Where I didn't have much of an interesting experience on the way to Kiev, I DEFINITELY had quite the cultural experience on my night train to Chisinau (pronounced: key-shin-now)...
I took the cheapest ticket, but man Oh mann I should hve gone one class higher. I got on the train and a guy was in my bed/seat.. the guy in charge of the wagon kicked him out to the bed above me.. this rustling cause many more of the people, all guys, around me to wake up.. and they all wanted to talk.. only problem = They only spoke Russian or Romanian... But for some reason, that didn't seem to stop them! Despite the fact that I couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand me, they continuously asked next questions lol.
In Chisinau, they speak Romanian, but everyone knows Russian as well.
...not too much English around...
My #1 phrase for that 17 hour train ride: "I don't understand."
...they didn't care lol.
They started putting a glass of wine in front of me and wanted me to drink it! Obviously I said no, but after awhile they kept doing it and motioning just a little, with their fingers. Everyone was drinking from the same cup and the same bottle that the wine was in, hah! After recognizing that it was Not poisoned, I ended up trying it. It was really good!
At one point, I ended up getting out my journal and my calendar that said where I was and on what date. I showed them all where I have traveled! It was pretty cool, even though we could not understand each other through language, we could point and communicate by motions and writing. I also tough them how to count to 20!
I later found out that the wine thing, along with lack of ANY personal space was 100% Moldovan culture! I stayed with a couple, Andy and Alex,who are in the Peace Corps here, and they told me about how all the weird stuff on the train was actually just the difference in cultures.. it made me appreciate the experience soo much more! Andy and Alex were soo great. There was a Peace Corps Christmas party that night that they took me too, it was soo good! And really nice to be understood and to understand each other! They were great people, I hope we somehow cross paths again.
I also stayed with a Moldovan for a few days, his name was Victor. He had a car! That is pretty unheard of out here, so it was pretty nice! And much warmer! Victor was amazing! Another amazing person I met on this journey.. a lot of times he wouldn't even let me pay for anything. He took me all around the city for a few days, and helped me figure out my train to Bucharest. His work schedule is pretty flexible, and we got to spend most of my time there together, which was really nice. We visited many parks, the history and art museum, went to see a band play (some American music too), and had many traditional Moldovan meals! :) My time there was soo good! I really enjoyed it.
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