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Is there any real political opposition? Is there strong popular support for reintegration back into Moldova? Do people travel freely into Moldova and Ukraine? Is there a secret police?
No. No, but I’m a supporter. Depends on what kind of passport they have. You can’t really go anywhere with the Pridnestrovian passport, but many people have dual citizenship (Russia, Moldova, Ukraine being the biggest second ones). I have a Russian and Pridnestrovian passport, can travel to Moldova without a passport but not to Ukraine. The secret police & real police are the gangsters.
What kind of restaurants and food are popular there? Is it a fairly even mix of things from neighboring cultures, or does something stand out? Anything unique to the region?
Most restaurants serve a mix of Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan (Romanian) food. Those are definitely the most popular as well. Russian cuisine is the most popular. Russian you have foods such as pelmeni, blini, shchi; you have authentic Ukrainian borsch and varenyky, Moldovan you have zeamă (chicken soup), sarmale în foi de viță (vine leaf rolls), plăcinte (pastry)… you can also find American, Japanese food (7 Fridays Tiraspol, they serve lots of international food), pizzerias, etc. I don’t think there’s any “endemic” food to the region. We do have things such as Pridnestrovian sushi (sushi made with fish caught from the Dniester), Pridnestrovian cheese (smoked) and beer (Nashe Pivo), Pridnestrovian (Kvint) cognac and vodka (Volk).
I just read the (German) Wikipedia article about Transnistria. The article states:
Als einziges Land der Erde hat Transnistrien Münzen aus Kunststoff im Umlauf. (Transnistria is the only country in the world to have plastic coins in circulation.)
This is an odd choice of material. Can you elaborate on that? Why plastic instead of metal?
Transnistria is the only country in the world to have plastic coins in circulation It’s not usual plastic. They’re basically impossible to break, I’m pretty sure it’s a form of polycarbonate. And they’re not the only material coins are made of, there are metal ones too. They were made for blind, visually impaired, older people convenience - each one is a different color and shape (blind people can differentiate them with touch due to the different shapes of each denomination) and they’re shiny. Ironically enough older people hate them for some reason…
Who taught your history and what does it say? What do you do day-to-day? Is life easy for you and is it the same/different to those around you? What form of media do you consume and where do you choose to get your information about the world from? Lastly why did you start this ama?
Who taught me history? Well, the first place was school, so my teachers. Said the same as everywhere else, except in Russian. There are some Romanian-language schools, but they’re not viewed well at all. Local authorities don’t even recognize diplomas issued by them, so you can’t attend local higher education. In my day-to-day life I take care of my dad and the house, that’s my job + kill some time doing the activities I like. So it’s a good life. My dad earns a lot, so my life is more comfortable than for the people around. Poverty is common here. The Internet almost exclusively. I use an website called Ground News for news, I like it cause it has multiple sources well organized. I learned about it from some Youtubers who were advertising it. I’m bored.
What are the reasons one would visit your country? Touristy highlights, food, the people and so forth
Soviet nostalgia mainly. Apart from that there isn’t that much to see or do, though you have some nice places such as Tighina Fortress and Castelul Mimi. I’ve talked about food in another reply. I don’t personally think the people are much of a highlight.
I see, thanks for your answer. What’s the nature like? Mountainous/Forrest?
How do people make a living? Is there any industry? Tourism?
Many people have relatives working abroad (Russia, Moldova, Romania, Europe) and send them money back home. Locally you have things such as electricity, steel, textile production… tourism is not developed at all. But the real base of the economy are things such as contraband and gun trafficking - no secret, everybody knows about it. + of course the usual jobs such as teacher, doctor, business owner, self employed (beauty, construction, electrician… basically trades) etc.
