D16 - Moldovan Wine

26JUN - Day16 - Kishinev - Km1434

El tren 065 de Kishinev a Moscu surt a les 22:08 . Hi ha dos trens diaris en ambdues direccions que connecten la capital russa amb la moldava. Anem forca plens. El tren tarda 3 hores mes en arribar a Moscu comparat amb uns mesos enrere, degut als problemes amb la republica de Trabsnistria. La ruta es desvia cap al nord fins la frontera amb Ucraina i despres cap a l'Est direccio Kiev i Moscu. En el mateix compartiment arriben 2 nois moldaus, no parlen angles pero ens presentem en rus basic. En venen dos mes i tambe em volen coneixer. Em pregunten si m'agrada el vi i desapareixen rient. Al cap de mitja hora tornen mb 4 litres de vi moldau en botelles de plastic. Nomes tenim un got que ens anem passant un rere l'altre. Tots 4 van a Moscu a treballar, dos d'ells amb la familia sencera. Son gent humil, un no sap llegir ni escriure i quan parla sembla que crida, el amics li omplen els papers per quan arribem a la frontera. Passada la mitjanit, quan tothom ja dorm, em quedo pensatiu mirant les estrelles per la finestra. Em noto felic pero trist al mateix temps, es dificil descriure les sensacions. Deixo enrere Moldavia, un pais nou per mi, dues amigues que probablement ho seran per tota la vida. Dues vides completament diferents a la meva. Es com passar pagina, rememoro els instants viscuts a Moldavia pero he de mirar endavant, ara vaig cami de Kiev i mes gent i histories m'esperen a la capital Ucraniana.
A les 5 creuem la frontera, el policia de l'aduana em fa preguntes amables i encuriosides, amb els moldaus no son mes rigids, els fan pagar un visat de transit de dubtosa legalitat. En general, als ucranians no els agraden els moldaus.
A les 7 em desperten els companys de la nit anterior per saber si tinc ressaca, jo els dic que podriem prendre un te, que els convido, ells s'estimen mes una cervesa pel mal de cap. En compro 5 i les bebem en el nostre compartiment. Unes hores mes tard tornen a venir amb una botella de whisky, no paren... Aquest cop jo no col.laboro a la festa, d'aqui a dues hores serem a Kiev, ells encara tenen 15 hores mes per davant.
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The train 065 starts at 22:08 from Kishinev and arrives at Moscow at 4:36 day+2, stops in Kiev 13:26 day+1. I will spend the next 15h on the train. It's always a mistery what will happen inside the train when you start a journey like this... what type of people will be in your compartment, on the wagon... will I be alone or busy all the time? will I have any problems with customs when crossing the border? I get the lower bed, 2 more guys will sleep in my compartment, they don't speak english. I take the gift from Cara and show it to them, they seem to like it, specially when they find a foreigner saying words in moldovan. 2 more guys come to our compartment, they all go to Moscow to work, 2 of them with the family. We make the presentations and quick after that they ask me if I like wine. Half an hour later they come back with 2 bottles filled with 4 litres of moldovan wine. We drink with only one glass, one after the other, eat bread and sausages. The wine is not very much elaborated but is real wine, probably directly from the farmers. The 4 guys are very interested about me, they ask about Barcelona, my profession, etc... They are about the same age as me but they look older. Soon after midnight the bottles are empty, is time to go to bed. It's hot inside the train, I decide to stay near the window with fresh air, looking at the stars. I feel happy and sad at the same time. Happy because the trip is going well and full of adventures, sad because I leave behind 2 good friends in Moldova, Olesea and Cara. I think about the 4 guys with whom I was drinking wine, they are plain people, for a while I think that money makes people less human.
At 5 am we cross the border, this train used to cross Transnistria but due to the political problems now goes to the north of Moldova and then east to Kiev, taking 3 hours extra than in the past. The officer is surprised to see a spanish person, he asks me questions in russian that I am able to understand and answer. When he asks how much money I carry I try to say 500 but I say 105, he smiles and understands. He asks more questions, I guess is for curiosity rather than security. He is not that friendly with the moldovans, they go away and come back angry, they had to pay a bribe. Ukrainians don't like moldovans.
At 7am the guys ask me if I have headache, I don't. I try to invite them for tea but they prefer beer, I buy 5 beers for all of us. Later they will come with a boittle of whisky, this time is too much for me and I refuse. They have to travel 15 more hours, I wil be in Kiev in 2 hours.
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