Just days after I wrote about the dire situation at Air Moldova, two new incidents have come to light. In the first, a scheduled Air Moldova flight from Chisinau to Greece was grounded. My translation: Dozens of Moldovans who were ready to head to the Corfu Islands and Zakinthos in Greece on vacation were sent home and told that the flight was canceled. Air Moldova … Continue reading Air Moldova Problems Continue
Romanian is an interesting and colorful language, but it’s actually quite rare to find an entire set of words that are strictly derived from Latin. One such case involves everyday kitchen utensils. Knife = cuțit Spoon = linguriţă Fork = furculiţă The Romanian word for “knife” comes directly from the Latin term cotitus which means “sharpened” (Ro: ascuțit) from the Latin word cotis which means … Continue reading Sharpy, Licky, and Mini Pitchfork
When I saw this article come across the wire, I assumed that it would quickly become a big story, if not globally than at least in Moldova. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, probably because if the information is true, it is just too horrible to contemplate. Frankly, it scared the hell out of me, and I’m pretty grizzled. In the linked article, an anonymous group of … Continue reading Desperate Air Moldova Employees Warn of Impending Disaster
When I was a kid, we considered it the height of hilarity to refer to someone as “four eyes”. In modern terms, we thought this was a “sick burn,” but all it means it that the person wears glasses (spectacles). Not all that original, I know. In Romanian, however, saying ochii-n patru means something completely different. Literally translating to “eyes in four,” it’s the exact … Continue reading Four Eyes
You know, I don’t often write about Moldovan politics. There are a number of reasons for this, the biggest one being that I still don’t feel completely confident about exactly what’s going on. Moldova may be a small country, but it is… very different, and often what you see on the news is just the tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist writing about … Continue reading A Cat Named Shura
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