What is the funniest thing that happened to you so far?
When the "must" (pronounced "moost") exploded ALL OVER THE KITCHEN!
Mama-G makes wine (as do most Moldovans). The beginning stage when the juice starts becoming wine is called "must" and is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Mama-G realized how much i love must (as does she) that she decided to bottle it up in 3 2-liter bottles and refrigerate them because the must stage is no longer than a week long, so she was trying to freeze it in that stage so we could enjoy it a little while longer.
I noticed that a cup of must that was left on the counter had starting foaming and expanding. I wondered if that would also happen to the must in the 2-liter bottles in the fridge, but thought that Mama-G has been doing this her whole life, so she must (no pun intended) know what she's doing...
A couple days later Mama-G and i were preparing a lot of food for her birthday dinner the next day. We stayed up pretty late with all the preparations. About 10 minutes after i went to bed i heard a loud BOOM! in the kitchen. Since i didn't hear any screaming or more loud noises, i ignored it...
About 10 minutes after the BOOM! Mama-G came to my closet and asked me if i heard the loud BOOM! and asked me to follow her to the kitchen. As we were walking i noticed her hair looked like she'd been through a tornado or wind tunnel and she had blood all over her arm and dress! So, the nurse in me started thinking a million things a second about where she was bleeding from, that i needed to stop the bleeding, how i was going to get her to a hospital (as a PCV we're not allowed to drive...it's one of the things that will get you kicked out of PC...plus, i don't even know where a hospital is anyway), etc...but i noticed she was smiling (and walking, obviously), so i realized the bleeding mus'nt be too serious...
Then we came to the kitchen...and what a disaster it was! One of the bottles of must became a bomb and literally exploded in the fridge! The explosion was so strong that it made Mama-G's hair look like she'd been in a tornado, knocked magnets off the fridge, broke a ceramic bowl in the fridge and the fridge light, blew things out of the fridge and ALL OVER the kitchen...and must was EVERYWHERE!...in every crevice of the fridge (the whole inside was purple), inside drawers in the kitchen, soaked in the entire kitchen rug...and yes, all over Mama-G's dress (the "blood")!
Mama-G and i just stood there staring and then just started laughing...we ended up laughing and cleaning for the next 1 1/2 hours!
We took the other 2 bottles outside and she opened them slowly as i was watching...and then she yelled, "BOOM!" to try to scare me! It was pretty funny!
She told me that her boyfriend is the one who told her it'd be OK to bottle the must and put it in the fridge...too bad he wasn't there to help clean up the mess!
What surprises you about your host country?
Although i'm used to it now, when i 1st got here, i was surprised by all the stray dogs. And even though i'm used to seeing it, i still hate it just as much as i did when i 1st saw it. I want to take them home...i've actually been dangerously close to doing that twice now...it's only a matter of time, i think.
What do you love about your host country?
I love the uniform of a bunica (grandma): house dress (aka robe), house shoes (aka slippers), and head scarf. They wear them everywhere. I dressed up as a bunica for Halloween (including the gold tooth, which totally made the costume authentic) and it was definitely the best costume at the party!
What cultural customs have been most difficult to adapt to?
"The current". Moldovans strongly believe in a superstition they call "The current". The current happens when there is a cross breeze between 2 or more open windows, doors, or whatever, and they believe it causes illness - cold, flu, TB, whatever. They will endure 95' summer days packed into a 16 person rutiera with 37 people and not open a window! It's actually quite nauseating.
What is your favorite word or phrase in the local vernacular?
"Poftim." It means, "here you go", or "have at it", or "go ahead", or "come again?"
What did you eat for dinner last night?
Pește prăjit, pîine (de sigur), și brînză cu sirop de curmal japonez de casă.
(Fried fish, bread (of course), and house cheese with homemade persimmon syrup.)
What food do you miss the most?
Just good ol' fresh healthy food without massive amounts of added sugar, salt, butter, and/or oil.
What do you wish you brought with you?
A mini portable speaker to hook-up my iPhone to.
Which do you prefer-- a shower or a toilet?
SHOWER...i shower, on average, about once a week...the longest i've gone so far has been 2 weeks. I really miss hot, private, reliable, stand-up showers....a lot...a really really lot. And unfortunately that's not something a care package will be able to provide :o[
No comments:
Post a Comment