Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Christ is risen! Truly, he is risen.

This will be the greeting for everyone night or day on the streets, in homes, or on the phone for the next 40 days.

Following about 3 hours sleep, I woke to the final preparations of Easter Masa that my host mother had been preparing for the last week without being able to sample or taste anything. Nonetheless, all was delicious! Domnul Valodya served vodka at our Easter breakfast and Domna made everything from Pasca (easter bread that is semi sweet) to pork, fish, chicken filets, salads (and one special for me with lettuce - Yum!) vegetables, and lots more on a little table. We had a delightful celebration just the three of us.

Domnul and Doamna la masa - Easter Breakfast.

Everything was so tasty, and Doamna said it was probably because lent was over and everyone could actually eat. These moments here, when I'm able to take my time and talk to wonderful people like Valodya and Ecaterina, I truly feel blessed and integrated in the society.

The whole day was wonderful!

After breakfast in Ialoveni, I was invited to masa with my host family from the summer in Truseni. So, feeling a little buzzed from the vodka and only 3 hours of sleep, I hoofed it up my ginormous hill to the bus stop and was whisked off to Chisinau. Unfortunately, transport to the outer villages was lacking because of the National holiday. I waited over an hour for a maxi-taxi to Truseni. When none came, I started walking. It took me a couple of hours and the day was very hot, but I made it to Truseni around 3:30 pm and we had another lovely meal. This time with Bunica, Mariana, Gelu and their other guests, Doamna Elena, her sons Christi and Eduard and Eduard's wife Valentina.

Spring was in full swing and the lilacs smelled heavenly as light spring winds gently chilled the hot afternoon. Because I was concerned about a lack of transport, I left the masa at about 6:30 and headed down the enormous hill that I hiked all last summer. I waited an hour for a maxi-taxi to Chisinau and when one finally arrived, it had over 50 people jammed in it. I rode on the dashboard.

I got back to Ialoveni, breathed a heavy sigh of relief and thought, "Now for a little rest and to catch up on my sleep..." No sooner was I settled in my PJs then the phone rang and my friend Andrei said, "Mr. Tim, Hristos a înviat. Hai la masa. Come to dinner" in 5 minutes. So, off I went to a third meal and I was sooo glad I did. The friends I've met and made in Ialoveni are worth their weight in gold. They are the best.

We had a barbecue of pork, mushrooms, salad with beer and great (and I do mean GREAT) house wine to wash it down. Amazing conversations, fun, laughter and I got to meet the wonderful maker of the house wine, a friend of the family and father of one of my students. We had such a great conversation that I barely realized it was after midnight and definitely time to head home.

Walked with my buddy Vadim Saracuta to the house and shared yet another intense conversation completely in Romanian - because Vadim pretends not to know English so he can help me practice - until close to 1am.

What an amazing and full Easter day!

Mulțumesc frumos to everyone who made me feel so welcome and loved. No one can say that Moldova doesn't have soul! Cu adevărat a înviat!

Paște Fericit - Happy Easter

Normally, the Orthodox Easter is exactly 1 week after the Roman Catholic Easter, but this year it ended up being a whole month later and no one was able to explain this. As Moldova is 98% Orthodox, Easter is a very important holiday in the country.

Post - or lent - lasts 40 days and is extremely strict, especially for the last week. There is to be no meat, dairy, fish, eggs or fat (in short - no animal products whatsoever) eaten. Alcohol is out except for a wee bit of wine. Needless to say, the countdown is in full swing just before the holiday. Lunch at the school cafeteria got down to tea, bread and some boiled potatoes. But, on the bright side, Easter marks a second spring vacation for a week.

My friend Oleg Saracuta invited me to Easter services, and so we headed to the far side of Ialoveni to a tiny church that was packed at 11pm on a Saturday evening. We bought candles and purchased prayers for friends and relatives who are living (Easter is not a time for buying prayers for the deceased), and headed into the main sanctuary where we stood in one spot for over 4 hours. The service was very beautiful and was mostly sung with call and response from the priest and the choir. There was an oil anointing, a confession of sorts, a form of communion and many, many sung prayers and repetitions that "Christ is risen, truly he is risen."

Everyone's feet were pretty sore, legs were stiff and faces looked weary until the final blessing of the Easter bread and colored eggs (and anything else that required blessing. The priest walked by with a bunch of sweet basil and holy water and drenched everyone. Oleg told the priest to bless us with some "soul" and we were pretty wet afterward. It was nice to see the priest smile as he pelted us with water in the wee hours of the morning.

The altar area separate from the people.

Ziua Drapelului - Flag Day

Last Saturday was a special day among many in Moldova: it was a celebration of their national identity through their flag. Very much like the flag of Romania, the Moldovan flag is tri-colored with blue, yellow and red. The blue symbolizes the blue sky and hope of future generations; the yellow represents the sun and the color of grains ready for harvest, and therefore the work Moldovans undertake every day; and the red speaks of the blood shed by numerous generations to reach an independent and democratic nation.

Ceremony at the Lyceum - the 12th grade boys were honor guards.

Students in Moldovan costumes proudly recited poetry about their flag and their country.

The school had a couple of ceremonies and the flags were flown everywhere. I was especially moved by the drapes behind the monument to Stefan cel mare (the patron saint of Moldova).

As an outsider, I was struck by a couple of things: 1) How passionately proud Moldovans are of their flag and country; 2) How much like Americans they are in their ambivalence - one minute defensive and patriotic, and the next ready to list the problems they face. With some of my students, when they complain that they have no options, or that they don't like the way their country is run, I tell them to create the change that they want to see; to be the change they want to implement. With other students who try to compare how things are in the United States with how they are in Moldova, I point out that the U.S. had many problems when it was only 21 years old.

And, as an outsider, perhaps I have the distance in this country to see so many beautiful things here, and how quickly Moldovan society is developing and changing. Of course, many of my students see what is available in the U.S. or in the major countries of Europe and they want that for themselves, NOW. But, it is happening, pas cu pas (step by step)

The side effect of watching Moldova develop and grow is that I make my own comparisons with the U.S. and I question many of our own policies while also contemplating the direction that our country is heading. Of course, the only news about the U.S. that registers here is the negative news, but I am often asked why we are such a violent society, if it is true that all Americans carry guns, why we don't take better care of our sick and poor, why so many Americans are fat and eat fast food. Then, the shoe is on the other foot. I tell them how proud I am of my country and how much I respect it's people and liberties. But I'm also able to say that while all countries have problems, like Moldova, one of the most beautiful things about being a citizen of the United States is that we are able to freely voice our opinions, to point out the weaknesses and celebrate the strengths, and for this ability alone we must be proud of our countries.

God bless Moldova and God bless the United States.