Let me catch you up since my last post. In short, I made 4 trips to Chisinau in the span of 9 days, leading to serious case of “bus butt”.
The girls going to GLOW camp were due in Chisinau at 11:00 am on Friday, June 24. I hadn’t originally planned on accompanying them, but it came apparent to me that their mothers were worried about them traveling alone, and the girls themselves seemed kind of nervous. Rather than risk a mother changing her mind about letting her daughter attend on account of an un-escorted bus ride, I decided to go with them. There were, of course, no problems as it’s one of the least complicated bus trips in Moldova – you get at the first stop and off at the last! To be fair, though, it does get a bit complicated once you’re in Chisinau, as the bus station is on the edge of town and you have to find the right bus or marshuka to get you to where you want to go in the city. We made it just fine to the designated meeting point, and I handed my 5 girls over to the camp coordinators. Not far away was conveniently located a travel agency, and I popped in to check on some possible vacation ideas. It turns out that Air Moldova was starting a new direct flight to Frankfurt at a great price, so I immediately booked a trip for the end of July! I’ll be visiting Pierre for 10 days in the lovely Rhineland, yeah!
After taking care of various other errands, I returned to the station for my 5:00 pm bus back to Tvarditsa. It was a long day, as I’d left at 6:00 am and got home close to 9:00 pm, but I needed to be back in Tvarditsa as Saturday night was the High School Graduation. That was quite an event!
To begin with, I had been told that the program would begin at 4:00pm. Feeling very culturally-adept, I headed to the hall at 5:00 pm, figuring on “Moldovan time.” They tricked me again, though, and the program didn’t actually begin until 6:15. I’m getting closer, though! J
The evening was more of a fashion show than anything else. Moldovan schools don’t have something like an American Homecoming or Prom, so graduation is “the night.” The young women buy incredible dresses, the young men fancy suits. The actual program lasted about 90 minutes – as each graduate was announced, s/he walked across the stage to receive a diploma from the school director. After every pupil had been congratulated and honored, it was the students’ turn to praise and thank their teachers. It was a very nice ceremony, all in all. The real fun started after the formal program, with the dinners, parties and all-night dancing. I opted out of those festivities, though, as Sunday morning would be another 5:00 am wake-up for my beloved 6:00 am bus to Chisinau.
Sunday night was Anya’s high school graduation in Ialoveni. I was honored that she wanted me to attend, and regardless I wouldn’t miss it for anything! As in Tvarditsa, it was a swank affair. Her boyfriend began the day’s activities with an afternoon concert in Chisinau. That warranted the “first dress.” They returned to the apartment in time for her to change into the actual “graduation dress” and we headed down the street to the school. It was a warm and beautiful day, and the ceremony was held in the school courtyard. As the graduates gathered inside, young ballroom-dancing students from the nearby music school entertained families and friends. Only 1 ½ hours later than scheduled, the graduate processional emerged from the school building, filing past the proud parents, and they took their seats. Similar to the Tvarditsa ceremony, each graduate was called to the front to be recognized, but this time each one was invited to say a few words individually. Most thanked their teachers and their parents, a few joked around, and a few more were too shy to say much of anything. Anya’s grandmother, Tamara Ivanova, as the school librarian, was among the many teachers and administrators invited to speak to the audience, and as any proud grandparent would do, she used the opportunity to embarrass the heck out of her granddaughter! J
That ceremony also only the beginning to the night’s events, but once again I respectfully declined the invitation to the all-night dinner and dancing, as the long days were quickly catching up with me.
Monday was another day of various meetings and errands, and I returned to Tvarditsa on the evening bus. Back again to Chisinau on Thursday for our last meeting before the FLEX Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) begins; another tiring 15-hour day trip. The U.S. Embassy organized an Independence Day picnic on Saturday, July 2, but I opted not to attend given that I’d be spending the bulk of the next 2 weeks in Chisinau teaching at the PDO. So, I had a few quiet, relaxing days in Tvarditsa, working in the garden and meeting with my English Club. I actually made cherry pie 100% completely from scratch – picked the cherries, pitted them, made the crust, mixed the filling, and baked up an absolutely delicious good ole American cherry pie! My host family had never had anything quite like it, and much to my delight, they really enjoyed it. My other culinary attempts have usually been met with a polite smile and no request for seconds, so you can imagine my delight when they devoured the cherry pie!
I headed back to Chisinau on Sunday, July 3. I again had some meetings, and I wanted to spend some time with Anya in Ialoveni, before the FLEX PDO began on Tuesday, July 5.
Monday, July 4: Independence Day. One of my favorite holidays. Picnics. Family. Friends. Fireworks. Not quite the same here, unfortunately. It was any-old-working-day here in Moldova, for the most part. Some other PCVs “organized” a picnic in a lovely park in Chisinau. It wasn’t so much organized as it was a “if people show we can call it a picnic” kind of thing. I went for a couple hours, and then had some more meetings in the afternoon. I am grudgingly getting roped in to help coordinate Model UN for next year, and as it was just a “regular old working day”, we had meetings with sponsors in the afternoon. This evening, this is no backyard barbeque. There will be no fireworks for me at Whetstone Park. In fact, I’ll be in bed, fast asleep, by the time the fireworks get underway in Columbus, Ohio. Actually, it will almost be time for me to wake up on Tuesday, July 5, when the fireworks get started at Whetstone. I’ll be greeting the FLEX exchange students as they arrive for their orientation just a couple hours after the celebrations wind down at home.
Anka in Kyiv 