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Before I came to Moldova, I studied Romanian with Ada Marica, a Mercer student.  She used dialogs that her mother wrote from scratch featuring a dimwitted and absent-minded professor named Negru.  He was well-intentioned but was always forgetting things and making a fool of himself.  His students had to come to his  rescue, especially when came down with the flu but forgot to pick up his medicine.  The dialogs were a really fun way to start learning the language.  Now, I was always afraid that I might be as dimwitted as Professor Negru but thanks to the Romanian that I learned, I was able to merge (go to) la farmacia (the pharmacy) si sa cumper (and buy) medicamentale appropriat (the right medicines).  A triumph indeed...except for one small issue I realized upon arriving home--the cough medicine instructions were in Russian!

For me this was quite odd, but for a Moldovan, it is just a normal part of life.  In fact shopping in the supermarket you will see not only Romanian and Russian labels but also French, Italian, German, English, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and even English.  Moldova is a small country with dispersed ethnic groups and products come from whatever supplier delivers them. 

Being sick this week, left me at home a good bit (I still made it to my classes and my Romanian lessons).  I washed clothes (the Russian-speakers usually say cloth "Y" s--which I find really cute).  Since watching TV in Romanian--forget Russian--gives me a headache, I use the TV to dry my clothes on (along with chairs and windowsills).  I have taken to making my bed almost everyday (my Mom would be so proud).  I keep Romanian vocabulary on the wall by my bed (this week colors and vegetables).  For instance, carrots are called morcov in Romanian, blue is albastru, and the color purple is a REALLY GREAT MOVIE for which Steven Speilberg and Whoopi Goldberg were robbed at the Oscars.

Speaking of movies (as if we were), I saw The 40 Year Old Virgin here last week (I did leave the apartment a couple of times).  I would have thought it was a dumb and sappy movie at home but not having seen anything in English for over a month, I now think that it too deserves an Academy Award!!!  Most movies here are American made and dubbed in Russian as Russian is generally understood in Moldova (especially in Chisinau).

Speaking of no TV and not seeing many movies, what do I do here, you may ask.  In addition to the excitement of laundry and making the bed, I have been teaching, visiting colleagues, writing papers, making presentations, and working to set-up an orphanage project.  In my spare time, I read.  Yes, me, I read (I always could, you know).  I just finished a great biography of Ben Franklin and am reading one about George Washington.  I am trying to understand if there is any such thing as an American identity as I try to figure out what it means to be a Moldovan.

One person told me that to be Moldovan means knowing two languages.  Another told me that Moldovans have to know many languages because the country is small and that only people that live in a big country can you have the luxury of expecting other people to learn your language.  He is right--it is a luxury to expect others to learn your language but it is also a matter of respect.  So I have been trying to learn Romanian (and hopefully even a little Russian). 

Medicamentale mea--my medicine in Russian and Romanian

Typical Moldovan apartment block with laundry drying outside...

1. I dry my laundry inside and since the TV gives me a headache--I found a new use for it...

2. Vocabulary on the wall and bed made...my ordinary life in Chisinau