Moldova, at 1 month

This wednesday officially marks 1 month of life in Moldova, which is really hard to believe because it doesn't feel like that long ago when we were in DC, packing up our bags. At the same time, I've been here long enough to figure out a few basic things, like things I can do to try to attempt to fit in:

• When purchasing/receiving flowers, make sure to carry them "upside down".

• If you're a little kid, wear a full-blown suit to school every day.
• If you're a dude, you can wear a purse {"european carry-all"} and still be taken seriously. Also, you can wear a track suit to pretty much anything you want. If you work in construction you can wear overalls. Maybe even if you don't.
• When walking under a walnut tree, seamlessly crack open a fallen walnut by stepping on it, pick it up, eat it and continue walking as if nothing had happened. 
• Walk with an angry/serious look on your face at all times otherwise it's a dead giveaway that you're a foreigner.

• At the grocery store, you must weigh & price your produce in the produce section or you run the risk of {obviously irritated} pregnant ladies standing behind you in line yelling at you {in Russian} for being an idiot.
• Traffic signs/lights can mostly be ignored.
• If you're a woman in your 40's and under, you can wear skinny jeans and flat shoes or boots, or alternatively some sort of a mini-skirt and ridiculously pointy high heel ensemble. If you're in your 40's {or other ambiguous, undetermined age} and older I'm pretty sure your options are limited to the "bunica" grandma outfits and hair scarves. 

• When crossing any street where the pedestrians have the "right of way", what that really means is that you need to wait to gather enough critical mass and boldly start venturing out into the street and hope the cars stop for you. I accidentally led the charge on this when attempting to cross the busiest street in town. We all survived.
• Make sure to wear all black {at night} when going for a walk {making sure to walk in the street}.
• Blast this kind of music from your car to be cool.
• During Cherry Season {I've been warned by a kind neighbor}, make sure to note that the more expensive cherries "without meat" at the market come free-of-worms and the cheaper ones,  "with meat," come with worms.