Anyone else in E Europe?

[thanksamillion]

Just wanted to say Hi really! We're in Moldova and as far as I know there aren't any other MNers here but I noticed last week a few people on other threads mentioning that they were in other places in this region so I thought I'd just see who's out there. Come and join me for a chat!

There is another MN in Moldova - unless you have namechanged and used to be WomanAtTheWell?

I used to work in Moldova! Now in Paris...mmm, Paris or Chisinau? Difficult one!

Yes - that was me! I changed a while ago but well done for remembering

What were you doing in Chisinau (if you don't mind me asking). We're out in the countryside so going into the city is a big treat for me! I do joke that I must be the only person who goes to Romania for it's 'western' feel. Hmm Paris v Chisinau....

LOL at Chisinau being a big treat!! I was running an aid programme with lots of small projects and trying (ha!) to open a local office. Spent most time in Chisinau - based in Bucharest but went to CHisinau for a few days every week. I also went to Balti to address a gathering of NGOs who were desperate for funding. There was (maybe still is?) an excellent NGO from Northern Ireland doing some great stuff with one of the huge orphanages there. Didn't run across many other Brits though!!

Interesting! There aren't many brits here - I know a few people who come out a couple of times a year for a few months (easier than getting a residency permit) and there are a few I know of in Chisinau. I am trying to get out and meet people a bit more but I've got small DCs so it's not easy! I know that the orphanage in our nearest town (Hincesti) is run by a NGO from NI so it's probably the same one.

Hi there!
Not really E Europe but CE Europe: I live in the country near Krakow, Poland. We are hoping to go to Romania for our summer hols this year -we tend to just chuck stuff in the car and go. We've recently joined couch surfing so hopefully we'll get to stay with some families and not just camp. Got any good tips for places to see and be?
One of my favourite Polish authors wrote a great book about travelling all across E and CEE right down to the Danube delta and he went to Moldova also. I have this distorted vision now of the whole place lazily humming in the heat and lots of moonshine being drunk under wild grapvines in scrubby backyards and 30-yr-old Mercs screeching around dusty streets. Sounds a lot like rural Poland.

I'll take Poland - come and join my thread!

We've had a couple of holidays in Romania and really enjoyed them. Last summer we did Brasov and Sibiu which was great. A couple of years ago we went to Constanta but went in the third week of September and literally everything was shut! So don't do that

I'm intrigued about the book - I'm always keen to read anything that mentions Moldova but is it only in Polish? It sounds about right to be honest - at least in the countryside. I've got a friend in the UK who's Polish and she says that my photos always remind her of home.

Yes, that was it - Hincesti. I lived in Poland in the 1980s. Rural Poland then was much more sophisticated than Moldova in the early 2000s when I was there!

What is the book?

It's called "Jadac do Babadag" which means "travelling to Babadag" and it's by Andrzej Stasiuk. Unfortunately I think it still is only in Polish, though other of his works are beginning to be translated - you could google his name. It's written in a kind of stream-of-consciousness vein, though in his case "stream of unconsciousness" might be more apt because the only things the guy seems to imbibe (and it is more or less autobiographical) are strong black coffee, various forms of alcohol and cig smoke....

Thank you for your invite, I might settle here, it's quite comfy and very few other people want to talk about this part of the world...
I vaguely remember you from a long-ago thread too - are you in NGOs or something? (Don't worry if you don't want to say, just interested. I'm a freelance translator working from home
I have a friend who's a complete Rumunophile and he always waxes lyrical about Sibiu too so that's definitely going on our list.
Mrs S - where did you live?

Hi ulyanka and welcome to our thread!

I haven't been to transdniestria but yes, from what I've heard really properly odd. I'd quite like to go but don't want to take the DCs so maybe when they're a bit older.

butterfly I looked up the book but it seems like it's only in Polish. His writing looks interesting though so maybe I'll try and get one of his others that is translated.

We're actually missionaries but very much focused on community development projects rather than bashing people over the head with bibles . How did you end up in Poland (if you don't mind me asking)?

Ulyanka - tell all about Transdniestria... Why is it "weird/odd"?

Thanksamillion: I first came here completely naive a bit in the dark on a Gap year as an 18-yo in 1991 (I had my criteria about where I was to end up but they could have brought me anywhere in (C)EE I think). And I had a strange, almost physical falling-in-love (I can still, 20 years on, pinpoint the exact place and moment I felt it) - with place, not person - and I knew I would stay here.
What about you - are you settled in Moldova or is this a posting with a specific term?

They had to drag me out of PL kicking and screaming. It was like my second home. I am long overdue a visit. Maybe this autumn. I last went there in 2006 (to Krakow) with DH who was on a work visit - I tagged along as "wife" and did the Wives Programme. I am so not a "wife".

Transnistria is the last Communist enclave left in Europe. I never made it there.

I lived in Bucharest and Brasov. I always found Sibiu a bit gloomy.

LOL at your not being a 'wife' We're too far out in the country to be part of any expat scene but I think that I'm not sure I could be a professional wife either!

Transdniestria basically refuses to believe that Russia left Moldova and so continues to behave as though it hasn't. It's not really advised to travel there because it believes itself to be an independent country and has it's own border controls etc which aren't recognised by anyone else (apart from maybe Russia?) and by all accounts it's fairly lawless. There was a civil war over it 1992 and joking aside it's a pretty serious situation and limits Moldova's development. Now butterfly can come and give a more researched opinion!

I did like Sibiu but we did stick to the tourist parts mainly and we were only there for a few days.

No, not me - I was the one asking - it's Ulyanka we need! Wow, sounds truly weird. Now you mention it, it was in the Stasiuk book too.

Mrs S - if you do come out in the autumn get in touch and we'll have our very own MN meet-up

Sorry - wasn't very awake this morning!

We're thinking about going on holiday to Odessa in May. Does anyone think that sounds like a good idea/anyone know anything about Odessa?