Thursday was indeed a milestone. Not only did it mark the beginning of the twenty-fifth year my beautiful face gracing this good Earth, but it also marks the anniversary of the independence of Moldova.
For those of you not hibby the shibby on Moldova, allow me to help you out a bit. First of all, Moldova is located in eastern Europe. It is a tiny little, landlocked country nestled between Romania and Ukraine. It's the same region as Wallachia and all that jazz. Being an old Soviet Bloc nation, Moldova was hit hard by the downfall of the USSR. Currently, they are the poorest nation in Europe.
That brings me to fond memories of camp. See, each year we would get exchange scouts from all over the globe. Germany, South Africa, Serbia, you name it. Well, as it turns out we had one scout visit us all the way from Moldova. A sweet, innocent, angel who just wanted a fun international experience. Well, as luck would have it, I was Dumitrita's boss at camp. Now, I love working with the international scouts but sometimes I get a bit carried away. Case in point, Chris, a buddy of mine, and I laid into her one week at camp. We made bad jokes at her expense. Things like, "In US of A, your money say, 'In God We Trust.' In Moldova, WE HAVE NO MONEY!" We took it so far as to kidnap the camp's mascot, a rubber chicken named 'Cluck Norris' and framed her by planting a ransom note in broken eastern European English.
Anywho, back to the country at hand. Moldova holds a distinction shared by only one other country, that country being Paraguay. That is, Moldova's flag is different on either side. The obverse shows a blue, yellow, and red tricolour (much like the flag of neighbouring country, Romania) with the coat of arms of Moldova in the centre. The reverse contains only the tricolour.
Obverse.
Reverse.The majority of you out there in cyber-space fairy land probably know Moldova best as the homeland for hit boyband O-Zone. Their biggest hit, Dragosta Din Tei, was featured on the hit viral video Numa Numa.
Here's to you Moldova! You chose a damn good day for independence. I raise my glass and have a drink for you.
Here's to you Moldova! You chose a damn good day for independence. I raise my glass and have a drink for you.
1 comment:
Hey there! Loved your entry about your birthday (congrats!) and Moldova's day of independence being the same day! My wife is from Moldova. Great place to visit if you get the chance. Try the kvas! And visit 'Magnolia' restaurant in Chisinau (next to the circus building) if you get over there also. Ciao!
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