Hello Friends and Family -- Wendy here. Adrienne and I looked forward to being with the kids again on Monday, after having one day off. We were, however, not prepared for our children showing up in the playground looking like zombies. They looked like little robots, each with a toy in their hands. Their caretaker, a woman we had not yet met named Anna, was not interested in engaging the children in play, and seemed to view us as intruders in her orderly world. After some time, we did get some of the boys to play ball, and they are slowly [View Full Entry]

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It's Adrienne, and I wanted to write a quick update about our Monday. As Wendy mentioned, our morning did not go well. One reason may be the weather. It is so hot and humid here, so we are constantly miserable and sweating, with nothing but a cold shower to provide relief (I never thought I would appreciate a cold shower, but there you go). Our host said it was 40 degrees Celsius yesterday, and there was no breeze. The thermometer in our room said 84 degrees Fahrenheit last night. Needless to say, we did not sleep well. So today did not [View Full Entry]

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Hello Friends and Familiy -- Wendy here. Yep, you guessed it, we're back at our Internet place. Today we tried a different cafe and I ordered a dish that showed up as veal cutlet covered in onion and mushrooms. Pretty tasty. Adrienne's was a chicken skewer with vegetables that was wrapped in an egg omelette-y looking thing. Unusual to see, but tasty. We now feel qualified to write a book called "Moldova on $5 a Day" but feel no one would really want to buy it. After one week here, we counted our money and have spent a whopping $50 each. [View Full Entry]

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Adrienne writing to you from the McDonald's Internet Cafe. Apparently "McDonald's" is Moldovan for "very nice bathroom." Since bathrooms have been such a prevalent part of my diary, I feel compelled to share that with you. So if you are ever in Moldova and find you need a bathroom break, look for a McDonalds. Just don't eat anything. We've been here over a week and are getting around Chisenau like a couple of natives. We've figured out the buses and most of the streets in the center of town. We take a microbus to work for 3 lei (1 USD equals [View Full Entry]

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Hello Friends and Familiy -- Wendy here. Yep, you guessed it, we're back at our Internet place. Today we tried a different cafe and I ordered a dish that showed up as veal cutlet covered in onion and mushrooms. Pretty tasty. Adrienne's was a chicken skewer with vegetables that was wrapped in an egg omelette-y looking thing. Unusual to see, but tasty. We now feel qualified to write a book called "Moldova on $5 a Day" but feel no one would really want to buy it. After one week here, we counted our money and have spent a whopping $50 each. [View Full Entry]

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Adrienne writing to you from the McDonald's Internet Cafe. Apparently "McDonald's" is Moldovan for "very nice bathroom." Since bathrooms have been such a prevalent part of my diary, I feel compelled to share that with you. So if you are ever in Moldova and find you need a bathroom break, look for a McDonalds. Just don't eat anything. We've been here over a week and are getting around Chisenau like a couple of natives. We've figured out the buses and most of the streets in the center of town. We take a microbus to work for 3 lei (1 USD equals [View Full Entry]

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Hello Friends and Family -- Wendy here. We're back at the Internet place downtown, as it's difficult to resist. Computers and connections that work, and only 60 cents per hour. We just had a really good lunch -- mine was 'aubergines cooked in a homely way' which turned out to be eggplant with tomato and garlic -- good vegetable eating. We both had a Turkish coffee as well, and paid about $5.50 each. This was our most expensive lunch yet. Many of you have said that you can't read the comments ... we will try to figure that out this weekend [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, it's Adrienne. We finally figured out what some of your comments meant--that you could not see other comments because we need to do something on our side. So I just went through and approved them all so there is bit more reading for you. I have to say that it is so nice to read these notes. While I'm online I totally forget I'm in another country, except for the ever-present Moldovian techno and rap music that has become the soundtrack for this trip. In an effort to communicate with people with only a basic knowledge of English, Wendy [View Full Entry]

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Hello Friends and Family -- Wendy here. We're back at the Internet place downtown, as it's difficult to resist. Computers and connections that work, and only 60 cents per hour. We just had a really good lunch -- mine was 'aubergines cooked in a homely way' which turned out to be eggplant with tomato and garlic -- good vegetable eating. We both had a Turkish coffee as well, and paid about $5.50 each. This was our most expensive lunch yet. Many of you have said that you can't read the comments ... we will try to figure that out this weekend [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, it's Adrienne. We finally figured out what some of your comments meant--that you could not see other comments because we need to do something on our side. So I just went through and approved them all so there is bit more reading for you. I have to say that it is so nice to read these notes. While I'm online I totally forget I'm in another country, except for the ever-present Moldovian techno and rap music that has become the soundtrack for this trip. In an effort to communicate with people with only a basic knowledge of English, Wendy [View Full Entry]

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