Obama in Tiraspol?

The capital of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic is probably the last place you'd expect to see ANYTHING Obama-related. Not so ... there is an Obama store located in a mall off 25. October (distictly post-Soviet in style, not like the new flashy Malldova in Chisinau).

But I digress... thus, I present to you faithful readers Obama in Tiraspol! The store itself is kind of a local Hot Topic store ... selling kind of punky/rocky things. In any case, Obama is quite popular in Transnistria. He symbolizes hope that has faded, the real chance of a change in the status quo. Obama is needed by Transnistria just as Transnistria is needed by Obama, so goes the logic (or not). Wouldn't that be funny - a state visit to Transnistria.


Below I'm attaching a picture of the signage for the disallowed "Peace in Palestine, Gas in Transnistria!" march Proryv! tried to lead a week and a half ago.

More about Tiraspol - it is actually a charming city, much nicer than Chisinau if only for the fact that it has less traffic, less bustle, less 'bardak' ... plus it has the benefit of being situated on a river. That is a huge plus - it is really hard to find a great city that isn't in some way impacted by/located near a body of water (think New York, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Petersburg, Pittsburgh, etc.). Chisinau has a few dried up lakes, a nice sewage moat under the bridge to Riscani, but not much else in terms of waterways. It has its finer points (namely ATMs and decent Lebanese food), but generally the lack of a river sorely limits its ascent up my list.