Monday, April 30, 2007
The day of the dead
In Moldova, and Moldova alone, there is a special holiday a week after Easter where everyone goes to the cemetery and has a picknick. It is done either Sunday or Monday, depending on where you live. Sunday I got to experience the holiday in Bălţi with another volunteer. We just walked around watching everyone else have their picknicks next to their dead relatives. Monday I went to the village with my host family to experience the picknick. It was all very strange. We had a huge meal and drank lots of wine and vodka. Then I ran around the cemetery playing with the kids (honestly, who runs around and plays in a cemetery?). 
This is what the cemeteries look like. They don't get rid of the extra dirt when they burry a person. So all over the place you have mounds where the dead lay. Kind of creepy.
Some of the girls I was playing with. The middle girl is my coutnerpart's daughter.
My host dad, host brother, me (with my new haircut that I don't like-It was a semi mullet at first but I cut it off and I pin the bangs back and it all looks better now. I made the mistake of telling the hairdresser to do what she wanted. But hair grows so it isn't too bad.), my counterpart's husband and my counterpart.
People having their masa (picknick).
A picture from the cemetery in Bălţi. The graves in the city cemetery were all surrounded by gates and fences. In the city and village most of the gaves have permanant tables next to them just for this holiday.
A grave with a fence and table.
This is what the cemeteries look like. They don't get rid of the extra dirt when they burry a person. So all over the place you have mounds where the dead lay. Kind of creepy.
Some of the girls I was playing with. The middle girl is my coutnerpart's daughter.
My host dad, host brother, me (with my new haircut that I don't like-It was a semi mullet at first but I cut it off and I pin the bangs back and it all looks better now. I made the mistake of telling the hairdresser to do what she wanted. But hair grows so it isn't too bad.), my counterpart's husband and my counterpart.
People having their masa (picknick).
A picture from the cemetery in Bălţi. The graves in the city cemetery were all surrounded by gates and fences. In the city and village most of the gaves have permanant tables next to them just for this holiday.
A grave with a fence and table.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Paşte
Or Easter, in English. The holiday has always just been a day about chocolate, Easter bunnies, egg hunts, and brunch with family, oh, and we can’t forget spring break. In Moldova things are very similar yet different at the same time. The kids here are also on school break for the week, we have chocolate Easter eggs, and died hard boiled eggs. However, in the States, I never once experienced starting Easter morning with mandatory shots of vodka and wine. Let me start from the beginning…
Saturday my host family and I got up early to catch a bus to bunica’s (grandma’s) house in a small village up north. The ride there was comfortable, mainly because I had a seat (the ride back was a whole different story). We arrived and had to have someone meet us at the entrance to the village because there was no public transport to take us the 4-5km to bunica’s. When we arrived we immediately ate. And from that point on we ate every 0-2 hours…don’t worry mom, you don’t have to worry about me ever going hungry in this country with they way the constantly are throwing food in front of you and shouting at you to eat. Saturday we ate no meat because of the fast. So we just relaxed and ate all day. Around 10 or so we were all pretty exhausted from getting up early and the travel that we decided it was bedtime, especially since me and host mom would be getting up at 4 am to take the meat, eggs, and bread to the church to get blessed. In the villages in Moldova a lot of people have a small house and a big house. In the winters they usually live in the small house so they don’t have to heat as much with the soba (fireplace like thing). Since it is still cold and we still need heat we were all housed together in the casa mica (small house). This particular one didn’t have separate rooms and all the beds were together. This wasn’t a problem for me at all until my host dad fell asleep before me. I have never, ever, ever in my life heard anyone snore like he does. It is like he has a beast trapped inside of him. Seriously, that is the only way to describe it. You would think he was joking snoring but you realize it is real when it goes on for the entire night! I slept 0 hours! When host mom came to wake me at 3:30 she had no problem. We hurried in the cold and dark to the church with our basket of bread, meat, and eggs. We met the rest of the village there with their baskets of meat, bread, and eggs. The baskets were lined up outside and we stood behind them with candles. About an hour into being there I began to get really nauseous and was worried I was going to throw up over everyone’s baskets. But then I started to get dizzy and things went quiet as my sight dimmed. I realized in time that I was going to pass out because I had me knees locked and immediately ran over to where all the really old people sat to rest myself. My host mom of course freaked out and came running over. I had to somehow explain the situation without knowing he words for “pass out”. It ended up being pretty funny and once I rested we returned to our basket. At 6am the priest came out and threw holy water on the baskets and us, which wasn’t very pleasant because we were already cold and a drizzle had just begun. But at the same time it meant we could return home to our warm beds.
After returning home and sleeping peacefully for three hours I was awoken by the baby, who has just learned he has a wonderful set of pipes for screaming really loud. So we all got up for breakfast which consisted of chicken, meat patties, and chicken jello. While eating we passed one glass around which we all took shots of wine and vodka from, Moldovans for some reason have one glass that they pass around for everyone to drink out of. For the rest of the day we just rested and ate. In the evening we went to a couple other masas and ate way too much. After returning home Monday I didn’t want to see any meat for a week, and still don’t. The ride home consisted of me standing the whole way packed between people. It wouldn’t have been so bad except this one woman kept shoving me in the back trying to make more room for her fat ass. I kept trying to push her back but I was no match for her, nor for any Moldovan woman. The women here are very strong no matter what their body stature. But I made it home in one piece and did enjoy the experience.
Saturday my host family and I got up early to catch a bus to bunica’s (grandma’s) house in a small village up north. The ride there was comfortable, mainly because I had a seat (the ride back was a whole different story). We arrived and had to have someone meet us at the entrance to the village because there was no public transport to take us the 4-5km to bunica’s. When we arrived we immediately ate. And from that point on we ate every 0-2 hours…don’t worry mom, you don’t have to worry about me ever going hungry in this country with they way the constantly are throwing food in front of you and shouting at you to eat. Saturday we ate no meat because of the fast. So we just relaxed and ate all day. Around 10 or so we were all pretty exhausted from getting up early and the travel that we decided it was bedtime, especially since me and host mom would be getting up at 4 am to take the meat, eggs, and bread to the church to get blessed. In the villages in Moldova a lot of people have a small house and a big house. In the winters they usually live in the small house so they don’t have to heat as much with the soba (fireplace like thing). Since it is still cold and we still need heat we were all housed together in the casa mica (small house). This particular one didn’t have separate rooms and all the beds were together. This wasn’t a problem for me at all until my host dad fell asleep before me. I have never, ever, ever in my life heard anyone snore like he does. It is like he has a beast trapped inside of him. Seriously, that is the only way to describe it. You would think he was joking snoring but you realize it is real when it goes on for the entire night! I slept 0 hours! When host mom came to wake me at 3:30 she had no problem. We hurried in the cold and dark to the church with our basket of bread, meat, and eggs. We met the rest of the village there with their baskets of meat, bread, and eggs. The baskets were lined up outside and we stood behind them with candles. About an hour into being there I began to get really nauseous and was worried I was going to throw up over everyone’s baskets. But then I started to get dizzy and things went quiet as my sight dimmed. I realized in time that I was going to pass out because I had me knees locked and immediately ran over to where all the really old people sat to rest myself. My host mom of course freaked out and came running over. I had to somehow explain the situation without knowing he words for “pass out”. It ended up being pretty funny and once I rested we returned to our basket. At 6am the priest came out and threw holy water on the baskets and us, which wasn’t very pleasant because we were already cold and a drizzle had just begun. But at the same time it meant we could return home to our warm beds.
After returning home and sleeping peacefully for three hours I was awoken by the baby, who has just learned he has a wonderful set of pipes for screaming really loud. So we all got up for breakfast which consisted of chicken, meat patties, and chicken jello. While eating we passed one glass around which we all took shots of wine and vodka from, Moldovans for some reason have one glass that they pass around for everyone to drink out of. For the rest of the day we just rested and ate. In the evening we went to a couple other masas and ate way too much. After returning home Monday I didn’t want to see any meat for a week, and still don’t. The ride home consisted of me standing the whole way packed between people. It wouldn’t have been so bad except this one woman kept shoving me in the back trying to make more room for her fat ass. I kept trying to push her back but I was no match for her, nor for any Moldovan woman. The women here are very strong no matter what their body stature. But I made it home in one piece and did enjoy the experience.
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