Life in Moldova
Each day life starts early here in Moldova. The roosters start to crow as early as 4:00 in the morning, the dogs start to bark just as early. Sometimes they never stop barking at night as many a Volunteer will tell you. The sun rises around 6:00 am, sometimes earlier. That's when a lot of Moldovans rise too. Many of them head to the fields for the day in their horse carts to tend whatever crops they are growing. This is, for some families a family event so mom, dad and the kids would work alongside each other. During the summer it was wheat, corn, sunflowers, watermelons and all manner of fruits and vegetables. In the gardens at home the same ritual would play out. My mama gazda in my training village is among those who work in the garden in the morning and evening when it is cooler. Weeding and picking what has ripened takes up a good chunk of time. This is not easy work, especially when the days are as hot as they were this past summer.
Since Moldova is going through a very serious drought now, many people have to water the gardens from reservoirs or fetch water from the wells. Gardens and fields in Moldova are very important since it is the produce from these that feed the population during the winter time. Now is the time when food is preserved in jars big and small and placed in the cellars for winter consumption. Everything from pickled watermelon (yes, you read right) to tomato in every form, any fruit or vegetable you can think of is preserved and consumed during the winter. This is partly because these fruits and veggies are extremely expensive during the winter, since they are imported.
The next big thing that will be harvested are the grapes. This is huge in Moldova since every other household grows grapes and makes house wine. Moldovans are proud of their house wine and every household believes theirs is the best. They all boast of how "natural" their wine is without preservatives, and guarantees you that theirs is the most gustos (tasty). This is not always the case, of course!!!! I must admit our house wine is pretty good as house wines go. Believe me, I've had some that, despite the guarantees that it is the most gustos, it wasn't. Though, of course, one has to praise said wine none the less.
So my tata gazda announced to me this morning that he will harvest our grapes on Saturday. I will definitely post about the experience since I want to be front and center. So, stay tuned for my post.
