Springtime in Moldova - Primavara

fruit trees are blossoming

clear the field of weeds

everyone pitches in at the community center

Marius gathers the weeds.

the tulip path

tulip is lalea in Romanian

post tulip wrap up

the roz lalea

the galben și roșu lalea

the violeta lalea

itțs a lalea - palooza!

the liliac arbust

puișor

rața

a

Sergiu off to plant corn

two kernels in every hole

Sergiu and his father Ilie

Sergiu, Marius (nephew) and mother Iulia

horse whisperer

fishing with drag net

Springtime in Moldova.  That's "primavara" in Romanian.  We may be a few weeks ahead of you folks in the midwest back home in Wisconsin.  You're still coming out of the ice age, and we're already into lilacs.  A few weeks ago the fruit trees began to blossom.  Stand under a blossoming fruit tree and you'd swear you can hear it humming.  That's the bees already getting to work.  Springtime is "sapa" time here in Moldova.  A "sapa" is a simple hoe.  The ones here have a type of rounded blade as compared to the square edge ones I'm used to back home.  One thing you have to do in Spring is clear away all the early weeds that have sprung up where you want to plant.  That's what we are doing in the first pictures at the community center where I volunteer.  Moldovan children know how to pull weeds at the age of two as demonstrated by young Marius here.  Let's turn our eyes on the flowers.  Tulip time is almost past now but you can see what a glorious path of red tulips we had at home leading from the house to the outhouse.  Definitely an upgrade to the experience.  Soon their day was over, but then some specials popped up in pink, and yellow, and purple.  Some people go all out for tulips which are called "lalea" in Romanian.  And now the lilacs are beginning to bloom.  Other things are coming to life in Spring, like the new chicks and ducks (puișor and rața).  I have enjoyed watching the baby ducks follow their mother around the farm yard on small expeditions learning how to eat bugs. Sergiu leads the way to do some serious planting this past Saturday morning.  He dug the holes and I dropped the corn seed in them.  Our whole family was involved for about four hours to plant the whole field.  The weather was pleasant, a slight breeze kept the small flies off.  We admire some of the horses grazing by the riverside on our way home.  Some boys are trying their hand at fishing in the river.  Springtime is a beautiful time just about anywhere, but especially here in Moldova.

Excursion Day

Leaving the CCMU early in the morning.

Domnul Sergiu is our leader.

We visit the Izvor at the water station.

Have a drink of fresh, cold water.

Can you hear the brook babbling?

The overflow valve creates a water fall.

Excursion Day!

The trail heads upwards.

Caves are cool places to explore.

The Raut River flows below.

We continue higher to the forest hill top.

Here's a good spot for a picnic.

We make a campfire.

We play games.

That's Jeloboc, our village, below.

Roasting hot dogs is fun.

A great picnic spread is shared.

Wish you were here?

Look what we found!

a salamander.

Leap Frog

Wheelbarrow races

Ride the camel.

No shortage of energy.

Homeward bound.

It was excursion day at the Centrul Comunitar Multifunctional Universul.  Given the nice Spring weather and the school vacation week for Easter, what better thing to do!!  We took an excursion to the padure (forest) just outside our village.  You can see us all leaving the center first thing in the morning.  What a sight we make hiking through the streets of town.  (Jeloboc).  Domnul Sergiu is our pied piper.  On our way through the valley we stop at the Izvor (Spring) to visit the source of all the wonderfully pure water we have in our village.  The pumping station guardian lets us in for a look around.  Who can resist a cup of fresh cold water coming directly out of the rock hills behind us?  I like to stand on the bridge and listen to the brook babble.  A huge amount of water flows out of this Spring year round.  The waterfall we pose at is a relief valve.  We pause for a few group shots here.  Next we continue our treck up the hills from the river valley below.  We get to some caves which are really former granite mines.  Below us is the River Raut which winds its way to Orhei Vechi and on to the Nistru River.  But we go even higher to the forest on the hill top.  Here we set up our picnic in the woods.  We build a camp fine.  Play games.  Look at the view of our village from here!  Time for lunch.  Let's roast hot dogs.  A great lunch appears from everyone's contributions.  Wish you were here!?  Look what we found,  a salamander.  After lunch, time for more games.  Leap frog, wheelbarrow races,  there's no end their energy.  About four in the afternoon we head for home.  A good night's sleep guaranteed for all.