December celebrations

Slummin' in Soroca
I took this last weekend to visit Soroca again and enjoyed a brief reunion with my other SED mates, Carol and Bonnie.  We joined several other PCVs for a spa break at a local hotel.  A “spa” here includes a sauna, steam room, cool rinse tub, showers, and a reception-gathering room where food and drinks can be brought in for the group.  In terms of sanitary standards, this spa was reasonably clean although I did not go into the cool tub but others who did were motivated to shower up afterwards.  The sauna was extremely hot, and the steam room was sufficiently steamy but had an interesting smell in the interior.  This spa is likely the only one in Soroca and because it’s attached to a higher grade hotel, it seems to cater to outside tourists.  Prices were inexpensive – about $2 per person per hour.  The only other service I would have loved would have been a masseuse on duty!

Ethan, John, and Sue

Bonnie & Carol

We supped at Briz, a very popular restaurant in Soroca, especially with the PCVs.  I was able to dine on sushi!!  I didn't order the kind with fresh fish, but the California roll (what else?) was very good!






John has been with PC Moldova into his 4th year, and prior to that he had spent 4 years in PC in Azerbaijan!  Ethan is also serving his 4th year in Moldova.  We have some truly die-hard volunteers who have made serious impacts to Moldovan society!

Illuminat

Sarah, Brian, & Julie - Soroca Hosts

My trip to Soroca this time afforded me a chance to hike to the Illuminati, a tower on the hill just at the entrance to the city.  It takes 650 steps upward to get to the hilltop - after hiking about 1-1/2 miles to the base.  The view there permits you to take a wide view of Soroca and the Nistru River.  Attached are some shots from the top of the hill.  We could enter the tower itself but it only houses a small room which is a shrine of sorts and photos were not allowed. 

                                                                                                                     16 December

Closin' in on Christmas
With a few of the Balti team mates getting ready to travel outside of Moldova, we got together for a send-off dinner at the Lodge where Matt and David cooked good ole American chili (was delicious!), and we accompanied that with corn bread, Mexican vegetable salad, and salmon salad. The travelers were Leah off to Spain, Robyn to the UK, and Matt headed to Germany.  We also had Omeed, the English language teacher from Seattle who was going to Denmark, and Asbjoern with wife Tanea also traveling to Germany.  David had already spent about a week in Ukraine primarily in the Crimea area, thankfully away from the ruckus up in Kiev during the tumultuous political protests.  As for me, I'm making plans to go to Rome for a few days after Jan 8th.  I specifically wanted to stick around town to experience all the holidays in Moldovan style.


We posed for a team holiday photo:

Christmas tree in Balti city center

Matt, David, me, Leah, and Robyn with adornments

                                                                                                        18 December

Celebratin' Christmas in Riscani

The masa 

Andrew, a PCV situated in Riscani, invited several PCVs to his host family’s residence for a big masa (party) on Christmas Day, and to celebrate his host father’s birthday as well.  About 12 of us showed up.  For me in Balti, it was about a 45-minute rutiera ride, but making many stops along the way to pick up and drop off passengers.  Once I arrived in town, I still had about a 25-minute walk to get to Andrew’s place.  His host family runs a hostel-type place so sufficient accommodations were available for all of us.  Andrew has a room right off the common kitchen where guests can cook for themselves.  Host mom Rodica and Andrew had been cooking from the previous day and guests brought other side dishes and appetizers, and of course, plenty of drinks. 

Warren, Ann, & Joe

Urarea pentru Craciun

Ann & me

Altogether we had about 20 people including partner teachers of Andrew’s (he’s an English language instructor in the local school) and two Catholic priests from the church.  Some of the PCVs had attended Christmas Eve mass the previous night and had made their acquaintance, at which time they invited the priests to join the masa the next day.  The priests were from the Franciscan order and spoke English quite well.  

Cute recitation by little girl in traditional costume

The table was laden with numerous dishes – turkey, sausages, roasted spare ribs as main dishes, along with salads, cooked vegetables, bread, cheese, cold cuts, assorted pickled vegetables, twice-baked potatoes, and much more.  We also had ample supply of desserts from hot fudge pudding to a very special torta baked by Rodica which had Craciun Fericit spelled out in citrus slices.  An abundance of wine, beer, mead, eggnog with cognac, vodka, etc. was also on hand for everyone.  We ate, and ate, but we didn’t seem to make a dent in the food!  Lots of leftovers for the coming day. 

Host mother Rodica
cutting holiday cake

We also had a gift exchange as many in America do – choosing anonymous gifts in sequence and then having the opportunity to steal a gift from someone else.  I picked a home-made dinner from Lindsey who is one of the PCV “foodies” in the M27 group.  She’s known for her cooking and I’m eagerly anticipating her special meal for me!

                                                                                                  
                                                       25 December

                                            


My business partner Tatiana staged an impromptu party at the office on Dec 30 when she summoned all of us to gather there ostensibly to work.  Prepared foods were purchased from Fourchette, a large supermarket, and sparkling wine was drunk in many toasts to the New Year.  This is a great group of people!

Olga, Dragos, Elena, Tatiana 

Preppin' for New Year's

Pickled watermelon & tomatoes

New Year’s is a decidedly big celebration in Moldova, a much more public display of gaiety and pomp.  People stock up with food and drinks and families spend days cooking up a storm in order to present guests the best of their traditional dishes like sarmale, racitor (cooked rooster in gelatin), Olivia salad (diced potatoes, carrots, beets, peas, herring in mayonnaise dressing), lots of pickled vegetables (had pickled watermelon!), cheese, placinta with brinza, and other delectables.  The variety of drinks flows in abundance too.

Stuffed roasted chicken 

Racitor in jellied
chicken stock

I helped Emilia with her preparation of a variety of the above dishes,  Plus, she made two huge torte – magnificent napoleon with four layers and very buttery, creamy filling in between each.  We will be eating this torta for days:

Assembling the layers

Ultimate Napoleon torta

We celebrated New Year’s Eve at Nina’s apartment which is on the 5^th floor in the same building as Emilia’s.  Nina’s Emilia’s aunt, and Emilia’s cousin Carolina (Nina’s daughter) also lives in the building (a family compound).  We didn’t start the party until 10 PM whereupon much eating and drinking were the main activity, once in a while watching the TV as a gala performance had been staged in Moscow (Balti residents still connect closely to Russia).  Moscow is 2 time zones ahead of Balti but we toasted the midnight hour there after Putin gave his speech.  Then two hours later, the President of Moldova came on the air and expressed his salutations and hopes for 2014, and we toasted again.  Carolina’s daughter Mica arrived about 10:45 with her friend Olga – they are both medical students in Chisinau.  Mica spoke English!

Nina, me, Emilia, "Teddy", Carolina

Of course, the fireworks and firecrackers had already started outside hours before.  These are readily available to anyone, and they can be ignited just about anywhere as well.  From our apartment window, we could catch a few of these displays from the warmth of our kitchen!  Another plus for our central location!

Colinde are carols sung by groups of children, starting around New Year’s and lasting through to Moldova’s Christmas, or Craciun.  It is celebrated on January 7^th.  In the villages, it is still the tradition for children to go from house to house, singing special carols for the New Year.  Sometimes the children recite new poems to wish the families prosperity and success in the coming year.  The families typically invite the children into their homes and serve them refreshments, bestowing candies, cookies, and even money to the singers. While Craciun is also a big family affair, it is not as ostentatious as New Year’s, and certainly not like Christmas is observed in the US.  I am looking forward to seeing how Craciun unfolds on the 7^th. 

That's all for now ....   Sarbatori Fericite!                                 1 January 2014

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