Thursday, September 23, 2010

Central Market in Chisinau--Monasteries and Churches nearby

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I've now been in Chisinau a full month, having arrived on the 23rd of August. Today, I'm writing about two items--the Central Market and my visits to two nearby monasteries.

Almost in the middle of town--just off the main street -is the Central Market. It is half a farmer's fresh food market with verythng from fresh live fish to recently butcher livestock to a venue to sell pots and pans, womens' lingerie, luggage, clothing, toothpaste and everything else. There are several small and larger supermakets in various part of town, but none have the fresh produce that you find in the Central Market.
I'm not sure how it will be in the winter months, as obviously the nearby farmers won't be harvesting or collecting things while it snows.
 I've been told that in some of the villages close to Chisinau, much of the land is owned by people in Chisinau. When the soviets lost power, the "state-owned" land was divided mostly into strips that are long and relatively narrow.  The land consists of rolling hills and valleys and as the bottom of the hills are more fertile, they didn't want one or two people to have that while others got the hillside, so they divided the land into strips. The owners from Chisinau probably have a few strips and a couple of animals--pigs, chickens and perhaps a cow--and they hire a local person or two to manage the farm in their absence.  Cows are moved across the road from the villages into open meadows--no fences--and then back to their respective spots for the evening.  People who don't own land like to come out over the weekend and hunt mushrooms, buy fresh roadside fruits and vegetables and take a picnic in the woods which seem to be open to one and all.
I'll add a few pictures of the markets and of the countryside before writing a little about the monasteries and churches.


She's at one of the entrances.


These fish are alive!

Brooms
A busy spot!
Rice and grains


One of many aisles
Sunflower oil for cooking


Well, there's a lot more to the market, but you no doubt get the idea.

So, now about the monasteries and chruches.  Almost all are orthodox--more or less Russian Orthodox but no doubt localized quite a bit.  The monasteries own quite a bit of land--given to them by the state after the Soviet Union went out of power. The churches are the most respected institution in the country and the people seem to be quite religious. Their services are apparently quite short with people standing and the priest and choir singing some--but I have not been to one so really can not write about them. The two monasteries I saw were each about 45 minutes out of town--but in different directions.  My university colleague took me to one and the wife of one of the U.S. Embassy staffers took me to the other. You'll see there are grounds around the monasteries--grapes and crops are grown--and although the monasteries are located in a particular village, people from all over go to different ones. Apparently, if there's a favorite priest or a favorite location, that is where you go for your baptisms, weddings and religious holidays--no matter where you might live.
There was a wedding ceremony occuring at one of the monasteries--takes about 20-30 minutes, about 20 people witness the ceremony while standing and the priests and a choir conduct the service.  All the churches I've seen are orthodox and all are elaborately decorated.


Well, that's it for now.  I'll add a few photos  here of the monasteries and some of the countryside on the way. Sometimes the roads are o.k.--the one towards Romania was fine--and sometimes they're vey bumpy--the one towards the south was like that! Enjoy!

Painted walls with biblical scenes

All the walls are covered!
Donkey carts common around small villages


Hilly countrysideWedding guests look on
My uniersity colleage-Aurelia and her daughter Anastasia
Elizabeth Mates and me-Her husband is with U.S. Embassy here
This monastery was rennovated in 2009 but is oldest in origin



Sunday, September 12, 2010

People

young couples enjoy each other!
Men catch up on politics



The older set enjoys a chat

Toddlers enjoy a rental ride

Trees all around-in the park and through out the city
Dress clothes or jeans are fine!




Park has wi-fi so laptops are out!


The twins are asleep and cell phone in use











September 12, 2010

it's a beautiful fall day here now--slightly after noon and I've just returned from a walk in the park. For this day's blog, It'll be mostly photos of people--not a lot of words. What I've seen is that people here are like people we know.  They like the nice weather and just want some free time for themselves. So far, I've had quite a bit of free time, but my class work starts in two days. I'll let you know how that goes later.
Take care! Let me know your thoughts about the blog!
Bill



A well-dressed woman
A couple enjos some ice cream

A couple enjoys some ice cream

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Referendum fails due to low turnout

Well, September 5 --thought to be a momentus day in Moldova--has come and gone.
Some predicted a turnout close to 50 % of registered voters, but in fact only 30 % turned out and the Constitution states that for a referendum to be valid, at least 33 % had to turn out. Note that the voting is at a school, just like in the U.S. The young woman on the right side with her back to the camera likely is an inspector--to ensure the vote was fair.  No problems were raised, but then it didn't count, so no need to protest the results.
So, while most people who voted (possibly as high as 90 % ) favored direct election of the President, the vote has no effect as the threshold of needed participation was not reached. Why ?
There were probably several reasons.
First, the communist party advocated a boycott of the referendum. Thus, you can see they still have a lot of power here.
Second, a number of people don't like or don't trust the present Interim President and the goverment in general. He is on record with promoting closer ties with Romania.  Would those ties lead to Moldova becoming a part of Romania while losing its indepedence. Probalu not, but there is that concern. in addition, last month there was a report of police brutality in some arrests and the investigation of those incidents is going slow and is not as open as some would like. Soooo, the people are not sure they want to do what this government endorsed.
Finally, there is the struggle between going too fast and too slow. Some say the changes needed here are not coming fast enough an others say changes are being made by those in power without consideration of all aspects of the change.  The result is a standstill--as shown by the referendum results.

I wanted to add one other item to this posting--dealing with transportation. This city has all needed means of transportation available--at very reasonable costs. I'm including some photos of the three main public methods--there are of course many private cars as well.

First are the trams and buses. I'm not sure if your ticket includes a transfer--don't think so--but a ticket on a bus or tram is 2 lei  (there are 12.2 lei to $1.00 currently), so this provides a very inexpensive method of trnsportation.
Second are the vans. These vans run various routes through the city and you stand on a route, flag one down and let them know where on the route you want to get off. Cost is 3 to 5 lei ($ 0.25-0.40), and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of vans roaming the city at all times. This is probably the locals favorite method of getting around.  They go where you want, pretty fast and pretty cheap.
Third are the taxis. They have a number posted on the top of the car and the number is their telephone number. You can call ahead and make sure you have a taxi--or, as I have done on several occassions, you just go to a parked one, tell him where you want to go (ask the cost as well) and you have a private ride. I've taken 5-6 taxis so far and the most I have paid is 50 lei --just over $4.00. Most ex-pats have a couple of favorite taxi numbers- some speak English--and that's how they get around if they don't drive.






One final alternative is walking. In nice weather, as is the case now,   you can walk from one end of the city to the other in 20-30 minutes.  Not to the suburbs--but anywhere in the city.  That's MY FAVORITE method.
Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to write about.  I'm going to focus on students and people in general in the next few blogs. Maybe also the food--especially the city market.  Something for everyone there!

la revedere!

Bill