New President

Today proved to be a historical day in this country; after 3 years of functioning without a President, a new one was finally elected.  As I drove through the city this morning, I could see the excitement building as Parliament was attempting the vote.  I have never seen so many policemen per square foot before.  It was actually a little nerve-racking because I noticed they were stopping hundreds of cars, asking for documentation presumably, so I detoured around the main street.

By the time I got back down with a camera, they had shifted.  Here are many of the police gathering outside of a theater... I'm not sure why.

 Many of them were in riot gear, and they were bringing in trucks like this:

 Here are some of them lined up in the park near the Parliament building.

 The first time I went by, police were standing about every 5 feet all the way around this:

Hundreds of people were just waiting around the government buildings, and we heard there were some protests and possibly even riots.  I heard some yelling as people drove by in their cars.

There are definitely some polarized viewpoints in this city -- hence the gridlock that has prevented any political party from gaining a majority and successfully electing a President all these years.  I was pleased though as I walked around that many people seemed to be satisfied with the outcome.

So today was monumental.  The man elected is "pro-Europe" and the communists party members are upset at his victory.  We hope he can unite this country and help it to move forward.

Moldovan Culture and the Importance of Language

I've mentioned previously the unique challenges of language understanding and learning, since the language here is either Russian or Romanian or a combination of both. What I find really interesting is that language is such an important part of the broader culture that is Moldova, and I’m sure that this is true for many other cultures as well.

As an American, I’ve never taken seriously the effort it takes to learn another language. I know many Americans study languages, but the old joke about language* is believed by people throughout the world (the stereotype has proven true often enough).

As I’ve been reading and talking with people here, I have come to appreciate more and more the role language plays in cultural identity. I’m also convinced that one is missing a lot when learning a language if they never have an opportunity to spend time with those from a foreign culture who speak it.

One book that has been highly enlightening to me is titled The Moldovans by Charles King. In tracing the history of this land, King explains the cultural battle that went on here between the Russians and the Romanians and how this battle was fought by trying to control the language spoken and read. During the prewar period before the Second World War, six separate alphabets had been used here. Then during the Soviet era, the Cyrillic alphabet was standard, but increasingly Romanian was spoken and written (yet still with Cyrillic letters).

Interestingly, the path of standardization of the language during the 1960s-80s was more toward Romanization. Linguists wanted to purify the language (instead of simply promoting the hodgepodge of two languages spoken in the villages), and Romanian appeared the more culturally relevant path. As King puts it, Moldova nation-builders rejected an independent Moldovan culture based on the language spoken by the peasants (this impure mix of languages). Thus, in terms of language “a distinct Moldovan culture was more stipulated than cultivated.”

In most places we take as given that cultural identity simply forms and evolves over time passed down from generation to generation. I am no expert on culture, but I would not have guessed that government would try to use language in such a way as to direct people toward a specific identity. I know there are many ways in which government attempts to promote culture in terms of education, art, music, food, etc. but learning about the role of language here in Moldova has been very enlightening.


*What do you call someone who knows three languages, trilingual; what do you call someone who knows two languages, bilingual; what do you call someone who knows one language, an American.

Some Things I’ve Learned from My Students

• Moldovans must be entrepreneurial and work with/around the system in order to get things done. The government here still stifles people and ideas with a lot of bureaucratic hoops (and corruption) to jump through if one wants to start a business, enter a specific industry, etc.
  
• Most systems here are slow and archaic yet people do not complain. Little things like registering for classes, getting in and out of the classrooms, waiting for an elevator to creep up and down many floors, paperwork, more paperwork, etc.
  
• They speak in both Romania and Russian in the same conversation, even in the same word.
  
• It’s hard for them to leave the country and travel to Western Europe or America. Visas are denied for little reason (I guess one benefit of EU membership would change this…yet then they are stuck with the Euro).
  
• A licensure degree (Bachelors in the US) here is not as valued as it should be. Unfortunately the system accepts everyone, and many “buy” their degree (some professors find “paying for the grade” as an entrepreneurial opportunity).
  
• Most Moldovans are very proud of their country, yet there are many ethnic ties to either Romania or Russia and these ties do create tensions.
  
• American professors (namely me) are very different from their Moldovan counterparts. My teaching style is much more friendly and interactive (I hope that’s a good thing).

A Night Out

This past week Amy and I, and two kids, went to a performance of traditional Moldovan dancing. It was a great experience of the local culture….

Observations From Teaching

I have finished my first class here in Moldova and I’ve been very pleased with the students and the entire experience. The students have been very engaging, eager to learn, and grateful to experience a new professor and an American-style course.

Here are some things I’ve learned about the students here:

• Most are very proud of being Moldova and around 60% of my 80+ students plan to either work or continue on with a Master’s degree and stay in Moldova. This is very heartening as many intelligent students want to leave for Western Europe or the US. 
• About 80% of my students have spent summers in the US working and traveling. 
• My program, International Economics, attracts a lot of women. 
• A majority have read all the material and come to class with papers I assigned highlighted, notes in the margin (or in a notebook), and questions ready to discuss/ask. 
• The students did very well in the course. Maybe I’m a an American novelty, but I was very pleased with the effort and thought put into answering questions on the final exam.