Jewish cemetery in Buiucani

I’ve had a really interesting week – kind of mixed to be honest.  I had to say goodbye to some volunteers who are now leaving – Alisa and Julie who I only knew briefly but are very nice people. As a result I’ve been a bit depressed the last few weeks – perhaps it sunk in the fact that I’m actually going to be here for ten months.

Still, I’ve had some good news re: my accommodation and can confirm that I’ll be moving in to a flat in Riscani, on the other side of Chisinau, in two weeks time I’ve been out a lot of times this week and had a really great night last night.
Yesterday me and Ingrid, a girl from Holland, went to a Jewish cemetery not far from my house. I had been getting “cabin fever” and to be honest at some stage really need to get out of Chisinau, which unfortunatley I have not managed this weekend. It was a massive cemetery – I think I have said before that Jews used to make up the majority of Chisinau’s population, before the holocaust. It was a very interesting and for me very moving place, and I think it meant a lot to me to go there. It was sad seeing all the old graves from hundreds of years ago.

There was also an old synagogue in the middle of the cemetery that had obviously been destroyed during either the holocaust or had gone into disuse during the Soviet Union, and a big monument type thing with the ten Commandments on – in Hebrew, which still looked quite well looked after. Many of the graves were very well kept, with fences and decorations around them, and some had pictures and plastic flowers by them – as far as I always heard, this wasn’t allowed in Judaism so maybe they have somewhat different traditions here?

 

I had very mixed feelings going there because I felt quite connected to the people and to Judaism in a way I haven’t for a long long time.

Unfortunately in Moldova, like elsewhere in the former USSR, the last few years since the collapse of Communism have seen a resurgence of the far right and the old synagogue as well as some of the graves had graffiti on them and some of the stones were knocked over.
I have decided that at some stage I will go to the Jewish centre in the centre of the city – I keep meaning to go, but keep having other things to do! It was great that it was so warm otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to go – it was almost hot which is surprising in November.

After that, we went to a park in Buiucani – which was absolutely huge. There is quite a lot of “countryside” here I think – and we even saw two people going over a bridge with a flock of goats, despite the fact that it was the middle of the capital city.

 

Today, I tried to go to Cricova – I went to the Central Market and the bus station by there, which is absolutely chaotic. Unfortunately I think the last buses go back to Chisinau at either 6 or 3, but often 3 and it would have taken me an hour to get there and back. Maybe I’ll go next weekend or something, because it’s somewhere I’d really like to go – I’ve heard the vineyards there are very beautiful.

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