A Real Winter

For the past many years, living in Washington, I have never had a real winter. Yeah, maybe when I was a kid we had huge snowfalls but due to global warming, or whatever your personal theory is, it has been a very long time since I have gotten to play in the snow. Let me clarify this. I of course have gone to the mountains every winter of my life (last year being the exception, if only Moldova had mountains… if only). But this is not the same as having multiple days in a row where you step out of your house into your normal everyday world that has been transformed into a white paradise. I think everyone can agree that even the ugliest place on earth instantly becomes beautiful after a heavy snowfall. So, because last year was a crazy warm year I didn’t get to experience the real winters that Moldova has. But finally my wait has paid off, 15 months after my arrival, I get a real winter. The snow started falling in late November, but only flurries. But as soon as December hit BAM we got snow. And since then we have had three big snowfalls. The trend so far is one to two days of snow followed by really cold, SUNNY days. I have never loved Moldova more (except maybe over the summer passing through the sunflower fields.) The thing about the sunny days is that it causes the snow to melt a bit. This of course makes me sad but then night hits and causes it all to freeze up. Some how this process makes the snow last pretty long, HURRAY! But it also makes it very slick outside. (knock on wood but I have yet to fall). Thankfully Peace Corps provides all the volunteers with bright neon green Yak Traks. So not only do we stay upright but we attract everyone’s attention while doing it. Neon green doesn’t exactly blend well with black shoes. But hey, they glow in the dark!!!!

(A side note. Winter left us for a little while last week and the temperatures were quite nice. This however caused all the snow to melt and create a very sloppy, mucky, muddy mess. And I of course continued my morning runs coming home completely covered in mud, something that is very looked down upon in Moldova. It amazes me how Moldovans can stay so clean in such a muddy place. I can’t even walk 100 yards to the bus stop on my tip toes with out covering my shoes with mud and spraying it halfway up the back of pants. But then again, Moldovans are a little crazy when it comes to keeping their shoes clean. I watch many on a regular basis stop at each puddle on their way to slip their hand into the dirty water to clean the mud of their shoes. That’s right, they don’t care about sticking their hand into a mud puddle and wiping the mud off their shoes with their BARE hands as long as their shoes are clean.)

And a funny story. Last Saturday night I had prepared a Mexican meal for my Moldovan friend Maria. Since I don’t like staying out very late and everyone else was drinking except for me I decided to take off around 10:30. Though I have lived in Balti for a year now I still am not quite sure of the bus schedules. There doesn’t exist schedules like in America that say when the bus starts, comes, or finishes its route. This only really poses a problem when I stay out late with friends. Taxis are available and ridiculously cheap for American standards, roughly $2 to go 4 miles, but I still prefer to pay 10 cents for the bus. So, after I left Maria’s I went to the bus stop to wait and see if possibly a bus or routiera (small mini-bus) would pass by. After ten minutes or so I decided I would just flag down a taxi. As I was standing on the edge of the sidewalk trying to get one to stop a car swerved in close to where I was standing and also where lay a huge mud puddle. I knew it was going to hit the puddle and acted accordingly, I took a few steps back. Usually that’s enough, but this time, no! I was completely splattered! And it was more mud than puddle. And to top it off I was wearing light colored khakis. They were covered from the foot to the thigh and my shoes no longer showed any black. This was something that you would see on TV. I wish I could have had some on there with me to appreciate the hilarity of it. And I wish I had taken a picture when I got home because you probably think I am exaggerating a bit but no.