Zebras and Jeraffes!!!

Day 2: Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Location: Our apartment
A very chill and relaxing morning! Woke up at 6:42 am like I was going to school. Fell back to sleep and woke up around 10am. Elise and I got a little breakfast snack and met Col. Mix at 11:30 am to meet Diana. Got a suprise--we get to ride on the 'maxi-taxi'. These Mercedes buses drive various routes around the city. We tooke one with Diana to the restaurant. Kinda cramped, but not that much different than riding the bus in the morning. Hold on tight...

Location: Jeraffe restaurant
The entire crew met at the Jeraffe restaurant. I guess I should probably introduce everyone:

1. Dr. Horowitz: a pediatric dentist from Raleigh who is supervising us.
2. Caroline: Dr. Horowitz's former hygienist. She's going to start dental school soon!
3. Dr. Garland: A National Guard dentists who works at UNC.
4. Vanessa: I believe she's in the National Guard too--she's an assistant. She's been to Moldova before.
5. Diana Danu: BAO (Bilateral Affairs Office) Project Manager--She's very vivacious and friendly! Native to Moldova, she's 'head diva' on this mission.
6. Col. Mix: Our driver, security, US contact person! He's pretty fantastic too. He's an American that works in Moldova
7. Dr. Diana Uncutsa: She's a local dentist here in Moldova that's closing her office for a week so that we can use it to treat orphans.
8. Oxsana: She just finished her dental residency in Moldova and is now working on her PhD. She teaches at their dental school.
9. Stella and Alina Samson: Stella is a dental resident and her little sister, Alina, is going to dental school next year.

OK, so we eat lunch (courtesy of Dr. Horowitz :-D) and talk about what we've got planned for the week. The restaurant is fantastic--very modern, very 'Western'. Jeraffe restaurant (translates to Giraffe) has sushi, salads, soups, pizza, etc.

The dentists and the BAO team go to check out supplies for our mission while Elise and I get a personal tour of Chisinau from Stella and Alina.

Location: The streets of Chisinau

Stella and Alina are super-friendly! We walk around downtown along blvd. Stefan cel Mare (which is a street named after a famous Romanian leader Stefan the Great)! We visited the cathedral and lit candles and said a prayer. The Orthodox church was absolutely stunning! Everything is gilded and ornate and the walls are hand-painted with all the saints. But there are no pews! Here is Moldova, when you go to church--you stand! Next, we go to 'central park'. There's a statue of Stefan the Great and since we are there taking pictures (and I'm the only Black person in the country) we are dead give-aways for tourists!!! We think it's so funny to see the people stare and wonder what we are here for or if we are celebrities. We walk around the souvenir market, the Parliament (which has apparently been torn apart), the opera house and few other locations. And learned that they call crosswalks-- 'zebras'! There's a little cafe we visit for tea and coffee! We just chatted for an hour and talked of places we've been too and concerts (they know all about Rihanna, P.Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce). Akon is one of Alina's favorite rappers! We talked about dental school and traveling. They were really excited about Disney World! They've been to one in Paris but it doesn't have 'crushes' (rollercoasters). We had so much fun out and about! Elise and I returned to our apartment to chill out for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow, the real work begins....