A tour of Piatra, ORHEI

Well like I've mentioned before, Piatra and Jeloboc are twin villages under one comune government, that being Primaria Piatra.  And here's the Doamna Primarita (Da Mayor) hard at work at her office.  The local government serves about 3,000 people.  They figure the number is a little high because many families have members abroad in other countries working to help make ends meet.   They often are away for years at a time and sometimes they don't return at all..  We observe the local orthodox church.  Almost all Moldovans are orthodox christians...98%.   Next we walk by a "fintina"  or well.   It's inside the small house next to the road side shrine.  The next large building is a museum.  It's currently under repair.  It seems like just the roof has been redone.  It is about some famous person named Sergiu whose bust you can see on the grounds of the museum.  Next is the gymnasium or local school.  It covers grades 1-9.  My friend Sergiu is posing in front of antoher statue of the more historical Sergiu.  Segiu, my friend, went to this school himself a good dozen years ago.  Hey US taxpayers.  You can be proud that some USAID money went to upgrade this school.  Next we see the "teren de sport"  or playing fields of the gymnasium.  Notice the clever use of old tires for sideline boarders.  Next we have the "casa cultura".  Every place of any size has one of these.  Its where all the public activities take place.  I've heard that ours has a "masa de tenis" or ping pong table in it.  I can't wait to check that out.  Next we see the local post office "Oficiu Postal".  And a War Memorial to those who fought for peace in World War II.  And finally we come to the place where I work.  The CCM UNIVERSUL,  That stands for the Centru Comunitar Multifunctional Universul.  You can see me with my Moldovan partner, Viorica Osfatinshi.  Its a wonderful place and I have had a whirlwind first week of observations there.  Tomorrow I'm starting an English class for the staff.  They asked for it!