October 5th, 2006
Well the most important thing going on around here is WINE. There are barrels EVERYWHERE!!!! You can smell grape juice everywhere in the village. Last Wednesday was some kind of Holy Day – of course NO ONE goes to church, but since the wine is intrinsically linked to Religion here… According to ????Scripture, the grapes hold within them the light and energy of the sun just as the light of God and …drinking it …well… you get the picture. The Holy Day means to some people that it is now time to get the grapes from the field and start the wine making process. So on Friday we meet with the priest at the basilica here in Milestii Mici to discuss the history and role of religion in Moldovan Society. He meets us at the front door with a comfortable smile; he’s dressed in black jeans a black button down shirt and boots! He opens the door and goes behind the altar to change into his priest outfit.
The church is exquisitely filled with beautiful icons, murals and gilded crosses. We have an interpreter with us and we have many questions answered eloquently from this man of the cross. As we were winding down, he noted that it was a bit frigid in here and he has just the thing to take the chill out. He proceeds once again to the back room and comes out with a beautiful bottle of vintage (‘86) wine and a box of chocolates (they tasted like snickers). He pours the wine and we talk some more and before you know it I have finished my glass, I put it down on the table and he fills it up again.
I have not really drank before this and I sort of forgot the rule of the empty glass around here, but this wine was sweet and going down pretty easily and it was the middle of a sunny afternoon and before you know it I get it filled up one more time and I am getting a buzz! It didn’t last long as I had to wipe the grin off of my face while listening to his last remarks. It seemed…. so… Moldovanesque I had to chuckle!!! I went home for a three hour nap!
On Saturday my family went to their vineyard to pick grapes and now we have two barrels fermenting in the back yard. I was unable to go as we have six days of lessons and only Sunday free. Today we drank the moosht… which is just the carbonated juice from the fermentation process, it holds no alcohol yet, but it is delicious. I looked into the barrels and it is bubbling. The whole process reminded me of my wild rice gathering days. So much of life here is similar to the people and places I’ve been before! It makes me think of all of you often!!!
This weekend is the big Wine Festival in Chisinau… sounds like a gigantic State Fair sized wine tasting party. While I am definitely interested in tasting different wines, I do not know if I will attend or not. I’ll be a fair weather attendee for sure. Milestii Mici is in the Guinness book of World Records for the largest underground Winery. We have not yet toured this claim to fame, but there will be many wines from Milestii Mici to taste at the Festival.
Today, with the help of mame mea (Rodica), I washed clothes. I went to the well… dropped the bucket down and wheeled it back up… filled a plastic bucket, brought it into the house, transferred it into a metal bucket which I placed on the gas stove to heat. Once heated, I brought it and a bucket of cold water out in the sunny backyard among the chickens and roosters and scrubbed them in a plastic basin, rinsing in another. She performed the rinse “cycle” and she had to show me how to hang my underwear VERY NEATLY on the clothesline… appearance really matters around here. Hey wait a minute!!!! This story contains no reference to wine!!!! Well… most likely I had a wine stain or two on my clothes after church!!!!! Tonight I have a date with my “mom” to watch Desperate Housewives!!! It will have Romaneste subtitles so I figured that counts for language practice!!! I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll drink o sticla of wine!!! (In English that’s a bottle!!!) You’ll never know!! Ha! Ciao!
Well the most important thing going on around here is WINE. There are barrels EVERYWHERE!!!! You can smell grape juice everywhere in the village. Last Wednesday was some kind of Holy Day – of course NO ONE goes to church, but since the wine is intrinsically linked to Religion here… According to ????Scripture, the grapes hold within them the light and energy of the sun just as the light of God and …drinking it …well… you get the picture. The Holy Day means to some people that it is now time to get the grapes from the field and start the wine making process. So on Friday we meet with the priest at the basilica here in Milestii Mici to discuss the history and role of religion in Moldovan Society. He meets us at the front door with a comfortable smile; he’s dressed in black jeans a black button down shirt and boots! He opens the door and goes behind the altar to change into his priest outfit.
The church is exquisitely filled with beautiful icons, murals and gilded crosses. We have an interpreter with us and we have many questions answered eloquently from this man of the cross. As we were winding down, he noted that it was a bit frigid in here and he has just the thing to take the chill out. He proceeds once again to the back room and comes out with a beautiful bottle of vintage (‘86) wine and a box of chocolates (they tasted like snickers). He pours the wine and we talk some more and before you know it I have finished my glass, I put it down on the table and he fills it up again.
I have not really drank before this and I sort of forgot the rule of the empty glass around here, but this wine was sweet and going down pretty easily and it was the middle of a sunny afternoon and before you know it I get it filled up one more time and I am getting a buzz! It didn’t last long as I had to wipe the grin off of my face while listening to his last remarks. It seemed…. so… Moldovanesque I had to chuckle!!! I went home for a three hour nap!On Saturday my family went to their vineyard to pick grapes and now we have two barrels fermenting in the back yard. I was unable to go as we have six days of lessons and only Sunday free. Today we drank the moosht… which is just the carbonated juice from the fermentation process, it holds no alcohol yet, but it is delicious. I looked into the barrels and it is bubbling. The whole process reminded me of my wild rice gathering days. So much of life here is similar to the people and places I’ve been before! It makes me think of all of you often!!!
This weekend is the big Wine Festival in Chisinau… sounds like a gigantic State Fair sized wine tasting party. While I am definitely interested in tasting different wines, I do not know if I will attend or not. I’ll be a fair weather attendee for sure. Milestii Mici is in the Guinness book of World Records for the largest underground Winery. We have not yet toured this claim to fame, but there will be many wines from Milestii Mici to taste at the Festival.
Today, with the help of mame mea (Rodica), I washed clothes. I went to the well… dropped the bucket down and wheeled it back up… filled a plastic bucket, brought it into the house, transferred it into a metal bucket which I placed on the gas stove to heat. Once heated, I brought it and a bucket of cold water out in the sunny backyard among the chickens and roosters and scrubbed them in a plastic basin, rinsing in another. She performed the rinse “cycle” and she had to show me how to hang my underwear VERY NEATLY on the clothesline… appearance really matters around here. Hey wait a minute!!!! This story contains no reference to wine!!!! Well… most likely I had a wine stain or two on my clothes after church!!!!! Tonight I have a date with my “mom” to watch Desperate Housewives!!! It will have Romaneste subtitles so I figured that counts for language practice!!! I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll drink o sticla of wine!!! (In English that’s a bottle!!!) You’ll never know!! Ha! Ciao!
1 comment:
Well my dear it seems like just yesterday I was helping you out in the attendance office, skipping lunch with the seniors and watching you and Kaye dance the night away at my wedding. My time does sure fly! Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself, enjoy life (you are great at this) and keep up the blogs. We are all excited to see what else the future holds for Miss Renell! Take care and talk to you soon. Ingrid
P.S. Enjoy some of that wine for me!
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