May 2009

UPDATES

MICROECONOMICS AT THE ORPHANAGE

On 9 May I partnered with the international NGO Winrock to teach Microeconomics at an

orphanage and boarding professional school. The program involved separating roughly 25 youth

s into four groups each with a unique business idea. Throughout the two day summit we tackled everything from realistic goal setting to budgeting, and culminated with each group completing a

draft business plan. The photo to the right is of some of the attendees receiving awards for the most well written plan

COMMUNITY CLEANUP DAY THE REMIX

Community Cleanup Day was a fantastic success again this year. Last year we had roughly 15 participants. This year we had nearly 25 participants who collected trash with alacrity and enthusiastic smiles. The town’s people looked on with bewildered faces, but the participants showed no shyness. The day ended with a trip to the local forest and a BBQ. The photos are of some participants collecting trash and the BBQ subsequently after.

VISA GRANTED

Legally one can only apply for a Russian Visa in the country where one's passport was granted. If one can prove they are a legal resident of another country they may apply in that respective country.

Here is my experience.

1. Given there are no documents from the Russian Consulate in Moldova I find all documents available on the US Russian Embassy website and carefully fill them out.
2. Order Invitation from Russian travel service, reserve hostels, air tickets, and prepare documents for the consul
3. I go to the consulate (4 hours on a bus each way) and am told I need the original invitation from Russia DHL’d to Moldova, and am given new set of documents
4. Back to the consulate (4 hours on a bus each way) I am told that the visa will be done in one week with a double fee.
5. Last time at the Consulate (4 hours on a bus each way), I queue outside until I tell the guard in Russian that I am an American and want a visa. He accordingly allows me to cut the line. Visa is granted.

Above and below are photos of the Russian Embassy and queue outside the consulate nearby. I am leaving for Russia on 3 May for one week.

A CELEBRATION
A new French 'Brasserie' opened in Moldova's most upmarket shopping center aptly named MALLdova. Oddly they have Fish & Chips on the menu as well as tempura veggies. Regardless of the unfocused menu the service is impeccable and the food tasty and well presented. A friend from my Peace Corps training group who never swore in to become a volunteer, but instead stayed and found more suitable work outside the Peace Corps guise just returned from Moscow and St. Petes and we met to celebrate and exchange some travel tips




GARDEN
Below are a few photos of my mini herb garden. The basil was grown from seed I procured in Rome, the cilantro from Russian seeds, and the rosemary from vacuumed sealed sprigs.

Turkey

Lot's of updates since my last hurried post on the political unrest of Moldova. Things have settled in the capital, and a recount of the votes still has not yielded a definitive answer on how much corruption, if any, was involved.
ISTANBUL with my mum was fantastic. We were home based in Istanbul for a week which permitted time to take in all the sites as well as a few day trips too. The food was as beautiful and fresh as I remembered from the last time I was there. The sites were no less impressive a second time around for me either. We woke up to the Hagia Sofia, pictured at left, each morning from breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. The Hagia Sofia was one the largest Catholic Church and served the same function as the Vatican does now. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople minarets were added to the structure and a nascent mosque was formed.




The Underground Cistern built to sustain the city during a two week siege was a real highlight for my mum who had no idea what to expect when we descended a damp stairway from a building with no obvious signage to reveal what was ahead. The other real show stopper was the Blue Mosque aptly named for the exquisite blue toned tiles that gild the interior. It was quite the sight watching my mom take her shoes off and fasten the obligatory head scarf before entering.

With great luck, we booked plane tickets to Selcuk, Turkey in the southeast for a day trip to Ephesus the first day we arrived and left two days later. Ephesus is the best example of ancient Roman architecture in Asia Minor and was the home of Mary (Jesus' Mom). My mom found us driver at the rent-a-car desk on arrival to the airport. We had planned on taking some sort of tour once we arrived, but there was nothing of the sort at the airport. The driver turned out to be a funny guy my age that waited the whole day as we meandered through the ruins, drove to Mary's house on the opposite side of the mountain, and then to wine country for an unforgettable meal. Mom, of course, ordered an Efes Light beer. I can however attest that the Turkish Wine was surprisingly drinkable, abiet very boozy.

Entrance to Topkapi Palace, the Seat of the Ottoman Empire

Interior of the Blue Mosque at dusk, let with an electrified candelabra

Mum and I at Ephesus Selcuk, Turkey

Sirince, Turkey
A 5 kilometer road hugged the side of the mountain where at the top we found an eager restaurant proprietor ready to prepare lamb kebabs, candied butternut squash, sauteed field mushrooms, and sweet eggplant. I tried two great reds and a white. Mom drank beer. Pictured is the hilltop village where the families keep there small wineries.

I quickly found some drinking mates at the bar, mom had left two drinks earlier.

Drinks in the Backpackers District bars.

The Grand Bazaar where over 4000 shops compete for both the Turkish peoples and turist's money alike. I had some great luck here, my mum less so.

All in all the trip was a great city break and a wonderful time. Not pictured here was a great day on the Bosphorous straight, a trip to the famous Chora Church, with some of the best preserved, and most intricately set, mosaics in the world, and the countless great bars and eateries we stumbled upon during the trip.

Choas in Chisinau

Hi All,
I am back from a wonderful vacation in Turkey and I have many updates. Photos and pleasantries will be added soon. I do however first want to bring you all up to speed on the current Moldovan political situation.
The riots in Chişinău seem to have been picked up by most of the major networks. If you are unaware of the current situation please look to view the BBC’s latest article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7987608.stm.
I was in the capital this morning for an eye appointment, and I was able to see the beginnings of the chaos. I was not able to view the protests for long or stay in the centre because as a volunteer we are not permitted near any event that can be considered political.
Nearly 10,000 people were assembled by 11:00 am in front of the president’s administration building and by 1:00 the number grew to nearly 20,000. Violence only started when, according to rumor, opposition communists acted as a catalyst and instigated a stoning of the buildings windows as well as storm on the parliament building. This caused the unruly group who were screaming pro-EU slogans and anti-communist slogans to break into the President’s office, commandeer an empty fire truck, and not only start towering fires of government furniture but fires within the parliament building as well.
The group was assembled largely through SMS messages and the networking site Twitter. As soon as the group became large communications throughout Moldova began to fail and it is very likely the government both turned off internet connections as well as mobile phone networks to stop the growing number of young people assembling. Young people traveling together on Chişinău’s main road arteries were forbidden to enter regardless of their respective intentions.
Currently, as of Tuesday at 10:45, there are sympathy demonstrations, candle burnings, and meetings being held throughout Romania under the general message of reunification. These events remind me very much the events leading to the Czech Republics reforms in the early 1990’s when university student Jan Palach set himself a blaze. There are many parallels I would like to explore with this analogy, but I just returned from the capital and I have spent 8 hours on a mini bus. ( To the capital, and then back home) I plan on writing more tomorrow.
-Andrew Madock-

Rome and the GRE

Salute -
The smell of budding spring air is teasing us here in Moldova. The dirt roads have transformed from frozen, slick, albeit clean paths, and have become mucky with standing water. The first spring flowers, a small blue variant similar to a Lily of the Valley have arrived as well. We do not change our clocks for another three weeks, so until then I am one hour closer to you all.
My trip through Bucharest for the GRE, and on to Rome was fantastic. Two trains, two busses, and a plane were needed for me to reach the city centre, but it was worth every mile, kilometer, and minute! The GRE test centre was located just a short walk from the hostel where I had bed for the two nights preceding the exam. I was able to arrive to Bucharest, become acclimated by visiting the test centre a day early, and had plenty of time for some relaxed final review. After the test I was able to find another traveler at the hostel to grab a celebratory beer.
We lucked out in Rome and stayed a stones throw from the Piazza Victoria. Courtland and Edie researched and then cross-referenced a few wine bars which resulted in gastronomic winners in my book. We also were lucky, as if luck is needed in Rome, to stumble on some great other eateries and if I am correct at least five of the ubiquitous Irish pubs that infest Europe’s capital cities. I will give Edie the credit with the best gastronomic pick; a restaurant named Piperno hidden in a small square of the Ghetto that has a Jewish heritage and a history spanning a century and a half. My lamb was more than noteworthy.
On the train from Bucharest to Chişinău my cabin-mate was a creepy, ironically American and former GM employee, that had come to Eastern Europe six years ago to find a wife. I am sure you can imagine the stereotype. This is the same stereotype that every border officer thinks about as they look at the absconded countries that I seem to travel through so often. The rub is that while he and I both passed with a baleful stare, I am benign and the other much more sinister.
The gauge of the rails in the former Soviet Union was different than that of Europe so that in the case of war the invading armies would not be able to use the respective country’s rail transport. On my train from Romania to Chişinău, because Romania was never actually a constituent of the USSR and Moldova was a full blown member, the rail gauges differ. Nearly half way through the night train at the Moldovan border the wheels of each individual train car were exchanged for the proper gauge size. It was a spectacle to hear, feel, and experience during the hour ordeal as the Moldovan border guards with large brimmed held-over soviet hats check and double check my passport and residency permits.his train
**** To give you a mental picture of the age of ttake the fact that the cars are still being heated with coal fire!


Life in the village is nice. English group starts again with a few of my usual students that frequent my projects. My leadership group is still also going very well too. The only problem is motivating the students to update a website when most the students still do not have internet access at home. (One student has started his own blog after watching my tutorial though!)
I am off to Turkey next week! It should be great. If you haven’t been, Turkey provides a beautiful mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. Think … Greece meets Lebanon.
Thanks for reading! I figure with only about 1.5 posts per month I have only approximately 11.5 posts left before I am through with service!
-AM

February Update

Salutations All!

I changed the aesthetics of my site please feel free to provide feedback. The banner photos at the top are all photos I have taken between my village and the capital Chişinău. The last couple weeks have let my state of ennui subside. Here are the updates…

I started a leadership group at the school with a syllabus based on international news, a ‘country of the week’, and a website. The website is coming slowing, but feel free to take a quick look (www.gimnaziuviisoara.blogspot.com). The students have added a few poems and the legend of our village. Photos are going to be posted soon, but I want them to learn how to do use the interface so it is going a bit slower than I would like.

Whilst the war was raging in Gaza we had one discussion on the foundation of Israel which was very interesting. This week, because of the Khmer Rouge tribunals in Cambodia, we looked at photos I took while I was at Angkor Wat and I made green curry and coconut chicken for the students that participated.

My office is finally remodeled, and is in a somewhat efficient operation. The space is much more organized, finally warm, and about three times larger than our old space. I think the new efficiency of the environment will really help the organization streamline. I am still stumbling over an ACCESS and EXCEL project, but I have made it my goal for my time here to satiate the obsession I have to simplify the loan documents.

I am heading to Rome for a long weekend after taking the GRE next Tuesday. Courtland, and my aunt Edie are meeting me there for four nights. I can use an injection of parmesan raggiano, gorgonzola, Chianti, and a spot of good coffee in the morning. Our plan is to stay in Rome for the entire time with possible day trip to Tivoli. In short, it will be an excitingly simple and far from precipitated itinerary.

I am heading to Turkey next month on my mum’s spring break. We have a few day trips there too, but again, like Rome, are going to be staying the entire week in Istanbul. It will be my second time in Turkey, and I am more excited I think to go back, than I was nervous to go the first time! The food is simple, fresh, and beautiful there and surprisingly they have great beer and wine as well. I heard there are a few decent cheap tailors there, so I may be time to get a new suit.

I lost CNN International on my satellite, but I still have the BBC and France 24. My perspective on this new administration is maelstrom at best. You all should be glad I am not in the states preaching my politics. Anyone up for Moscow in June? Email me.

The Financial Crisis has arrived… and an invitation to the Men’s Club

Often during the autumn I ruminated how my close Moldovan friends all had left for university in the capital and for work in Moscow. Well there has been a metamorphosis here in the last two months and my social life is burgeoning. All the guys have returned from Moscow, but the students have come home and just as quickly headed back to lessons.

The financial crisis has hit Moscow hard, and the construction boom that was once fueled on petrol dollars is flagging with the price of oil fluctuating near a hundred a barrel. The Moscow guys all returned with dollars in their pockets and intentions on heading back to the brutal physical labor after a good rest. Only one of my buddies has found his way back, Artor, and only because he has contracted work and a Muscovite girlfriend. The rest are in queue waiting for a phone call that the work has started once again.

Moldova too has been affected by the economic downturn both indirectly and directly. The demand of wine is abating, and the market (not price) of food is becoming more and more stinted with the expansion and regulation of trade to the European Union, Belarus, and Ukraine. Indirectly, Moldova has the highest per-capita GDP based on remittances in the world. The flow of these remittances has been attenuating over the last months. The government here can quantifiably check these transactions based on the Western-Union money transfer offices that are ubiquitous in every midsize Moldovan city centre.

Personally, my host fathers business is in an inchoate state. The factory where he sells his tonnage of produce has closed. Without a clear channel to sell his goods, his job, and his eight employees, are in an indeterminate state. My host father’s business is not alone; the future is nebulous for all Moldovans working in agriculture during this financial crisis. Luckily, my family has a rare second income, and hopefully can ride out the turbulence without an ominous result. As for ameliorating the situation, if I could only just have been at Davos this past week!

It is said that the Romans learned to bathe, and the Finns learned to steam. Well the Russians have amalgamated both traditions into a very specific sauna or Banya experience. Traditionally in the rural villages scattered throughout the northern European countryside villagers constructed small cottages near a lake. A wood fired sauna was built, and after all had unbearably withstood the intense humid heat one jumped into the icy nearby waters.

Moscow is famous for its ornate saunas. It is actually my understanding that in every Stalinist planned city from Rostov-on-Don to Vladivostok a central Banya was not only a luxury for the proletariat, but a necessity as most people did not have proper indoor plumbing.

Moldova has a hybrid of a system. The saunas in the capital of Chişinău are the golf courses of the States. Business deals are shaken upon, friends share drinks or fifty grams of vodka, and a good time is had by all. In some of the more florid establishments a lap or plunge pool is included, and a lavish room with televisions and lounge chairs awaits the enervated bather. Alternatively, saunas in the countryside of Moldova are often located in a small outbuilding and are heated with a simple fiery wood burning stove.

With little work during the winter the guys in the village look for ways to distract themselves. One of these distractions is the sauna, and I was cordially invited for the last few weeks to join in the experience.

Sasha (my host sister’s boyfriend), Vanya, Vadim, and I all headed to our mutual friend’s home, Vasile, in a neighboring village. The guys here call it a ‘parelk’ in Russian, but I have yet to find this word in my Russian-English dictionary and I am inclined to assume it is slang for ‘unbearably hot box of sweat.’ We start the camaraderie the same way on every trip, sixteen buckets of water are pulled from the well and walked to the barrel just out side the inner entrance to the sauna. Once the fire is hot enough, and the water has been pulled, we undress and begin. The heat is penetrating as soon as the door opens, but not until a large ladle of water is poured over the coals does the intense and cleansing pain begin. The smallest parts of the body feel the heat first; the ears seem to conduct the scorching steam easiest and almost everyone crouches down and muffles their ears as the water hits the air. More spoons are ladled and the situation turns into a competition of who can endure the pain the longest. Vasile, the owner, seems inured to the heat. I, however am not; and on my first time in the sauna, I filed out of the door first in search of refuge and place where the heat can assuage. A few more ladles of water are added, and just when the perspiration has really started it is time for a break. If one has not had enough, birch branches are beat over ones body by a willing partner, or in my case the hot air was simply fanned over to create an even more intense experience. Outside the sauna is a room with a faucet of water heated from the fire, and the large barrel of freshly carried water from the well. A few buckets of the icy water over the head and it is time to sit down for a glass of beer. This cycle is repeated three to five times and ended with a close shave and a few more clean buckets of water over the head.

On my last visit we ended with a meal prepared by Vasile’s mother of preserved fish, some homemade juice to soothe our desiccated bodies, and a few glasses of wine to celebrate.

-AM

Winter Video 2009