THE CURRENT

Halleluiah, I got a BRAVO from Nadia!! Some of you may be aware that I am having a bit of difficulty with the mother of the house. Seems to me that I’m just not the volunteer daughter she was hoping for. Most days it seems to me that I just don’t measure up. Her former volunteer won her heart and I am just NOT Casey. I’ve grown to accept this fact.

Although she smiles and speaks with a song in her voice, my instincts tell me otherwise. So to get a BRAVO from her is quite the accomplishment! What did I do to deserve this??? She recounted the story last night at dinner with her sister Nina who is here from Russian.

We spoke about the DREADED current which those in Moldova firmly believe. Seems Moldova is in just the right place where winds from the West and the East and the Mediteranean Sea align in some kind of perfect harmony creating an invisible demon... The Current!!!! It causes jam packed rutieras (mini buses) to be void of fresh air in the summer heat…it causes women to wear kerchiefs on their heads and children to be bundled up like great big balls of yarn…

Well... I've already told them I don't believe in the current (they've reacted about the same as if I'd told them I don't believe in God)...and they're convinced that someday I'll understand that THE CURRENT is true and I need to fear it as much as they. I remember my grandma and my mom warning about going outside with wet hair etc… and I never believed them either!!! I had all but forgotten about this, until Nadia brought it up the other day and heres how the story goes

Sometime in December, I had just taken a shower and my hair was still even a little wet and I was only wearing a sweater while I went outside to hang my clothes in the sun. She spotted me and gasped at the way I was dressed and of course I responded like I always do. Este cald afara si eu port pulover de lina. "It's warm outside and I'm wearing a wool sweater". She mumbled something about the current… and "Oh Renell" as if she feared for my very life!!!! The other day as we talked about my non belief in the current, she retold the story adding this part: "I expected her to be sick and I waited and waited and 'BRAVO Renell you never got sick!!!'"