Mold Expo

Before you ask, the answer is “no, Mold Expo is not a exposition of spores.” It is actually Moldova’s Exposition Center and a wide variety of expositions are held there throughout the year. This past week, I attended the “Farmer 2010” exposition with my partner Angela.

I wish I could say that this was super exciting, but the truth is that Farmer 2010 was very American. This probably means that the exposition is very exciting for Moldovans, but as an American it didn’t really live up to the hype. I don’t mean to take anything away from it, because it was a great expo, but I think my family and partners talked it up a bit much.

I went early with my partner Angela to help set up the Hincesti booth for the expo; however, there were so many people there that I really felt more like I was in the way. I fact she even asked my to go look around the other booths at one point, but I think she really just wanted me to get out of the way.

There were people at our booth selling honey, shoes, bags, pickled vegetables, treelings, and food; so, you can imagine how crowded it was. To illustrate the large social network that is the Moldovan community, I will tell you that the man selling trees in on the board of directors of the organization that I work with, the woman selling bags and shoes is friends with my mom and I had previously met her at the sauna (however, I didn’t recognize her with her clothes on), and the woman selling pickled vegetables was my host- sister’s God mother.

There was a lot of variety among the exhibitors. Many were selling farm equipment, such as tractors, automatic animal feeders, kit barns, etc. Others were selling products for animals, such as veterinary pharmaceuticals. And still others were organizations and locals selling their own products, such as honey, cheese, seeds, trees, bread, fruits and vegetables.











Vlad Filat, the Prime Minister of Moldova, said a few words at the opening ceremonies and then walked around to all the booths followed by an entourage of news media. With all of those people, I really just tried to stay out of the way when he came by our booth and I think I did so successfully.

At about noon, Angela left and I headed out for some winter boot shopping. I have been looking for winter boots for about two weeks now and have been quite unsuccessful. This is mainly due to the price. Boots cost the same amount here that they do in the US. When I finally found a pair that I like, they cost 1500 lei or about $140. Now, I have been known to spend a pretty penny on shoes, but not on a measly Peace Corps stipend. There are cheaper boots that can be bought at the piata, but I have been warned against buying those boots by several people, all of whom claim that they won’t last more than a few months and I will be buying new boots again before winter is over.

I discussed boot prices with my host mom and she told me that her boots that only come up to her ankle cost 1100 lei. She felt that 1500 lei is a fair price for taller boots and that if I found good ones then I should buy them. However, my tutor says that 1500 is expensive for boots. So, you see my dilemma. I think that I will probably end up buying the 1500 lei boots because they were one of only two pair that fit well. We’ll see, I’ll keep everyone updated on the boot situation.



Anyway, back to Mold Expo. There is a Mold Energy Expo in March. If any of you CPUCers think you can convince the State of California to send you, then you are more than welcome to stay with me.

Until next time…