Russian and Romanian are the predominant languages spoken in Moldova, with Romanian the official language. In a small, semi-autonomous region in the south of Moldova called Gagauzia, a dialect of Turkish is spoken. There are also small pockets of Bulgarian- and Ukrainian-speaking communities in Moldova.
Moldovan lei is the currency of Moldova.
A bottle of water is typically 10 lei, or 50 cents USD.
This week, I made a pork osso bucco, which is a northern Italian stew typically made with veal or beef shanks. Those meats are hard to find in Moldova, so I substituted them with pork shanks. When I had friends over for the weekend, I made Coq Au Vin, a French dish consisting of chicken marinated in wine, cooked in a rich gravy. I served it over Tagliatelle. Additionally, I introduced my French friend to Philadelphia cheesesteaks by cooking them in my apartment one evening.
