Festival of Languages

Another busy weekend in Chisinau. On Friday night I went to the Bach Festival at the organ hall with Fulbrighters and listened to some great music. The prime minister's wife was a patron of the event so he was there with her and as a result there was a lot of security. The German, Polish, and French ambassadors were also there and they all gave speeches to kick off the concert.

On Saturday morning I went to Winrock to check out a training for new Moldovan and American volunteers who will conduct trainings on business and entrepreneurial skills for students in the villages. After that I met up with a student from my conversation group for tea and headed to a photo exhibition that was taking place at an old abandoned museum near my house. That place is extremely creepy. Here's a link to some more info about the event that opened the exhibit. http://chisinow.blogspot.com/.

The final event of the weekend for me was the Festival of Languages that took place on Sunday at the Jewish Community Center. The festival was organized by the Tolerance Club to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. There were 20 languages taught in 40 minute sessions over the course of the afternoon. During the first cycle you chose one European language to learn (French, German, Turkish, Finnish, Portuguese, etc.), in the second a language that is spoken in Moldova (Romanian, Russian, Gagauzian, Bulgarian, etc.), and in the last cycle some more exotic languages (Urdu, Chinese, Swahili, Japanese and more.) I attended the lessons on Turkish, Gagauzian, and Swahili. It was very cool that they found native speakers of so many languages to attend and teach basic phrases as well as share information about their cultures.

Sorry, no exciting interrogation stories from Transnistria

Yesterday I went on a trip to the de facto state of Transnistria to visit the NGO where Matt (another Fulbrighter) has been volunteering. After hearing lots of stories of foreigners not being able to cross the border one way or another without paying a hefty bribe or being detained for quite a while, I wasn't expecting the trip to go so smoothly as it did. We went on a normal mini bus with about 10 Moldovans from Chisinau and didn't have any problems at the border. We had to get off the bus to go register at the border on the way in with a migration card but on the way back someone just came on the bus to check our passports then let us on our way. On the way into Transnistria they stamped my migration card with the exact time I needed to be out of the territory that day so if I hadn't left by then it would probably have caused some difficulties.

For the most part Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria, looks just like any other place in Moldova. There is, however, a prevalence of tanks that creates a different feel from Chisinau and you also see a lot more Russian flags, men in military uniform, and statues of Lenin. The streets also still have names like Lenin Street, Komsomolskaya St, and so on that are left over from Soviet times. When we were walking to catch the bus back in the afternoon there was also an overwhelmingly delicious bread smell permeating the air that was coming from one of the many factories that Transnistria has and Moldova doesn't. Matt suggested that the government probably pumps that smell out artificially in the areas where they own restaurants to get business. The people in power pretty much own everything in Tiraspol though they're pretty well off anyway.

I only got to see the city from the bus because we spent the whole afternoon at the NGO Interaction. I might want to go back another time to walk around some more but we'll see if there's time. The NGO isn't really in the center of the city and it's office is located underground. It's a pretty nice place but super hot and the director's husband was doing construction inside so it was loud with the sound of drilling. All the people were very friendly though and I enjoyed hanging out with them. It was the hotline coordinator's birthday so she brought cake, fruit, and champagne for everyone and we enjoyed that at the end of the day. This is how the system works in Moldova and probably a lot of other places; if it's your birthday, you're expected to bring a bunch of stuff for the office. I kind of like this because no one is ever forgotten and you get to eat cake pretty often if you have a large staff.

I spent some time talking to the director of the NGO and she told me about the difficulties they have with Transnistrian authorities and how other NGOs distance themselves and do not want to collaborate for projects because Interaction is known to have bad relations with the government for the work they do. It's very difficult to get funding and a complicated process because they have to account for the money both in Moldova and Transnistria and it's tough to transfer money because of certain laws. I didn't really understand that whole situation, but did get the gist that the life of an NGO director in Transnistria is often very stressful. Another interesting comment she made is that she doesn't like how the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) heads the roundtables in Transnistria because they have a clear political stance that deters the Transnistrian government from attending and in order for real, sustainable changes to take hold in society the government somehow has to be convinced to play a positive role.

All in all, I liked my little half-day adventure back in time to the Soviet Union. But really, although the territory gives you that feeling with the hammer and sickle visible at the border and the tanks popping up in various places the people there are just like the people living in Moldova. I know a lot of people living in Chisinau who have relatives in Transnistria and they're definitely not a bunch of hardcore communists who would start another civil war if Transnistria were going to join back with Moldova again. There is going to be an election this year and the NGO director said that 5 people are "applying for the job" but she doubts that any changes will come. In fact, she said it's probably better for the dictator Smirnov to stay in power because at least he's predictable and the Russian government can control him.

More adventures with music

I have started volunteering at the Chisinau Assistance and Protection Center (CAP) for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and have met a couple of European volunteers who work here as well. One of them, a German named Christina, plays the flute and when I told her I have been learning Moldovan folk music with Rod she got really excited because she's also interested in learning the nai and generally getting together with people to play music as often as possible.

Christina told us that on weekends a lot of European volunteers get together at a friend's house to have some food and play music all afternoon so Rod and I went to check that out yesterday. There were probably 15 or so people there chatting in French, German, English and occasionally Romanian and Russian. They had made some great food that was all vegetarian/vegan and the instruments there included bass, guitar, nai, violin, bass flute, regular flute, piano, and more. We played some Irish and Moldovan songs as well as a Macedonian melody that Rod taught us by ear. It was a really nice afternoon with a group of very cool, relaxed people.

After that we went to Bob and Beth's for more food. Beth cooked some delicious chili and cornbread. The chili was definitely the spiciest food I have had in Moldova. Eastern Europeans don't really do spicy as a rule. I think this meal would have killed my host family. We definitely enjoyed it though.

I'm helping with some grant and report writing at the CAP today, will be at Winrock tomorrow, and am going to visit the NGO Interaction in Transnistria on Wednesday with Matt. I also have to start preparing for the Fulbright seminar in Bulgaria because I need to plan out a presentation on the social and cultural integration issues surrounding the issue of immigration in Moldova that I'll be giving as part of a panel discussion.

Biden visits Chisinau

I’ve been so busy lately that I don’t really have the energy to write all about Joe Biden’s visit to Chisinau so I will let this article and video speak for itself and then just give some of my impressions. You can watch the whole video of his speech and get a good idea of what the event was like.

http://traduno.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/joe-biden-visited-moldova/

Needless to say, this event pretty much shut down Chisinau. It was crazy getting in and Liz and I had to be squashed in a mob of people for over an hour before we could get our Ids checked and make it to security. We managed to create some space for ourselves to breathe for a little while by stepping in the mud surrounding a tree on the sidewalk because there was no way any of the Moldovans were going to get their shoes dirty. This stressed me out as well but fresh air and a smidgeon of personal space was the priority at the moment.

The rest of the event was fun. There was live music for a few hours before Biden came on stage. This was a very Romanian-heavy event which makes sense since the tone was completely pro-Europe. No one sang in Russian and I didn’t hear much Russian in the crowd while we were trying to get in. Biden gave a good speech but didn’t say much that was groundbreaking or unexpected. It was a little funny when he said “You know, Moldovans have something to be proud of…” and I wasn’t expecting that this pride was supposed to come from the fact that Natalie Portman’s grandmother and Rahm Emanuel’s grandfather were both Moldovan. I guess that’s impressive. Here’s a picture of me and Liz with some Moldovan friends we made because the girl wanted me to send her my photos from the speech.

Another important issue that arose from Biden’s visits to Moscow and Chisinau concerns the future of Transnistria. I was a bit surprised that he was so confident that Transnistria’s future must lie in the confines of the Moldovan border. It’s just hard to imagine that happening anytime soon. I guess the idea is that if the US and the EU help Moldova to become a prosperous country with lots of economic opportunities than Transnistrians will want to be a part of it to reap the benefits. I ran into a couple of students from Transnistria when I was trying to get to the Chisinau Assistance and Protection Center (that’s a whole different story) and they agreed that Transnistrians would want to be Moldovan citizens if they saw that the situation there was really that much better. At any rate the politics surrounding Transnistria are very, very complicated and it’s certainly not up to the general population of the region to decide its fate so we’ll see what happens.

Nice Try Madrid

Spain tried really hard to push me over to Team Western Europe, but no dice. Although Madrid really blew me away and I enjoyed every minute of my 3 day vacation, I felt myself missing the craziness of Eastern Europe. I felt some serious culture shock when I arrived at the airport in Madrid. I haven't traveled to too many places where I was totally clueless about the native language. The 1 semester of Spanish I took in middle school wasn't cutting it and whenever someone would ask me a question I would respond "Da...oui...si" and look like an idiot. This was a little better than when I first got to Germany and would respond "Da" since in German that means "over there" and saying this made me look very confused.

At any rate, the real culture shock came from how spotless everything was and how much everything made sense. I first noticed this with the metro system. Cultural differences that were harder to get used to included the fact that people eat dinner around 10 or 10:30 in Spain and when you're at a tapas bar or something and you're done with your trash you throw it on the floor. Another difference is that you can't smoke inside anywhere in Spain anymore. They don't even have any of those little smoking rooms in the airport like they do in most places. This means when you go out to a bar or club you don't reek of smoke for days after like you do in Moldova. Kind of nice actually.

The hostel I stayed in was glorious and my trip was worth it just for the nice shower. My American compatriots in Moldova know what I'm talking about. The place was also in a great location so I could walk to all the main sights. I met up with my friend Chloe on Friday night, who is finishing up her master's degree and is spending the year in Spain (her program is based in Brussels). We went out to dinner at 9:30 and I got there a little early despite getting lost in the rain so I sat for a few minutes by myself and observed the rambunctious group of American study abroad students sitting in the corner. Then Chloe arrived with a friend who used to work for her dad (who I know from my internship at the embassy in Bulgaria) who is joining the Peace Corps in Africa someplace soon and is taking a long vacation in Spain because her boyfriend is Spanish and lives close to Madrid. We had a really interesting conversation about the work we have all done for various NGOs and international organizations and both of their parents have worked in Eastern Europe so we had a lot to talk about. After dinner, we went back to Chloe's apartment and met all her roommates. It was like a scene out of "L'Auberge Espagnole" (The Spanish Apartment) if anyone has seen that. She lives with a Mexican guy, a German girl, an American guy, a Spanish girl, and a French girl. We sat around for a while talking and I didn't get back to my hostel until around 6 am.

The next day I got up and walked around sightseeing until I made it to the Prado, which is one of the most famous museums in the world. It was very impressive. The Rubens paintings were my favorites. Just tons and tons of masterpieces. After that, I did some more exploring and then met up with the other Moldova Fulbrighters Melissa and Rebecca at Kate's place. Kate is a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Madrid who went to college with Liz, another Fulbright ETA who was busy visiting Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan so she couldn't join us. Kate's apartment was similar to Chloe's and consisted of an equally international group. We went over to an apartment where some other Fulbrighters are living and met a ton of new people. One of them, Sammy, went to Bates so Lisa if you're reading this I believe you know her. She played field hockey with Heidi. Small world. Another guy there went to Amherst so we know a lot of the same people too.

After that we met up with one of Kate's Spanish roommates and his friends and went to a club. The music there was pretty interesting. At one point they were playing songs from Grease. We got pretty excited about this for some reason. The Spanish people did a really intense coordinated dance to one of the Spanish songs that reminded us of Moldovans getting up in a bar or club to do the hora. We didn't join in on that. Again, I got to sleep around 7 am.

I just have too much to write about so I'm going to skip to the best day, which was Monday. The sun was out, it was 60 degrees, and we had a super precious afternoon in Retiro Park and out on the pond in a rowboat. We packed a picnic of bread and cheese and strawberries and laid around for a while then decided to take a boat out on the pond nearby because it looked like too much fun to pass up. Luckily Melissa is an athlete so Rebecca and I didn't have to do any of the work. After that, we went to the museum the Reine Sofia that has a ton of Picasso and Dali paintings. Loved it.

All in all, the trip was fantastic. I definitely want to go back to Spain someday. For now though I'm happy to be back in Moldova. Joe Biden is visiting tomorrow which is a really huge deal. He's speaking on the square of the Opera which is right by my house so I'm lucky I won't have to deal with the traffic. There are already enormous American and Moldovan flags covering the facade. The next post will most likely be about his speech. We'll see how it goes and what the reaction is from the press and everything. He was meeting with Medvedev yesterday I believe and discussing the Transnistria issue. Maybe there will be increased efforts to resolve this problem.

International Relations Course and Russian Ambassador at IRIM

Yesterday I attended my first class as a student at the Institute of International Relations of Moldova (IRIM) where I’m teaching the negotiations course. The professor that asked me and Chris to teach that course gave me information about courses related to my interests that are taught in Russian. The office assistant gave me one piece of paper that had the professor’s name but no hint of the course subject and listed the times the course meets but not the room number. The other piece of paper was for another professor’s courses and listed what I think are the titles of specific lectures and the times and dates when those lectures will be held. The dates and the corresponding days of the week listed, however, do not match up so I think I have to do some more investigating before I can check those out.

At any rate, the course I went to yesterday was “The History of International Relations.” From the information I received, this course was meant to be held from 5:10-6:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. In reality, however, the lecture lasted until 8:00. There were only 5 of us in the class so it felt very seminar-like except for that there wasn’t any discussion. Part of this might have been because the professor was trying to catch me up on the material that they had already covered. It’s possible that this bored the other students. The guy next to me was blatantly texting the entire time. Not even under the table. Anyway, the professor talked, without notes, for the entire time. The lecture focused on the end of WWI and the Genoa Conference of 1922 but the professor went off on several tangents as well. It was a bit difficult for me to understand everything he was saying but I tried especially hard to take it all in when he was talking about the United States just in case he might ask my opinion on something or give me a reason to feel like I needed to defend my country. He was very positive about the US, however, so that wasn’t a problem.

I think the most interesting topic that came up was the fact that so many Germans went to work in factories in the Soviet Union after WWI. The Germans weren’t allowed to build tanks or do any kind of war-related work in their country and were under strict monitoring from the French. The Soviet Union needed help with its goal of rapid industrialization. So, the two countries helped each other out. Skills that were important for war preparation did not atrophy during this time among the Germans who helped the Soviets by working alongside them. There were a lot of Americans working in the factories as well because of the Great Depression. I remember reading a really interesting book written by a US citizen who worked in one of those factories but can’t think of the name of it now.

I really liked the professor of this course and he is clearly a fountain of knowledge. He was an engaging speaker as well. He told me that the Russian ambassador to Moldova would be speaking at the school the next day and that I could attend the lecture. I thought that sounded like a cool opportunity, so I went. I sat in the back which was unfortunate because there was a lot of noise outside the door and it was hard to hear at times, but I could get the gist of what he was talking about most of the time. Most of the topics you would expect to come up, including the Russia-US missile defense system clash, the situation in Transnistria, the price of gas, the European integration of Moldova, and the political instability in Moldova that is annoying the Russian government as much as everyone else. I saw some students from my negotiations course at the lecture so I’ll ask them what they thought was most interesting tomorrow.