Roads, What Roads?

There are just two things I really do not like about Moldova.  The roads are one of them. They would more be likened to "potholes with intermittent patches of road".  I have seen cow paths in my home state of Kentucky that were more solidly paved than most of the rural roads in Moldova. Come to think of it, that paving material is a really good description for what they must use to fill a few of the more serious potholes in the Spring, because it does not last much beyond a good rain.


I drive an old clunker here in Moldova because I cannot bring myself to put a new vehicle through the torture of the "streets" in Chisinau.  


That being said, I know of few places where you will see more high end vehicles, Mercedes, BMW's, Lexus, and even some Rolls Royce and Bentley.  That is one of the interesting things about Eastern Europe.  Americans have always heard about the "Great American Love Affair with the Automobile", fiddlesticks!  The Eastern European men and especially the Russians make Americans look like pikers when it comes to their car.  You almost have to see it to believe it, their automobile is like a baby, always spotless as possible and regular visits to legions of local car washes.  


Driving that car is another matter entirely.  The rule of driving here is that the most expensive car has the right of way, at least that is the way they seem to see it.  The other interesting thing is that when you see a wreck, it is usually two high end vehicles who apparently lost a game of "my car is more expensive than yours" chicken.  Some of the antics you will see on Moldovan roads are just hilarious and many could get you shot if you attempted them in Texas or a couple of other states in the U.S.  It is standard to see a new Mercedes get in the left lane and run to the front of 30 or 40 cars at a stoplight and wedge themselves in front of the first car. 

Where is the "Natural Foods" Section?

You live in Moldova and you LIVE in the natural foods section.  Every grocery is for all intents and purposes a natural food store.  You will not find anything that has any preservatives, nitrates, nitrites, or Heaven forbid High Fructose Corn Syrup.  None of that stuff is allowed.  You can actually make yourself a sandwich from the lunch meat you purchase at the store and really taste the meat instead of thinking you are eating a salt sandwich. 


Coca Cola, Pepsi, 7up, all the major soft drinks are here and all sweetened with normal sugar, no HFCS.  There are diet drinks available as they are everywhere and they have artificial sweeteners but I ignore them in favor of fruit juices cut with water.


Fruit juices, I am SO spoiled. A 2 liter container of PURE apricot juice or most any other juice for that matter will cost you just a few pennies over $2.


So if you enjoy eating healthy, you can do it in Moldova.  You don't have to carry your magnifying glass to inspect the labels because its all the pure natural stuff. 

Personal Safety in Moldova

I have been a lot of places in the world and I do not know any city anywhere that I have ever been where I would feel perfectly safe walking alone at 2am.  Chisinau with a population of nearly 1 million is it.. the one and only.  Its not only Chisinau, I have been all over Moldova and I have not seen any place where I have ever felt in even the slightest uneasy about my personal safety.


Moldovans are simply not aggressive people.  The only time I have ever seen or heard of any person on person violence is either drunks that probably know each other or family disputes. I have walked at night by myself in areas of old soviet era apartments that externally look like the worst tenements you might see in South Chicago, down narrow alleys and through narrow pathways between building that are just wide enough to walk through. 


Chisinau has huge bazaars, so big you can get lost,  so when you go there unless you are alert and take precautions, you might fall victim to a pickpocket.  

If You are Multilingual

If you are multilingual, you speak many languages.


If you are bi-lingual, you speak two languages.


If you speak one language, you are an American.


If you are an American its a not so funny statement about American culture.  If you live almost anywhere else in the world, especially Europe most everyone speaks two or more languages fluently.  There are two primary languages spoken in Moldova, Moldovan (a slight permutation of Romanian), and Russian.  I now speak "little boy" Russian, which is to say I could survive just fine if I were dumped into a Russian only speaking area.  Russian is a VERY difficult language to learn.  I would advise anyone who is considering Moldova to instead learn Moldovan which uses our alphabet and is probably not much more difficult to learn than Spanish.  I am hard headed and determined to learn Russian, have mastered the alphabet and am working on the six cases and vocabulary.  


My wife Irina speaks Moldovan, Russian, German, and English.  


You should not consider language a barrier to living in Moldova, many here speak English and it is becoming more widespread.  We can help you with tutoring and guidance in language and translation issues.

I was a free man when I got here

I went and messed it up though, got married again and am happier than I have ever been in my entire life.  The happiness really has nothing to do with what you might think when you see the photo, it has to do with the fact that Irina is just the kindest, sweetest, most loving woman I have ever had the pleasure to know.  We have been married almost 3 years now and words just cannot describe the relationship.  I have learned from being here that Moldova has a culture that is massively different from Romania, Ukraine, or Russia and that for the most part the women in Moldova are not only real women in the traditional sense of the word, they are just as beautiful inside as they are externally. Moldova has a reputation for having the most beautiful women in the world and it is true in more ways than one.

The Pharmacy

One of my very favorite subjects regarding Moldova.  If you know exactly what you need, and the dosage, you just go to the pharmacy, tell the pharmacist what you want and how many, pay the money and you are out the door.  Simple as that.  Most drugs are substantially less than in the U.S. and there are things available here which are very effective that you cannot get in the states. No prescription needed unless you need tranquilizers or things of that nature.


A good example is a blood pressure medication that I take which in the states is called Norvasc.
I get 30ea 10mg tablets for about $20.  Prices were a even a lot cheaper until about a year ago when Moldova instituted a new drug import system with strict quality control measures.

Where to live - Apartments

There are huge numbers of apartments and apartment buildings currently under construction in Moldova.  Prices for new European style apartments are similar to costs in the rest of the world simply due to the need to import most all construction materials.  Recently though due to the world financial situation there has been some slowdown in construction, and as I understand some price reductions.  Here are some examples of new apartment buildings in Chisinau so you get an idea of construction styles.