Simsbury, CT

In October one of my oldest friends, Tony Costanza, got married in Connecticut. I decided that I had to be there and made Tony’s wedding a road trip weekend.

I was going to drive up to Connecticut by myself, but when Shelley heard that I was going to New England in the fall, she decided to come with me. I couldn’t ask for a better traveling companion to join me in my Gilmore Girls themed, Connecticut weekend. Plus, Shelley likes to listen to Harry Potter audio books as much as I do, so life doesn’t get much better.

The wedding guests and the reception were held at a lovely place called the Simsbury 1820 House. It was a beautiful home with an amazing front porch. According to MapQuest and my GPS it should have taken Shelley and me 6.5 hours to get to Simsbury; instead it took us over 10 hours – thank you very much George Washington Bridge and accident on I-95. We missed the rehearsal, most of the rehearsal dinner and were pretty exhausted by the time we went to bed.

Since the wedding wasn’t until the afternoon, on Saturday Shelley and I met up with a friend from our mission, Becky “Derbita” Ortinez. I have missed Becky like a mad dog and I was wonderful to see her again. It was extra fun because we also spent time with her sweet husband Cesar and her little boy Andrew. Andrew is just about the cutest thing in the whole world and because I only like kids on a case-by-case basis, that is a true compliment. We ate at this great deli, Rein’s Deli, in Vernon, CT. The food was fantastic – especially the French toast on challah bread and the cheese blintz (eat your heart out Mom).

The wedding took place at a Catholic church in West Hartford. The church had lovely stained glass windows. I especially liked how the soloist sang “Morning Has Broken” by Cat Stevens as everyone was being seated. Shaina looked absolutely beautiful and went 1940’s style with her dress and hair. It suited her perfectly. The reception was back in Simsbury at the Simsbury 1820 House. They had great food, a good DJ and plenty of cool people to talk too. It was fun to get to know some of Shaina and Tony’s friends that I have heard so much about but had never met. Good times!

On Sunday, Shelley and I headed back to DC. Before that we wanted to drive Washington Depot, which supposedly served as the inspiration for Stars Hallow from Gilmore Girls. Since it was only an hour away from Simsbury, we decided to take the trip. We made a lot of stops on the way to Washington Depot because Connecticut is so blasted beautiful. Everything we saw from the pumpkin patches to the New England style farm houses were so idyllic. I think Shelley and I used the word idyllic so much it has lost all meaning. Washington Depot is a sleepy little town, I would have to say that Stars Hallow is a much more happening place. It must be a wealthier area, as all the kids we ran into were talking about the prep schools they attend.
Getting us out of Washington Depot proved to be a bit more difficult than expected. My GPS had us going through some lovely farm land (I know I said lovely farm land and I hate farms – what is happening to me?) and woods. But instead of the roads turning into highways, they kept getting smaller. They also turned from asphalt to gravel to dirt roads with no trespassing signs. Needless to say, my TomTom was looking for a road that had not been built yet. Shelley and I were cool with the hour long detour - I can think of worse ways to spend my time then taking a scenic drive.

We eventually found our way to the highway and had a much quicker trip home even with all the stops. We bought apples as a cider mill, made a pit stop at a Costco in Yonkers and avoided getting in fights with toll workers on the New Jersey Turnpike (I am talking about you, Shelley). Thanks to Tony and Shaina for letting me share in such a wonderful wedding.

Next Trip – Dayton, OH

Yellowstone

In October I took some vacation time and headed to the family cabin in Island Park, ID. I have spent most of my summers up at the cabin and it is as close to camping as I ever want to get. Why sleep on the ground when you can sleep in a bed? Why cook on a camp stove when you can use an oven? Why tell stories and relate to people when you can watch satellite television? Ahh, the sweet cabin life.

When I was at Utah State, I would spend every Thursday to Monday at the cabin with my mom until about mid-October. The weather there is very unpredictable, I have seen it snow like crazy in October and I have also seen great sunny weather. Luckily, the weather was in my favor most of the time. I am not a snow person – as the front left fender of my car will testify.

The vacation got off to a rocky start as I was leaving just two days after returning from Moldova. While I made it back from Moldova in great shape, my luggage decided to stay in Frankfort, Germany. I harassed United Airlines and finally got my luggage a mere 5 hours before I had to leave for the airport to fly to Bozeman, MT. While I generally like flying United, they have lost my luggage a couple of times and when that happens the wrath of Jen is swift and fierce.

While there were many highlights to the trip, chopping wood is not one of them. Did you know that spiders live in wood piles? I threw several panicky fits because the spiders surrounded and even crawled on me. Yuck – I get freaked out just thinking about it. I try not to be a wussy girl, but when it comes to spiders all bets are off.

Roger and Diedra Mahaffey were there for part of the time and it was wonderful to see them. Roger makes awesome waffles and Diedra really likes bacon – so what is not to love about the Mahaffeys? It was good to see my dad go fishing with Roger, and they even caught (and released) a few fish this year – a new record!

I love to ride ATV’s and Island Park is awesome because there are several courses and trials to explore. Sadly, I only got to ride a few times as it hurt the scar on my leg too much. I am hoping that as time passes, I will be able to get back to where I was before and rock the countryside with my awesome moves. (This is pure bravado as I am a mediocre rider, but I think it is an activity that requires super high levels of confidence).

I decided that I needed to visit Yellowstone National Park while I was there. It had been years since I had seen the north loop of the park. Most people want to tour the south loop as there are more geysers, animals and Old Faithful. My parents were helpless against my whining and decided to come with me. We had a great time and the weather, aside from the freezing cold wind, was beautiful. At Mammoth there were about a zillion elk just lying around. Since they were in heat (I don’t know what the technical term is) we kept a good distance. They really are lovely animals. We almost saw a bear; missing him (or her) by just a matter of minutes. Poor Dad, he never gets to see bears.
We always go through West Yellowstone to enter the park. There are a lot of crappy places to eat, but in my vast experience there are two establishments that are definitely worth a visit: Ernie’s and Beartooth BBQ. Ernie’s has great sandwiches and I always stop there before I go into Yellowstone. Their “Fisherman’s Box Lunch” has everything that you need for a picnic and is reasonably priced. Beartooth started out as a summer place operating out of a small kiosk. Due to the popularity of the place, it is now a year-round restaurant. They have amazing pulled pork sandwiches. For sides I would recommend the french fries or the baked beans.

Overall, it was a great vacation. I hope to make it back next year maybe a bit earlier in the season so I can enjoy the outdoors without having to bundle up so much.

Next trip – Simsbury, CT

Chisinau, Moldova

I know that my announcement of a trip to Chisinau, Moldova has raised some eyebrows. What do I do that requires me to travel to Eastern Europe? Why Moldova? Good questions, but the answers are far more boring than the mystery they inspire. It is like learning the secrets of magic tricks – weren’t you happier not knowing? For those that like truth with a capital “T” here is the answer…I am a spy.

Not really, but I wanted to see if anyone would believe me for even just a second. I work for a software company. That is it. Boring, no spy stuff required. My company makes a suite of software used by law enforcement, intelligence, and military analysts to find patterns and commonalities in data sets. The boredom increases. If you think of an episode of “Law & Order” or “Without a Trace” where they are running suspects phone or financial records to look for anything interesting; that is the kind of stuff I help analysts with. I like it, but I realize that I am getting paid, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Now for the Chisinau, Moldova part of the story. Moldova is located in Eastern Europe between Romania and the Ukraine. If you have never heard of Moldova, no worries, I hadn’t either until I was assigned the trip. According to the CIA World Factbook, Moldova has several issues impeding its progress as a world player:
•It is the poorest country in Europe.
•Moldova is no where near being admitted to the European Union because of corruption and a troublesome break away region known as the “Transnistria Republic." Transnistria has attempted to seperate from Moldova and has its own currency and ruling government. This seperation is helped by the occupying Russian forces, so think of Transnistria as a Basque or Northern Ireland type region that would like to break free from the ruling government due to ethnic ties.
•Moldova is still reeling from the fall of the Soviet Union, as they were a former Eastern Bloc country. Although Moldova is a republic, their leadership is from the new Communist Party.
They have a lot going on there, and while the country may be in hard times, there are some wonderful people in Chisinau trying to make a difference.

My trip to Chisinau was sponsored by the SECI Center (Southeast European Cooperative Initiative), which is a coalition of 13 countries to help fight crime that crosses borders. One of the big issues that SECI is trying to fight is human trafficking. I won’t get into human trafficking much here, but just know that it is a real problem, especially in poorer countries like Moldova. To that end, my co-worker Kevin and I went to Chisinau to conduct a training session for Moldovan and Romanian crime analysts at the Center to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

There are very few travel books about Moldova, making it hard to plan a trip. One reason is that Moldova is not really a country ready for tourism. If you are interested in Moldova, I would recommend reading, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks. It is a hilarious travel biography and absolutely spot on when it comes to life in Moldova.

When Kevin and I arrived in Moldova it was raining and gray. It stayed gray most of the time I was there. My hope is that Chisinau improves a bit in the sunshine as the city is bleak and overcast. Tony Hawks describes Chisinau best, to paraphrase “You look to the left and there are gray concrete buildings. You look to the right and there are gray concrete buildings. You look in front of you and behind you and there are gray concrete buildings.” That is Chisinau in a nutshell. Kevin and I stayed at a hotel that was not all gray and concrete, the Leogrand Hotel. It was nice and had an excellent restaurant. Kevin and I ate there more than once and the beef was very, very good.

The US Embassy in Chisinau provided our transportation, which consisted of a big van driven by a surly Russian named Sasha. On the first day, Sasha dropped us off at the Center, but didn’t tell us which entrance to use. That was the beginning of our adventure. I don’t think I had ever felt that afraid to be traveling abroad. I was in a country where I didn’t speak the language, no one spoke my language, my cell phone wasn’t working and I had no idea where I was or how to get back to my hotel. I suffered a good 30 minutes of panic – but it all worked out in the end.

Kevin and I entered the building which was sort of creepy with dark, dank halls and florescent lights that flickered on and off. Later in the week I found out that the building was typical of Soviet-style architecture. The woman at the front door kept asking where we were going in Romanian and all I could answer back was “human trafficking” in English (sadly, the phrase “human trafficking” was not covered in my English-Romanian dictionary). The woman called someone and determined that we should go to the 7th floor. Kevin and I eased into an elevator the size of a coffin and made our way to the 7th floor. Turns out our office was not on the 7th floor. I kept wandering around the halls saying “human trafficking” as if I was making offers. Since no one spoke English it was hard to find help. Someone suggested the 5th floor so off Kevin and I went to the 5th floor. No such luck there either. I continued to wander the halls like Lady Macbeth and found an office that had the word Oxford in the title. With the hopes that someone British worked out of the office, I knocked on the door. No Brit worked there, but they were able, through a lot of hand signals, to show us to the right floor.

The Center’s office was so nice. It wasn’t like any of the offices I had seen on the other floors. Once we got to the Center, everything went smoothly. It was interesting to have to work through interpreters as very few of our students spoke English. At the end of the week the interpreters said I was very easy to translate for, which I took as a compliment. I think it goes back to my mission when I had to translate for people and I know how hard it can be. I think the class was very successful and the students were so much more attentive and interested than probably any class I have ever taught here in the US. Kevin and I were very impressed.

The highlights of the trip were:

The Romanians – they all spoke English and stayed in our hotel. Kevin and I loved hanging out with them. The Romanians were excellent students and take their job very seriously. I hope to go to Bucharest and work with them again. I am truly honored to have them as friends.

Wandering through Chisinau – The pollution is tough on the lungs so we didn’t spend too much time outside. Kevin and I went to Central Park and walked up and down the main street, “Stefan cel Mare.” Stefan cel Mare was a very powerful king that won a lot of battles and kept the Ottomans out of the areas that are currently Romania and Moldova. In 1991 when Moldova became its own republic, all the streets that referenced Lenin, Stalin or anything Soviet were changed to something more Moldovan. The street “Stefan cel Mare” is a prime example.

Milestii Mici – This is a very cool winery. There are miles and miles underground tunnels just to house wine. To give you an idea, we drove our minivan round in the tunnels. Milestii Mici has the world’s largest wine collection. My group wonderful dinner and wine tasting in a huge, underground hall that made me feel like royalty. Since I don’t drink, Kevin took one for the team and drank my glasses of wine for me. He is a true friend.

Dinner at Symposium – Danny, our FBI liaison, his wife Jane, Kevin, Dorina, our US Embassy contact, her boyfriend Oleg, and I all had dinner at this fantastic restaurant. I had a traditional Moldovan dinner of chicken and potatoes that I totally enjoyed. Symposium is a great restaurant that wasn’t listed in my guide book. I would highly recommend it to westerners as the food is high quality. At some places in Chisinau you just don’t know what you might get when it comes to ingredients and quality.

Appreciating America, especially our sanitation system – I didn’t realize that toilet paper is not customary in some countries. Thank heavens I brought a travel size package of Cottonelle with me. I just came home realizing how lucky I am, how good I have it and how I really take 2-ply TP for granted.

I have a lot of stories that I won’t share here since this is getting so very long. I am glad to be home and a bit stronger and wiser for the journey.

Next trip - Yellowstone