By Scott McQuarrie, Programme Advisor

Scott with a huge hat, Brasov, Romania

Keys…check! Tickets…check! Passport….passport? After going back to my flat to retrieve my passport I was finally on my way. Destinations Romania and Moldova. I had always wanted to visit Eastern Europe, although I do have to admit I need to reacquaint myself with where Moldova was on the map. First stop was Bucharest in Romania. I was picked up by Mircea (Country Director) and Leo (volunteer co-ordinator). The drive north to Brasov takes around 3 hours. It is an enjoyable and scenic journey passing through rural, urban and mountainous regions. Apart from Mircea and Leo’s singing, the highlight of the journey was winding through the serpentine roads as you enter Transylvania.

The main focus of my visit was to experience our Archaeology project which is based in Alba Iulia at this time of year. George (our archaeology co-ordinator) advised we would be assisting on an excavation in the grounds of a Roman Catholic Church. Over the next few days we uncovered bones, teeth, a human skull, washed pottery, cleaned profiles and visited the university restoration room (where items are reconstructed to resemble their original form). The whole experience gave a great insight into the archaeological process. The fact I really didn’t want to leave at the end of my time speaks volumes for this project. A truly fascinating subject!

Archaeology Dig, Romania

My bag was a little heavier when I re-packed to travel to Moldova due to the Polinca (a traditional Romanian drink distilled from prunes or pears) George had bestowed upon me. No Romanian experience is complete without sampling a drop – it’s strength just edging out its distinct taste. It has to be tried to be believed! With the taste of Polinca just about leaving my mouth, a day later I arrived in Moldova.

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Igor (Moldova’s Country Director) collected Mircea and I from the station and took us to our lodgings. There is more to Moldova than meets the eye in many regards. A good example of this was our accommodation – an old style Soviet block which looked fairly battered from the outside, the lift had it’s own particular smell but the apartment itself was lovely. Looking at Chisinau on the map reminded me of New York’s grid system (although that is where the comparison ends!). It makes navigation around town very intuitive. There are many methods of transport – trolley buses, auto buses and maxi-taxis. Each has their own charm but my preferred vehicle was the maxi-taxi. They are extremely cheap and sue to their petite size can slip in and out of traffic to great effect. When actually walking around the centre of town, with its array of commercial outlets and well dressed residents, it seemed in contrast to some of the statistics that I’d read before coming (80% of Moldova’s population was living under the official poverty line). However it is widely recognised as Europe’s poorest country.

Igor and teaching volunteers, Moldova

The projects I visited at an independent living centre for people with disabilities, a secondary school in need of English teachers and our Russian language teacher highlighted the great placements volunteers can get involved in. It was pleasing to know that volunteers can contribute in an extremely worthwhile way. With their help hopefully people will start to remember Europe’s forgotten country!