Moldova

Last year I actually got to celebrate Moldova’s Independence Day: I was newly arrived in Washington DC for the start of my Masters at Georgetown, and among the incoming international students I met while we were living on campus (we spent a week frantically searching for housing) was Inga—from Moldova. In fact, of the “Kennedy Orphans,” as I named our group when we all had to leave the Kennedy Hall dorms, Inga is probably the one I became closest to, though I don’t see much of her these days—different programs, and Inga has her husband and son living here too. Last year at this time, though, her family hadn’t arrived yet, and we held a housewarming-plus-Moldavan-Independence-Day party. We looked up the Transnistrian newspaper (Transnistria is a breakaway state from Moldova on the Ukrainian border; you don’t hear much about it, but you probably should—it’s believed a lot of ex-Soviet arms disappear on the black market through Transnistria. Reportedly visiting the region is like visiting a museum/theme park of the Cold War-era Soviet Union. The region is not recognised as an independent country by any other country; officially it’s an autonomous territory—capital is Tiraspol) at the party, and read an article about Moldova Independence from the Transnistrian side: the Transnistrian news site derided Moldova’s Independence Celebration, since Moldova refused to recognise Transnistria’s independence. There’s also an autonomous region in the south known as Gagauzia.

People don’t know a lot about Moldova—in fact, when I talk with people about Europe, a lot of them wouldn’t even have been able to name Moldova as a country (capital? Chişinău). I find that sad. I mean, historically the country is a crossroads: on a route between Asia and Europe it saw plenty of invasions, which I’m sure did not please the local Dacian and Sarmatian populations. Among the well-known attackers? The Huns, the Magyars, the Kievan Rus’, the Mongols. Prior to that, as it’s above Romanian, it’s also just past the end of the Roman Empire. The part of the world just beyond Ovid’s exile.

So the region was once known as Moldavia. As such, I really don’t know how the Moldovan population feel about the infamous “Moldavian Massacre” episode of Dynasty. Even more so, I don’t know how they feel about the plot where Alexis considered marrying the King, and therefore becoming the Queen of Moldavia. (I haven’t seen these episodes—yet—but I do hear that she said she was keeping the crown jewels. Oh, Alexis.)

Another interesting fact? It wasn’t the first country to re-elect a communist government after the end of the USSR (Bulgaria has that honour), but it did, indeed, elect the Party of Communists in Moldova within a decade. I’m fine with it. I just think it’s interesting. The country is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Also, the official language is Moldovan—which is identical to Romanian.

Today’s poem is by Alexandru Vakulovski, and (once again) comes from New European Poets. Good stuff.


Amputated Homeland

in this town everyone is
unhappy on this earth
there is quiet before an
explosion yes my love I’m leaving
I am leaving across the earth
of my homeland
there everyone lives out the pleasure
of not knowing
the pleasure of losing
of not being run over by
a car of raising
unhappy children of
eating and not barfing
(sorry, vomiting) not once
I am leaving my love
my homeland is where
I am
love love love
you made me happy
you made me forget everything
I will never forget that
not once
I’m leaving

—Alexandru Vakulovski
from New European Poets
translated from the Romanian by Sean Cotter