Freedom of Movement

For all of you who read Swedish, do check out Almost Moldovan Lars’ blog this week on the visa requirements for Moldovans going to the EU and the consequences it has for everyday life in countries where boarders (as for all countries) are artificially drawn, without consideration of the people living there. Only yesterday, I suggested that Doina and Valeriu could come along with me and Jonas for a few days on our road trip this summer, and they said “Yes, sure, but to Ukraine in that case, because for Romania, we need visas”. And getting visas is not as smooth for Moldovans as it is for EU-citizens or Americans. It is time consuming and often costly. So we didn’t even discuss it.

Despite being the focal point for migration issues in in my office, I have not written anything about this here yet. I thought about it many times but I don’t really know where to start. But I will try. One thing that I can say though is that you get a very different view of this when you start being a migrant yourself and when most of your friends are/have migrated in one way or another. Living in a country where about 25% of the workforce is abroad also gives another perspective. Economically, free movement of labor is quite an easy issue but politically, it is often less so. As an insider, and given what I hear from behind the scenes, I am convinced that over the longer term we will see a change in the political agenda on migration, at least in the EU. Politically, this is difficult, but many politicians are already convinced that this is necessary. Ok, guess I have to pull myself together and really write something on migration now, to explain everything. So, to be continued…But do check out Lars’ blog meanwhile!

Go Russia!!

I heard a really funny Russian joke today, which started after Russia won the World Cup in hockey:

If the oil price reaches US$ 110 per barrel, Russia will win the Eurovision Song Contest.

If the oil price reaches US$ 130 per barrel, Russia will win the European Cup in football.

If the oil price reaches US$ 150 per barrel, Japan will give up on the Kuril Islands and instead want to become a Russian province.

And if the oil price reaches US$ 200 per barrel, the EU will want to join the Russian Federation.

Regardless of what happen with the world oil price, I for sure have found a new favorite national football team – it is really difficult not to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the young Russian players. So Go Russia!!!

The Worst Weekend of the Year to Live Abroad

Most of the time, I enjoy my life immensely. Almost every day, I reflect over how fantastic my life is and how lucky I am to get to work with what interests me the most, to get to live in different countries and get to know different cultures, and meet all the interesting people that I meet, just by working. I feel truly lucky and I really enjoy it. There is only one weekend of the year when I do not feel so happy to be abroad and that is on Midsummer (the Friday closest to the solstice). There is nothing more Swedish and not only is it difficult to celebrate abroad, it is totally impossible to celebrate it with foreigners because they never fully understand what it represents. Midsummer is the second biggest holiday in Sweden after Christmas and though the theories of its origin vary, it is a non-Christian celebration dedicated to nature and to the light that we see so little of during the winters. It is the one weekend of the year when everyone tries to go out to the countryside or in the archipelago, and those unfortunate enough to be stuck in the city on midsummer’s eve find themselves in an almost completely empty city. We celebrate it with family and friends, surrounding ourselves with wild flowers, eating traditional food, singing midsummer-songs and just enjoying nature. Every year I promise myself that I will make sure that I am in Sweden for midsummer and every year, I fail – there is always something preventing me from going. This year I did not celebrate at all. No other Swedes were here (they had all gone to Sweden) and I was instead invited to my boss’ house for dinner yesterday on Midsummer’s eve. I found myself talking quite a lot about Sweden – I am, as ever year this weekend, really homesick!

Tiered, tiered, tiered

This is how I have felt this week. After a very nice (but way too short) weekend, this week has been filled with football. After the dinner at Milestii Mici on Monday, I met up with some Austrians and others to watch Austria-Germany play. Tuesday, it was Romania against the Netherlands, and Wednesday the sad, sad match with Sweden against Russia. As we are one hour ahead of CET, I have not gotten home before midnight a single day this week. I am tired from football though not tired of football. I love the large football championships! Here in Chisinau, they have put up large screens in front of the opera, right next to the presidential palace, with stands selling beer and tables for people to sit and watch. Work has been ok, though, but since I have been so tired after the late evenings, my productivity has decreased with probably two thirds and so I have had to stay late anyway. Thursday, we got a few hours to complement an application that we had turned in for a fund, which of course messed up my schedule for the day. Since I already had another deadline for the day, I ended up staying in the office until past 9:30. But I have been given some nice feedback these past days from several persons, so I have gotten some renewed motivation.

Frumoasa Moldova – Beautiful Moldova

The last two weeks I have been on a few day trips around the country. This season is lovely: the fields are green and everything is blooming. The first trip was a hike along the river Rǎut to Orhei Vecchi. Whereas I had already been to the monastery in Orhei Vecchi, I had not seen the nature around. The landscape is shaped by the ocean; rocky, harsh and full of fossils. The areas around the river were completely untouched with no or houses in any directions. The only people we saw were a few shepherds with their cattle.

Another trip was to the wetlands outside of Hînceşti. The World Bank is financing an agricultural pollution control project there and we went with two very dedicated men from the unit implementing the project. The wetlands were beautiful and it was inspiring to listen to Mr. J and Mr. G talking about the project about their ideas for future work.

Last Friday, our whole office went on a retreat north of Bǎlţi. We went on a boat tour on the river Prut, which just like Orhei Vechii used to be under sea level and is full of caves and fossils. I think that this area is the most beautiful place I have seen in Moldova. We concluded the day with a bbq in one Moldova’s oldest forest in Padurea Domneasca.

The river Prut

Me, Iaroslav and Iuliana on the boat tour

Our Country Office in one of the caves

Finally, just the other day, me and two of my colleagues Iuliana and Viorica were on an errand outside of Chisinau and found this wonderful field of poppies.

Me and Iuliana

More photos from these trips will be posted in the albums by the end of the day (my lunch break is over now so got to run..).

My House 1

Earlier this year I decided to move from my euro remont apartment on Blvd Stefan cel Mare to something more Moldovan. (Euro remont is what they call overly designed, newly renovated apartments.) While my apartment was nice and comfortable and had every convenience one could wish for (except for that they turned off the water for a few hours now and then), I never felt really at home in it. Above all, I felt like I could be anywhere in Europe or in the US and not necessarily in Moldova. I did after all come here to learn about this country and to better understand how Moldovans and people in Eastern Europe and the CIS live, but I felt like I would never fully be a part of today’s Moldova in that apartment. So with a little help from Great Valeriu, I found a small house on Str. Veronica Micle, which since my first month in Moldova has been one of my favourite streets in Chisinau. (For those of you who are not familiar with Moldovan literature, Veronica Micle was a poet and the great love of Romani/Moldova’s most famous poet Mihai Eminescu. Symbolically enough Str. Veronica Micle and Str. Mihai Eminescu cross not too far from my house.) On the same opening from the street as my favourite bar, “513”, my house is the first of a small group of houses in a small alley that probably dates back to the beginning of last century. During the Soviet Union, this small neighbourhood was inhabited by Jewish families, but after independence, they all left Moldova and their small houses. It is right next door to Teatrul Luceafărul, which is one of Chisinau’s most famous theatres my little alley seems to be inhabited by some quite arty people. Above all, it is really a small neighbourhood and everyone seems to know each other go over to each other, which suits me perfectly.

My house

The little alley and my neighbours’ houses

Unfortunately, the photos do not show the wonderful scent from the plants that are blossoming in the alley right now.