The main park in the city is called Stefan cel Mare (1457-1504) after the king who held the Turks and others at bay in somewhere between 30 and 40 battles in the area.  At this time there was a loose confederation of four principalities that spoke a common Latin-based language known as Rumanian.  In the same general era of Stefan cel Mare was Vlad Tepes (also know as the "impaler"), whose particularly bloody and brutal punishment of the Turkish invaders eventually giving rise to the legend of Dracula.  By 1600, the Turks had prevailed and dominated the area then known as Moldavia  and brought it into the Ottoman Empire (as did Wallachia and Transylvania).  Later, after a war between the Turks and the Russians, most of what was Moldavia became a part of Russia.  After World War I, the area voted to become a part of Romania.  In 1940, as part of the secret pact between Hitler and Stalin, about half of Moldova was ceded to the Soviet Union and became the the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR).  During World War II Moldova was occupied by the Nazis and later was liberated by the Soviets after almost all of Chisinau was decimated by bombing from the opposing air forces.

In 1991, The MSSR became the Republic of Moldova--an independent state.  You would have to go all the way back to the reign of Stefan cel Mare to have seen an independent state here!  Trying to define Moldova in post-Soviet times has been difficult to say the least.  About two-thirds of the country are ethnically Moldavian, almost all speaking a dialect of Romanian as their first language.  About 15% of the country are of Russian origin or descent and speak Russian as their first language, another 15% are of Ukrainian decent and also tend to be Russian speakers.  Added to this mix are some Turkish speakers in the Gauguz region and Bulgarians in the south.  One of the more interesting facets of Soviet-ification of Moldova was to teach Moldovan children to write Romanian with the Cyrillic alphabet (like Russian) , though today the local language is written in the Latin alphabet.

Gardina Publica Stefan cel Mare, Chisinau,  28 January 2006.  Temperature: 20 degrees F.

31 August Street (well, sidewalk) on 26 January 2006.

Today, it warmed up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit so I took a long walk around Chisinau and took some pictures and had a cup of tea at a cafe under an upscale grocery store called Green Hills.  The store was nicer than anything we have in Macon and in the lower floor was a clothing store with every sort of  designer labels and a coffee shop tucked away in a corner.  Well, as we all know, I have never been one to dress to impress--which makes me stand out like a sore thumb here.  While I was in the very upscale store, I got to thinking about how everyone here wants to impress those around them--its important.  Perhaps this is a legacy of so many years of not being able to make many choices. 

After class, yesterday, I talked with some of my students about how privileged they feel to be able to go to university.  It is a point of pride because in the Communist days only a few slots were allowed and few of their parents could study.  And even when they could go to university, the government decided what degrees they could pursue.  The students are worried about what life will be like when they graduate because there are few jobs to go around.  It amazes me that they all speak at least three languages fluently and are quite bright and they worry that instead of dynamic careers, they will wind up as maids in Italian hotels or working construction in Portugal.  But their fears are, unfortunately, quite reasonable.

I have made arrangements with both my universities to have a teaching schedule that starts next week.  My appointment is with 2 universities here in Chisinau:

Sunday, 22 January 2006 from the balcony of my apartment in Chisinau.

I also had coffee with a fellow who lived in the states for five years and is now at university here in Chisinau. We talked about how government and politics work in Moldova as well as the university system where there are over 30 universities in Chisinau alone (do remember that before the fall of the Soviet Union, the literacy rate here exceeded 99%).

One of the hallmarks of Moldova seems to be hospitality--folks go very much out of their way for you.  Perhaps this is because relatively few foreigners come here--only about 70,000 per year.  I am still meeting my contacts at the universities and trying to figure out the systems but everyone has been very helpful.  This certainly has been the case of the staff at the embassy--they have been so helpful in getting us get settled and making local contacts.   The warmth of the people here is a wonderful contrast to the cold of the icy sidewalks!

P.S. It was snowing when I woke up and has been all morning.  The temperature right now is 25 and it will be much colder for the next few days on Monday the high will be 8 degrees F.  And I am not even going to start talking about the lows!

11/3 OK, time is getting short (oh, gosh what is the Romanian word for short--ah, yes scurt).  I can't believe how time is flying and how much more I need to do to prepare for leaving.  I need to pack books, buy supplies, and all sorts of other things.  Ada has graciously agreed to continue my language tutoring over the Christmas break and I know I need it!  I read yesterday that talks are underway to let the Transdneistria join Ukraine as a resolution to the 13 year old standoff.  It will be interesting to see if the borders are still the same when I get there in January--but I am not holding my breath.  At the left is a typical scene from a Chisinau street.