A Trip to the Market

On Sunday, my host Mom and I went to  Chisinau to buy some food for the week.  They call the main market there the Piazza Central.  We took the bus from Stauceni which costs the same as the routiera (3 lei or about 30 cents) but it is an actual full size bus.  You have to walk out of the village onto the main highway to board it.  So the likely hood that you won’t be a sardine is pretty good.  The Piazza Central is busier on weekends because that’s when people from the villages can come into the big city and do their shopping.  Believe me, the Piazza Central is the biggest farmer’s market I’ve ever seen.  There are special sub markets for dairy goods such as cascaval (hard cheese).  When I stepped into that cheese market my nose smelled Wisconsin.  I was smiling inside.   A tractor pulls a big tank of water through the market spraying water on the asphalt to keep the dust down.  We bought a giant load of fruits and vegetables, some chicken, some crenvursti (hot dogs), some eggs, some oil.  The whole trip only took about 2 hours.  I’ve included a few pictures from our trip as well a picture of my host mom, Galina.  Sanatate…..be well.