Last Sunday, May 9th, was a national holiday in Moldova...similar to our Memorial Day.  I went to the centru/where the war monument is and met up with several teachers of my school (all teachers were required to be at the monument in the center of town at 10AM-not all were there).  There was about a half hour worth of speeches, then a band began to play and all the people with flowers (all teachers seemed to have them, one of the teachers gave me some lilacs) made a line and placed the flowers either in front of the monument or gave them to WWII veterans who were next to the monument.  It was interesting for me to see there were just as many female veterans as male veterans.  

After everyone put the flowers on, the police and military (there is a base in my town since we are on the border to Romania and a check-point) did a small march/display.  Coming from America where we have some of the best military in the world, this was a little.....well less than that.  The soldiers weren't able to completely march in a straight line or stay in step.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't completely out of step, but when you are used to seeing marines/army/navy/air force marching, it's a little different.  Another interesting thing for me was the shoes.  In the US the military all has regulation uniforms.  Here, the uniforms were the same, but the shoes were not.  There were women in full uniform with some incredibly high heeled shoes.  It shouldn't surprise me, since Moldovanka's seem to be born with a special gene that allows them to walk on ice/mud/uneven ground in high heels and not stumble, trip, or fall.  I wonder though, what does the Moldovan military do other than border control?  I tried asking someone once (a student at my English club who wants to go into the military), and he couldn't really tell me.

After this hour long remembrance for the soldiers, I went with a teacher at my school to find a pair of jeans.  We both wanted some, so we went together to the piata (Sunday's and Thursday's are when the big piata is open).  Now, piatas are generally outside stalls selling just about anything you can think of.  Many clothing stalls have a curtain, that may or may not cover you completely.  When I tried on my jeans, the curtain did not completely close and I am sure some people saw more of me than I would have liked if I were in the states, but you get over your shyness quickly here.  The woman selling the jeans even pulled and tugged at the jeans...another strange thing in the states, but here..eh.  Complete strangers tugging at your clothing showing you how it works.  I did find a pair of jeans, and I am now a little more frumos.  

At 1 I met with the group of teachers I spend most of my extra time at school with and who I consider my friends here in Moldova for a picnic.  Most of their husbands also came, which was the first time I had met all but one of them.  We had a barbeque/picnic in a park and sat around talking (well I mostly listened and tried to understand), ate, and drank.  I was the first one to leave since I had a skype meeting.  All in all, it was a great day, and I am now a little more integrated into my community here in Moldova.

Take that goal two of PC! 

Two weeks...10 days left of school, not like I'm counting or anything.