Peşte pe strada

Today I didn't hitchhike, but instead I timed it just right and caught a rutiera (public mini bus) out of the village. I somehow lucked up and got the front seat. Most of the time there are no seats and I'm stuck standing; hence, why I like to hitchhike. As we were pulling away from the village, I saw a fish hanging in the road. No kidding, there was literally a fish hanging halfway across the road on a stick. Apparently, a lady had caught a good sized fish from our lake, stuck the fish on a long stick, and tied the base of the stick to the guard rails on our bridge. I hadn't seen excellent business marketing in Moldova until today. Every car or bus that drove across the bridge had no choice but to see the fish. Sure enough, our bus driver sees the fish and whips our rutiera full of people clear across two lanes to pull over to the lady. I could hear some folks start mumbling in the back of the bus. I guess he didn't like the price, because he dropped the gearstick into low gear and started speeding away. Immediately, three bunicas (grandmas) leaned over my shoulder to ask the driver the price. One bunica didn't hear what he said, so she hit me on the shoulder and said "cît costa mei?", which is village speak for "how much does it cost boy?"

A fost prea scump.