Already time to go....

My apologies for letting my blog go empty these past couple weeks... my last week here has been completely rained out!  While Moldova was described by a man I met at the American Embassy as "on the road from Transylvania to Chernobyl", it is with mixed emotions that I  leave this interesting, peaceful, and truly welcoming country.  It has been a personally refreshing time for me, wandering around the parks and having adventures with my new friends, although humbling to be held hostage by the incredible hospitality of Europe's "poorest" country.  While I understand some of the complexities of life in Moldova, it is hard for me to accept the labels which mark it as a sinking ship.

Among some of the things I will miss:
-drinking champagne in the office weekly (is this allowed Craig?)
-jogging in the park with my own armed guard
-cheap organic fruits and veggies
-watching Moldovan news
-the air, which is like sea-air, even though it's landlocked, i am not sure how this works
-all my colleagues at CCF who have gone out of their way to make me welcome

On a positive note, I will be meeting up with all my friends in Sighisoara, and Gordon's coming!!!  Now that my work is done in Chisinau, I'll get to party for a couple weeks :)

Here are some of my favorite pictures.  I got painted by a supposedly famous Moldavian painter Vasile Dohotaru, at the request of my friend Lena, check it out:

Until Sighi....