Mishaps in Moldova

For those of you who were worried…I actually am alive and kicking. I’ve been in Moldova for a week and we’ve been Internet fasting. I have one week left here then we head to Romania for a World Race conference in Brasov before hitting our next country. Here’s some funny things I’ve been up to so far.

Ireland had its share of differences from the states. Though we share the common language of English, rest assured there are differences, though often times small.

I’m coming to find this year will provide its share of frustration due to the language barrier, but more often than not some much needed comic relief.

What is she talking about you wonder to yourself? No fear, allow me to expound a bit.

• Sleeper trains are not as exciting as they sound. They aren’t faster than cars, and Daniel Radcliffe has done a swell job of crushing dreams of those who haven’t had the ‘joy’ of experiencing such an adventure.

• When you don’t speak the language, even getting groceries from the market can prove a challenge. Never assume. If you’re not careful you can buy large block of butter (L) to accompany the bread for dinner that you intended to be cheese (R).

     

• The Russian word for kisses sounds similar to ‘poopie.’ So when our contact’s wife, Larissa, would come into our rooms before bed each night and say ‘poopie, poopie,’ we were a little confused. No worries, we took the liberty of explaining to her what it meant in English like the mature young adults we are.

• Apparently cats in Moldova really do have 9 lives. After the ‘death’ of our contacts kitten when their mischievous son Eric threw the cat into the latrine the kitten was found alive and clean mere hours later. Mystery? We think so too.

• The American way of cutting vegetables is embarrassing and a catastrophe. We set out to cut veggies to sauté for diner. One of the girls (she’s 14) who attends the church came by the house to see our contact, who wasn’t there at the time, saw the veggies and corrected us in the little English she spoke about how we were cutting everything wrong. We held strong and cut it our way. On her way home she saw our contact and informed them there was a catastrophe at their house. They hurried home worried the house was on fire or something; only to find we’d chopped the vegetables ‘wrong.’

• I guess I led a more sheltered life than I thought. I never knew that walnuts grew on trees in these lime looking things you break open. The kids loving bringing us lots of random fruits (including the best grapes you’ve ever tasted) but when they brought the ‘walnuts’ to us and saw my confused face when I attempted to bite into it I was teased endlessly.