This is my first time in Moldova, and I’m staying in Chisinau, visiting a missionary friend who is based here and in Ukraine for a charity that focuses on projects for children who are victims of war. More on that another time maybe, but for now I thought I’d just share a few reflections based on my first 24 hours here.
From an architectural perspective, there are throw-backs to the communist era which reminded me of some of the other ex-communist cities I’ve visited: old, identical, somewhat crumbling blocks of flats; very big government buildings with a square in front; rows of shopfront buildings (very little evidence of any of the usual global brands though); communal parks. The visible churches are predominantly orthodox, and very ornate and gilded inside they are too.
Talking of churches, the one I went to this morning was a wonderful charismatic church – lots going on, with community outreach, children’s work, and lots of young adults. They’ve recently opened a coffee shop on site, with the strap-line ‘making community, one coffee at a time’. And a fab extra bit of info is that the building that they have bought for their church is an ex-KGB building that was designed and used for spreading communist propaganda. How beautiful is that – a building built to spread the darkness of communism has been repurposed and is now spreading the light of Christianity, what a wonderful outcome!
The parks are very well sorted with activities for all ages – play parks, multiple basketball pitches, table-tennis tables, adult outdoor gyms etc – I guess given how many live in apartments, these parks are the garden for many residents. They are also great places for going for an early morning run, as I found out today!
And like any city that has reliable warm weather for a good part of the year, there are lots of outdoor eating spaces as well, and some very delicious-looking street food options (sadly not so many that are gluten-free, so I’ve had to skip trying them).
The languages spoken here are both Romanian and Russian. It seems that the older generation are more towards Russian speaking, whilst the younger generation are more towards Romanian. Indeed, at church today, a Russian speaker was speaking from the front, and so older people were translating from Russian into Romanian so that the younger ones could understand. The younger generation also seem to have a better command of English, and so at one point there was a 3-way translation going on around me: from Russian to Romanian to English, and very grateful I am for that.
From what I’ve picked up there are a mix of attitudes towards the situation regarding Ukraine and the war. Some Moldovans support Ukraine whilst others prefer Russian. Again there appears to be a bit of a generational angle to this. The older generation remember being part of the USSR, and some of the perceived benefits of that time: accommodation, job for life…. That, plus the fact that Ukraine gained some land that was previously Moldovan, leads to an anti-Ukraine tendency against their larger northern neighbour. Others recognise that if Ukraine falls, Moldova will become very vulnerable, and so have a more pro-Ukraine stance.
All these reflections are just based on my first 24hours here in Chişinău. In summary it has a fairly standard post-communist European small city feel, albeit from about 15-20 years ago. But out in the villages, from what I hear there is more poverty, and the communities are less developed, and more run down. But this is just what I hear, not what I’ve seen. It’s a joy to be here, and to be welcomed by these lovely people.
No comments:
Post a Comment