I “Moldove” into another country last week…

Country: Moldova

Capital: Chisinau

Language: Romanian and Russian

Location: Landlocked between Ukraine and Romania

Currency: Moldovan leu

Last Wednesday, one of the coaches visiting us in Bulgaria, Josee, sprung the news that I would be traveling to Moldova that following day to help the team there with some high-potential meetings. Outsiders think of the country as “the least-developed in Europe” and “the drunkest per capita”; one friend maturely noted, “I hear they have the most prostitutes in the former Soviet Union”. Regardless of all these charming preconceptions, I was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to travel more for work. I also loved the fact that the company had actually seen potential in my ability to contribute to a completely new project, and that they had faith in me to do well. The situation only grew more peachy when I realized my ticket on the second leg of my trip from Istanbul to Chisinau was first class on Turkish Airlines! I felt more in heaven than in a plane that high up – endless service, Turkish wine and mezze, cheese platters, hot wet towels, and leg space. I felt like I didn’t belong, and found myself worried about my etiquette – on an airplane!

Marielle, a Belgian colleague who is wonderfully energetic, picked me up from the airport and gave me the low-down on the joys of sharing an apartment with two boys (it is her, my good friend Michael, and a new colleague, Fabian, all sharing a 2-bedroom apartment). Michael had salmon ready for us at home, and we spent the evening prepping for the meetings ahead!

Work ended up going very well, and we had a good sale on Friday, my final meeting in Moldova. Literally no one speaks English in Moldova – even worse than here in Bulgaria! All the meetings were translated from either Romanian or Russian. I could always tell if they were speaking Romanian because it is a lot like Italian, which is a lot like Spanish! It was neat to be able to single out a few words here and there. The meetings also proved that the country is the drunkest per capita as a few CEO’s brought out the Moldovan cognac (one even opened a bottle for us that was 20 years old, and our translator said it was the nicest he has ever tasted). Can you just picture us all – me, Michael, Fabian, Marielle, our translator, the marketing director, the CEO’s son, and the CEO - standing, toasting one another (translating those toasts), eating boxed chocolates, laughing (translating why we were laughing)…all the while trying to close a deal (translating me trying to close a deal)? Business is business, but in Moldova it’s just a little more entertaining…

The city of Chisinau replicates the environment of what I imagine most Russian cities to be like. All the women are walking around in large fur coats and hats as snow jails any opportunity for them to otherwise look fashionable. The streets are simple and the buildings, although just as ragged, are smaller than those in Sofia. Unfortunately most of my time was spent in meetings during the day so there was not much sight-seeing to be done, but I did have the opportunity to try some local fare as well – on Friday night we went to a traditional Moldavian restaurant where I tried Chisinau beer, a red soup appetizer called Borsh, and stewed pork.

Although my time in the little country was short, I gained more insight into what Michael kept referring to as “the real Eastern Europe”, as if I haven’t truly experienced it in my 7 months in Croatia and Bulgaria. Maybe he’s right, but that is certainly up for debate…