I have been residing in Chișinău for almost a month now as a participant in American Councils’ Eurasian Regional Language Program (ERLP) for the purpose of learning the Romanian language. It has been a wonderful and unique experience thus far to be able to speak Romanian with native speakers. In this blog, I will briefly speak about how the young Moldovans here in the capital city view themselves and how that is manifested in city life.
Chișinău is a city which is still very much growing and changing. As a nation which stood as a periphery of the Soviet Union for 50 years, the majority of people in Chișinău speak both Romanian and Russian (most young people also speak English). One can still see signs written in Cyrillic quite frequently. This is a fascinating legacy of the past as, under Soviet rule, the Latin alphabet was replaced by Cyrillic – the alphabet commonly used in Slavic languages. Yet, the predominant language both written and spoken was/is Moldovan (Romanian), which is a Latin language. Therefore, this mixture has created an interesting dialectical difference.
While the youth in Chișinău are proud of their Moldovan heritage, they are also very much attuned to international events. I have the fortune of being able to walk past many local government buildings and foreign embassies. On more than one occasion I’ve passed by small peaceful demonstrations, dealing with numerous different issues from politics to environmental concerns. A common denominator in these gatherings is that they are largely comprised of young people.
One can also walk through the beautiful Ștefan Cel Mare Park (formerly Pushkin Park) during the weekend and see many active youth playing music, participating in clubs whose activities range from sports to laughing (yes, there are “laughing clubs” whose sole purpose is to laugh as a means of keeping a generally healthier state of mind), or just relaxing on the benches amidst the wonderful Avenue of the Classics of Moldovan Literature, which feature busts of legendary Romanian and Moldovan writers such as Mihai Eminescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, and Mircea Eliade.
Generally speaking, it has thus far been my experience that young people in Chișinău are more active in the overall city life than in most cities in the United States. There are numerous reasons for this which differ for each individual. However, a commonality is that this active spirit is quite infectious. Historically, it has been the young generation which has brought change to society. If that be the case here in Moldova, there is a bright future ahead.
Program: Eurasian Regional Language Program
Term: Summer 2016