För unga mammor i Moldavien

Ett kort inlägg på svenska: Såg här just att om man länkade sin blogg till Uppdrag Barns hemsida så skänker Vattenfall 20 kr till organisationen. Jag surfade runt lite på deras hemsida och det visade sig att de bl.a. stödjer ett projekt för unga mödrar i Ungheni i västra Moldavien. Framför allt arbetar projektet med att stötta mödrar som annars riskerar att migrera utomlands för att skaffa försörjning och lämna sina barn på institutioner kvar i Moldavien. Enligt en utvärdering som hade gjorts så bedömdes projektet i Ungheni dessutom som hållbart, så jag stöttar gärna genom att länka till Uppdrag Barns hemsida: www.uppdragbarn.se

(För övrigt får man väl säga att idén verkligen ligger i tiden: att privata bloggar nyttjas i marknadsföringssyfte och finansiering kommer från s.k. corporate social responisbility!)

Sorry all my foreign friends for writing in Swedish. By including the above link, a small donation was made to an organization that among other things finances a project in Western Moldova. The prerequisite for the donation is however that the blog post is in Swedish. But their international website is in English if you want to check it out: www.childhood.org

Snails and their Fans: One of my First Impressions of Moldova

Around my third week here in Moldova, my colleagues Olesea and Tatiana brought me to a concert at a club in the centre of Chisinau. The band that was playing was called Snails, and according to Tatiana, they were really good. And they were. Great actually! They did mostly covers, from the Beatles to Radiohead, but also some own material. And they really rocked! The singer, Lilian, had a fantastic voice.

The club was filled with young indie-pop styled Moldovans, and with the music, they created a really cool scene. I was super impressed and thought that Moldova must be a really cool country. And it is! But the super cool, somewhat alternative Moldovans that I saw there only seem to come out when Snails is having a concert. Since then, I have seen them on stage a few more times and they are really good. I have also bumped into Lilian, the singer, at a few work-related meetings as he during daytime, when he is not a rock star, works for an organization that manages a TB-HIV/Aids project. (Which of course makes him even cooler.)

Anyway, they recently released a new album, “Nu-mi pasa”. And here they are on stage:

The Funniest Thing I Have Read in a Long Time

Maria Å sent me the link to this blog a while ago and it is soooo funny. Normally, I hate generalizations and cultural and gender stereotypes, but I have to say that I do recognize myself in this. A bit too much actually.

The blog is called Stuff White People Like. It is not really as colour-bound as it might sound, it is rather referring to a certain group of upper middle class, well-educated, liberal, environmentally aware Americans. It might just as well have been called Stuff People from Stockholm City Like. Or Stuff Staff of International Organizations Like.

Every week or so, it brings up a new topic that “White People” (or the mentioned categories above) like. And I fit in so well in this category. From my unpaid internships (#105), my efforts to buy organic food as much as possible (#6), my love for owning books, and my interest in architecture (#34) and renovating old houses (# 37, like what we do with our summer house), to my bangs (#104) and my two last names (#22). And not to forget: My love for grammar (#99 – see my own post yesterday). And this thing I have for t-shirts (#84). Etc, etc, etc… I am embarrassed and feel pathetic! But then again, the author of the blog, Christian Lander, spent a year in Copenhagen and according to him, the Scandinavians are what this particular group of Americans that he is referring to aspire to be – we are their ideals. So I guess, I am not a follower but a leader! Eh, right…  

Now it Starts…

A new phase of my life. Somehow, anyway. Leaving Europe and moving to DC will be a quite a change, and I will get a new and quite different work program. In other ways, this is just a continuation of something that has been developing over the past years. My work experience, the things I have studied in and since university, the languages I have learned – they have all been small steps towards this assignment. Many of the people that I work with won’t even change and I will remain in the same organization.

It is also a bit like a circle closing as my first stay abroad was in the US, though on the other coast, in Southern California. (I have to admit that I would not have minded our HQ being located in San Diego…) And it was there that my first economics professor, Mr Olds, made me see the world from a completely new perspective and in whose classes I just fell in love with the topic and decided to become an economist.

Anyway, before leaving Moldova, I have a very exciting month ahead of me with a lot of travelling to look forward to. In the end of September, my entire office is going to Turkey for five days on a regional conference together with colleagues from Kyiv and Minsk. About a week later, I am going to Macedonia and Albania for two weeks for my new job. And during the week of October 20, I will finally get on the plane to DC. But already this week, I am looking forward to an advanced role on one of out teams that is coming in from the HQ. Today I am having an early start at the office, getting prepared for the new week!

Grammar Goodies

This weekend started very slow. Three of my closest friends were out of the country, two from my extended circle were also abroad and onether friend was busy all weekend. And basically, I was too lazy to even bother to look further. Besides, it was raining all day Saturday and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees to what felt like freezing cold. So Saturday could have been dead boring if it wasn’t for my fantastic Romanian teacher Gallina who had given me two new grammar books last week. I LOVE grammar! Studying grammar is like solving the puzzle of the language you are learning: it just puts all the pieces into place. I got so into it that I actually ended up finishing one of the books.

I wanted to share this exaltation over my grammar session with someone so I texted Jessica, who is equally enthusiastic as me about the topic. She was at our summer house with Malte and his sister with family, and when I texted her, she had had just told Malte’s sister about her next to nerdish passion for grammar. Well, I guess it runs in the family!

The pink and the small books were the ones I got last week

The rest of the weekend was more exciting. Saturday evening, I got an unexpected phone call from Linda, who lived here last year. She is now in Saint Petersburg for two years but had decided to make a spontaneous visit together with her former roommate, Anna-Marie. So we met up later for drinks and then again Sunday for both coffee at "513" and dinner at Robin’s Pub. Besides being super nice to see them both again, it was probably good for me to take a break from my grammar studies. Even I realize that having stayed in two days in a row to study Romanian grammar would not have been really normal…

Anna-Marie, Linda and Sophie at my favourite bar "513"

A Sunny Weekend in Chisinau, a Cloudy Start of the Week

Apart from being a bit depressed over the Jane Austin movie, Becoming Jane, that I saw the other day, I hade a very nice weekend. Friday, I stayed in and watched a movie. I haven’t been able to sleep very well during the past week. I think I am a bit stressed about my new job and my move to DC. I notice that I am postponing everything that is related to the latter, which I think is because I do not really feel like leaving Chisinau yet. I am well aware of all the interesting things I am to expect over the next couple of months in DC and the HQ, but it does not mean that I will not miss Moldova, my life in Chisinau and my small circle of friends here. I also have a bit of a cold since I came back from Romania, so I decided to just crawl up under a blanket on my sofa and have a quite evening at home. Valeriu passed by for a while to say hi and to borrow a movie, but could not convince me to go out for a drink with him.

Saturday, he, Doina, their friend N, and I spent the afternoon in a very nice park with a lake close to the Center. We ended up having a heated discussion about South Ossetia, Georgia and Russia (the scenario being obviously somewhat similar to that in Moldova with Transnistria).

In the evening, we all went out for drinks together at the favourite hangout Admiral, along with my colleague Iuliana, Martin, and a colleague of his from the EC.

Sunday, I was invited over for brunch at Madeleine’s and her family’s place, and in the afternoon, all of us went again to the lake to spend the rest of the day in the sun. It was over 30 centigrades here this weekend, and it was really nice to have a last weekend just enjoying the sun before the fall arrives. I can’t exactly say that I am looking forward to it… But now it seems to be here. The temperature dropped today, and it is cloudy and rainy outside. So probably more movie evenings to come. Will try to stay away from the sad stuff though…

Perfect Reading for a Tourist in Romania

When I was in Stockholm in May, my friend Carro recommended me to read the book The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova since much of the story takes place in this region. When I read on the back of it, it turned out to be a modern story about Vlad Ţepeş, or Dracula, chasing the legend around in England, France, the Balkans, Turkey, Hungary and of course Romania. So when better to read it than on my vacation in Romania? The story is really good and exciting, even a bit scary under the roof top in Transylvania. I still haven’t finished it, but I wanted to recommend it anyway as the perfect travel literature when travelling in Central and Eastern Europe. And I want to thank my Cara Carro for recommending it!

In Swedish, but the translation is really good.

Congrats Daniel!!!!

Jessica’s Impression of Chisinau

Before Jessica left, I of course asked her what she thought of Chisinau. I am always curious to see what other foreigners think about this place – if I am no longer objective or if it de facto a very nice city. Well mot surprisingly, she really liked the city (like everyone else who comes here). She thought that people here are generous and friendly, that it is a green city and that there are a lot of nice buildings here (though also many that are in need of renovation – but nothing really ugly). As most of us here, she also thought the food was great and liked the fact that the Chisinau cuisine is diverse and that there is a lot to choose between. And she thought that people here are neatly dressed, both young people and old ladies. The only main downside in her view is all the traffic during the days – something I don’t think about of course after two years in Rome.

Gifts from my wonderful neighbour Sofia for Jessica to bring with her home

Our Trip in Romania and Moldova

After staying with my friend Bucharest-Anna (who is soon to become Minsk-Anna) and having seen Ceausescu’s monstrous House of the People (today the Parliament building), Jessica and I took a train up to Sibiu. The Romanian landscape was beautiful and Jessica found it as astonishing as I did the first time I saw it.

We had booked a room in a small guest house (Pensiunea Podul Minciunilor) right by Sibiu’s centre and we ended up in a small room under the roof top, so we got a for Sibiu typical roof window – it was super cute and we loved it. 

Our small roof window

The first day, we just walked around in the town and visited their City Museum to learn a bit about Sibiu’s history. The second day, we hired a driver who took us down through the Transylvanian Alps on the Transfagarasan Road where we saw Romania’s highest point and Lake Vidraru. We visited several churches and monasteries on the way, as well as a beautiful summer residence once belonging to a noble family, but our main destination was of course Dracula’s castle on the top of a mountain in Wallachia. We climbed the 1480 steps to get there, but it was well worth it. Not only to see the ruin of the castle but also for the view. Tired as we were after the climb, Jessica and I wondered however how Dracula himself got there – if he walked himself or if his servants carried him. Jessica concluded that since he was a vampire, he flew of course. We had more pity for his Turkish prisoners who built the castle and had to carry up all the bricks and stones.

Along the Transfagarasan Road

Jessica and I at Lake Vidraru

On our way back, we went through the spectacular Olt Valley, which with its river running through it is more like a canyon that a valley. The landscape was almost breathtaking.

Our driver Marius was great! Super nice and enthusiastic, and wanted us to see everything that might be of interesting. We got in touch with him through the Carpathian Agency Center on one of the court yards on Piaţa Mare in Sibiu. If anyone goes to Sibiu, I cam really recommend him.

Marius and I

After three nights in Sibiu, we took the train down to Constantia to see the Roman remains and to swim in the Black Sea. For those of your who don’t know, Jessica is an archaeology students and has a profound interest in ethnology and religious history, so travelling with her to historical places and archaeological sites is like having my own private guide – it is fantastically interesting! There were both Roman and Dacian remains around Transylvania too, but unfortunately quite inaccessible, so we did not have a chance to see them.

Constantia gave the impression of once having been a pretty and multicultural commercial centre on the coast. While it is still an important harbour, it now seemed poor compared to the other places I have seen in Romania. Both houses and infrastructure were ill maintained and in desperate need of renovation. Constantia did however have many interesting things to see including Roman ruins and a 2000 year old mosque, a really good history and archaeology museum, a mosque, and a number of churches of various Christian faiths. The beach was also better than I expected after Odessa’s beaches, so we had two very nice and interesting days.

The Black Sea

Jessica at one of Constantia’s archeological sites

Travelling back to Chisinau took an entire day. I think that was what surprised Jessica the most; the time it takes to travel even fairly short distances. I have gotten quite used to it by now, but bad infrastructure and slow transportations is really a major obstacle to economic development in countries.

I was happy to get back to Chisinau and only sad that Jessica could not stay longer. Monday, we just walked around and saw the main sites in the city. Tuesday, I had to get back to work so Jessica walked around the city herself, had lunch with me at my favourite cantina, and then came by the World Bank Office to join us for a small celebration on our roof.

When we got back to my house, we sat down outside for a while and my neighbour Sofia came out with fruit, chocolate, and three glasses of her mother’s homemade wine. It was her birthday the day before and she wanted to celebrate this a bit with us (birthdays are a big thing here in Moldova and can be celebrated for weeks), and to welcome Jessica to Moldova. So we sat there talking for a while, and then she gave Jessica a bottle of Purcari wine as a gift to bring back to Sweden. So immensely nice and generous!   

Jessica and Sofia outside my house