Sunday: We went to the Maslenitsa festival! It was interesting: there was a concert, and people were singing, and there was lots of things for sale, but I know a group of us were very disappointed due to the surprising lack of blini, which I may or may not have been looking forward to all week. We went to a blini restaurant after trying every single blini place at the festival. We supported the blini restaurant more. I had one with pineapple and marscapone, covered in chocolate sauce, which I thought was delicious.
They also didn’t burn the effigy due to strong winds, which was disappointing, but it was good to go anyway: we were able to see the Maslenitsa celebration, which I know is big in Russia.
I and some friends also took advantage of the nice, albeit windy, weather to wander the streets and do some window shopping. We went to the souvenir market, and then to a perfume shop, and then to an electronics store, and then to the top floor of the mall to look at sales on fabric. What all these places have in common is that they are on the same street. The fabric store was nice, though. Because the people I was walking with are all taking sewing classes to become registered tailors, they were interested in all sorts of cool fabrics, and because they were talking in English, everyone knew we didn’t belong…
I ended up talking a bit to one of the owners of one of the stores while my friends were looking at fabric. She was super nice, and super impressed we were learning Russian, and this further supported my hypothesis that some of the best people to talk in Russian with are the people who run craft stores. Because they’re nice. I think she would have given them a sale, if they wanted to buy anything.
Monday: I went to chemistry. Then I finished up my souvenir shopping, almost, and by that I mean “bought 2 bullet journals because they’re in Russian and I have no self control and these will help me practice my Russian right? Right.” They have quotes on every page! I now do not have to buy day planners for the next four years. That’s how it is sometimes. This is why I can’t have nice things.
Tuesday: We had a group meeting, which was pretty normal, I think, because I can’t remember much of what happened in it. Then I sat with some friends in the classroom and did homework/procrastinated doing homework by Google Maps-ing fun things to do in Connecticut. I’ve been hanging out some with different people than normal, which is cool! More friends is always good. I wrote a letter/essay for class called “roofs in Europe” which we discussed on Wednesday. This was quite a topic, because we have a roof saleswoman in our midst. I also ordered my boyfriend cookies to be delivered to his house, which I think he enjoyed, because why wouldn’t he.
Wednesday: I learned how to say “solar panels” and “there is a tennis court on the roof” in class today. You never know when you need those sentences, especially the second one. 
I went to physics, and we had a double period test, which was terrible. The test was divided up into levels, which was kind of strange: like, the first 3 questions were marked “low level” and the next three “middle level” and on…I guess that’s sort of done on tests in the U.S. as well but not as much. I could not really read this. The guy sitting next to me saw me struggling and kindly slid his paper over so I could copy it. I guess he didn’t feel bad about it because I saw him copying it from Google. Fortunately, I have a better strategy: it’s called not turning the test in. The physics teacher just pretends I’m not there anyway, which is also quite a feat considering I am a distraction to her entire class. I still can’t get over the level of cheating going on in these classes.
We went back to the university and watched the second half of the movie “The Barber of Siberia” which is bonding, I guess. Then I did some homework in the university.
Also, my phonetics teacher is convinced I look like her when she was younger. She brought in pictures today to show us, and we all kind of think that this means “we have the same coloring, which is also the most common coloring in Moldova.” One of my friends very kindly pointed out all the differences that make the young-phonetics-teacher classically beautiful and me not so much. We had lots of fun looking at all the pictures of her past and discussing. It was good.
I also got to hear some stories from my Moldovan friends pertaining to going to clothing stores and buying clothes, and the salespeople commenting rather rudely on their bodies. That’s called cultural difference, and also called “why I don’t buy clothes here”.
There. You’re all caught up.
American in Moldova 