Where the heck is Moldova?

When I tell many people that I am soon to leave for Moldova, they scratch their heads and say "Where the heck is Moldova?"  Moldova is in Eastern Europe is the simple answer.  It is part of the Balkan peninsula that makes up Southeastern Europe.  The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria and Serbia.  But there are no mountains in Moldova.  The country is mostly rolling hills and river valleys.  In the central region there are old forests of oak, elms, and birch trees.  Moldova is a little smaller than Switzerland and is about the same latitude north as Switzerland.  If it were in the North American continent, it would be just north of Wisconsin.  Its a long thin country shaped like Indiana and has four and half million people.  It's neighbor to the west is Romania and to the north and east and south is Ukraine.  It is not far from the Black Sea, but land locked.