5.5 out of the 9.5 M22s present for the evening!

Moldova, Eurovsion, Dusseldorf, 13th May 2011

silence in the morning…5:30am… by dia_leo on Flickr.

Originally written after the death of Vanea’s step-brother:

During WWII, when the Soviets re-occupied present day Republic of Moldova, they impressed every able bodied male between the ages of eighteen to forty-five into their army. Amongst the tens of thousands of soldiers conscripted was one Nikita ?ap, a half-Ukrainian, half-Moldovan husband and father of two from the village of Corest?u?i, in the raion of Ocni?a.

Unhappy with the conditions under which he served, Nikita made the oft-foolish decision of deserting his military unit during the tail end of the war. He then surreptitiously returned to his village of Corest?u?i from Western Ukraine, where he had been serving.

Amazingly, he made it home without the knowledge of the Russian authorities, who were soon to reassert their rule over Moldova once the war ended. Unfortunately for Nikita, he arrived home to discover that his wife had assumed he was dead and then took the opportunity to marry another man in his place.

At this juncture, Vanea was a young boy with an even younger sister, named Tanea. His mother decided that she would rather live with her new husband in Marc?u?i, a neighboring village, so she fled with Tanea and left Vanea with Nikita.

Not only did she split their family in two, but she also took everything they owned and blackmailed Nikita with threats of exposing him to the authorities, given his desertion from the Soviet Army during the war. This left Vanea with his father in an empty house with few provisions. The post-war years were incredibly difficult for Moldovans, especially those who were hesitant to ask the authorities for help.

Despite initial difficulties, Nikita later remarried to a woman who lost her husband in the war. She had two boys, who became Vanea’s step-brothers. Their new family slowly cobbled together a decent existence and the three boys got along very well during the entirety of their lives together. With the death of Mitea, only Vanea [remained].

Originally written after a hilarious telephone exchange between Nanuca and Ana:

Yesterday Nanuca instructed Vanea to catch, kill, and dress one of her old hens. She wanted to give the hen to Ala, who doesn’t keep any poultry in her apartment (rightfully so) in Cern?u?i. The chicken would make for a tasty bor?, so said Nanuca.

Vanea is an obedient brother-in-law and dutiful did as asked. He went into the chicken coop with a cloth bag and a short commotion later came out with a hen, or so he believed. With bird in bag he rode home on his bicycle, which prevented Nanuca from checking his work.

Later in the day Ana called to check-in and it was then that Nanuca asked about the hen. “Did you find an egg when you dressed the hen?,” inquired Nanuca.

“An egg?,” responded Ana with surprise. “Roosters don’t have eggs!”

“What! I told Vanea to kill an old hen! Not one of my young roosters!”

“He brought home a rooster!,” laughingly replied Ana.

Increduously Nanuca responded, “Vanea doesn’t know the difference between a rooster and a hen!? At his age?! Stupid Vanea! I may not have any other roosters now!”

Nanuca later told me that she had taken inventory of her chickens earlier in the day. She couldn’t find her young rooster, but decided that he was outside the coop when she was inside counting, and vice versa. A slight suspicion that Vanea had erred remained, which she later verified with Ana.

5.5 out of the 9.5 M22s present for the evening!