“It started out as a feeling…which then grew into a
hope…which then turned into a quite thought, which then turned into a quiet
word.” –
the Call, Regina Spektor
Exactly the process I went through on my journey to Iași! I
knew I wanted to travel outside of Moldova at some point during my stay here,
but I didn’t know when or where. I was toying with the idea of flying to
Istanbul but it seemed expensive and complex to plan, so eventually, after
hearing from many people how Iași is a convenient and beautiful place to visit,
I decided to arrange a trip.
I chose this
weekend a couple weeks in advance because I wanted to leave plenty of time to
plan the trip. First –where to stay? I had met someone at the presentation at
Summer School for Youth Leaders that Raluca, Tomas, and I visited to present on
fundraising and brandraising. Ion Mesca is a university student living in Iași
and after the presentation, I began talking with him and the subject of
visiting his city came up. He enthusiastically invited me to contact him about
housing accommodation if my trip. We exchanged numbers and later I found him on
Facebook. When I definitively began planning, I contacted him and he generously
promised to find a place for us to stay. Later he messaged me saying his friend
could host us. I researched buses or trains from Chișinău to Iași and found
multiple buses leaving from Gara de Sud (South Station). On Thursday afternoon
after work I caught trolley 10 to the station and bought two tickets for Angee
and I.
Thursday night I gathered all my documents and packed for a
night in Iași!! Cannot forget the passport! As well as clothes, toiletries, and
my kindle and Romanian language book, I brought my work notebook and drew up
maps of where we would be staying as well as the immediate area surrounding the
station in Iași (Gara Codreanu). The hardships of not owning a smartphone…but I
secretly love it!!
Throughout this entire process I was nervous, but I didn’t
let it show. I was most nervous about travelling to another country where I barely
knew the language and would be staying with someone and his friend whom I had
only met for five minutes!
Well Angee and I caught a taxi to Gara de Sud and arrived on
time (another fear of mine –missing the last bus to Iași!). When we boarded the
bus (actually a small maxi taxi) it was stifling inside as the outside
temperature was about 30 degrees (85 degrees Fahrenheit) and none of the buses
have A.C nor do the windows open in the back. The only air circulation occurs
from the driver and passenger windows. Therefore the ride to Iași was more than
a little uncomfortable, but while I was suffering through the heat, I had an
epiphany. I had no right to complain about my discomfort in the bus. Many, if
not all, of the other people on that bus suffered those conditions daily to get
and from work, around the city, and to visit their families outside of
Chișinău. Can I not endure the lack of A.C. until I return to the U.S. in a
couple weeks? I came to Moldova to experience the culture and observe the lifestyle
of its residents, not to wistfully yearn for a more comfortable bus. Therefore
I began typed up a new journal entry about this epiphany and then proceeded to
enjoy the beautiful rolling scenery rushing by.
After passing through customs and getting our passports
stamped at the Sculeni border crossing, we finally arrived in Iași! At first I
could not reach Ion because neither Angee nor I had cell service so I messaged
Ion online then we left the station to explore the city for a while. We
exchanged money first. The money was so beautiful! It is made of a type of
plastic material that cannot rip, and each bill is a different pastel-color.
After about 20 minutes we were able to get in touch with Ion
and we met at the station. I felt more and more comfortable as we began talking
on the way to his friend’s house. He told us about himself and his experiences.
He has been to 34 states in the US –more than I have!!
When we arrived at the apartment, the first thing I thought
was, “wow this is definitely a Birkel house!” I had the impression that the
apartment would be messy and unkempt, but Octavian, the tenant, kept his place
spotless! I was so impressed. Another big difference between American and
European lifestyles…
Well Angee and I settled in and showered, then Octavian
Skyped his girlfriend currently in Orhei, Moldova, for her permission to go out
with us (haha). Thankfully she allowed it and we all went to a restaurant with
a large terrace, lit with beer glasses containing lightbulbs which I thought
was pretty cool. Ion and Octavian’s friends met us there and we had a great
night just sitting around a table and socializing. I got to know Ion a lot more
as well as his friends Vlad, Sergiu, Raluca, and Andrei. We stayed out quite
late, but it was great to get to see Iași lit up against the dark sky. The monasteries
were especially striking against the midnight.
The next morning I did not wake up early as planned.
Instead, we woke around 11am and went for brunch at a popular venue near Ion’s
university. We all had Ciorba Radăuteană, a piquant dish made with smîntînă and
chicken and vegetables. I’ve already searched recipes for it! Later we walked
down towards his university buildings through the many gardens. Ion was a great
tour guide, knowing many facts about the many famous poets, kings, and saviors of
Romania. We walked through the sociology building and, as the university is the
only one existent in Iași, it was cavernous. We echoed through the stone,
passing through endless corridors. Murals covered the walls, but to me, they
were all wretched and despairing. It would not make for a very positive
learning atmosphere!
Finally, we visited the Golia Monastery, which is a
beautiful white, stone church defended by walls on all sides. One enters
through the bottom of a large tower, and this tower we climbed to the top. The
view from the tower was amazing. I could see past all the tall apartment
buildings as Iași gives way to the countryside. Small patches of yellow announced
fields of sunflowers.
We ended the day shopping at one of the malls, as Angee and
I had not planned on staying another day. We bought a couple articles of
clothing to hold us over and then ate at an excellent pizza place. I have to
give it to Europe; their pizza is definitely better than ours. We returned to
Octavian’s to shower and got dressed for the night. We decided to see what the
nightlife in Iași was like, and I have to admit that this part is much better
than in Chișinău! The club we went to had just the right number of people to
have breathing space, and the DJ was superb. Another great day in Iași!
Waking up later than I prefer as usual, I had made
last-minute plans with a professor living in Iași who had just returned from an
excursion to Neamț, about 2 hours away. He went to graduate school at Lehigh
with Bill Hunter, the director of Global Union! I connected with him through
Bill as I am his work-study and he gave me all his contacts in Romania and
Moldova. Dr. Tudor Stanciu and I met at the Iulius Mall for brunch. Tudor is an
amazing person and was so welcoming and enthusiastic about my visit. After the
brunch Tudor took Angee and me to a couple monasteries where he revealed his
passion for photography, taking many of the monasteries and us.
We ended the afternoon before our bus arrived by driving to
his house in the countryside, which he built himself! Tudor lives with his
grandmother, who is so sweet. She loves cooking, Tudor said, and they always
have an excess of food.
Tudor led us through his garden where we walked barefoot,
our feet squishing through the soft mud and dewy grass. We picked tomatoes,
cucumbers, plums, apples, onions, zucchini. We didn’t get explore his whole
garden, which contains apricots, berries, even nuts!! He also owns three wells.
We drank from one of them, and the taste was cold and pure and virgin. I felt
so alive there, connected to nature. Not bothering to care about my clothing
while struggling through the plants and trees, when we got back to the house,
my skirt had tomato dye and dirt smudges all over it. It was so worth it!!
We made a fresh vegetable salad with our cucumbers,
tomatoes, and onions, adding some oil, basil, salt. We had bought some fresh
bread from a nearby bakery earlier that we broke with our meal. Tudor’s
grandmother also served us homemade baked eggplant and red pepper spreads as
well as an apricot preserve. It was a warm-hearted meal and I felt so content.
I belonged there.
Alas (“Alas, earwax!”), all good things always come to an
end. We boarded the 5:30 bus back to Chișinău. But the ride was not morose. In
fact, quite the contrary! Angee and I scored seats in the front, right next to
the driver, and the open windows! During the drive, we bonded
with the bus
driver, climbing right over that language barrier! We enthusiastically tried to
talk about football and he gave us a job; to fill out the passport forms after
we left customs in Sculeni. Angee would write the numbers and name I read to
her, then enclose the slip in the passport and pass it back through the bus to
its owner, shouting the surname. This got a few smiles and chuckles from the
driver. We all also munched on some chocolate wafers I had bought before we left.
My stay in Iași, Romania was one with absolutely no regrets
and wildly surpassed my expectations. Thanks Ion, Octavian, and Tudor for
making it extraordinary. Hopefully I can return at some time in my life.
"For if
every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you
can't quite speak the language, and you don't know where you're going, and
you're pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a
foreign country can be a love affair, where you're left puzzling over who
you are and whom you've fallen in love with. All the great travel books
are love stories, by some reckoning -- from the Odyssey and the Aeneid to
the Divine Comedy and the New Testament -- and all good trips are, like
love, about being carried out of yourself and deposited in the midst of
terror and wonder."
"Why
We Travel” –Pico Iyer
We meandered over to the York Pub a couple blocks up Bodoni and I think it was fate that the live band performing at the pub that night played one of my favorite songs -"I Will Follow You Into the Dark." The mood was incredibly lifted for me, at least, for the rest of the night! For the time being I no longer lingered on my forthcoming egress. I lived in that moment, from each new bubble of laughter or smile spreading across one's face. 
