Let’s just say, I felt the need to call home and ask hubbs not to laugh when he first saw me. I don’t know what made a bigger impression – the fact that I felt like a cross between a St. Bernard and a 1960s game show host, or that I paid under $10 for a nearly-decent (read: better than Fantastic Sams) haircut. Here it is after about 10 minutes of smoothing it down and ‘deflating’ it.
My Romanian is great for a general conversation, but when it comes to telling the stylist about layers and thinning and I’m going for a finger-stylable short shag, I’m lost. So, I went with my old standard that I used all the time in English-speaking American salons. “Just have fun with it, give it some shape and make it look nice.” In the US, that turns the stylist into an artist and he or she loves the freedom that comes with being able to shape and mold as they wish. And I just about always get a great cut, because the stylist does what they do best.
Here, that same request is met with disdain and condescension. The stylist actually said to me, “How am I supposed to read your mind? I don’t know what you think looks nice. I’m a stylist, not a mind-reader.” Of couse, when I told her where I thought it was too long and too thick, her response was, “No it’s not.” Nice. She can’t read my mind, but she can certainly tell me I’m wrong about my hair.
This is not a think-outside-the-box society. Nor is it a use-your-imagination and be-creative type of place. Right and wrong are very black and white, as are roles, rules, and order in general. Rules are of utmost importance, and one should follow them always, even when they aren’t tenable.
Here’s Sofia sleeping in her preschool. They have naptime from 1-3 and there’s a cool row of drawers against the wall. Each drawer is a trundle bed. Very cool.
What might look like shanty-town to the untrained eye is actually the dwelling of the priviledged. Something like the emergence of suburbia. Communism brought huge, imposing apartment buildings in cities for two reasons – first, it’s simply practical. Make efficient use of space by housing as many people as possible in looming apartment buildings with itty-bitty apartments crammed together. Secondly though, it was also for the sake of an imposing, impressive presence. When you walk into a city like Chisinau (where we are) or Kiev or Moscow, the architecture of the apartment buildings will give you pause. Often grey, utilitarian, each nearly identical to the next, and massive. It’s enough to make you feel small. When the commuists replaced God with government, they replaced the awe of His creation with giant structures. And so, these little houses dotting the city are examples of affluence – private land, fenced in, a roof shared with no one else.
This was our day. Those fuzzy white lines? Those are the bars on the windows. It really does make me feel rather like I’m imprisoned. Between that and the drizzly cold rain and gobs of mud, we stayed in most of the day. But, this afternoon a friend Nancy picked us up and took us to the House of Hope. It was my first time there, and it’s deep. It’s a house for women who have been trafficked, with a vision to provide them with short-term healing and long-term restoration.
