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My hosts in Moldova told me that my experience in Chisinau would be very different from the time I spent in Tiraspol. If given my choice, I usually go for interior murals, as I did in Tiraspol, because I believe they will last longer. However, I paint wherever people want my murals. And, in the capital, they wanted an exterior mural at one of the busiest intersections in the downtown. I loved it.
The newest mural was on the front of a school for special needs children. It was summer vacation, so most of the students were not at school. But, since it was summer vacation, I had a lot of high school students from Chisinau -- who spoke English – and were willing and free to paint at the school. There was no lack of communication - or translators - during this project.
As with all my murals, I like to meet with local people and discuss the content of the design. The director wanted a combination of school activities and Moldovan symbols. Easy enough to do and this time there was no controversy with maps, flags, national crest, traditional clothes and other patriotic symbols. I tried to include everything she asked for between letters that spelled out CHISINAU. And, in a design that was seventeen yards long, it was easy to include a lot. However, when I showed the director the finished art, her first words were, “Where is the stork?” and my next words were, “You never mentioned anything about a stork!” It was too late for that request.
Regardless, the director of the school was simply incredible. I created a new word to describe her, “Direxcellence”. The very first day of painting, I showed up in my very used muraling clothes that were splattered from several previous projects. But, in the director’s mind, they still needed protection. She gave me a T-shirt to wear over my other shirt and then wrapped an additional shirt around my waist to protect my pants. I felt well cared for, and I always enjoy that experience.
Every day, I had “coffee” with the Direxcellence. Coffee was not just coffee in Moldova. Since neither us spoke a common language, we just made up for it with food. Depending on the day, “coffee” included coffee, tea, strawberries, cherries, sliced oranges and lemons, kiwi fruit, home-made pastries, cake, cookies, imported treats from the United States, meat (which could have been chicken or rabbit), home-made soup and dumplings. “Coffee” in Chișinău was always lunch.
There are some places where you travel in the former Soviet Union that you get hit in the face with an old communist mentality. I don’t know where I was on the day when someone from the embassy of some unnamed communist country with over a billion people stopped by the mural. He asked if the project was some kind of propaganda. I wish I could have heard and understood what the Direxcellence had to say to him. Needless to say, she handled him and the situation.
The newest mural was on the front of a school for special needs children. It was summer vacation, so most of the students were not at school. But, since it was summer vacation, I had a lot of high school students from Chisinau -- who spoke English – and were willing and free to paint at the school. There was no lack of communication - or translators - during this project.
As with all my murals, I like to meet with local people and discuss the content of the design. The director wanted a combination of school activities and Moldovan symbols. Easy enough to do and this time there was no controversy with maps, flags, national crest, traditional clothes and other patriotic symbols. I tried to include everything she asked for between letters that spelled out CHISINAU. And, in a design that was seventeen yards long, it was easy to include a lot. However, when I showed the director the finished art, her first words were, “Where is the stork?” and my next words were, “You never mentioned anything about a stork!” It was too late for that request.
Regardless, the director of the school was simply incredible. I created a new word to describe her, “Direxcellence”. The very first day of painting, I showed up in my very used muraling clothes that were splattered from several previous projects. But, in the director’s mind, they still needed protection. She gave me a T-shirt to wear over my other shirt and then wrapped an additional shirt around my waist to protect my pants. I felt well cared for, and I always enjoy that experience.
Every day, I had “coffee” with the Direxcellence. Coffee was not just coffee in Moldova. Since neither us spoke a common language, we just made up for it with food. Depending on the day, “coffee” included coffee, tea, strawberries, cherries, sliced oranges and lemons, kiwi fruit, home-made pastries, cake, cookies, imported treats from the United States, meat (which could have been chicken or rabbit), home-made soup and dumplings. “Coffee” in Chișinău was always lunch.
There are some places where you travel in the former Soviet Union that you get hit in the face with an old communist mentality. I don’t know where I was on the day when someone from the embassy of some unnamed communist country with over a billion people stopped by the mural. He asked if the project was some kind of propaganda. I wish I could have heard and understood what the Direxcellence had to say to him. Needless to say, she handled him and the situation.