Paicu

This week I have been in Paicu, a small village in the south of Moldova, not far from Cahul. As you are driving down the highway, about 2 hours from Chisinau, you turn onto a dirt road, drive across the railway track, and there you are! It really is like a whole different world. I have met some wonderful people there and got to know some beautiful children. Everywhere you go there are animals...

In Paicu the days begin with the crowing of roosters, the cackling of hens, the gobbling of turkeys and the honking of geese. I pass the geese on the way to the outhouse and they honk in loud dismay, "Who are you?" "Why don't you feed us right now?" They said the same thing when I was enroute in the middle of the night under the brightly moonlit sky. The geese and fowl of course don't know that I and the rest of the household spent hours last night making 'popchoi', that is taking the kernels from the corn cobs so ther are now sacks of corn to feed them. They may never thank me. Of course, why should they? For to feed them and fatten them up is to our benefit more than theirs. in fact, this morning when called to eat in the 'bucaterie', upon entering that multi-purpose tiny building, I noticed that there were feathers on the floor alongside 'scrapping' cats and one of our ill-fated formerly feathered friends lay naked and headless on the counter. I watched as our hostess singed the remaining hair off the goose over the flame of the gas burner. Then I did my best NOT to see what she was doing beside me that involved a basisn, innards, blood and water as I ate my breakfast of fried pork, mamaliga and warm cow's milk. I've discovered that warmed (boiled) fresh milk in the morning is a delicious breakfast. The other day it's all we had.
There is nothing easy about life in Paicu, but it is a simple life. Need water? Take a bucket and go to the well. Need a bathroom? Go to the outhouse. Need heat? Chop some wood and build a fire. Need food? Kill a chicken, milk a cow,plant a garden. Need to go somewhere? Harness the horse to the wagon. Need money? Hmmm... that may be a little more difficult.