December 11: Monastery Hincul
I woke up a little earlier than the day before and had the breakfast Diana had prepared: bread, cheese, sausages, and pasta with brinza. Grigore, Diana, Sandu and I piled into Grigore’s car and drove to Lena’s school where we picked up Lena and her history teacher. Yes, Lena had school on Sunday morning. I thought it was awful but it’s all part of the “session work” that goes on at the end of a term in Moldova and other former Soviet republics.
Anyway, the 6 of us rode off to Monastery Hincul. It took about an hour to get there. When we arrived, there was a sign greeting us in Romanian. It said, “Peace to those who come. Happiness to those who stay. Blessings to those who leave.” I’m not sure if the church intended this last line to be funny, but we certainly saw the humor in it.
We walked up the rutted dirt road to the main basilica, saying hello to the goats we passed along the way. When we arrived, we found that the church was still under construction. The walls were merely bare brick, and there were plastic sheets where windows should be. Even the “gate to heaven” that traditionally separates Russian Orthodox priests from the congregation was covered with leaves rather than gold. Still, there were paintings of icons on the walls and many people were there to kiss the icons and receive their blessings. There was also a choir of 3-4 nuns who sang hymns with beautiful voices. We stayed for some of the service, then went out to see a special altar. This altar was completely finished; yellow on the outside and light blue on the inside. Inside people left food (mainly bread) and candles in memory of their loved ones.
We wanted to get a guided tour of the whole monastery, but we were told we’d have to wait 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I found out that the history teacher is very religious. She wanted me to meet a priest at the monastery who reportedly is magical, and could help my greatest wish come true. Lena said cynically that I should wish for something impossible. I tried to take the wish more seriously than that. In the end, though, my effort was not necessary. I met the priest, and he started by saying a few words about the monastery and asking if I knew anything about churches like it in America. At that point I wasn’t sure exactly what the affiliation of this monastery was, so I diplomatically said I wasn’t familiar with one exactly but I knew there many Orthodox churches in America aligned with Russia, Armenia, Ukraine and more. The priest then encouraged me to recommend Hincul to other Americans, and offered me a book with pictures. Feeling more generous here than at the museum, I went ahead and paid the 40 lei for the book. Later when I got the book home I realized 98 percent of it was a calendar of religious activities, and 2 percent of it was pictures of the Russian orthodox hierarchy and their meetings with political leaders. Oy. After that lovely experience, we went next door to the gift shop where we were told we’d have to wait yet another 20 minutes for a guided tour. After about 10 minutes of looking around I’d had enough of Hincul. We decided to go back home.
It had been pretty cold at the monastery and we hadn’t stopped for lunch, so it was definitely time to eat and drink something warm. Diana made punch—hot wine with spices. I had come to know and love this treat in Germany (gluhwein) and was happy to have it again at that moment. We had it with soup. After our late lunch/early dinner, Lena and I played “hot and cold” with Sandu, hiding things and helping him find them by saying “cold, warm, hot” (reci, cald, fierbinte). That was fun, but afterwards it was necessary (for Lena and me) to take a nap.
Later in the evening, Lena and I went out to the Cinema Club, an English language movie club. “Theater” is too strong a word. It feels like a private screening room with maybe 18 large leather seats, small tables for beer and other drinks, and a large screen with a projector. The movies were projected onto the screen using a computer. Lena assured me the club shows the movies legally.
The movie we saw was “Anchorman”. I think in the States this movie got mediocre reviews, or it seemed mediocre in the ads to me. But I have to say it was pretty funny. One of the funniest parts of the movie was when a Steve Carrell’s character, who had the IQ of a lamppost, was said to have become a top political adviser to President Bush. The saddest part of the movie was afterwards when Lena asked me, “Are moviemakers in America really allowed to say things like that about the President?”
Tags: Churches, Eastern Europe, Moldova, Travel
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