Moldovan Winery

6/5/2013: Moldovan Winery 

On Wednesday, the 5th of June, I headed to Chisinau to meet up with people and head to a winery in a town not far from Chisinau called Orhei to celebrate a fellow volunteer's birthday. Although I pass by Orhei every time I go to Chisinau, I had only been to it once, and only as far as the bus station. Soon after I arrived in Chisinau, the group of about 5 of us headed to the central bus station to catch a rutiera to Orhei. Luckily they leave fairly frequently so we didn't have to wait long for one to leave. When we arrived in Orhei, we met up with some other volunteers and a couple of one of the volunteers former students who lived either in Orhei or in a village nearby. We then got into two taxis that took us to the winery, Chateau Vartely. 

The main building of the winery, which contains a restaurant and a wine-tasting room 

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our Moldovan tour guide who showed us around the grounds before taking us into the factory and explaining the first part of the wine-making process to us, including how the making of red, white, and rosé wines differ.  

A building representing the Southern Wine region of Moldova

 A building representing the Central wine region of Moldova

A building representing the northern wine region of Moldova

Wine Fermentation Containers

Grape Press

Then, we went down and saw the aging containers and the guide explained that part of the process to us. 

The aging containers, with labels containing various information like acidity

The next stop was the cellar where the wine is aged in barrels. 

Our guide describing the barrel storage part of the process

A view of about half of the barrels in the cellar

Our last stop was the wine tasting room. The table was set with many glasses and with cheese, nuts, and crackers in the area where we would be sitting. During the tasting we tried 5 different wines, two white wines, a red wine, a rosé, and an ice wine. Apparently, the first step in making ice wine is to let the grapes freeze on the vines before the fermentation process, hence why it is called ice wine. 

The table, set up and ready for us to sit down and begin tasting wines

After we tried each of the different wines, we were able to ask for another glass of the kind we liked the most. I liked the ice wine the most because it was the sweetest and had a honey taste to it. When we had finished the wine tasting, we left the tasting room, and waited for our taxis that would take us back to Orhei. We had pizza and cake before heading back to Chisinau. 

When we arrived, we eventually decided to stay in an apartment and then headed to have Mexican food at an embassy worker's house in Chisinau. Every week he and his wife host a dinner for Peace Corps volunteers and other embassy workers. Each week they serve a different type of food. They have one huge dog and a large cat that are both very friendly. So, dinner there was a great way to end the day. When we finished eating, we headed back to the apartment and relaxed for a bit before heading to bed. Overall, it was a long but excellent day. 

Final Last Bell

05/31/2013: Last Bell Ceremony, последний званок церемония (posledni zvanok seremonia),
My last day of school fell on May 31st. During the last week of school, however, I didn't do much actual teaching. The library started collecting textbooks the Friday before the last week of school and the students weren't motivated to come to class without them. So, I instead took advantage of the time to organize the materials that I had made over the past two years. I also created an inventory of all the English materials that the school had, including the ones I did not make myself. I made sure to note where each of the items could be found so that my partner would be able to use them next year after I have returned to the US. I also took a couple of pictures of my classroom.

                      The back wall of the room covered in grammar charts and pictures for vocab words

A view of the front wall of the room with the brown "blackboard," which was incredibly annoying to write on

The materials cabinet and some more grammar posters

On May 31st, there was an assembly much like on the first day of school. The students and teachers formed a horseshoe and the 12th graders walked around it with a first grader on their shoulders who rang a bell signifying the end of the school year. As with the first day of school, there was also a dance performance. 

The students at the beginning of the dance. 

The 12th formers walked to the front of the horseshoe while younger students threw flower petals

Afterwards, a twelfth grader sang and then someone from the ministry of education in Drochia spoke about the end of the school year and wished the 12th and 9th graders luck on their exams. 

The ministry of education addressing the school and the graduating classes

Then, students from all grades were given diplomas for their achievement on the olympiad, a countrywide contest in a number of different subjects. Students were also given diplomas for their academic performance throughout the year.

Next, the 12th form class teacher spoke to the 12th formers and wished them success on their exams, as did their class teachers from primary school and from the gymnasium level. In between the two groups was some singing. It was followed by some more dancing.

The 12th form class teacher addressing her class

 Some singing

The 12th form's primary school class teacher addressing her former students

More dancing

The 9th form class teacher also gave a speech to the 9th formers and wished them luck on their exams. Afterwards, some teacher and parents were recognized for their contributions throughout the year. A 12th former then walked around the circle with a 1st former on his shoulder ringing the bell. The assembly concluded with everyone dancing the hora. Unlike the first day of school, it was a cloudy day, but luckily the rain held off until the assembly was over and I was already home.

No Moldovan event is complete without people dancing the hora

A short clip of the hora

While my two years teaching English were easy or always enjoyable, I am glad I had the experience and will miss some of my students and fellow teachers. I am also looking forward to being a student again at the graduate level this fall.