Andy and the Language(s)
Like all Americans, Andy is finding that in Moldova language is a quagmire. A majority of the population are Romanian speakers and many of those consider themselves to be Romanian. About 35% of the population does not speak Romanian a s a first language (and many of those speak no Romanian)--they are ethnically Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, or Gauguzian (a Christian-Turkish ethnicity) and they speak Russian. So in trying to say thank you, Andy is trying to figure out when to say the Romanian, multumesc, or the Russian, спасибо. If he figures this out, he will be way ahead of me.
I am also teaching him to count in Romanian:
unu--două--trei--patru--cinci--șase--șapte--opt--nouă--zece
oonoo--dougha--patrue--chinch--shasea--shaptea--opt--noah--zechea
He is doing well...
My Progress
I have completed 3 interviews with 2 more scheduled for tomorrow and 5 for next week. I have given three talks for different colleges and universities around Chișinău. So I will make my goals.
As we have meandered around the city we have had numerous opportunities to see the ubiquitous Andy's Pizza restaurants--a local chain. Yesterday we also saw the monument to the cosmonauts!
The Cosmonaut memorial...
Andy looks great. So grown up, confident and relaxed.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Sorry to burst the bubble, but the monument is dedicated to the "Heroes of the Leninist Komsomol League" who'd sacrificed lives in WWII. Komsomol is the Communist Youth League, a pre-requisite for card-carrying Party membership. No space program involved (yet!).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. This is what my weak Romanian gets you. I was wondering why they were not wearing space suits.
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