The Current

I wrote a previous, very short, post about the weather being 95 degrees. Most of our summer here in Moldova was 95 degrees, at least. We had one week where the only time it dropped below 100 was at night, and even then I think it only got down to 95. One day was almost 50 degrees Celsius- what is that in Fahrenheit? Hmmm, maybe 115. Not sure, you can do the calculation yourself. So during the 3 months where days averaged 95 degrees (I think we had 3 days of rain) it was kind of miserable. Going to work became a punishment because with all the computers on and the 20 bodies crammed in increased the temperature by at least 10-15 degrees. And the place was full of flies! Seriously. There would be 50 flies flying into my face and landing on my forehead and hands while I was typing. I am not sure if I hate mosquitoes buzzing in my ear at night or flies landing all over me more.

So anyways, during this crazy heat wave draught that Moldova went through I had to use public transportation numerous times. I had to use to and from work, around the city, to go to Chisinau, and for different excursions I went on throughout Moldova. This might not seem like a big problem, except that no one would open any windows out of fear of the Current. I do not refer to a current of electricity but instead to the breeze or wind. Moldovans are terrified (!) of a breeze. They would have rather died of heat stroke in the overcrowded, stifling buses than to open the windows. It was something we actually had to argue and fight over to try to keep the top hatches of the buses open (though we usually lost to some old baba). Many trips we would disembark completely soaked as if we had just jumped in a swimming pool.

The thing about the Current is that it makes you sick. This simple breeze is what causes the illnesses here in Moldova. My host dad would often close all the doors in the house to stop the cross breeze cooling down the house in fear that we would all get sick. WHAT?! And this isn’t just some superstition like breaking a mirror and having “bad luck” for 7 years, or whatever. Everyone believes in it, seriously believe in it. Even the doctors will blame ailments on the Current. It is especially bad for young children. They wrap babies up here in as much clothing as they can without suffocating them to protect them from the current. This summer, when it was 110 degrees, a woman could tell everyone to shut the windows on the bus because her baby would get sick from the Current and not one single person would argue but instead rush to close up the bus. The only thing that is going to make that kid sick is heat stroke!!! But they don’t listen. We try to explain what really causes illnesses and that the Current doesn’t exist but they won’t listen, at all. It is crazy and frustrating.