JUMP JUMP girls

What is a JUMP JUMP girl you ask?  Sometimes I find myself in surreal moments while serving as a member of the PC.  Most of us picture the rural villages of Africa when we hear Peace Corps, right? A young American surrounded by dozens of smiling children. I don’t think anyone pictures THIS stuff. I happened to be in the city, a world away from my rural corner of Moldova, for World Cup - In the center the main road was partially blocked off to celebrate. Each night they had the games on big screens. Lots of fun, music, and beer.  

 

 

 

 

 

Now see here on the screen? The gals are half-dressed (1/4 dressed actually you just can't tell from photos), these are cheerleaders that are performing on the stage behind me.  These are them, the  “JUMP JUMP  girls”

 

During the games, as well as in-between, over the loudspeakers (which you could hear no mater where you were in the city) would come the words “JUMP JUMP JUMP”. When you heard these word, look out! Here come the JUMP JUMP girls. These woman would run around the crowds (well jump actually) with pom poms flying. Hence the name (not official, we created it). Every now and then they’d throw in “JUMP JUMP men” who were dressed in baggy clothes from neck to ankle whose job was NOT to look sexy. Instead it was their job to help the JUMP JUMP girls jump higher, spin, dance and over all, just look a whole lot better than they already did. I tell you, these gals were HOT!! We were in awe of their abs! Who could have known that jumping so much would cause one to have great abs!  (hhhmmmm… time to get the jump rope out).

The event was funded by Chisinau beer so every 5 minutes “CCCHHHHIIISSSIINNAAAUUUU” was yelled, somewhere along the way we decided to take a drink of our beer each time it was said. Made for a fun beer drinking game. .... partying with 20 year olds is keeping me young (until I look around me and realize I'm the only one who is over 20 in the crowd,, then I don't feel so young)

 

 

Oh what a strange strange world I have found myself in. Beam me up Scotty..... it's time to go home.

Memorial Park

Chisinau, MEMORIAL PARK

 

This is memorial park dedicated to the soldiers of WWII

 

ETERNAL FLAME

Moldovan weddings photos has a very different tradition than us. Whereas we find one place for our photos to be taken, they drive around to all the nice places and monuments, their cars are decorated and horns are honking. Sometimes at each stop the entire party is out playing music and dancing. This is pretty fun to watch.  Here, if you look close on the left (yes that is me on the right, don't look there) you will see a bride and groom.

Two guards are posted and like all good guards at these kinds of places they didn’t blink, lose their posture, turn their head, sneeze, cough, nothing…. However, they DID periodically march around the structure. The “Russian” march  – the “goosestep” -  I think it’s called? something like that? it was GREAT watching, a march I’ve only seen in movies, though this is serious stuff to them, for me, it was pretty hard not to laugh (respectfully of course).  You can see here the two of them, the high step, the arm swing. When they returned to their post another soldier approached them looking them up and down, straightened their jackets, hats, etc. making sure none of their uniform had been wrinkled or had shifted during this ceremony.

The question is - do these guards talk when people are not around? I'm pretty sure I saw them hanging out chatting before we approached. We'll never know....

 

Here are some of the monuments.

 

 

 

 Entry way to the cemetery

 

A walk through the cemetery was amazing, the entire time I  kept thinking woooowww!!! Now I don't know who these people were but one can smell MONEY MONEY MONEY everywhere. It seems to be the resting place for the rich and perhaps the famous (such as writers and musicians?) Sometimes it's very odd to remember that you are in the "poorest country in Europe" when you see these things, especially the cars they drive. But.... this is the city, completely different than the rest of the country.

 

 

Sydney! She wasn't planning on visiting but she went, she was thrilled she had.

 

 

Poor little Moldova, like all the countries over here, they've seen way too many wars. They spent many years in a tug-of-war between Romania and Russia. Which is why we have pockets of Russian towns (me) when the rest of the country, though "Moldovan", is much more tied to Romania. In the 90's an internal war broke out because the  Transanistria area (Russian settlement next to Ukraine) refused to accept that "Romanian" language would be the official "Moldovan" language - well that and much more of course, but that was part of it that added to the tension that already existed. It was settled that Romanian (called Moldovan, but the same) is the first language, Russian the second. I have never heard Romanian in my town, I wouldn't be too "keen" on trying it either. There is an odd bit of tension sometimes between the languages, I speak some Russian in the city, I know they can understand me, but often they pretend they don't. Transanistria is now considered an independent part of Moldova with their own government. Visitors to Moldova like to take a trip here because it's a bit of a flashback to the days of communism, so I hear, PC members are not allowed to visit.

It's always a good thing to be reminded that no matter the country, the war, or who is right and who is wrong, no matter who has been labeled the "bad guys" or "enemies", they are just men and woman who's lives have been cut short because they fought for their country. Memorials and monuments are erected so that they are not forgotten. They were loved by family and friends, who surely grieved their loss. No matter where, or who, they were they should be honored in such places as WWII memorial park in Chisinau Moldova. Should you ever visit little Moldova, be sure to visit.

 

Hostel life "ain't" just for kids

 

Where does a PC member stay when they visit the city? We surely don’t have money for hotels (though some use $$ dollars for hotels) hostels are the thing to do – hostels, most of us associate that word with college students, but that is not so, there are people of all ages. This is the favorite one of PC members. It’s called the “Funky Mamaliga” . Because, well, it is kind of funky. There are no signs, you find it by looking for spray painted words on the sides of buildings on their gate. THIS I don’t need, it is hard enough for me to find a 50 story high building, never mind a tiny building behind a rusty gate. Doesn’t matter how often I’ve stayed here, getting back is like math, 5 streets up, 6 streets over, dress shop on that corner, store on that….still….at night it is rough. Well who am I kidding, it’s hard for me in the day.  Can’t count how many times I have walked past the rusty old gate.

But the outside is deceiving, it's very cozy and cute on the inside.

The people here are wonderful, the place is comfortable and very clean, it has 2 bathrooms with flush toilets, a shower with LOTS of hot water with great water pressure, the beds have real mattresses (at home most of us sleep on fold out couches with a crack down the middle that caused me so many backaches I finally got the family to give me another one). Bunk beds at the age of 53, who could have imagined…..oh… how could forget to mention a WASHING MACHINE! But no driers. I have never seen a drier in this country, in fact, a friend in Serbia said no one has them.... didn't know this. I have seen spin dry contraptions, but that just get's the water out, you still have to hang clothes to dry.

 

Different PC members (as well as others) come and go each night. They have a great kitchen to cook in, here is a group of us having dinner.

 

See? Not just for teens! That's Warren on the left, he has just become engaged to my former site mate Sylvia - a PC love story. Lots of that going around, especially the 20 yr olds, as you can imagine.

Paula, she is always great company, she is a Health Educator. Here she is bringing in food from the grill. When these guys have parents visit, they're my age. Paula's mom, sister and brother stayed at Funky. Very fun.

I laugh so much around him. For some reason we hit it off and make each other laugh. and anyone else staying at the hostel, if they have no plans, cooks a fun dinner, he is a great cook.…. My personal favorite, taco salad WITH nacho chips and salsa (only available in the city, I think about bringing them home but figured they’d crush along the way). He loves the music from the 80s and early 90s from his "parents" generation, "classic rock " he calls it (oh brother.....) 

 

I have also had a good time with his mom and dad, I told him to go ahead to a party, I will take them out.... it's so nice when I have people my age to talk to.

 

As you can see, there are several upsides, but another great one is you meet people from all over the world, mostly passing through on an Eastern European tour. Sometimes they are very odd.... very very odd, so you just try to stay away from them. My favorite PC moments is meeting people here and cooking dinners. I don't get that opportunity any other time. 

 

Now on the down side of a hostel, in the summer it is insane! There are beds crammed into small spaces, suitcases to step over everywhere. You have to be tolerant and patient,, which surprisingly I pretty much am, but you also need to be fast to get into the shower, if you wake up early in the morning? Better to not go to sleep again, just get up and take a shower before the rush begins. There are groups of kids in Moldova for specific reasons, such as volunteer work through their college. One time I was in the shower and twice they turned the light off leaving me in total darkness. "who's in there?" they said, me: "DOES IT MATTER TURN ON THE #$@ SHOWER". This after a long day of travel to get home from vacation, NOT funny people. They stay up all night keeping us all awake, staff ignores it, even though it clearly says QUIET time at 10pm. Pretty annoying. One time I had had enough, I went out and said (nicely of course)  “SHUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTT UPPPPPPPPPP, there are 2 other bedrooms here with 15 people you are keeping awake, if you need to make noise fine, you are young, but don't SHOT and sing Gilligan's island  song at the top of your lungs!”. Ahhhh they didn’t care, I ended up putting in my earphones with music, the rest of the year is quite and somewhat empty and used mostly be PC members.
 

So there you go, life in a Hostel. You really never know what your going to get with each visit, who is there, what is going on.... I head there this weekend, let's see what it brings.  Could I ever have imagined I'd be staying in a hostel at 53/54? Nope, but  "hostel life "ain't" just for kids". It is become the "thing to do" for travelers of all ages. Besides, I think another up-side, it's keeping me young, cooking dinner and laughing with a bunch of 20 year olds. I almost forget (almost) that I am so much older, until I get stuck having to stay in the top  bunk and figure out how to get down without falling.