomed into a community in Moldova they are greeted with this traditional bread, salt, and wine. We all ripped a small piece of bread, dipped it in the salt, and drank a small glass of wine. In my two years in Moldova I had never had the opportunity to experience this tradition, it was simply beautiful.
After our traditional introduction to the community we spoke about Peace Corps with the group that was gathered and the mayor told us a short history of his beloved town. (Which I learned had many roots with Bulgaria and later learned the village is dubbed 'little Bulgaria'.) After our presentation about Peace Corps and remarks by the mayor there was a concert with traditional singing and dancing... ending in our joining the traditionally dressed dancers in a large (clumsy on the part of the Americans) traditional circle dance, called the 'hora'.
Later in the afternoon we were taken on an extensive tour of the villages history museum. We learned all about the villages patriotic roots and their pride in the past. That night we returned to the big fancy pavilion where we ate a large dinner cooked for us at the restaurant and after were carted over to our host for the night. A wonderfully hospitable older woman greeted us at her gate and invited us into her home. She had prepared all the beds and made both her indoor and outdoor shower available to us to clean up after our long day.
The following morning our host made a beautiful breakfast including boiled eggs from her chickens. We again got an early start to our day, before the sun was too harshly bearing down on our route. This walk was shorter than the day before. In total we walked about 15 kilometers to the next region Ceadir-Lunga.
After arriving in Ceadir-Lunga it was time for me to head back to my site. It had been a great adventure and I was happy I had the opportunity to take part in the walk. ...but, I was also excited to get back to host mom. My time in Moldova is quickly coming to an end and I want to spend as much time as possible with the woman I now consider family.
Peace from Nisporeni
I joined in on the southern group walking from one of the southern most regions of the country all the way to the middle part of the country (to the capital). Though I only joined the group for the first couple of days of the walk we had a really excellent time.
The event, Turul Moldovei (or Tour Moldova) serves as a chance for us Peace Corps volunteers to increase awareness about both volunteering and about Peace Corps and our objectives for serving here in Moldova. Everyday of the tour we, as a group, walk from village to village, putting on events and increasing our exposure across the entire country.
I took part in walking early this week in the event. The tour started in Taraclia (a region center in the south). The two volunteers living in Taraclia put on the event, they put together both an NGO fair and a English movie showing. The event was attended by interested local community members.
That evening the group had dinner with one of the volunteers host families in the town. It was a great meal of chicken soup, fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and of course a plentiful supply of house wine. The older woman who prepared our dinner was a really excellent host. She invited us to take pictures of her garden and to make ourselves at home.
The following morning we woke up early and began our more than 20 kilometer walk to the next town, Corten. We weren't sure what to expect upon arrival. The mayor of the town only spoke in Russian and the volunteer who had gone ahead to prepare only spoke Romanian. It was going to be a surprise. When we arrived in the early afternoon we were all exhausted. The sun beat down hard on us by the final few kilometers of our walk and we were all ready to sit/lay down. When we arrived the Russian speakers all took to doing what they do well, conversing with the locals. We were brought to the mayors house where we relaxed for a bit before our afternoon activities began. We were told we would be speaking to a group from the community. We were all very relieved that we wouldn't be doing manual labor, we were all quite tired from the walk. Later, when the group had formed we were walked to the center of town. A large very fancy pavilion and restaurant in the center of town was going to be the host for the event. The pavilion was gated off so we couldn't see inside. The mayor told us to wait on the road while he went in to make sure everything was in order. A few minutes later he emerged telling us to enter.
The pavilion was full of community members all sitting around the outer edge of the large gate. We were greeted by two young women dressed from head-to-toe in the traditional Moldovan dress. They carried with them a giant loaf of round bread (colac) with a small bowl of salt, and a tray of glasses filled with wine. Traditionally, when a person is welcomed into a community in Moldova they are greeted with this traditional bread, salt, and wine. We all ripped a small piece of bread, dipped it in the salt, and drank a small glass of wine. In my two years in Moldova I had never had the opportunity to experience this tradition, it was simply beautiful.
After our traditional introduction to the community we spoke about Peace Corps with the group that was gathered and the mayor told us a short history of his beloved town. (Which I learned had many roots with Bulgaria and later learned the village is dubbed 'little Bulgaria'.) After our presentation about Peace Corps and remarks by the mayor there was a concert with traditional singing and dancing... ending in our joining the traditionally dressed dancers in a large (clumsy on the part of the Americans) traditional circle dance, called the 'hora'.
Later in the afternoon we were taken on an extensive tour of the villages history museum. We learned all about the villages patriotic roots and their pride in the past. That night we returned to the big fancy pavilion where we ate a large dinner cooked for us at the restaurant and after were carted over to our host for the night. A wonderfully hospitable older woman greeted us at her gate and invited us into her home. She had prepared all the beds and made both her indoor and outdoor shower available to us to clean up after our long day.
The following morning our host made a beautiful breakfast including boiled eggs from her chickens. We again got an early start to our day, before the sun was too harshly bearing down on our route. This walk was shorter than the day before. In total we walked about 15 kilometers to the next region Ceadir-Lunga.
After arriving in Ceadir-Lunga it was time for me to head back to my site. It had been a great adventure and I was happy I had the opportunity to take part in the walk. ...but, I was also excited to get back to host mom. My time in Moldova is quickly coming to an end and I want to spend as much time as possible with the woman I now consider family.
Peace from Nisporeni
No comments:
Post a Comment