One sip at a time

There are lots of things I should write about today (like swearing in as a PCV and moving to my new town!), but instead, because I am feeling tired and because I just read this blog, I am going to write about coffee. I admit I am a bit jealous of that PCV's experience of the coffee culture in Kosovo! Although people in Moldova do drink coffee, it seems like the preference is for tea. When I last lived in Eastern Europe (about a decade ago), I wasn't a coffee drinker. At the time, I did manage to force myself to drink a cup or two of Turkish coffee in Bosnia and Kosovo, but didn't enjoy it at all. Now that I am a coffee drinker, I long for the great access to amazing coffee that I had back in Seattle.

It's funny to realize how impacted I have been throughout my life by coffee culture. Even though I didn't start drinking coffee until I was nearly 30 and in grad school, I've always spent a lot of time around coffee shops and coffee drinkers. Most of my studying and travel planning and job searching has been done in coffee shops, and I definitely miss that kind of culture. I suppose that has been one of the biggest "culture shocks" I have experienced while here. Moldova also doesn't have the same type of coffee shop culture that I experienced in Croatia and the former Yugoslav countries, so that has been interesting, as well.

I was not prepared for the lack of coffee shop culture in Moldova. I sort of expected that I could find coffee shops serving Nescafe like I saw all over Croatia. But I found no coffee shops in my training site. There is a local chain of coffee shops in Chișinău called Tucano, but I live pretty far from Chișinău and even they don't have many coffee options (no mochas or flavored lattes, for example). I did, however, find a LOT of instant packets of coffee in grocery stores. But, after trying several different types of the instant coffee packets for a few weeks, it turns out that I really dislike them and some of them even make me feel sick. During training, I basically gave up on drinking coffee because the instant packets don't seem to be a good option for me, and I didn't want to spend money on coffee at restaurants. 

However, now that I have moved to my permanent site, I'd like to find a way to enjoy a daily cup of coffee again. I've only been here for 2 days, so I haven't investigated much, although I did notice a restaurant in town that had some iced coffee beverages advertised on a sign outside. Again, I am not going to want to buy coffee at restaurants very often, but I'm glad to know that it's at least an option!

I (still) don't know how to make my own coffee, because I haven't been a coffee drinker for very long and I just bought it at coffee shops in Seattle (for many reasons, like lack of time and availability of great coffee shop options). So maybe this is the time to learn. I'm going to start out easy, before I invest in any equipment, so I bought some crystalized Nescafe, a box of milk, and a bar of Milka chocolate at the local grocery store. Once I figure out how to make hot water here at my new house, I'll experiment with making my own mochas. Eventually, I'd like to try making my own chocolate and carmel syrups (and maybe some other varieties), and probably purchase a French press or something if I can figure out how to get ground beans (and if they aren't too expensive - I am a volunteer, after all!).

Here's to coffee adventures in Moldova!

"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

“Coffee and chocolate—the inventor of mocha should be sainted.” 
- Cherise Sinclair, Hour of the Lion

Portraits of a beautiful cappuccino I found at a restaurant during training:

Update August 28, 2017:

Peace Corps is, most of all, about adapting. Well, it turns out that I can actually enjoy drinking a cup of unsweetened instant coffee with cold, non-foamy milk! Who would have guessed? It's fun to find out new things about yourself. :) Today I got fancy and sprinkled some cinnamon on top. Maybe another day I will experiment with other flavors. 

Deinotherium! (or: Our trip to The National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History in Chișinău)

Last weekend I finally made it to the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History in Chișinău! It's a wonderful museum, with beautiful collections of national costumes, local animal specimens, fossils, and more. I loved seeing all of it! But if you remember one of my "Fact of the Week" posts, my main priority for this visit was to see the Deinotherium skeleton I had read about on Beth's blog several months ago. It was big! And it was displayed in a lower part of the floor so you could see it at eye-level instead of it towering over you. I haven't seen that type of display in a museum before. It was great to finally see it in real life!

I also enjoyed seeing what types of animals live in Moldova currently. I had read about the pelicans and European wildcat that live in the nature reserve near where I will be living in southern Moldova (more info about the reserve in a future post!), and I'm hoping to at least see some pelicans in the wild. 

As I mentioned, the museum also had many other displays of cultural and local artifacts. We didn't have enough time to see everything, so I am definitely planning to go to the museum again when I have another chance to go to Chișinău. 

sculpture on the first floor of the museum

sculpture on the first floor of the museum

replicas of coins

big map model of Moldova 

(photo is of the area on the map around Chișinău)

The museum building itself is gorgeous, too. The National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History was founded in October 1889, and the current building was constructed in 1903-1905 by architect V. Tsigankov. You can learn more about the museum here. 

windmill outside the museum

front of the museum

front door of the museum

floor tiles inside the front door of the museum

chandelier inside the museum

window inside the museum

the ceiling inside the first floor of the museum

the staircase leading up from the bottom floor of the museum

S'mores!

As training winds down and we realize that we will be moving to places all over the country soon, we wanted to spend some time together enjoying this place we have been calling home for the past 2 months.   And eat s'mores.   Because s'mores.

Moldovan marshmallows toast surprisingly well!!

All 10 of us!

Old Orhei

Last weekend, some of my fellow trainees and I coordinated a trip to see Old Orhei (Orheiul Vechi), a historic site in Moldova. It was a hot, sunny, beautiful day, and we enjoyed spending time together and seeing more of Moldova's beauty.

Sunflower fields on our way to Orhei

First glimpse of Orheiul Vechi

(with Casey and Cynthia)

Museum

Picnic before going up the hill

Climbing the hill

(at least I didn't have to climb it in heels and a poofy skirt!)

View from the top of the hill

(with Stacey)

The church and courtyard

(with Maddie and Casey)

 

On the hill

(with Rebecca S.)

(with Rebecca B., Rebecca S., Cynthia, and Xenia)

Cave church

View from the cave church

(Rebecca L. and Shannon)

(with Rebbeca B., Xenia, and Olorunbunmi)

(Olorunbunmi and Rebecca L. in the background)

(the cliff behind me)

Leave a coin in the wall and make a wish!

After a few hours in the hot sun, we enjoyed some shade and a refreshing beverage

cold lemonade!