Modes of transportation in Moldova

Modes of transportation vary from place to place and country to country and Moldova is no different. The ways in which you can travel are as follows :




TrolleyBus- The trolleybus runs all throughout the city but it does not run to the villages. It runs on this cable that hangs from street. The trolley bus must stay attached to the cable although I am not sure why. The advantage of the trolley bus is that it is 2 lie about 14cents and the other modes of transportation are 3 lie 21cents. The trolleybus numbers are single to double digits. Remember if you are going from center to Durlesti take the 28 not the 29 !!!! If you take the 29 you will not get where you want to go :p Oh the adventure I had one cold and rainy night without a cellphone but luckily I made it home safely :)
P.S. ( It is best to take the transportation you are most familiar with :) )
Bus - I actually have never taken the bus so I can not say to much about it except that it looks bigger and has better air circulation than the marchuta :p
Marchuta/Routiera/Micro bus ( they are all the same thing)
OOOOO The marchuta :) It is a thirteen passenger van with the right hand side seats pulled out so it has a few seats less then what a normal van would have. These minibus concoctions are by far the most exciting way to travel in Moldova. There is supposedly rhyme and reason to them however I do not believe there is. They have a number system starting in the high 70's going through the one hundreds. The Marchutcas cost 3 lie no matter the distance you want to travel. Of the several interesting things about the marchutca is that you do not have to pay right when you enter, you can sit down and then pass up your money. If the marchutca is full you must stand and sometimes hold on for dear life because there is not telling how fast or how slow the driver decides they want to go at any given moment. Riding the marchutca is a very exciting way to see the city ! Try and get the third seat back in the aisle row it has a nice breeze during the hot days.
Car - if you are part of the blessed or fortunate in Moldova you own a vehicle and therefore can travel to and from by free will with no worries about catching the marchutca or sitting next to smelly people :p
and by Foot :)
This is a little overview of all the modes of transportation here in Chisinua. I know it is not the most detailed but hopefully you can see a little bit more how things work here in Moldova.

I forgot the tractors and animals but those aren't very common just in harvest time.

Our wonderful host here in Moldova :)

So by now if you are following my blog you have seen the Raatz family in some pictures and you might have seen some of our other wonderful host. In this post I will list some incredible people that have shown us extreme kindness and generosity throughout our stay here in Moldova :)

The Bucks : Wesley and Donna

We have been staying the past few weeks at the apartment of Wesley and Donna Buck. They are now back in America trying to raise funds to come back to Moldova to do ministry for the following year. Donna is the Raatz school teacher and in the fall she will be teaching the Raatz and a few more students. Wesley is a children's pastor and currently goes into the Moldovan schools and does ministry as well as outreaches to the villages. Please support this awesome couple through prayer and monetary gifts :) They are an awesome God loving couple who have brough much joy to the children of chisinua.

The Raatz Family : Andy, Nancy, Elissa, Natalie, Lauren, Brita , Gracie :)

Words cannot begin to describe how thankful we (Courtney and I ) are for the love and kindness shown to us by the Raatz family. They have literally taken us into thier home and shown us the true love of Christ.

Andy and Nancy are the country corrdinators for Moldova which means they do a lot !!! But yet they some how manage to always find the time to sit and talk to us , cook for us or just love on us ! They are an amazing couple who love to disciple up and coming leaders whether they are Moldovan or American ! I could not think of a better example of showing God's love through hospitality. They have truely opened their home to us with barely knowing us and let us be a part of thier lives.

The Raatz have three wonderful daughters : Elissa 14 , Natalie 10 and Lauren 8 . They very much remind me of my family. Elissa definitely acts like my sister Margaret, Natalie acts like Emily and Lauren reminds me of myself for sure ! I love all of the girls so much :) They are all so sweet and loving they too have really gone out of their way to get to know us and it has really helped us feel at home. I hope to teach Natalie and Lauren some swimming skills later this summer.

Last but not least are the dogs Gracie and Brita. Gracie is an adorable little schnuazer who I believe I already mentioned but she is worth mentioning again. She loves me and loves to cuddle whenever we go over to the Raatz house which is often she follows us around and loves to jump in the seat with you :) Brita is a beautiful german shephard she is incredibly gentle even though she is quite large and powerful she is not intimidating at all she is a lover but I know if the Raatz house was ever compromised she would scare away the intruder.

A typical day in the life of an intern in Moldova

There is no typical day, everyday we are met with new and exciting challenges. Those challenges may range from transportation issues , time scheduling issues to emotional issues, each day is a new chance for us to trust in the Lord and boy does He show up ! God is so good ! If there has been one thing I have learned while living in Moldova is that despite the ups and downs and unexpected changes taking place day to day God is still God , Christ is still alive and the Holy Spirit is working :) It is really cool to be in a position where we can understand what truly

relying on God looks like because we honestly need His love and power to make it through the day. Our God is big and soo awesome ! He is good and Mighty to be praised ! It is wonderful to see Him moving in Moldova :)

What does it mean to be an intern in Moldova : Learning to trust God with everything each new day :)

Mullets in Moldova ;P

So I have discovered that here in Moldova there is a fashion trend in male hairstyling. This fashionable up do is what we Southern folk like to call a mullet. Mullets in Moldova appear anywhere from the billboards on Stephen cel Mare the main street in Chisinua or in the villages on the farm boys. This post is dedicated to those mullets and all their glory :) I believe I will continue to add pictures as I see more mullets :)

It has already been one week !

Airplane riding
Airport sitting
Waiting
Watching
Moving
Shaking
Driving in cars
Driving in trucks
Driving in Marshutcas
and walking in ruts
Riding trolleys which lead to no where
Discovering your way out of thin air
Meeting new people
Seeing new faces
Meeting your glances with stares in your faces
Eating new food
Tasting delight
Spitting things out when you have a big fright
Who knew chicken organs could be so tasty
When disguised as chicken meat in a way quite unique
Learning to love
Learning to listen
Learning to give love and recieve love in kisses
Returning to sleep
Returning to normal
But what can be normal in a place so unique
What is this place ?
Heaven in the midst of the city
Its loving in life and living in love with the Father Christ Jesus and the Spirit above :)

And this is my recap of thoughts of the week :)
Habakkuk 2:3
"This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait paitently for surely it will take place. It will not be destroyed !"
Psalms 20:4
"May He grant your hearts desires and make all your plans succeed."

Day 4 - Meatballs in Moldova

I Woke up at 7:30 to get ready by 8:30 for Romanian Lessons  The lessons were very fast paced and fun ! I enjoyed learning the words although this language is much more difficult to pronounce than French or Spanish well definitely more difficult than Spanish some words revival with French. However I learned several new words from our fabulous professora Olga  She is very nice and has two children one 14 the other 5 She has lived in Moldova her whole life ! But not always in Chisinua she instructs Romanian and Russian language however we are just learning Romanian for the time being. Our lesson today was from 9 till 5:30 ! Tomorrow we are going to go to the market to use our phrases and vocabulary and on Monday we will go again to a different market to buy fruits and vegetables! Tomorrow will be another full day of language  As for the evening we rode the white mini-bus home with Wesley who came to pick us up to make sure we got off at the right spot  Which was very nice of him because the bus became very full and quite smelly and you need to tell the bus driver (Stop here very loudly) in order for him to stop but you cannot say stop here you must indicate where you need to get off. I plan on making this the first command I learn because very soon we will be on our own  After we rode the little white bus home we went to Andy and Nancy’s house to have some delicious spaghetti and meatballs  much better than the store bought meatballs. The house was full of their daughters and their friends who were having a sleepover it was wonderfully loud and playful  I am glad I have sisters! I enjoy spending time with the Raatz family they are extremely nice and welcoming. They have two dogs one German shepherd and a miniature schnauzer with a long tail! The German shepherd’s name is Brita and the Schnauzer’s name is Gracie both are very sweet!

More than Moldova: A summer of dreams, realities and expectations realized

Days 1- 3 – Traveling 05/11/2010-05/13/2010
Key Points
1. Left MCO Orlando airport 12:12 on May 11th flew to Washington D.C.
2. Met Courtney Mcintyer. The most encouraging girl I know !
3. Flight delayed to Munich :/ because of weather and an extra 30 mins was added to the storm bc of volcano
4. Missed flight from Munich to Chisinua
5. Got put up in a super nice hotel – Sheraton Airport , good food , soft beds
6. Woke up at 5a.m. for flight at 9:05
7. Rode to the airport with the taxi that as right on time at 6:00a.m. sharp
8. Ate some bletzle shown kindness by not having to pay 15 cents !
9. Flew on a nice but small jet with nice leather seats to Moldova 
10. Arrive in Moldova 
11. We met Nancy at the airport bc we were super early, went to eat at a yummy pizza place
12. Drove to the home of hope met the ladies that work there and live there one is in the hospital having a baby 
13. Drove to Nancy’s house met her three daughters very pretty !
14. Talked about hot and cold climate cultures ! Moldova is a hot culture but cold climate
15. Drove to Wesley and Dona’s house where we are staying for the summer 
16. Ate a yummy dinner of taco salad and delicious ice cream ! YUMMM with frozen cherries
17. Went on a walk through their part of town
18. Came back and chatted with Wesley and Donna some more then headed to bed ! It has been a full three days and I cannot believe that it is already Thursday the 13th ! Tomorrow is Friday the 14th ! Happy Birthday Margaret ! I love you !