We made it: The Green Run

 

Saturday the 22nd of June was the day of the Green Run. The idea for this event was born at the beginning of the year with another volunteer, after a refreshing run through cold winter weather. "Wouldn’t it be nice to participate in a race of about 10 or 20 kilometers?" But after searching the internet we couldn’t find anything…. so ... we decided that we can organize it ourselves. We shared the idea with Leonid who wanted to join us and who and who gave shape to the event.

Ups and downs
The organization was not always smooth and several times it was almost put to a stop. First, the idea was to organize it in Horodiste, but for practical reasons the location moved to Orhei Vechi. In May, we explored a possible trail and personally I was immediately sold for the location and I regretted that I couldn’t participate myself. It is a fairly flat course with a few hills. It offers little shade, but a great view.


Location of the Green Run

In Orhei Vechi we had the cooperation of the former mayor and his wife. Together with several other women they took care of the catering of the event. Also a few young people from Trebujeni helped with the organization by building up and breaking down. We also had the cooperation of Mr. Lazari Povetska, head of the athletics departmet at the university. He came to the event with the three judges and a number of elite runners in Moldova and helped us with advice and enthusiasm.
Luckily we were not the only ones in Moldova who do like to run around in the nature and although the number of registrations came only in motion during the last week, there were almost 70 participants.

No volunteers in Moldova?
During a recording for the Moldovan television on volunteering they asked me why 'in Europe' volunteering is popular and not in Moldova. I couldn't give a real and after this event even less. This event was never possible without the help of all the volunteers: Moldovans, foreigners, the local young people and the jury.

Also, the participants both Moldovan and Foreigners, young and old...

thanks all of you, you made it!

Some pictures of the day...


Start of the 10 k

Running the 10 k

Running the 5 k

 

Podium 10 k (trainer Mr. Lazari, receving the price on behalf of Natalia Klipka)

Podium 500 m - boys

Finish kids run

Teamwork!



Happy spring everybody!

Traduction en francais ci-dessous

I remember 1 December 2012 in Chisinau, it was as if spring was starting. Fortunately also 1 March was like that, especially because in Moldova they celebrate the 1st of March with Martisor.

What is Martistor?
Martisor is a Romanian/ Moldavian tradition to celebrate the start of spring. People wish each other happy spring and give each other a coursage in red-white colours. You wear the pin charms on your left, close to your hart.

Many different martisors
Plusieurs différents types de martisors 

I also got a martisor:)
moi aussi j’ai recu un martisor

A little bit of history about this tradition
The tradition origins from the Tracians/ Dacians/ Getae (Romanian ancestors). They celebrated ‘dachia dragobete’ (end of winter). The pin charms that they made were like an amulet. Nowadays it is more about showing your love to the people who are dear to you. People used to wear the talisman until the trees started to flower. Then they hang the pin charms in the tree branches after that point. It is still a tradition to hang your martisor at the end of march in a fruit tree. See also moldova.org.

Congratulated with women's day
Another day that is celebrated in Moldova, but also in Ukraine and Russia, is International Women’s day. It is a public holiday here and women get flowers and are congratulated with women’s day.

Flower for women's day
Des fleurs pour la journée de la femme

Je me souviens du  1 décembre 2012 dans Chisinau, c’était comme si le printemps  commençait. Heureusement, que le 1 mars y ressemblait aussi, plus particulièrement, en Moldavie ils célèbrent le 1 mars, l’arrivée du printemps avec un Martisor.

Qu’est-ce qu’un Martisor ?

Selon la tradition moldavienne,  le peuple moldave se souhaite un heureux printemps et à cette occasion, ils s’offrent une broche dont les couleurs  sont le rouge et le blanc. Vous portez ceci épinglé  sur votre veston côté gauche, près de votre coeur.

Un peu d'histoire sur cette tradition

Les origines de cette tradition proviennent du Tracians/Dacians/Getae (ancêtres roumains). Ils ont célébré ' dachia dragobete ' (à la fin de l'hiver). Les broches qui ont épinglé et qu'ils ont faits, ressemble à une amulette. De nos jours, c'est plus un témoignage de votre amour aux gens qui vous sont chers. Les gens ont l'habitude de porter le talisman jusqu'à ce que les arbres aient commencé à fleurir. Puis, ils accrochent la broche à une branche d'arbre. C'est une tradition d’accrocher son martisor jusqu’ à la fin de mars à un arbre fruitier. Voir aussi moldova.org.

Célébration de la journée des femmes.

Un autre jour célébré en Moldavie, mais aussi en Ukraine et en Russie, est la Journée internationale des femmes. C'est un jour férié ici et les hommes offrent des fleurs aux femmes, ils les félicitent en leur souhaitant une bonne fête.

Knocking on the door of Vent d’Est

The office of Vent d’Est is located in the centre of Chisinau. Regularly people are knocking on the door; not only people because of an appointment or because they are interested in Vent d’Est. No, many people try to sell something this way, such as books, make-up or services. This explains the reaction of Thierry (project manager of Vent d’Est) after a knock on the door yesterday.

After telling: “Come in!”, the knocking continued, so Thierry opened the door. Instead of a vendor he saw a plate of candies with a small poem. No surprise for me, as 5 December is the day of St Nicholas. Every year St. Nicholas goes from Spain to the Netherlands to give presents, candies and poems to the people together with his helpers, all called ‘Piet’ (Pete). This year apparently he decided to visit the Vent d’Est office as well. If you want to know more about this Dutch (and Belgian) tradition see: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/netherlands/

Meanwhile winter in Chisinau has started last Saturday with the inauguration of the ChristmasTree and street lightening. This inauguration is an event with street performers, artistic groups and a concert from the Romanian band ‘Vunk’. I didn’t go as next morning I went cycling at 7 AM… more about that later.

En frappant à la porte de Vent d'Est

Le bureau de Vent d'Est est situé dans le centre de Chisinau. Régulièrement, des gens frappent à la porte et pas seulement des personnes ayant un rendez-vous ou intéressés par Vent d'Est. Non, beaucoup de gens essaient de vendre quelque chose de cette façon, comme des livres, du maquillage ou même certains services. C'est ce qui explique la réaction de Thierry (chef de projet de Vent d'Est) après que j’aie frappé à la porte hier.

Après avoir dit: «Entrez», les coups continuant, Thierry a ouvert la porte. Au lieu d'un colporteur, il a trouvé devant la porte une assiette de bonbons avec un petit poème. Pas de surprise de mon côté étant donné que le  5 décembre est le jour de la Saint-Nicolas. Chaque année, Saint-Nicolas part d'Espagne jusqu’aux Pays-Bas pour distribuer des cadeaux, des bonbons et des poèmes aux gens, aidés par des assistants appelés "Piet" (Pière). Cette année, Saint-Nicolas avait apparemment décidé de rendre visite au bureau de Vent d’Est!

Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur cette tradition néerlandaise (et belge): http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/netherlands/

Pendant ce temps, l'hiver à Chisinau a commencé samedi dernier avec l'inauguration du sapin et des illuminations de Noël. Cette inauguration est un événement avec des artistes de rue, des groupes artistiques et un concert du groupe roumain « Vunk ». Je n'ai pas pu y assister car je devais être prête à 7h du matin le lendemain pour une excursion à vélo...  A suivre !