Moldovan Fortress, Chinese Food, and Irish beer

On Sunday, Victoria and I invited ourselves on a bus trip to Soroca, an old fortress. The English Resource Center in Chisinau planned a trip for Moldovan English teachers and somehow I sneaked into the group. It was a two hour bus ride to Soroca but luckily almost everyone spoke English so I got to chat with some nice people. We were told the tour of the fortress would be in English but that turned out to be false so, after patiently waiting and pretending like I understood what the guide was saying, I found a moment to sneak off and do some exploring on my own. Soroca was built by Stephan the Great in 1499 to protect Moldova from the Turk invaders. It is on the border of Moldovan and Ukraine and I could see Ukraine from across the river.

After the fortress, we went to a monastery deep in the hills (we had to ask for directions many times). We had some lunch in the forest near the monastery and then wandered down to a spring where many people were collecting water. I was told it was the best water in the world and filled my water bottle. It was nice because the day was excruciatingly hot and the spring water was very cold.

Monastery

Spring water

As we were making our way to our next stop (I was told we were going to visit a candle, I thought maybe some kind of eternal flame but I was told, no it is a candle), we passed by a traditional Moldovan wedding. The bride and groom were in a horse carriage and their friends and family were following behind in traditional Moldovan clothing, linking hands and dancing, with a band taking up the rear.

When we arrived at the entrance to the candle I was not a happy camper. The candle was a large rock structure set on top of a hill, 365 steps up. I am not a fan of stairs and was not eager to climb 365 of them to see a candle. However, after about 10 very winded stops and my entire bottle of spring water, I made it. At the base of the actual candle was a scenic lookout and, once again, we could see Ukraine. There was also a bride and groom taking photos.

Back at the bottom of the staircase I was feeling pretty proud of myself for managing to climb 365 stairs, when I heard we were now heading to check out a cave. My legs were jello and I knew I wouldn't be able to make another climb but I followed everyone to the base of the hill where the cave was situated. I was not the only person to stay behind. One of the people in the group tried to persuade me to try to climb but I told him he'd have to carry me. After watching the ones who did try to climb the hill slip and slide on the very steep slope (none of us had brought proper climbing shoes) I knew I had made the right choice.

Hill to the cave

Finally we were on our way home after a very fun and exhausting day.

My week continued in the usual fashion, cuddling babies and teaching English. In the afternoons, instead of going back to the baby group, I go to group one where all of the children I was with last summer are now. It's hard to see them because they are so starved for cuddles and attention. Every day, their caregivers take them out, but they place them on a blanket on the curb of a road on a hill and don't let them move. Ten two-year-olds who can't move off a mat. I've been taking two children at a time and we swing, jump on the trampoline, ride bikes, etc. I try to get back half an hour early to sing songs and play with the others.
On Thursday, I was outside with the baby group when a kids train drove into the orphanage compound. We watched as the train made loop after loop, picking up kids. My group was too young to ride the train but I know the other children loved it. There was a very frightening looking Mickey and Minnie Mouse hanging on the the train, waving and dancing. The train stayed a couple of hours and then took off.
As one of the volunteers (Aisling) and I were heading to the door on our way out, we noticed that the other volunteer (James) was not waiting for us where he usually was. He was at the top of the steps and yelled down to us, "I got us a ride into town!" We were very confused but he ushered us to a car that was waiting for us and we all got in. Two young women were in the car (Diana and Elena). They both spoke English and were very friendly and nice. Diana had lived in New Jersey for a couple of years. They were the ones who had paid the train to come visit the orphanage. They said the gave donations to the orphanage every year. One year they had brought clowns in and frightened the children. They had both been working at a hotel in Chisinau until it closed down recently. I asked what they were going to do now, and neither seemed too worried about being unemployed. They asked us what our plans were for the evening, and we said we were going to go out to eat and grab a drink. Diana said she'd call us in the evening.
After the afternoon session at the orphanage, we headed back to the flat to get ready to go. We were searching for a good chinese restaurant and found a couple online but weren't sure how to get there. Diana called and gave us directions to the "best chinese restaurant in Chisinau". We all agreed it was the best chinese food we had ever had...in Moldova. The restaurant was called the Fifth Element and was a very nice place. Diana met us there. We told her our plans after dinner were to go to a Irish pub we had found online. She said she'd drive us. After circling a block and getting us thoroughly lost, Diana called the manager of the pub who walked three blocks to meet us and take us back to the pub. It was a very nice pub and James was able to have his Guinness. However, we arrived at 10 and the pub closed at 11. The waiter at the pub spoke excellent English and called us a cab which we directed to first drop Bethan off at the flat (and wait for us as James ran in for our bags) and then take us to the village. It was a fun night but rough walking up early to go to the orphanage the following morning.