The Unsleeping Eye, as is its wont, sometimes goes down interesting paths. The other day, it led me to the OSCE‘s online presence. The OSCE has an office a 2-minute walk from my house, and they’re quite active in these parts because of PRM (Transnistria), so I was curious what they had to say about the country where I now live. Along the way, I … Continue reading Limba de Stat
When you have a language like Romanian, sometimes you get two (or more) similar words with subtle shades of meaning that come from two different linguistic sources. In Romanian, stiri (shteer) and veste (ves-teh) both mean “news.” The first comes from Latin and means “knowledge” while the second comes from Slavic roots and means “that which is new” or news. If you’re talking about journalism, … Continue reading Good News
When you’re an English speaker learning Romanian, two of the first words that you’ll learn are the equivalents for “yes” and “no.” These are “da” and “nu” respectively, and you might think that’s the end of the story. But Romanian is a unique language that has preserved a lot of Latin grammar, and that includes a more nuanced way to affirm or contradict a statement. … Continue reading Ba
A couple of years ago, back when I was still getting my bearings on Moldova, I kept being dumbstruck by how many employment offers were posted everywhere. Yes, a few were for lucru legal in Europa (legal work in Europe), but the vast majority were for local businesses. I couldn’t help but wonder – if Moldova was so poor, why were so many businesses desperate … Continue reading WOTD: Hamal
If you ask someone from Cluj-Napoca what language they speak here in dear, quaint Moldova, you’d get a unanimous answer: Romanian. Indeed, if you remember my post Akum noi toti govarim pa romaneste, you know that Romanian is the official language of the Moldovan constitution and so you probably consider the case closed. As an early Christmas gift to all those dirty non-believers (in Orthodox … Continue reading Tongue Bath
All Things Romania 