A few weekends ago I met my friend Katie in Chisinau and we made our way to her village which is about an hour and a half from the capital and is located along the Nistru river, not far from Transnistria.

She lives in a village of about 3,000 people and works with the mayor’s office there doing community and organizational development (aka rock-star). It was quite a treat to see her life in Molovata and see what she has been up to over the last ~7 months.

We hopped on the 5:15 pm rutiera that was standing room only by the time we got there. About 30 minutes into the ride, the rutiera quickly turned into a sauna and Katie and I could not help but look at one another and just laugh.

After that rutiera ride, I knew the weekend would be quite the adventure.

After an evening of eating and drinking with her host family, catching up on life and some needed rest we were ready for some adventure. The next day we set out for a tour of her village with her trusty dog-companion, Clifford.

We set out after breakfast and toured the village so I could see all the places she works and visits on a regular basis.

Katie made a new friend along the way, or maybe it was Clifford who did? – and he joined us for our little excursion up a steep hill to check out the view of the Nistru and Molavata from afar.

After about 4 hours of walking and exploring Katie’s village life we made our way back to her place where we met up with another friend who lives in the neighboring village and she joined us for lunch at Katie’s host family home.

It was such a fabulous and needed weekend away to be able to spend some time with this lovely gal and also to see Eliz too which was an awesome surprise. I am so grateful for Katie’s hospitality and friendship. I’m already planning my next visit to that area again in a few months. Until next time… la multi ani!