What you say does Limba Noastra mean? It means Our Language. Yes its a holiday celebrating the Moldovan Language. Two holidays in one week. Isn't that wild! First there was Independence Day on Aug 27th and Aug 31st is Our Language Day. The Moldovans celebrate their language, Moldovean, because its a conscious affirmation of their national identity. This is a reaction to 50 years of Soviet rule when Russian was made the official language and everyone had to learn and speak it. Moldovean is actually Romanian because Moldova was part of Romania on and off over the centuries. However, because of their Russian period, Moldovean really has Russian influences in its vocabulary. And in fact a sizeable percentage of Moldovans still speak Russian as an everyday language. Russian is taught in school as a second language in 5-9th grades. Many TV channels are Russian and many products have Russian labels. So its a little struggle to move the country back to its cultural roots....so that's why I believe they mark this holiday every year. And its right before school starts...next Monday.
People in the village of Piatra are busy on this holiday because we are a farm community and there's a lot to do before winter comes. As you can see the picture of main street Piatra above isn't very busy. No one's playing basketball. Of course, it's always construction season. That's a 5th season here in Moldova. And you can see a truck right outside my window delivering wood to the neighbor for winter fuel. Notice the exposed brick in the wall of the house(next picture). It shows what thick walls are made here of stone. Of course houses come in many varieties, some with fancy metal work on the front, and some with elegant fences. But it is a holiday....so if you can catch a cat nap, do so. Oh in Moldovean, that's "un pui de somn", literally a sleepy chicken. I guess if that darn rooster isn't crowing you can nod off a lot easier.
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