A Woman Walks into a Bar
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Peace Corps
13 min read
The author served as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Moldova, and understanding the history, structure, and global impact of this American volunteer program provides essential context for her presence there and the cross-cultural exchange described
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Chișinău
15 min read
The entire article takes place in Moldova's capital city, exploring its culinary scene, architecture, and Central Market. Understanding the city's Soviet-era history and post-independence development illuminates why Victor wanted to expose the city's hidden historical layers
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Moldovan wine
12 min read
Victor's dream was specifically to open a wine bar, and Moldova has one of the world's highest concentrations of vineyards per capita. Understanding Moldova's ancient winemaking tradition and its importance to national identity enriches the story of Casaroz
The following is a guest post from The Cathy Byrd, a creative nomad, writer, podcaster and recent Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Moldova. You can follow her Substack “The Cathy Byrd Project” at this link.
A quick disclosure: this article is about members of my family. I’m sharing it because I think Cathy captures a rich story about Moldova’s new culinary scene, but readers should be aware of the personal connection.
Given my lifelong roaming, you might not know of my lasting desire to feel at home wherever I go. Truth is, I’m not a traveler collecting countries. I never set out to be a stranger in a strange land.
Quite the opposite. I’m always angling to stop and stay a while, to linger, make friends, live like a local. Curiosity leads my search for the authentic. I seek out a sense of genuine warmth—a welcome that recognizes, embraces and transcends my foreignness. If I’m lucky, I reach that sweet spot wherever I go.
My latest bout of wanderlust took me to Chișinău, the capital city of Moldova. I moved there for a 9-month teaching project with the US Peace Corps Response program. Completing an intensive on-boarding program, learning my way around, beginning classes at university, and settling in twice (housing placement having taken two tries) took most of my attention for the first two months. I was still hard at work getting my balance on the cold winter night that I found myself welcomed into Casaroz, a cozy establishment only steps from my flat.
Victor
The young entrepreneur that creates this warm sense of place is Victor Savcenco. The eldest of 4 children recalls his tender years: “As a big family, a beautiful tradition that we all valued and loved was dinner. It was a time that we all loved spending together. The food we shared resonates as a core memory of happy times. I think that our childhood memories motivate us.”
Victor left his home country behind for the first time as a teenager. A foreign exchange student in high school, he stayed on to attend college in California—achieving a business degree that led him into real estate and beyond, even as far as a taco truck venture. All the while, he remembers, he was dreaming…about going home and opening a wine bar.
Homecoming
On July 17, 2025, Victor and I sit down for a ...
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