Vacationing with Moldovans
We were treated to a 6-day vacation in Romania, courtesy of Ivan and Melina last week. (“Treated” in this sense means they drove us and interpreted for us.) It was, in every sense of the word, an adventure! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing Romania, and it was nice to be with people who knew the language. In all, it was very nice trip. However, taking a trip like this certainly had some surprises! Moldovans vacation quite differently than Americans do.
Some differences may be the Moldovan and Romanian bureaucracy, some differences may be attributed to the culture clashes, and some may just be Ivan and Melina. Nevertheless, there are differences!
Start with the luxury of air conditioning. The used cars on the market here that are affordable do not have AC yet. It is summertime. And it is hot, especially while waiting for 2 hours to cross the Moldovan and then the Romanian immigration and customs. Or while waiting 1 hour for a car ferry where the shade was only moderately cooler. My frozen water stayed frozen for 3 hours on the first day. After that, we didn’t have a lot to cool us down. It smelled yummy in the car!
Then imagine touring Romania at the height of the travel season without reservations. We spent 2½ hours the first night looking for a place to stay, 90 minutes the next night, and at the last place we stayed, we spent nearly 4 hours driving to a store (at 11 p.m.) and then BUYING tents so we would have somewhere to sleep.
Next, imagine a vacation without having money. I mean REALLY not having money. They exchanged $100 at the border and had only $115 in cash left once they did that. They don’t have credit cards, and they certainly don’t have an ATM card. This was for a 6-day trip! Gas itself, at more than $4 a gallon, would take up that much money. I suppose they were counting on us to pay for things, and since we had offered it was fine. However, I don’t think they would have been able to take much more if we had not been with them.
Finally, road signs and good maps are important! There aren’t really good road signs anywhere we were, especially driving in Moldova or the little villages dotted throughout Romania. In order to get places, particularly when driving through cities and villages, Ivan would stop and Melina would ask for directions. Then 5 minutes later, Ivan would stop and Melina would ask again. This happened dozens of times. We got where we needed to go, though!
Well, despite all the differences, it was fun. And had we not been with Ivan and Melina, here is what we could have missed: getting fresh peaches from one of the customs agents; feeding one donkey pretzels then getting surrounded by his friends; picnicking next to a sunflower field; seeing very remote, very rural villages; and staying with Romanian families in the pensionnes they built next to their house.
Some differences may be the Moldovan and Romanian bureaucracy, some differences may be attributed to the culture clashes, and some may just be Ivan and Melina. Nevertheless, there are differences!
Start with the luxury of air conditioning. The used cars on the market here that are affordable do not have AC yet. It is summertime. And it is hot, especially while waiting for 2 hours to cross the Moldovan and then the Romanian immigration and customs. Or while waiting 1 hour for a car ferry where the shade was only moderately cooler. My frozen water stayed frozen for 3 hours on the first day. After that, we didn’t have a lot to cool us down. It smelled yummy in the car!
Then imagine touring Romania at the height of the travel season without reservations. We spent 2½ hours the first night looking for a place to stay, 90 minutes the next night, and at the last place we stayed, we spent nearly 4 hours driving to a store (at 11 p.m.) and then BUYING tents so we would have somewhere to sleep.
Next, imagine a vacation without having money. I mean REALLY not having money. They exchanged $100 at the border and had only $115 in cash left once they did that. They don’t have credit cards, and they certainly don’t have an ATM card. This was for a 6-day trip! Gas itself, at more than $4 a gallon, would take up that much money. I suppose they were counting on us to pay for things, and since we had offered it was fine. However, I don’t think they would have been able to take much more if we had not been with them.
Finally, road signs and good maps are important! There aren’t really good road signs anywhere we were, especially driving in Moldova or the little villages dotted throughout Romania. In order to get places, particularly when driving through cities and villages, Ivan would stop and Melina would ask for directions. Then 5 minutes later, Ivan would stop and Melina would ask again. This happened dozens of times. We got where we needed to go, though!
Well, despite all the differences, it was fun. And had we not been with Ivan and Melina, here is what we could have missed: getting fresh peaches from one of the customs agents; feeding one donkey pretzels then getting surrounded by his friends; picnicking next to a sunflower field; seeing very remote, very rural villages; and staying with Romanian families in the pensionnes they built next to their house.
posted by Beth at 1:21 PM
2 Comments:
What a great adventure! I loved the pictures already, but when I learn about the context for them, they're even better!
Sounds like Ivan and Melina really know how to give a good time. I hope they can do me a trip into Romania when I visit there!
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