Friday, March 5, 2010

Ministries, Extractions, Ambassadors and Wine!

Thursday:

Brittany, Patrick, Dr. Mango and I (Elise) went to the Ministry of Health early in the morning to learn more about Moldovan public health policy.

Outside the Ministry of Magic

After the brief meeting, Dr. Mango and Brittany headed to Straseni, Patrick went with Dr. Garland and Vannessa to meet with the Moldovan military dentists and I headed to Diana Uncut's office to continue working with the children. With the help of Dr. Horowitz I sped through children performing mainly sealants and fillings. Right before we broke for lunch, I had a patient named Efrim on whom I did one filling on his molar, but the other molar needed to come out. Guided by Dr. Horowitz and a lot of prayer I PULLED MY FIRST TOOTH!!! I was so excited! Afterwards, Dr. Horowitz looked at me deadpan and said, "Elise, you're not a virgin any more." Haha, I feel like a real dentist now.


Efrim, whose tooth I pulled still loved me afterwards
I coaxed him through it by telling him he could go to McDonald's afterwards - which he had never been too, and giving him two bouncy balls.

Patrick with his patient at Diana Uncut's office


Friday
(How is it Friday already?!)

After a long night out after dinner with John Maxemchuck and company, we were invited to tea at the Ambassador's house since he was ill the night we were supposed to have dinner. Ambassador Chaudhry was an excellent host and it was great to visit with him in such intimate company. The residence has a lot of great art on the walls courtesy of the Art in Embassy program which allows Ambassadors and their families to chose artwork to be displayed on loan from American artist. The Ambassador and his wife have chosen to theme their collection after the Pacific Northwest where they are from and he gave us each a book with a description of their pieces. After the tea, he gave us a tour of the residence, including a fabulous wine cellar where he and his colleagues go to discuss matters that they don't want listened in on since the entire house is almost assuredly bugged. The Cold War apparently isn't over this far into the former USSR.

Dr. Garland, Dr. Mango, Amb. Chaudhry and Dr. Horowitz

Patrick, Brittany and Elise at tea


After tea, we went souvenir shopping at the local market and said goodbye to Dr. Mike Mango who is headed back to the states. We then headed about an hour outside of town to Chateau Vartely, a winery built in 2005. We had a great tour and tasting followed by a much needed dinner.

Patrick, Elise and Brittany on the winery tour

Dr. Garland, Vannessa, Patrick, Oxsana, Elise and Brittany in the wine cave

Dr. Horowitz and Patrick in the barrel room

Wine tasting - we tried 7 varieties!

Diana Danu and her husband Radu - our fabulous translators and probably the cutest couple ever

When we left the winery, it started snowing - and it hasn't let up yet!

We wish Dr. Garland and Vannessa a safe trip home tomorrow!

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