Marissa In Moldova: Day 3: Our first big excursion

Today, we started our day out at Ion Creanga State Pedagogical University in Chisinau, where we were able to speak with current students who were not involved in our joint course. Most of these students were majoring in English, and were able to tell us a lot about the current state of affairs in Moldovan government and politics as well as talk to us about some of the programs available to University students to travel to the United States to learn more about our political and governmental systems. Several of the students had already done some work in the U.S., and several had plans to travel there very soon. All of the rest hoped to be able to visit at some point, and I found that very interesting. How lucky we are to live in a place that is so important and interesting to people all over the world, and to be considered such a revered example of justice and fairness. I think Americans sometimes take this for granted, cynically looking at our government bureaucracies and politics as some sort of horrible partisan mess, when we actually have so many rights and freedoms not afforded to many other citizens in other parts of the world. Traveling abroad and having real conversations with locals can really open one's eyes to that, and Americans need to remember how lucky we are. Just because the guy you voted for didn't win, or because you disagree with something someone is trying to get passed in Washington doesn't mean that you are suffering some great injustice. You are enjoying one of the most functional and just systems of government in the world, one which other countries strive to model their own after. Okay, I'm done ranting for now. Our discussion was very informative, and I am glad we got to visit with even more University students besides just the group working along side us in our joint course.

After our panel, we headed to the first of two wineries we toured on our trip to Moldova. Wine is Moldova's number one export due to the rich soil and climate that lends itself to the production of many types of grapes. The first winery we visited was Chateau Vartely, a producer of some of the most premium wines in Moldova. "Chateau" is a French word, and in the wine world, it means that all of the grapes are grown, processed, and bottled on site, implying that the wine is of the utmost quality. "Vartely" is the name of one of the oldest villages in Moldova.

Our guide took us on a tour of the grounds, showed us the fermenters, the barrels where they rack the wood-aged wines, and the bottling area. Then, we went to the tasting room and had cheese, fruit, and three of the most popular wines, a cabernet, a local white made from the Feteasca grape, and a sparkling. They were really delicious; I love cabernets, and this was a good one. As a red wine drinker, I am usually not a fan of whites, but the Feteasca was good. It is made from a grape grown in the southern region of Moldova.

After Chateau Vartely, we set out to visit the cave monastery of at Orheiul Vechi, which was at the top of a mountain built into the side. At the top, we were able to look down and see firsthand Moldova's highly agricultural society, everything was very green in the valley, and it was covered with crops of something.

Once we got to the top of the first mountain, we found an old bell tower and the famous old stone cross, where it is said if you touch the cross and say a prayer your prayer will come true. We all took pictures and spend a good amount of time taking in the site; it was cold, but very beautiful up there. Next, we walked down that section of the mountain and back up to the top of another, where we were in Old Orheiul, a super old part of the village where we went inside some of the old homes. The rooms were split up, kitchens were separate from living areas, and bedrooms were separate from both of them. The rooms were tiny and built into the mountainsides with what were similar to courtyards outside in front to keep animals close.

After this tour, we went into the cave monastery, which entailed crawling into a tiny room built into the mountain and then out onto a ledge that overlooked the opposite side of the same valley we saw from the cross. The spaces were small and the ceilings where extremely low, we all had to crouch down just to move around! There is only one monk living here maintaining the site, so it is not a functional monastery, but it remains one of Moldova's most popular tourist attractions.

Once we were done at Orheiul Vechi, we had a traditional Moldovan lunch at The Peasant House before we headed back to Chisinau where we met up with the local chapter of the Lions Club at the Municipal Orphanage. Here, we visited with the director of the orphanage who explained to us that many of the children are brought there by their parents or a family member, and may only stay a maximum of six months. The courts system is different in Moldova than it is in the United States, and often times, children who are neglected or abused are not taken from the family, the family must voluntarily surrender the child. The orphanage will either keep the child until the family can take him or her back, or will try to find a foster situation if placing the child with the family ends up being impossible or unlikely within the six month time constraint. While there, we did a fun arts and crafts project with the kids, who were really small. I would guess that most of them were between 3 years and 7 years old - but I'm not an expert! Most of them spoke Romanian, but there were a couple who spoke Russian, and I think they got a kick out of Lauren and Jared, who were able to speak a tiny bit to them!

We wrapped up at the orphanage and went to dinner with our new friends from the Lion's Club at Andy's Pizza - our main source of food while in Moldova! We got to talk to them about some of the projects the Lion's Club works on in Chisinau, and found out that they do a lot with the local orphanages. They have been able to put together programs resulting in over eight thousand pairs of eyeglasses donated to underprivileged citizens, and have raised money through the sale of handmade items. They work with several local orphanages in the same capacity we did tonight, visiting the kids and having fun with them.

In all, today was exhausting but really interesting.