Moldova 101

There isn’t a ton of new developments to update you all on…. because language classes just aren’t that exciting to outsiders. However, I thought I would take an opportunity to regurgitate to you some of the things I have learned about my host county. This will probably be brief, but only because my understanding is still brief. Let me know if you have specific questions and I’ll do my best to answer them (or find an answer to them).

To grossly over simply much of history, you have Moldova as part of Romania, Moldova as Moldavia, and Moldova under the Soviet Union.

It just so happens that my language teacher grew up in my village. She graciously gave up part of her afternoon the other day to tell us about what it was like to live in this village under the Soviet rule. Her story of this village is fairly similar across the country. In Soviet times, the communities had centralized economies. That meant that every person played a role in the greater good. The community thrived because everyone was working together. Our language teacher said schools were full, and people looked out for one another. Now, there are some in Moldova who are nostalgic for the old, stable, comfortable times. However, there are others who don’t miss those times at all because of the other restrictions (i.e. closed borders, etc.). I will make no assertions as to which side of this debate is more qualified.

Our teacher also told us a little bit about the “most tragic times in Moldova.” You could almost equate it with the “trail of tears” in the states. Basically, a group of people were taken out of Moldova and sent to Serbia in order to make room for more of another kind of people (Russians). This episode is referred to as the “deportations.”

Acum (now), in the independent state of Moldova, things are almost exactly as I would expect a young democracy to be. There is no other experiment on earth like it, and no one has ever truly mastered it. As part of this process, Moldova is facing a demographic challenge. With little work in Moldovan industries, many many many young people go abroad to work and send money back to their families. Repartitions are the number one source of income in Moldova.

This trend has a tremendous impact on the demographic make-up of Moldova. Essentially, there are lots of young children who live with their grandparents because their parents are away working. It is common for women to go work as caretakers for elderly people in Italy and men to go work in construction in Moscow.

The priest in our village told my classmate that although it is sad, it is necessary for people to go abroad. The priest’s own son (he’s Eastern Orthodox, not Roman Catholic) has been abroad for 9 years. However, the priest said holidays and fasting times give him hope because he sees young people coming home for these periods and participating in the traditions. It conveys a sense that Moldovan roots are strong and pride worthy. On a side note: I plan to attend my first service at the basilica with my mama gazda (host mom) this Sunday, I don’t intend to comprehend any of it.

So that is a small, very incomplete brief on what I understand thus far. I can only imagine how much more I will understand when I actually understand the limba romana!

P.S. Don’t you guys have any good news these days? We’ve heard about Michael Jackson, Farah Facet (sp?), and the cheating governor. How about some good news?