Russian, Romanian, and Sign Language

I’m feeling my first bits of frustration about being in Moldova, and it is related to the languages here. So few people know English, and what they do know is often so broken it is difficult to understand what they are trying to convey. Our attempts at learning Russian phrases prior to coming here fell way short of the need. And when we arrived, we saw and heard so much Romanian, we wondered what the best language to learn would be: Russian or Romanian. We still don’t know! I can ask a (very simple) question in Romanian, and receive a reply in Russian. It’s so confusing!

We have started meeting with Melina to learn some Romanian, and now at least we can go to the market and do more than point at the item and lift up 1 or 2 fingers and while saying “kilogram” simultaneously. We can actually say “yo vreow oonoo kilogramme day maleena” (say it REALLY fast, roll your “r”s and say it WITHOUT a Southern accent and you’ll sound Romanian). AND we get the 1 kilo of raspberries we (well, I) wanted. However, to understand how much it will be, the vendors still have to show us the prices on their calculators.

Even though we are learning some survival phrases, it’s still incredibly difficult. In restaurants, at stores, on the minibus…if something is out of the ordinary, there is no way we can correct it. None of it is really a big deal (so what if I get Coca-Cola instead of Sprite or if I have to walk a few extra blocks because I couldn’t tell the driver where I wanted to stop). Nevertheless, it has been wearing on us, and we find it is just much easier to let Ivan or Melina do it for us…but that’s not helping in the long-term!!

Of course, there are funny stories that make up for the frustration. Sign language is frequently used with our host family. After a dinner with them one evening, I offered to help Tatiana with the dishes. “Can I help?” I asked in English, while motioning toward the sink and pretending to wash a dish. “No, no, no,” Tatania said, and then put her hands together at her ears like she was resting, then she shoo-ed me away. I guess she wanted me to rest. We were having trouble with the hot water, so Anatolli helped to fix it. Afterwards, he pointed to the shower, did a little dance like he was washing his hair and then pointed to the “on” switch on the hot water heater. Then he made like he was walking out the door and then pointed to the “off” switch. OK. We turn the hot water on only when we need it. Got that one. Dan makes little Nelia laugh at all his antics with her. Pretending like he’s been poisoned by the green swimming pool water is one of her favorites. And Nelia communicates quite well with us using only actions. Most recently, she’s been motioning to Dan and me to hold hands or to hug. When we do, she smiles wide and nods her head in approval. Very cute.

I also love how we talk to people in English and they talk to us Russian or Romanian, like we all really know what we are saying to each other. I’ve had countless conversations like this with people at work, the host family, shopkeepers, and strangers. I keep thinking that they will pick up a few words in English, and they think I will know a few words in Romanian or Russian. Or take last night, for example, Tatania politely knocked on our door, and when we let her in, she started speaking a kazillion miles an hour in Russian. I blinked at her for awhile, and then finally Dan was perceptive enough to hear a word that sounded like “ventilator”. After a few more miscues, we figured out she wanted to borrow the fan. Why didn’t she just say so??

But I think the best story so far is a phone conversation I had with Tatania (who speaks no English). When I called her to find out what time the much anticipated Friday Supper was, all she said, in very halting English, was “Dinner is at 7.” Then she hung up quickly. I can only imagine how much she practiced that phrase before I called her.