Today I had my first experience in the Moldovan "Piata" (pronounced pee-ah-t-za). But before that, we went to out first Moldovan church service. After my teammates and I met up with Annie (Our hair covered and our skirts long) we took the autobus to church in Cientra (Chee-en-truh) which is pretty much down-town Chisinau. We walked to the main church right in the center of the city which is an orthodox church. Pretty much everyone here is Orthodox. It was soooo packed that people were standing smushed up against one another even outside the building. It made me think how crazy it is that we have such big churches in America and they are never really fully filled, and here they have smaller churches where people are desperate to get in and willing to stand for 4 hours for the sermon. That church was so full, Annie actually took us to another church close by (also Orthodox) . There were a lot of people begging there, and it was so hard to walk past mothers holding children on church steps begging for money and not give anything! After church, we went for lunch and coffee/hot chocolate! We got to order in Romanian, so that was a lot fun.
Next came the Piata. The Moldovan market. It was crazy and hectic and stressful and wonderful. I loved it so much, it was a huge outdoor place where you could get anything in the world. We did some grocery shopping and we got things like shampoo, pillows, and head scarves for church. I was so proud of myself for knowing numbers because it sure came in helpful. Everyone there was really nice and it was quite obvious we were American! Although, one woman thought we were French =) We ordered lots and got very good at saying "half a kilo" in Romanian. After today, I'm pretty convinced that anyone should make a trip to Moldova sometime in their life just to experience this!
I am so excited for my adventure here, I can't believe it has only been 3 days! I am already exhausted, but it is so much fun. I adore the culture and the people, and playing Romanian Bulderdash with my teammates at night. I hope you all are well too, thank you for all of your support and helping me come to this wonderful place. Annie said to us all the other day "It is not the story of me and God together, it is the story of you and you and you and me and God. It is all of our stories wrapped together!"
If you would like to keep up to date with my teammates blog as well (for a different perspective... or to see if she's writing and crazy stuff about me) here is her link:
www.amandajomartin.wordpress.com
Love you all,
Nopte Buna!
Next came the Piata. The Moldovan market. It was crazy and hectic and stressful and wonderful. I loved it so much, it was a huge outdoor place where you could get anything in the world. We did some grocery shopping and we got things like shampoo, pillows, and head scarves for church. I was so proud of myself for knowing numbers because it sure came in helpful. Everyone there was really nice and it was quite obvious we were American! Although, one woman thought we were French =) We ordered lots and got very good at saying "half a kilo" in Romanian. After today, I'm pretty convinced that anyone should make a trip to Moldova sometime in their life just to experience this!
I am so excited for my adventure here, I can't believe it has only been 3 days! I am already exhausted, but it is so much fun. I adore the culture and the people, and playing Romanian Bulderdash with my teammates at night. I hope you all are well too, thank you for all of your support and helping me come to this wonderful place. Annie said to us all the other day "It is not the story of me and God together, it is the story of you and you and you and me and God. It is all of our stories wrapped together!"
If you would like to keep up to date with my teammates blog as well (for a different perspective... or to see if she's writing and crazy stuff about me) here is her link:
www.amandajomartin.wordpress.com
Love you all,
Nopte Buna!
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