Where is Moldova, anyway?

After three hours on the road, we arrived at the airport in Chisinau. No
pit stops! We were instructed by our Texas travel agent that we were to be
met by the Moldovan travel agent who was to take us to the hotel and give us
our first class tickets for the train to Romania. Remember for later, that
I said first class. We looked and waited to see the Moldovian agent who was
to have our names on a sign. An hour later when we had given up hope of
finding our agent or of finding anyone who could speak English, God sent us
a surprise angel disguised as our niece, Sharon. It had been five years
since we had seen Sharon. Way too long! Sharon is now fluent in Romanian
and was soon on the phone with our long lost travel agent. They said that
they weren't informed that they were to pick us up and they didn't have our
train tickets. But In only twenty minutes the agent was there to pick us up
and produced the first class train tickets. The Hotel Leogrand Was first
class all the way. The room, the service and the food was wonderful.

We spent the next day exploring the city. Chisinau on the whole was
crowded, gray and unkempt. We saw the Peace Corps building , which was on a
lovely shaded street. Across the street was the new Romanian consulate.
People were lined up and down the street waiting for their turn to apply for
a visa, either for a family visit or for a job opportunity. Sometimes they
waited for days. There was construction work on the same street. The
workers were hand digging trenches to install water lines. The workers and
the visa waiters were very intermingled; for there was no place for them to
get out of each other's way. People were sitting all over, including on
hills of dirt piled in the street. Everyone seemed to accept their
situation as normal and inevitable. Never again will I complain about
waiting on line at the post office or DPS.

We visited the piazza ( market place). The crowds were overwhelming. People
were gathering around the stalls that sold household goods and clothing. The
quality of which was very poor, a poorer quality than we would find in the
dollar stores back home. The market aisles were packed with people and
moving cars and trucks, and the vehicles were not moving slowly or paying
any attention to the pedestrians. In fact one car came so close that it hit
my purse which I had been carrying on my shoulder. I am very thankful that
it was a large purse.

The craft area was filled with lovely handmade gifts. We did buy several
items, including a beautiful hand crocheted cap for Ivy Marie. Many of the
babies and toddlers wore them. We also found some old military pins that we
bought for our grandsons. When we got home, we discovered that we were
victims of a slight of hand and one of the medals was switched for a plastic
reproduction. Oh well, that could happen anywhere.

The food stalls were filled with an abundance of beautiful fresh produce of
all types. In between the produce stalls old (?) women were attempting to
sell two or three over ripe apples. To whom do you give? To whom do you
help? There are just too many.

To be continued...
To be continued...continued...

This entry was posted on Monday, November 03, 2008 at 12:07 PM.