Moldova Exchange

August 05, 2016 2:59 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Watch this blog to follow the progress of the ambassadors on the exchange to Chisneau, Moldova, with a pre-exchange trip to Romania.

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  • August 26, 2016 8:49 AM | Anonymous member
    The Great Train Ride
    And then we were thirteen. Ken and I met the touring eleven at the train station in Bucharest to ride a very old train overnight to Chisnau.
    Those of us who chose 4 to a compartment, the singles, were deemed second class, while couples who chose two to a compartment were designated first class.

    What I thought would be a travelling pajama party, began with three couples , the Worrells, the Mellors and the Meyers crammed into the Meyers compartment because theirs was the I only clear window so we could see the countryside. It was cocktail time. No glasses available but where there is a will there is a way. So some plastic soft drink bottles were trimmed to become elegant wine glasses.. We ate equally elegant dinners brought on board from Subway and or Mc Donald's.

    We changed our own bench size beds, replacing satin slip overs for sheets and settled in for our overnight trip. Many stops woke us but the longest one was at the border. Romanian passport control with portable readers were followed by customs inspectors who, we assured that our luggage did not contain drugs or over ten thousand dollars. These were followed by their Moldovan counterparts.

    Then came the technician who used a tool under my bed to unhook the wheel carriage. Our car was then jacked up so that wheel carriages could be exchanged with to match the different Moldovan rail gauge. It has never before taken us 3 hours to cross a border.

    And then we were sixteen as Chris, Julia and Marty met us with our hosts. We were greeted with a Moldovan flag, young hosts and a traditional bread and salt welcome.

    From there we walked to a coffee and dessert orientation. Dieting is going to be difficult here. It looks like a well organized and promising exchange and we are glad we came.
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