I'm a fresh graduate of Anthropology from the University of Bucharest. I've recently had to stay in a hospital a couple of days and there I met a man from Soroca, a city in the north-east of Moldova. He told me about the Gypsy community there, which seems to have a separate life from the other locals.

One of the most interesting things he told me is that right now, many Gypsies are converting to Baptism and Jehovism, in the meanwhile renouncing some of their traditions (like the music and the colourful clothing). He thinks it's because some years ago most of the youth were doing drugs and religion was the solution. Well, these should be my main topics of inquiry:

-what was really the situation some years ago regarding both drug use and religion?
-how did the converting start and why?
-is the renouncing of "traditions" really happening?
-if yes, what's the precise relationship between religion and these traditions?
-and simply learn as much as possible about their way of life

If you succeed in getting enough funding, I intend to move to Soroca for a month or two and do participatory observation in the community. Living there would be the best way to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of the issues at hand. Otherwise, if I get only partial funding, I'll probably stay only one or two weeks or just go there on weekends.

The money I'll use for transportation, accommodation (I live in another city), food and probably some gifts to the locals. If I reach the funding goal, I'll consider buying a camera a keeping a kind of ethnographical photo-diary. Otherwise, I'll just try to borrow one from friends. I'll also launch a blog where I'll post stories, notes and reflexions. In the end I hope to produce a publishable paper.