I arrived in Leova around 9:30 and it was cold, probably the coldest day I have had in Moldova up to this point. Matt though that the festivities started at 10:00, but it turns out that they didn’t start until 12:00, so we took the extra time to tour Leova. We went to the piata, the church and Matt’s office. The church is Leova is a lovely aqua color and I felt this color scheme is worth posting a picture of.
At 12:00 we went to the opening of the new stadium. The new stadium is a half sized soccer field surrounded by a huge fence. Even though the field is small, I was impressed that the field had artificial turf. It is the first artificial turf field that I have seen in Moldova. Apparently, this was the grand opening of the field because there was a ribbon cutting ceremony. Also, the Primar (Mayor) and the Raion Council President both gave remarks.
After all the ceremony concluded, there was a kids soccer game. We watched for a while and it appeared that “the green team” led by the “fat kid” was dominating. The highlight of the game was a kid getting hit in the face with the ball. This may sound mean, but it really wasn’t that bad and the kid (after some coercion from his mother) used it as an excuse to go home. I really wish that I knew how to say, “walk it off” in Romanian.
After the game we headed to lunch. We had some more of the popular Moldovan dish, pizza with mayonnaise. Although this sounds gross, after trying in numerous times it turns out that I don’t mind pizza with mayonnaise.
Later in the day we went to a concert at the Casa de Cultura. It was pretty awesome. I enjoyed when the singer sang “Feliculi Felicula!” and I have posted a video below so you too can enjoy it.
The most interesting part of the day was when I tried to head back to Hincesti. Although, I arrived early for the scheduled bus, it never seemed to come. Matt and I waited at the gara for an hour before I decided to hitchhike. Yes, that is right, I hitchhiked. Although this is something, I would never even dream of doing in the US, it is more than common in Moldova.
A lovely man (in a newish Mercedes) picked me up in Leova as he was dropping another passenger off. He was a taxi driver by profession and on his way to Chisinau from Cahul to go to a sauna. We had a lovely conversation and then he dropped me off at the corner by my house. I gave him a few lei for his trouble. I am not sure what the going rate to hitchhike in Moldova is, but I thought 30 lei should cover it.
Did I mention that every one in the town gets the day off for Hram? Unfortunately, my town’s Hram will be on a Sunday, November 21st; therefore, we already have it off. Boo!!! Everyone tells me that our will be “cel mai frumos” even though we don’t get an extra day off.
Until then….
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