Orheiul Vechi Part II

Continuing with our visit to Orhei Vechi (Old Ochei),  when we first arrived we stopped at the visitor's center and admired many nicely exhibited cases of artifacts from past inhabitants of this marvelous valley.  These objects were clay pots from the kitchen, farm tools, jewelry and sculpture that date from many eras all the way back to prehistoric days.  There were even fishing hooks and coin banks from the Middle Ages.  The valley is formed by the flowage of the Raut River.  In olden times, boats from Greece and other mediterranean ports visited the area.  In yesterday's blog you saw us visiting the old monastery in the cave.  Today we step out of that cave church onto a stone ledge that allows us to see the vast farmland below and the impressive cliffs that follow the Raut River as it snakes on its way.  The immensity and openness and fertility of the area are inspiring in themselves.  As you may have guessed, there is a new Orhei (ore-hay) today about 10 kilometers to the north west of this location.  It is a thriving raion center (county seat) for the Raion of Orhei. 

Orheiul Vechi Part I

The trip to Orhei Vechi was spectacular.  There's so much to share and show that I will be posting the excursion in several parts.  Today we focus on the ancient monastery. 

The Cave Monastery (Mănăstire în Peşteră), inside a cliff overlooking the gently meandering Răut River, was dug by Orthodox monks in the 13th century. It remained inhabited until the 18th century, and in 1996 a handful of monks returned to this secluded place of worship and are slowly restoring it. You can visit the area where up to 13 monks lived for decades at a time, sleeping on pure bedrock, each occupying a tiny stone bunk (keilies) that opens into a central corridor. This leads to a stone terrace, from where views of the entire cliff and surrounding plains are breathtaking. The cliff face is dotted with what appear to be holes; most of these are other caves and places of worship dug over the millennia, as this region was a place of worship for Geto-Dacian tribes from before Christ’s time. Ştefan cel Mare built a fortress here in the 14th century but it was later destroyed by Tartars. Archaeologists since WWII have uncovered several layers of history in this region; some of their finds are on display in Chişinău’s National History Museum. The area is rich in archaeological treasures.

Next time, views of the cliffs and surrounding plains which are breathtaking.

Game Day/ Zi de Joc in Stauceni

Today July 27th....was Game Day(Zi de Joc) here in Stauceni.  No, nothing to do with the opening of the Olympics but just as delightfully international and friendly.  As a community organizing group, we were given the assignment by Peace Corps to organize a youth event in our host village.  We began weeks ago with some middle schoolers and planned a game day.  They helped pic what games we would play and helped us think of what we needed to do and to get to make the day come off.  We even asked the Mayor Valentin Stitnic to allow us to use the prime soccer fields of the village for the event.  He was more than gracious to us and even provided drinking water for all the players at the event.  It was a hot day, close to 100 degrees, but a nice breeze.  We played Kickball...a new game for our Moldovan friends, Fotbal (soccer)  and water baloon toss.  In the pictures above you can see the smiling faces of our group.  We had visiting Peace Corps volunteers from other sites, the Peace Corps Language Instructors from our village, the  young people's Council from Stauceni who are college age were there to cheer us on, as well as the Mayor and a local Catholic priest Fr Hisgani.  (picture above...Mayor in white shirt speaking with priest in red shirt)   Two hours of fun were capped off with our own home made chocolate chip cookies and Jolly Rancher lolli pops.  We all went home and enjoyed a nice shower.

Chisinau Beach Party

I guess it's been pretty hot all over...except in Hawaii where the weather is perfect every day.
Another week of temperatures in the 90's....what's a Peace Corps Volunteer to do?   Well especially on a Sunday, many people here in Chisinau head for the lake.  And as you can see I joined the picnic crowd this past weekend.  Lots of time to visit and kick the ol soccer, (whoops I meant "fotbal") around.  And then there's always the frisbee toss.  I think frisbee is the same in Moldovan.  Volleyball was also popular there.   Chişinău's largest park, Parcul La Izvor, on Calea Eşilor Blvd. It is dominated by three interconnecting lakes, which you can explore with rented canoes and row boats.  Neesless to say we all came home a more "se bronze"  or sun burnt.  Of course we were wearing sun screen!

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/moldova/chisinau/sights/outdoors/parcul-la-izvor#ixzz21Susn2tI

The Old Swimming Hole

Well I can say after being here in Moldova for just six weeks, you just never know what the day will bring.  I was with a group of Peace Corps Volunteers here in Stauceni planning for Youth Game Day this afternoon when the idea of going swimming was proposed.  It has been hot here so the idea seemed to make sense.  So off we went, volunteers, local youth, and the local catholic priest who has been a great help to us in getting us connected with local youth.  Some of us were just going along for the walk to the swimming hole.  What a beautiful walk it was!  We passed beautiful vineyards, a tree nursery, some corn fields,  lots of rolling hills, even a fairy castle that appeared out of nowhere.  Pictured above are Jan and Lesley,  Robyn, Georgiana, Patty and Ilena.  As you can see we did finally find the old swimming hole.

When it rains it plouas

Everyone from Chicago is familiar with the Morton Salt tag line,  When it rains, It Pours.  Well here in Moldova we say when it rains, it plouas (plo-ahs).  As you may have guessed the verb to rain is "ploua".  And we had one blast of a rain storm here last Sunday night.  Living in Wisconsin has taught me to watch those cloud fronts for the formation of funnel clouds.  You can see from the pictures here that the potential was there.  It was quite blowy and the electircity went out for about 24 hours.  The last picture is the same scene one day later.  Again quite pleasant an sunny.  O zie buna [have a nice day]

Chisinau pics

Last Saturday evening I took a trip into Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.  I met up with about a dozen other Peace Corps Volunteers to attend a Catholic Mass in the English language.  It is done every Saturday at 5 pm at the Catholic cathedral in Chisinau.  The main church which you can see us entering above has a simple style that reminded me of the Spanish mission churches of California.  The interior is simple but beautiful.  Our Mass was held in a smaller chapel that was decorated with beautiful paintings of Mary, but you can see the modern artistic windows.  The large white building above is the Opera House in Chisinau, and you see me standing in front of a bell tower that is in the middle of a beautiful park.   After Mass we went to a Greek Restaurant called Opa and enjoyed supper together.

More pictures of the Izvor in Jeloboc

During my first Sunday in Jeloboc I went on a walking tour of my backyard with Sergei.  He showed me the many places where fresh springs are coming up from the bluffs around us and flowing into the Izvor.  The area is used for grazing and pasturing various animals.  I saw a flock of goats and sheep, some horses too.  The small building in the middle picture is a milking station for local goat herders.  In the last picture, you can see the town of Jeloboc off into the distance.