Arrival

I arrived in Chisinau last night, right on schedule. After passing through customs without difficulty I grabbed my bags (actually, a Moldovan grabbed them up and immediately started for the door.) A tall, very slim, blond-haired man was holding a sign with my name on it. “Hello Oleg, nice to meet you.” Oleg is Jana’s brother-in-law, and he had agreed to pick me up. The three of us (Oleg, the bag-man, and I) headed for the door. Once outside, Oleg indicated for me to stay put; a few moments later a shiny black BMW raced up to the curb… I was about to experience what can only be described as Moldovan driving (and I can only imagine what it is like during busier hours.) As we drove through the city (taking Boulevardul Stefan Cel Mare Și Sfint… the main drag) there were people everywhere. It was 9 at night, and people were wandering, huddling in conversation, drinking, kissing, playing games… the city was very much alive. And the lights… there were smatterings of neon everywhere.

My landlords (Oleg’s parents) were waiting for us at the apartment. Ana and Dmitrii showed me the apartment (…pictures and description coming tomorrow…) and explained how everything worked. Thank God I studied Romanian for 8 weeks; although I am not capable of speaking anything but broken sentences, it was still very helpful to have a semi-understanding of what they were saying. One door whose lock must be turned twice, another whose lock is turned thrice… a deadbolt with a “push-key,” a knob for turning on gas to the stove, windows which either swing open or slant open… and even instructions for watering a giant shrub that I share my living room with. There was a funny moment when Ana was showing me all the food she had put in the fridge for me, telling me the Moldovan names for each item, and what each was for. When she picked up the “unt” (butter) I proclaimed my thanks as I would need it to fry the “oua” (eggs.) She gave me a concerned look and politely explained that the butter was for the bread, not the eggs. They were a very cute couple, and really showed a lot of concern for my well-being.

After Dmitrii finally shooed his wife out the door (I think he knew I needed my sleep, and that Ana had many more motherly concerns for me…) I went about unpacking a few things. But I was ready to go to sleep. So, my first real adventure was turning out the lights. Everything was going fine, until I came to my entry light (between the door whose lock turns twice and the outside door whose lock turns thrice.) The lights here in Moldova work by all sorts of switches, so I pushed the only button I saw in the entryway… nothing happened. So I pushed it again. Still nothing. Hmmm…. How about holding it down? Nope, nothing. Then a peculiar thing happened; the door to my right started making noises. Someone was in my closet! So I opened it up, and to my surprise a woman was standing there, who looked as surprised as I did (probably because I was opening the door… which was the door to her home!) And so I met my first neighbor. After a few minutes of confusion I realized the button I had been pressing was her doorbell. She was very nice, and I will look forward to meeting her under more normal circumstances.

And that about sums up my arrival in a new land; new doors to open while being careful as to who those doors might belong to. :^)