SOME COOL LINKS:    Mostly about Moldova

Moldova.org  good for news and events in and about Moldova.

Clipa.Siderala  works to provide better lives for orphans.

Peter Myers' Blog contains the adventures of a Peace Corps teacher in a nearby village.

Mary Magoulick's Blog a colleague of mine from GC&SU, who is on a Fulbright in Croatia this semester.

SPIA the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia--my graduate alma matter.

 

 

The Moldova "Quasi-Blog" IV:

Flag of the Republic of Moldova

 The Adventure Continues...and continues

 

Links to all of my on-line ramblings and other useful information. My preparations to come to Moldova and my  first impressions of it More on Moldovan Economics, social realities, transportation More on Communist architecture, Martisurs, and Int. Women's Day Spring finally comes to Chisinau and I am making trips around the country. The end of the semester and exams at the university. 

29 April...A Quick trip to Bucuresti...with Lee, we were off to the capital of Romania for 60 hours (including 28 hours on the train).  The train itself was an experience as we spent several hours having each train car hoisted and then having the carriages switched from Soviet gauge to Western gauge rail at the Moldovan-Romanian border.  Soviet rail gauges are wider than other places in the world, to make a rail invasion from the west more difficult.

I had read a lot about Bucharest (Bucuresti in Romanian) and wanted to see the city that was the scene of the bloodiest struggle to overthrow a Communist dictator of the 1989 revolutions. Romania had allied with the Nazis in the first half of World War II and then switched its allegiance to the allies toward the end.  That last minute switch did not save it from being invaded and occupied by the Soviets who installed a Communist regime in 1946.  Differently than in other eastern bloc countries, the Romanian leader, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was successful in making a break with Moscow in the 1950s but the break only extended to a "re-Romanization" of the country (swapping street names, restoring Christian holidays, etc).  Romania remained a brutal Communist police state under Dej and his successor, Nicolae Ceausescu until 1989.

Ceausescu was among the most brutal dictators the world has seen in recent times.  He was known for poisoning rivals, torturing dissidents, and annihilating villages to suit his particular objectives.  Under his regime, some Romanians were injected with cancerous cells as punishment for misdeeds against the state.  He bulldozed the southern section of Bucharest to make way for a monstrous seat of government that was ironically called "The House of the People."  The process of resettlement of people was done in a manner where individuals had to flee their houses with whatever they could carry, leaving pets behind (and a stray dog problem that continues to today).  He also ordered the confiscation of food from farmers to be sold abroad (good for Romania's balance of trade, bad for starving people).  His wife, Elena, was made head of the university system and was equally ruthless.  All said, few would mourn their eventual demise.

After successful revolutions in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and other neighboring countries, revolution came to Romania in December of 1989.  As protestors marched in central Bucharest, barricades were installed to insure that the protestors, mostly students, could not retreat and bullets were fired with over 1,000 protestors being killed.  Ceausescu tried to control the media but ultimately the revolutionaries took control with the aid of military units that had begun to defect.  Ceausescu and his wife fled the city but they were apprehended by revolutionary forces in the north of Romania and were tried, and executed.  Of all the revolutions of 1989, Romania's involved the greatest bloodshed and Ceausescu was the only leader to be executed for his crimes.  Memorials to those that died in the 1989 revolution are all over Bucharest.

Romania has worked hard to shed its past and is scheduled to join the European Union on January 1, 2007.  While this is great for the Romanians, EU immigration standards will mean that Moldovans will have to get a visa to go to Romania and that has caused a great deal of frustration in Moldova.  There are many Romanian-speaking families that straddle the border.

   The Palace of the Parliament (also known as the People's House) was built in the Ceausescu regime and is the second largest building in the world (in sq. ft.)

The Bullet holes  left in a building near the Piata Universitatii remind us that the overthrow of Communist dictators wasn't always peacable.

    Statues of a withered tree and a broken man commemorate the massacre of 1989 in front of the former Communist Party headquarters.  Over 1,000 people were killed in this square demanding the end of the Ceascescu regime
Sleeping car compartment for the 14 hour train journey from Bucharest to Chisinau.  More than four hours were spent at the border.  

The Orthodox Church at Drochia.

Easter eggs are usually dyed red and decorated here.

Me and Lee at the entrance to Drochia. 

  25 April...Pasti Fericit...Happy Easter in Romanian.  Easter has come to Moldova and I have had a lovely week with Lee here from the U.S. and with my friend Irina's generous invitation to have Easter dinner with her family in Drochia (a town in the north of the country).

Easter is a BIG holiday in Moldova, bigger than Christmas, though I am told New Year's is an even bigger holiday than Easter.  We get a whole week off from school and the weather has been fantastic.  I actually rented a car and Irina, Lee, and I visited all the fantastic places there are to see in this fascinating land (more on touring Moldova to come). 

Well over 90% of Moldovans claim Orthodox Christian heritage.  The Orthodox Church celebrates Easter at a  different time than we do in the States (they still use the Julian calendar while we use the Gregorian).  Even throughout the Soviet years, the Orthodox Church continued to operate and many Moldovans were baptized and had icons in their homes.  The Soviets officially embraced atheism and did repress religion in a number of venues and monasteries were closed and some churches were turned in museums or even destroyed in extreme cases.  Since the fall of the USSR, the church has regained prominence and influence in the life of the people and of the nation. 

Easter in the Orthodox tradition is celebrated by spending the night at church waiting to celebrate the moments of the resurrection.  Not everyone stays for the whole night and most people come around 4 am with a basket of food for the priest to bless.  Once the priest has blessed the food, then the family will go out and eat it--usually bread and hard-boiled eggs and then everyone goes home and gets some sleep before the big Easter dinner in the afternoon.

My friend Irina invited me and Lee to her home about 2 hours north of Chisinau to celebrate Easter at her family's dinner table with her parents and sister.  I am not sure that I have ever eaten as many different dishes as we did that day!  There were wonderful salads, cold meats, fish, sausages, fresh tomatoes and cheese, and marinated mushrooms followed by entrees including chicken and cabbage, fish and potatoes, and pork and buckwheat.  THEN came desserts--prunes in cream, cookies (some made in the shape of mushrooms) and cakes--lemon, nut, chocolate, and banana--and fresh fruit!  Afterwards while we were chatting, a box of chocolates appeared.  Honestly, it was all so good and I ate so many things--I thought I would never eat again (until the next day when Mrs. Nicorich had us back for lunch as we returned to Chisinau from Soroca.  Mrs. Nicorich is from the very northern part of Russia but she has learned Romanian in Moldova and was happy to say "Mancati, va rog"...which means "eat, please"  and I did!

18 April...I am a Political Scientist, after all....so even though no one asked, here is a brief lesson on modern Moldovan government.  First, let me say that politics, political parties, and governing coalitions are quite confusing as none of the names mean quite what you expect them to.

The Communist Party, which holds the presidency and is the current majority in the  parliament, is pro-European Union and pro-free market economics.  Yes, that is right the Communists are in favor of free market economics.  They have been the majority party in government since 2001.  The Communists used to be more pro-Russian and less oriented to free-markets--the name of the party is of great value (especially among older Moldovans).  However, in the reelection campaign of 2005, the Communists made the preparing Moldova to apply for membership in the EU a primary issue.  President Voronin was reelected in the parliament by a coalition of Communists and Christian Democrats.  All of which seems very odd, indeed.

But it makes some sense considering that both the Communists and the Christian Democrats are somewhat conservative on social issues and both supported increasing the salaries of teachers and pensioners.  The opposition is called Moldova Noastra, which means "Our Moldova" and is a collection of smaller parties organized around opposition to the Communist government.  The Moldova Noastra alliance is also firmly in favor of EU integration (though some accuse the Communists of stealing the position from them).  The alliance along with the Democratic Party of Moldova can be more liberal on social issues than the Communists and Christian Democrats.

One fortunate outcome of recent political realignments in Moldova is that political parties are less organized along language lines than they were in the past.  The major divide between the parties and their supporters tends to be generational with older Moldovans supporting the Communists and Christian Democrats and younger people supporting the opposition parties.  The main frustration with the current Communist government is that it is perceived to be corrupt with bribery and nepotism allegations rampant.  Were Moldovans living abroad able to easily participate in elections here, the current government would face greater difficulty holding onto power, since it is estimated that more than one third of Moldovans aged 25-50 are working abroad.

The Moldovan Parliament is unicameral with 101 deputies elected for 4-year terms. Elections are proportional--meaning that a voter votes for a party and not a candidate (the parties offer lists of candidates that will serve of the party gets enough votes).  One of the seats in the parliament is reserved for the leader of the Gauguazian Autonomous region of Moldova.  The parliament chooses the President and the President appoints a Prime Minister (with the consent of the parliament). 

One amusing bit are the official motorcades that zoom up Boulevard Stefan Cel Mare (the main drag).  First, a police car will drive down blaring a loud speaker informing all the cars to make way.  Then, several more police cars come followed by several black cars with darkened windows (usually BMWs or Mercedes).  Sometimes, there will be a bus...one time I swore I saw a Marshutkya as a part of the procession...then there will be another police car and everyone is able to return to their normal business.  Positions of authority bring some privileges...even in Moldova 

  President Vladimir Voronin, of the Communist Party, is serving his second term in office.

This statue of Lenin used to stand where Stefan cel Mare is today...a similar statue is in the courtyard of the Communist Party Headquarters.

Schematic diagram of the current makeup of the Moldovan Parliament.

A rally on the steps of the Opera House for Moldova Noastra--a collection of parties that forms the opposition to the government here.

Students Competing a performance competition among the universities--seems the one boy lost his shirt in work-travel program.  My student Silvia is leading the show (green pants).

Statues commemorating Mihai Eminescu and Aleksandr Pushkin in parcul Stefan cel Mare (in Romanian the word "the" is replaced by the suffix" -ul"--for masculine, singular nouns.

Sergei and Costia are headed to the States!  They speak Romanian, Russian, English, and Sergei speaks French and Costia speaks German.   I wish I were going to be in Atlanta to watch them get off the plane--their eyes will be the size of "farfurie"--plates.  Neither have ever left Moldova before.

If I were a Russian boy, my name would be "Christopher Thomasovitch."  Russian names contain a patronymic for your father.  Russian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet. But I write just Kpnc Lpaht at the gym and they get it.

  16 April...Limba Mea...I seem to be bi-lingual, finally!  My first language is something like English (with a Southern U.S. accent) and the second is a very interesting combination of 40% Romanian words pronounced as in Spanish with about 30% actual Spanish words added in with a smattering of additional words borrowed from French, English, and Russian and spoken using English grammar rules--its a little like Esperanto and I call it--Limba Mea (my language in Romanian).  No wonder the people here roll their eyes at the "strange" man that babbles on in a weird language and then expects people to understand him.  Incidentally, the same word is used for both "strange" and "foreign" in Romanian.

Language is, of course, a learning experience and in Moldova you have so many opportunities for experience.  My television--that is used primarily as a clothes dryer--has programming in Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Georgian, English, and French as well as Spanish soap-operas with Romanian subtitles.  I know I have written earlier about language but the longer I stay here, the more I learn.  Not only how to speak but in impacts of culture and politics that language brings--it is as much a powerful a social tool here as race is in my hometown.  I used to be so impressed when I walked in the main park (Stefan cel Mare) that there were all these statues honoring authors--not military heroes but authors.  I thought "how wonderful, that people honor writers and not warriors."  One day it occurred to me that all of the statues, save one, were to Romanian authors and that most had never even set foot in what is now Moldova--then I realized these statues were as much a political statement as any statue honoring a general.  The lone Russian honored in the park is Aleksandr Pushkin (my cat is named for him) who lived in Chisinau for two years in the early 1800s.  Pushkin called this time his exile but he traveled with a diplomatic passport--so it may have been a nice exile (after all the Czars sent many to Siberia).  Pushkin was part African as his great-grandfather was brought to Peter the Great as a slave then was freed, made a noble, married, and had children under his wife's surname--Pushkin.

Even the ubiquitous Stefan cel Mare himself is a symbol of Romania--though he was in this area during his time.  All of these symbols are a part of cultural struggle that has frustrated Moldovans since their independence 16 years ago.  In the Soviet Union, Russian was so strongly forced upon people that once independence came, there was language backlash and Romanian was emphasized at the expense of other languages.

Romanian is also known here as Limba de Stat (the state language) and is the language of all official business; although, the Moldovan constitution establishes a multi-lingual state.  When I first arrived I thought it was charming that Romanian speakers would compliment my language ability by saying "we have had people that have lived here for 50 years that do not speak our language as well as you do."  Now I realize that there is a political statement therein.  The national anthem of Moldova is Limba Noastra--"Our Language" in Romanian.  Only about 60% of people here would see Romanian as their first language--so this is a slightly volatile issue, to say the least.  I agree that Russian-native speakers ought to learn Limba de Stat, I am not sure that the tactics being emplyed encourage that outcome.  Romanian-phobia is a powerful tool that was used in Transnistria to encourage separatism and it is an excuse used by the Russian government to keep their armies in the region.  Now with the Russian refusal to import Moldovan wine, the tensions are rising once again.  Someone said to me this week that the new border of Europe will be the Nister River with NATO/U.S. forces on this side with Russians peering across the river at them...not sure I buy it.  Keep in mind, however, that there was bloodshed 15 years ago and that language and culture were used as the rhetoric to motivate people to fight.

Speaking of the Nister River, my student, Costia has invited me to his village on the Nister (hopefully no Russian soldiers will be staring me down) to celebrate his having gotten a work visa to come to the U.S. this summer.  Costia and his friend, Sergei, will spend four months in Panama City, Florida--working and then have a month to travel.  I have already invited them to Macon and I am hoping my Fall Break from Mercer will allow me to drive them up the Eastern seaboard some.  If anyone would like to host the boys for a few days in late September/early October--let me know--they will be on tight budgets but I am thrilled to know that they are able to come and I know their English will improve greatly--they both speak 4 languages!

I was invited to a student skit competition where the perils of work-travel in the states was used to great effect in one of the performances (where the boy lost his shirt trying to make ends meet)...it was funny, but in general, it is a great opportunity for the students here--allowing them to work summer jobs and then travel a little.  The downside is that they are out of school for two additional months--not making administrators very happy.  But it makes me happy because I will enjoy returning some of the hospitality that I have received.

5 April...No jokes about the digital divide...one of my more interesting and ambitious educational enterprises that I have undertaken since coming to Moldova has been my a pen-pal project where I attempted to pair my 42 English language students with an American to interview (for a paper due next week).  In addition, my colleague, Jean Fallis at Mercer, set up a blog with to let her students and mine discuss education in Moldova and the U.S.--seemed like such a good idea in February...ahhh...how ignorant I was.  Ahhh...how American was I in February!

First, let me say that when I say American--I don't mean ignorant, I just mean that as an American I sort of assume that the rest of the world has all the conveniences that I have (or close to them).  I often underestimate the difference between the realities of a Mercer student and a student here and nowhere has this been more the case than in my understanding of students uses and access to technology and especially the Internet.  I went to graduate school in 1990 and we had no e-mail, no Instant Messaging, and no Internet Explorer.  We still used the mainframe in my "heavy-duty" stats class and I did not own a computer but used a lab on the second floor of Baldwin Hall.  So I did not start teaching with such conveniences but have I ever grown accustomed to them. 

In the Moldovan universities there is usually a computer lab--but rarely are the computers hooked up to the Internet and they are often in disrepair. So the idea of free Internet is not a reality here for students.  Moreover, only a few students have a computer at home--they are very expensive and are not used in day-to-day working lives like they are in the States.  Most papers in university classes are still handwritten.  Still, I had not clued in because I assumed my students used e-mail but used it at a cafe (or a store that is essentially a computer lab--where it costs about 50 cents an hour to use the Internet--they are all over Chisinau).  But as I have learned, 50 cents is a lot of money for a student here and less than half of my students even have e-mail accounts and for most e-mail is more a "concept than a reality."

One of the most interesting responses to my assignment of a pen-pal was--"I don't want to meet people unless I can see them and look them in the eye--I won't trust them."  In the end, after weeks of begging them to get e-mail accounts set up, I relented and the students were given a choice to do the pen-pal project or to write a long paper in English.  From what I have seen so far about 75% will opt to write the long paper.  Thanks to all my American friends (and others) that volunteered to help with this project--I had high hopes.  This said, having visited the Internet cafes, it appears they are full of 12-15 year old boys (mostly) playing video games.  I hope that eventually they will find some other applications as well.

I have been asked if many Moldovans blog and my answer is other than the American Peace Corps volunteers and a Moldovan studying economics in the States, I am not aware of any.  It is a shame because the media is not well developed here.  Spending this time in Chisinau, I so realize the potential in on-line communications to support the development of democratic institutions. 

Even the universities do not computerize administrative functions and still do scheduling on BIG pieces of paper.  The fact that students take classes in set groups (all 1st year International Relations Romanian-speaking students are one group and all 1st year International Relations Russian-speaking students are another group, etc.) makes scheduling a little easier but seems crazy to me.

One use of technology here is the old hand-held calculator.  Every shopkeeper and market vender has one and they will type in the amount you owe them on it.  I guess this is because there are 5 languages spoken around Moldova (well 6 if you count my April Fools joke).  Everyone here seems to have a cell phone (even me).

A few people fell for my April Fools' joke--English is not about to become the official language here and it was my fantasy that Moldovans had an interest in seeing the country become a U.S. state.  There is, however, an Arc de Triumf here (way in the foreground in the picture on the left).  Lastly, winter is indeed over and I know this because what seems to be an army of older women have been planting flowers in every open plot of ground in the city.  Once all the flowers start to bloom it is going to be absolutely gorgeous in Chisinau!!!

    Center of Chisinau and Moldcell is one of the two largest cellular providers.

  

Internet cafes or clubs are a recent rapid growth industry in Chisinau.  One advertises for Frizerie and Internet--hair salon and Internet--does it get any better?

The big three...the Chisinau Cathedral, the Bell tower, and the Arc de Triumf

Yours truly working at my desk...I use dial-up!

Did you know that there is an Arc de Triumph in Chisinau?

It was a pleasure to get a picture of my sister and her friend Ben by the river.

I am beginning to understand why some call Chisinau the Paris of Moldova.

  1 April...Spring has come to Chisinau and I am very much enjoying the ability to roam the around without a coat, a hat, gloves, long underwear, etc.  It is amazing how the town changes looks when the weather improves. I started going to places that I was too afraid to go when the ice was everywhere and have gotten some excellent pictures of the city.

For one I never new that the city was so large!  When you spend all your time in the center, sometimes you forget that there are people living all about you.  There is a river called the Bull (in Russian) that runs through Chisinau and I understand that it will be lovely in summer.  But the striking resemblances of Chisinau to Paris are worth noting--both cities have an Arc de Triumf (in Romanian), both have a center dominated by a cathedral, and both have a tower that stands tall as a major tourist attraction (though the one here was used to raise water for primitive plumbing conditions--and now houses the Chisinau city museum). 

Now, there is some big news making its way around Chisinau--and that is that the official language here may be switched to English!  After years of wrangling with Russian and Romanian (as well as Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and Gaugauzian--a Turkish dialect) there is a serious effort underway to make English the official language.  The TV and papers are all abuzz because local opinion is that this switch would make tourism easier and increase business investments here.  I was skeptical at first but the sentiment seems to be growing rapidly which led to some very interesting questions from my students.

At least some of my students want Moldova to apply to become a U.S. state!  I have reminded them that becoming a state would make EU entry more difficult to negotiate but they said it is better to become a U.S. state than a member of the EU.  OK says I--but there is also an issue of geography--Moldova is located in Europe while the rest of the U.S. states are in North America.  My students (and they are quite clever) said that when California became a state it was separated by  much of the continent from the rest of the states AND it had been an independent nation before becoming a state (just like Moldova).  Another student pointed to the precedents established by Hawaii and Alaska for non-contiguous states.  All of which are pretty convincing points in my opinion.  Some of my more ambitious students are learning Spanish as well as English to better fit into the American culture as they understand it.  I said that they ought to start celebrating some U.S. holidays as well to get better prepared.  But then I was reminded that...

they have been celebrating April Fools Day here for some time.

P.S. I spent a lovely long weekend in Paris with my sister Kylie and her friend Ben last month...took lots of pictures.

P.P.S. There really is an Arc de Triumf in Chisinau.

Adventures of Dr. Chris Grant of Mercer University/2006 Fulbright Scholar

 

Moldova Patria Mea means Moldova, my homeland...my guess but my Romanian to English translations are imaginative if not always accurate...

E-mail me: chris_grant1234@yahoo.com or grant_jc@mercer.edu

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This page was first created on 03/01/05 by Prof. Chris Grant of Mercer University.  Dr. Grant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Mercer University and is the Assistant Director of Service-Learning at the Mercer Center for Service-Learning and Community Development.  The site was last updated on 05/03/06.  You may e-mail Prof. Grant by clicking here or you may return to his homepage by clicking here.