Village Life

You know, I can't believe I haven't posted this yet. The reality is, the one very special quality Moldova possesses is its village life. On certain days, traversing the Moldova countryside feels like stepping into the Europe of the 18th century, into a Monet painting of haystacks or a dappled canvas of van Gogh fields.

Indeed, when I first came here, I envisioned myself taking trips to the countryside with an easel and canvas to paint the rolling fields, villages, and Orthodox cathedrals. Alright, I haven't really been outside of the dirty concrete hive of Chisinau in which I live much, let alone painted anything of note, but before I leave I promise to paint at least one haystack. Maybe a cow.

But what I offer you here, dear readers, is even better. The wonders of the digital age allow me to present to you this slice out of Europe's past, thusly transforming your computer into a veritable Guardian of Forever, a portal into time!

These photos portray the village of Ratus, just outside of Chisinau, a small village of somewhere around a hundred houses (fewer?) nestled amongst gentle pastures and tucked against a small lake and an old kabutz (sp?) where everyone worked communally in the Soviet days. This is the city in which my mom's host mother for the Peace Corps, Maria, lives. Visiting her home was always a special treat. She would prepare traditional foods for us, such as mamaliga, and serve us her own homemade wine which she prepared in great wooden barrels in her cellar. Her house is essentially built around a massive stove, which also serves to heat the whole house and functions as a bed for the whole family on the coldest days. Outside, attached to her house in the yard, is a chicken shed, an external kitchen, a cow barn, and of course the outhouse. We would sit around either her kitchen table or her outside gazebo and experience the true Moldova over food and wine.

When I leave Moldova, it won't be the miniskirted supermodel girls I'll miss, nor the cheap wine nor even my cozy and spacious apartment; instead, I will miss the village life.