GRAPES, GRAPES, GRAPES

I've learned that grapes are Moldovan gold here and God was wise to send me here knowing this before I did. There are literally grapes everywhere and the markets are so full of them right now that they are almost free. One thing lacking here, however, are seedless grape (much to my kids chagrin), so for any plant geneticists (boy, that's not easy to spell) out there, Moldova needs you.

Mike was lucky enough to visit a vineyard with his Russian teacher and came home with a sack full of the sweetest, biggest purple grapes (called black here) I have ever seen. We are talking a Target sized bag full, full, full of grapes...didn't even last 24 hours.

Chisinau just had their annual wine festival. The downtown city center is shut down and Moldovan vineyards set up booths to advertise their products. We took the kids down there for a quick walk through and some cake...per William's insistence.

Sophia has been off of school for some kind of "fall break". I guess I was really getting used to her school routine because this week seems busier than usual trying to entertain 3 kids again instead of just 2. Basically, my time spent breaking up arguments this past week has roughly tripled. Yesterday we ventured out to the Zoo (again). It was fun enough, but most of the animals were in their pens behind walls or glass (and therefore not visible) because it is quite chilly now. We did see some bears, a jaguar, some wolves and lots and lots of vultures. Sophia's school had a "Moldovan Day" celebration where we were entertained by some school songs and Moldovan with a pan flute, or zither, or something like that!

I finally remembered to take a picture of the market that I walk to nearly every day. As I said, pickings are slim right now, but you'll get the idea. As it is nearing 1am, I think I will wrap up this update with some misc. "fall" pictures we have taken in the last week or so. Happy Halloween to you all...

Have a great week,
~L