An Englishman Abroad - First Impressions of Chisinau and Moldova

Having never visited Moldova before, or any country in Eastern Europe, I have found my first few days in this country very interesting indeed. Already, I have noticed many differences between Moldova and my native Britain, but also some striking similarities.

There is unfortunately very little coverage of Moldova in the Western mass media, and so I arrived here with almost no information about the country, and little idea about what I would find in Chisinau. Sadly, the main source of information Westerners have for Moldova is a book by a British comic writer, Tony Hawks, entitled "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis". As I have found out, though, this is not an entirely accurate source of information on Moldova! Therefore as someone who is completely new to the country, perhaps I can provide an objective insight into the way of life here. I will be in Moldova with Teaching Abroad for three months, but having already been here for almost a week I can certainly say that I am, on the whole, very fortunate to be staying in this country, and I have already formed some impressions of Moldova and Chisinau.

Entering the country was certainly an interesting experience, halfway through a 14 hour train journey from Bucharest to Chisinau. I am not normally awoken by state officials at 3:00 am, so the sight of the stern-faced Romanian border guard was undoubtedly a new way to start the day. Twenty minutes later, I was more prepared for the stern-faced Moldavian border guard. He proceeded to take my passport from me, and later returned it complete with the entry stamp on my visa. Thus it was that I arrived in Moldova.

I think perhaps the first thing I noted when I first arrived in Chisinau was how different the city's streets look and feel to British streets. Here, in Chisinau, I think the streets are more open and picturesque than in British cities, with Chisinau's tree-lined boulevards and wide pavements. In the summer I expect them to look more beautiful still.

Certainly, I cannot help thinking that Chisinau has a certain level of rubbish and dirt, but I think perhaps this is not so important (and the streets are undoubtedly cleaner than in Bucharest). It is also interesting to note the personal pride the people of Chisinau take in their own personal space - the old woman I saw cleaning her doorstep or the man rearranging the books in his stall so that they looked just right, are two such examples. I think that Chisinau is a relatively poor capital city, compared to some others in Europe, but despite this I have found the system of mass transport to work much better than at home: anyone can go from one side of the city to the other for 2 lei on the Microbus, or less on the trolley-bus, and can get almost anywhere on public transport; I think only London has a comparable public transport network in the UK.

I would certainly prefer catching the trolley-bus to driving a car on the streets of Chisinau, and I would say that crossing the street in Moldova is not at all easy, even though there are some crossing places, mostly on B-dul Stefan cel Mare. I think this difficulty is in part due to the very high number of cars, because there appear to be very few rules of the road, and because there are apparently no speed limits! In Britain, crossing the road is easier as there are more places to cross, and the cars must give way

I have also been very impressed with the centre of Chisinau: the overwhelming Presidential Palace, the Parliament, and the Cathedral are all beautiful buildings that form the centre of Moldavian society, along with the opera house and cinema, and others. There is also, unfortunately, a McDonalds; what capital city does not have at least one? Of course, culturally, religion is very important; it is also different in this region of Europe to that in England. I am therefore very interested to learn more about the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially during Easter, and therefore learn more about Moldavian culture. Culture in Moldova certainly seems to be somewhat influenced by Russia, with Russian as well as American films showing at the cinema, and the fact that Russian is the second language of many people, and is widely-spoken, in Chisinau at least. Russian and American/English music both seem to be equally popular.

The Government and the Police seem quite different from those in Britain: one aspect of this is that in Moldova it seems everyone must carry their ID papers with them at all times, and must show them to the police if they are stopped in the street. It is therefore strange for me to see how often people must present their papers, for example when they wish to hire a video or DVD, or withdraw money from a bank - this is not something I am used to at all. At the moment in Britain we have no form of ID card, so have to rely solely on my passport (which we only ever use for travelling abroad).

I consider myself very lucky because most tourists never have the opportunity to see what a country is really like. Whilst I'm here I am able to learn some of what it is like to actually live in Moldova and by speaking with the people I have met it has struck me how welcoming Moldavians are. I feel at home already, even though I have only been in the country since 6th April. However, during this short period of time I have already been welcomed into the homes of several Moldavians, and I have been overwhelmed by their great hospitality. When visiting a home, I normally find I am served vast quantities of tea as well as more food than I could possibly eat at once. The food in general is excellent and although it is different to the food I am used to, I cannot complain that I am hungry at any time! Being British of course I enjoy the tea very much as well.

Along with this excellent hospitality, I have found many Moldavians to be very curious about England and I have been asked many questions regarding myself and my country. For me, this is a very strange experience as I am not used to being the source of such great interest, and I find almost everyone very keen to hear what I have to say about the UK. Everyone also seems very enthusiastic about learning English, and I have found that the standard of English is extremely high; I therefore feel guilty about knowing so little Russian, although I have just started to learn.

However, my lack of knowledge of Russian has so far not prevented me from sampling the social life of Chisinau. It is a great help that I am staying with some students from the Higher Anthropological School of Chisinau (who also happen to be studying English), who have already introduced me (on Saturday, only my third day in Moldova) to the other students in their group. Their group of mates then proceeded to invite me along to their picnic, and also to see Trans-Dniestr whilst I am here: apparently, this will be an interesting experience in itself, their friendliness once again demonstrating Moldova's famous hospitality.

It is a little confusing for me to see the different mix of nationalities in Moldavia as a whole: Moldavians, Russians, Ukrainians, and Romanians all living together but speaking different languages, which is again not something I am used to at all. This appears to have been partially caused by the large numbers of people that moved to Moldova from different parts of the former Soviet Union, before 1991. This has led to an extremely varied mixture of culture and language within Chisinau: one of my house mates is from a Ukrainian village in northern Moldova, lived in Western Siberia, and moved to Chisinau to study, and I think he presents an interesting example.

In conclusion, I have found out much about Moldova during my first week here, and about the city of Chisinau, and I have a great deal more to learn yet. I have found the people to be very welcoming and I have started to sample the Moldavian culture, and the Moldavian way of life. I can safely say that it is different to the culture and way of life of Britain, but nevertheless I feel at home here. Of course, all Moldavians have a great attachment to their country and everyone seems very proud of their city and their country, and rightly so.

James Taylor

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Central Chisinau

James, other volunteers and staff in park

James at Journalism Placement

James at the Cathedral

Local transport