Homestay

These roses really are insanely beautiful. 

I think anyone who has ever lived for any period of time in a foreign country knows that the living situation is key. It can make or break your trip.

Back when I was living in Comrat the first time around, my friend Jen’s host parents Zina and Grigori invited me to come over and have lunch with them. Getting invited to visit someone’s house in Moldova is no small affair, and I was immediately struck by how friendly and interesting her host family was. When I knew I would be coming back to Moldova to do research this summer, I immediately began scheming as to how I could get in contact with them (they don’t have a computer) and set up a homestay for the summer. This is where my friend and former Fulbrighter Liz Lipshultz swooped in to save the day. She was visiting Comrat in early May as part of her whirlwind trip across Europe and helped set everything up.

They have all the important characteristics of a good host family. First, they like to talk! When you’re staying with a host family, they are basically your second language teachers after your professors. (Actually, my Armenian professor in Yerevan was so scatterbrained that I learned more from my host mother Tamara than I ever did in class.) It’s with your host family that you get to try out the things you learn and absorb a lot of everyday vocabulary that you will never learn in class. Basically, I just ask them questions and then sit back and absorb the Russian. 

Grigori loves to talk about politics, so I’ve been trying to drop some of the words I learned in my class on the Russian media last semester. I managed to work the term military-industrial complex—военно-промышленный комплекс—into the conversation last week. Score! By the end of this summer I think I could write an entire paper devoted to his political views. 

Meanwhile, Zina likes to talk about education and cooking, two topics very near and dear to her heart as a teacher and homemaker. I really got her talking when I mentioned making your own yeast. Remembering the word for yeast—дрожа—definitely took some mental digging, but it was worth it! I even got a tour to see their old печь (bread oven) out in the backyard.

Another essential thing for a good host family is an interest in other cultures. You’d be surprised how many host families are perfectly indifferent to cross-cultural understanding. My host-babushka in Russia was very fond of pointing out all the things I did “wrong” in life; she managed to find fault in my bathing, eating, and drinking habits. I think the only things she liked about America were FDR and JFK. At least she had good taste in presidents. Meanwhile, Zina is a geography teacher and Grigori worked in Israel, so they are both actually interested in other countries and like to talk about other cultures. This quality is as unfortunately rare in Moldova as it is in America. It also helps that Zina and Grigori have hosted Peace Corps Volunteers for over 4 years prior to this, so they are used to our America quirks.

Even if they didn’t have these other wonderful characteristics, they make great food! I’ve been getting my fill of those Moldovan/Russian classics like borsch, sirniki (fried patties of flour and cheese), fried zucchini with garlic, salo (cured pork fat) and kompot (a beverage made from boiling fruit with sugar and water. Yesterday they brought out a water bottle filled with homemade honey. On special occasions they even bust out the homemade wine. 

The garden is one of the main benefits of living here. This morning I dodged the bees in the backyard in order to pick fresh raspberries from the bushes in the backyard. (The chickens who provide our eggs were somewhat perturbed by my presence and kept squawking the whole time.) This week I also picked cherries from the tree in the front yard. In July we’re going to have tomatoes and apricots. As if that weren’t enough, Zina and Grigori also grow roses, onions, garlic, currants, grapes, and dill. Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, eat your heart out!

All of this has kept me thoroughly entertained while my research has been going a bit slowly. I’m hoping to make a research trip out to the village of Kazaklia this week, which should surely provide fodder for another post.