Mamaliga!

As promised, my students came over with a Moldovan feast of

mamaliga (corn meal, cheese, sour cream)

friptura (pork, seasoned)

harbuz murat (pickled, spicy watermelon)

I got a lesson in the proper way to enjoy my mamaliga -- to kind of roll it in a ball, then dip in the cheese and the sour cream. I also used mine to scoop up some of the delicious pork stew (the friptura). No flatware needed. Very rustic. Very satisfying.

I am sad I don't have a photo of me enjoying my mamaliga, but once I had scooped up that mamaliga with my hands, and then covered in cheese and sour cream, I could definitely not handle my camera -- or even hand it off to one of my students.

This was our second "Good Bye"/celebration event, but there was no need to be tearful just yet, as we had one more gathering scheduled.