Day 271 - Visitors From Moscow

Image of money by artist in doing nothing,
via Flickr.com

We had challenges getting dollars into Moldova in the early days of the embassy. Normally cash transfers are done electronically, but first the U.S. Disbursing Officer in Paris needed to establish a bank account. And the USDO was not about to take any rash action such as opening an account with an unknown bank in a country that didn't have a long history.

Once when we were desperate for cash, GSO David and I had to travel to Frankfurt and spend a week there before we could return. More often, one of us made a trip to Moscow where we turned over our paid vouchers for processing in exchange for U.S. dollars to replenish our cashier's account. When I made the trip to Moscow, I stayed with a friend, Sherry. Sherry and I met during my first months in Washington. She and my friend Ursula's husband, Randy, had entered the Foreign Service in the same class. By the time I arrived in Washington, Sherry and Randy had completed their first overseas tours and were back in Washington in language training. Randy and Ursula were in the Turkish language program and Sherry was in the German program. Once I finished the orientation program, I joined Sherry's German class. At the end of our training, Sherry went to Berlin and I went to Stuttgart. When I traveled to Berlin over the Thanksgiving holiday my first fall in Germany, I spent an evening with Sherry.

Image of Cricova wine cellars by hanspoldoja,
via Flickr.com

I was pleased when Sherry and two of her friends from the embassy made plans to visit Moldova over a long weekend in February. Sherry wanted to see what Moldova had to offer, but the most impressive site in Moldova, the Cricova wine cellars with its miles of underground tunnels storing all varieties of Moldovan wine, was not open on weekends. Instead, I asked Natasha* if she could arrange some sights. She came up with an excellent series of stops.

Natasha had many contacts within the artist community. She arranged for us to visit a studio where several artists had their work on display. The studio was much more impressive than the shops we had first found with paintings for sale. Next she took is to the home of a woman who was hoping to open a bed and breakfast or small private hotel where we had lunch as her guest. She also had embroidered items from a collective of women artists. Our afternoon stop was at the studio of Nicolai Yorga, a local musician who provided us with a history lesson about music, beginning with leaves and fish scales that he demonstrated could be used to make music. He moved through history to demonstrate other wind instuments. The final instrument he demonstrated was one he made from a gourd with holes drilled along the neck that he covered to change notes as he blew through the reeded mouthpiece. Since it was his construction, he called it a Yorgaphone. Sherry and her friends each bought a Yorgaphone.

Image of Moldovan embroidery by denseatoms,
via Flickr.com

The next day, we headed out of Chisinau to a scenic area that has been used as the location for many films. For lunch, we stopped at the home of a woman who had often hosted film directors, actors, and others involved in filming. Our lunch was more typical of a peasant meal than our meal the day before - mamaliga with cheese and vegetables. I think I enjoyed the second lunch more than the first because of the hospitality of our hostess.

Natasha also arranged a visit for the ambassador with Mr. Yorga who presented her with a Yorgaphone for President Clinton. On her next trip back to Washington, she accompanied the Moldovan president who was invited to meet with President Clinton. But an invitation does not mean the meeting will be private. The Moldovan president, Ambassador Pendleton, and several other ambassadors gathered at the White House at the same time. They all waited together outside the Oval Office before being directed to join the President for a photo opportunity. Ambassador Pendleton told us when she returned that she kept imagining what was going through the minds of the other ambassadors, all men. Who did they think the President was going to remember? One of the men in the obligatory suit and tie, or the woman in the hot pink dress with the strange instrument in her lap?

*a name, not necessarily the right one