New Year's

My New Year’s Eve was hardly a wild one, but satisfying nonetheless. Fellow PCV Krista came for the weekend, and though her company was welcome so too was the packet of taco mix and Honey Nut Cheerios she brought with her, courtesy of a care package from America [Mom & Dad – don’t read into this – I love your care packages too.] As I learned how to do in Uzbekistan, I made tortillas (because where else would an American learn to make Mexican tortillas except in a former-Soviet republic), bought some unexpectedly cheap tomatoes for this time of year, took a taxi to the closest city to find some chopped meat (that wasn’t ground turkey which happened to be available in my local bazaar that day). The chopped meat was frozen solid, but a few hours in a plastic bag on my Frisbee on my electric heater thawed it sufficiently.

After a cold spell for the last couple of weeks, the weather turned surprisingly warm, which made the New Year’s Eve outdoor festivities much more enjoyable. Starting around 8pm, several hundred people gathered in the center of the village (see the pictures I took on Dec 30th, sans several hundred people – and yes, that’s a statue of Stalin by the Christmas tree).




There was much dancing and champagne toasts and absurd contests for best singing or best costume – only a few children dressed up, but I think the winner was a 6-year old Spider-man. Around 10pm a decent fireworks show (for Moldova) started off the roof of the Cultural Center. And though the weather did warm for the occasion, it was still cold and I admit that I was tucked in bed by around 11:45, and probably drifted off just as the clock struck twelve.

An interesting cultural note: unlike Times Square where everyone stays out for the climatic midnight year-change, here everyone rushes home by 11:30 to celebrate the passing of the year with their families. They eat dinner at midnight, which is when the president comes on TV to say hello. Then some go back out around 1 or 2am, and hit the local disco, where I heard music still playing at 6:30am on January 1, 2006. And presents are given on New Year’s Day, not Dec. 25.

Also pictured here is our office party, where one game we played involved me being a tree, my mayor counterpart Oleg being a horse, and the man upon his back (our driver) is playing the part of the prince. Good times.