The Countdowns Begin

In attempt to help me remain sane during my last three weeks or so in Moldova, I have decided to begin making countdown lists.  These lists will give me something to do as well as help me reflect on my time here.  I will not be able to write a countdown everyday, but I will create as many as I can.  The number of items on each list will reflect how many days I have left.

So, today, with 24 days left in Moldova, I begin with:

THE TOP 24 THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT LIVING IN MOLDOVA

1. Speaking and learning Russian.
2. Living an autonomous region- GO GAGAUZIA!
3. Sleeping in until 11AM.
4. Spending half the day (or the whole day) doing leisurely reading.
5. Buying 100 grams of cookies, eating one, and feeding the rest to the stray dogs.
6. Drinking good house wine.
7. Seeing the look on people’s faces when I am speaking Russian incorrectly, but then they figure out what I am trying to say.
8. Unbeatable prices on fruits and vegetables.
9. My host mother….you already know all the stories!
10. Paying 45 cents for an hour of internet access.
11. Hearing my host mother attempting to speak English and Romanian.
12. Finding Soviet coins laying on the ground in the strangest of places in Ceadir-Lunga.
13. Crossing the border into Romania and being amazed by the level of development.  (Paved roads, garbage cans, and street lights in a village?  WHAT!?!?)
14. Taking walks around Ceadir-Lunga and being in my own world.
15. People serving me at the bazaar because they know I will buy something rather than just browse or complain about high prices.
16. Answering the “How much does that cost in America?” question.
17. Using the excuse “our home phone isn’t working” as an excuse for not calling people and them believing it.  (The thing only works about 1/3 of the time.)
18. Taking pictures of the most random things.
19. My host mother’s bean soup.
20. People telling me that I “speak Russian very well, but with a crazy accent”.
21. Hearing “During the Soviet Union…..” stories.
22. Waking up each morning and knowing that the day will be an adventure in some way or another.
23. No one understanding random Christopher Walkins references.
24. Continuous opportunities to exercise.  Going somewhere?  You’ll be walking.