Doneaza!

Imi amintesc fericirea pe care o simteam cand eram mica (mai exact pe la inceputul anilor '90) cand primeam "ajutoare" din strainatate. Ajungeau la mine prin bunica mea care era infirmiera la spitalul din Gaesti sau prin mama mea, profesoara la o scoala pentru copii cu dizabilitati de vedere. Nu era nimic special acolo decat cateva hainute, plastelina, carioci, culori cerate, ceva jucarii de plus si joculete. O gramada de prostiute care deveneau jucariile mele si cele mai pretioase comori din dulap.

Asa ca, imi place sa intorc aceasta bucurie incercand de fiecare data sa imi donez lucrurile. De cativa ani imi fac cu regularitate curat in dulap si "scap" de lucrurile pe care nu le mai folosesc: jucarii, carti, gablonturi, genti, incaltaminte, haine, aparate electronice etc. Sunt sigura ca nu sunt singura care are cel putin un moment de shopping compulsiv si dupa o luna/ doua isi da seama fie ca nu a purtat niciodata acel lucru, fie ca de fapt mai avea ceva foarte similar, fie ca acum poarta numai obiectul acela vestimentar si altele au ramas uitate pe raft. Ca sa nu fac erori imi donez lucrurile la sfarsit de sezon, cand inainte de a le pune la naftalina, trec prin ele si selectez tot ce nu am purtat in acel sezon si are sanse mari sa nu mai fie purtat de acum. La inceput nu mi-a fost usor. Ma atasez cu usurinta de obiecte si imi e greu sa dau ceva ce imi apartine...asa exercitiul se transforma si intr-un tratament foarte bun.

Ce fac cu lucrurile?

Din prima tura de curatenie am vandut multe obiecte, in special vestimentare/ electronice, prin contul meu de Okazii. Erau lucruri noi sau care aveau o oarecare valoare. Jumatate din tot ceea ce vindeam donam la Asociatia Robi.

O mare parte din lucrurile mele a ajuns la un eveniment caritabil de suflet: Save and Shop, Care and Give. Un proiect caritabil unde prin vanzarea de obiecte donate se colecteaza fonduri pentru cateva adaposturi de animale din Bucuresti. Este un loc absolut minunat ce ar trebui vizitat nu doar pentru a dona dar si pentru a cumpara si ajuta. Mi-am gasit aici numeroare lucruri minunate.

Jucariile s-au dus toate la mama la gradinita pentru hipoacuzici.

Un alt loc pe care il recomand unde se pot dona haine atat pentru adulti cat si pentru si copii este Samusocial - ONG care se ocupa de recuperarea oamenilor strazii.

De luat in considerare sunt si numeroasele cazuri promovate de diferite ONG-uri pe Facebook. Trebuie doar sa cauti si cu siguranta vei gasi o cauza care merita...

Sau poti incerca un schimb de haine.

In concluzie, nu cred ca exista nici o scuza pentru cei care isi arunca hainele sau le transforma in carpe pentru curatenie :)

House of memories - Bran

Casa cu amintiri (House of memories) is a small vila in Bran (Romania). It's on the road to Omu mountain peak in Bugeci...the last house on the left side of the road. The place is filled with magic and memories from a lost time. The owner is a former antique store owner, and a Greek descended, from a family which immigrated in Romania many years ago after a strong earthquake shook their village. His grandfather owned a cafeteria, and his entrepreneurial skills definitely lasted in time for generations to come. If you are an antique lover, this is definitely the place to be. You can stare for hours at the walls and the shelves packed with objects from another era.

This is definitely a place to feel like home, relax...and enjoy the vibe of nature.

Bran and around...

As we did not plan an encounter with Dracula, we skipped the castle and focused on the area around it. So, we managed to visit the old village museum near the castle, eat kurtosh...and then enjoy the nature of Bucegi National Park and the view from Bran's monastery site.

My 26th Summer

My summer is not over, but the best part of it just ended - the summer holiday. If I could only have my share of the three months of "nothing to do in summer" that I used to have when in school.

2012 Summer Holiday:
Bucharest - Transalpina - Sibiu - Apuseni Mountains - Alba Iulia - Doftana - Bucharest

To get to Sibiu we took a special route - Transalpina known as "The Road of Kings". This is the highest and most beautiful road in Romania. The road is around 2000 years old and has been used both by the Romans to pass the Carpathians and the Germans in WW2. Its maximum hight reaches 2145 m and the view from there is spectacular.

We started with a well known festival in Sibiu - ArtMania. The festival is already an August tradition for the city, and the city is an island of non-romanian stuff in Romania. Sibiu still looks like the European Capital of Culture. Die Toten Hosen brought a lot of Germans to Sibiu, so for at least a couple of days we were surrounded by Deutsch blondes. I was also really happy to see Alternosfera (a small Moldavian band I've known since highschool).

The real adventure only started when we reached the mountains. Our plan was to visit Apuseni National Park, known for the glaciers that it hides and the wonderful karst fragments. We made as many routes as we could in the three days we had. We arrived on Sunday evening and had two nights of sleep in a mountain house (it was pretty modern so not the typical chalet) and were planning to sleep outside in our tents for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately in August, 40 degrees Celsius in Bucharest turn into 10 degrees Celsius in the mountains, with really low temperatures at night. So we spent one night in the tent and the other night in a trailer.

1st day
Cetatile Ponorului
(caves and top of the mountain views)

2nd day

Barsa Pit 

(glaciers, caves and lakes inside mountains)

The 2nd day gave us a story to tell forever. When we arrived at Barsa pit we heard a child crying inside the cave where the glacier is. A family was trapped...they entered the pit with no equipment what so ever to take photos, and the mother slipped on the glacier's ice and had a foot stuck in a crack. She was lucky she got stuck because otherwise the ice would have swallowed her into the mountains deep. It was really difficult for the boys to get them out of there, because she was freezing, almost hypothermic, and extremely scared. 

3rd day

The Yellow Gorges

(rocks, water coming out of the mountain's heart and top of the mountain views)

We ended our beautiful mountain trip with a long drive to Alba Iulia. This was my second time in the city and for the same good reason - Dark Bombasting Evening (DBE 4) - an underground music festival where you feel like home. While last year I focused more on the citadel - DBE 2011 this year I focused more on the festival.

A lot more people joined the festival, mostly foreigners, which was a really pleasant surprise. We all cracked on Friday, the first night of the festival, and then had to relax and recharge our batteries on Saturday. Great atmosphere, great music, great food and great people. It was a really nice way to end our holiday before heading for the city.

We got home more tired than we left, but much more relaxed. Unfortunately siting at the office is not as wonderful as climbing mountains...and it's even much more tiering.

My Summer of George has one more thing on the list...splash around the Black Sea...then it will be officially over :)

Teambuilding in Brasov

This weekend we had our first team building at Kilpatrick in Romania. Bucharest and Timisoara, along a small part of Milan met in Brasov for a weekend of fun. And needless to say it really was fun.

I left Bucharest later than everyone else and traveled by train to Brasov. I must say that I haven't been in a Romanian train for a long time...and I was utterly impressed. Clean, not crowded, restaurant wagon, air conditioning...that does not sound like the trains I used to know.

We didn't spend much time in Brasov, but I can say that we went to the best part of it: Park Aventura. I have heard about this place before, but it was my first and surely not last time here. Not very expensive for the fun you have: 39 ron/ 3 hours of adventures. You have different levels of difficulty: yellow (kiddie ride); green (very low difficulty); 2*blue (low difficulty); 2*green (difficult); red (very difficult); black (extremely difficult) and a zip line over a small lake.

In three hours we did 1 blue, two greens and the lake zip line. Not only our time was up, but we were also really tired and didn't have enough strength to do more. To do the difficult ones, you need to save up energy and maybe have a jar of honey like Yogy :)

Every "game" was different and exciting, and you were getting higher, and higher above ground. You cannot quit or stop, and you have to really push yourself even when you think that you can't do it anymore. For me one of the games really pushed my limits, mind and body. It took me half an hour to travel from one side to the other on 10 logs, but it was worth it...the others seamed piece of cake. For everyone in our team one game was the hardest...

The rest of the trip was really quality time spent together, unfortunately we were all too tired to party all night long and crashed early. But still we had walks and talks, we played games and enjoyed a cool weather from the mountains before heading back to the concrete jungle. 

City of Craiova

Last Friday I woke up with a sudden urge to go somewhere during the weekend. That's how the idea of visiting Craiova came up. It wasn't really as random as it may sound...but with was good serendipity.

Craiova was a surprise for me. I went there years ago for a translation job at Ford, but didn't actually visit it, so this can be considered my first time. A city full of linden trees, so you can imagine the smell surrounding you in most areas. A beautiful park and a newly renovated city center. It is not promoted as a touristic city at all, but it could be a good place to live in. Pretty quite, easy to get from one point to another, perfect place to have a bike and use it everyday, you have bars, clubs (not the best ever, but could be improved) and parks to go to.

Romania's smaller cities are poorly developed from the labour market's point of view and that's such a pity because these places could be a good place to enjoy life.

Hategului Country Spring Trip

We took advantage of our Easter holiday and the extended weekend to take a great trip in Transilvania. Our main target Tara Hategului. The area is full of history and interesting places to visit. In our 3 day trip we didn't manage to see everything, but we saw I'd say the most relevant parts of it. Tara Hategului was a volcanic island in the Cretaceous Period, so it lasted in time as a bondage between the dinosaur period and human history.

We started from Bucharest to Sibiu as our "getting to" route. The plan was to go from Sibiu to Orastie where we could visit the old Dacian citadel of Sarmisegetuza Regia. A very long and tiering trip, but worth every second of it.

From Orastie to Sarmisegetuza Regie the road was a pain. It took us 2 hours to get there by car on a very bumpy countryside road. We were lucky that at least the area has all the visiting places marked,  otherwise we would have never gotten there...you feel as if you are going nowhere. This was the capital and the most important military, religious and political centre of the Dacians. Erected on top of a 1,200 meter high mountain, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orastie Mountins, comprising six citadels. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of Dacia prior to the wars with the Roman Empire.

Sarmisegetuza Regia is from my point of view the best place we visited. The Dacian citadel stands tall. The area has very beautiful landscapes and if you have your eyes and mind open you realize that you are surrounded by history and beauty. Everything is build in circles, so it gives a feeling of union.

Around it there are two other important citadels, Blidaru and Costesti. We only visited Costesti as it was closer...to get to Blidaru you have to walk a bit though the forest and we were running a bit of of time and were a bit lazy and tired from the road.

Next stop - Hateg our sleeping hub, where we stayed a super beautiful motel - Art Motel (http://www.rohotels.ro/hoteluri-hateg/hotel-art-motel). 

We ended the day with a beautiful rainbow. 

Though we didn't have the best evening in the world, we woke up the next day ready for another trip.

The plan was simple - Hunedoara (Hunyad Castle) - Sanmaria Orlea (Dinosaur Park) - Sarmisegetuza (Ulpia Traiana Augusta) - Retezat National Park (Gura Apelor Dam).

Hunayd Castle - Castelul Corvinestilor - was finished in 1315 and in 1316 King was already established in the new castle, where he lived almost eight years. The castle is a beautiful piece of medieval architecture. It has been restored, but still you cannot visit all the rooms. Also, the castle just like many castles in Romania is empty - no furniture left. There are many legends related to this place as well as John the Hunyad and their house's symbol - a crow with a golden ring in its peak. A much better place to visit than Bran Castle - Dracula's Castle.

Unfortunately the Communist period destroyed the landscape completely. Ceusescu, who showed no respect to history what so ever, built a large industrial park just in front of the castle that even now stands tall like a sad monument of pain. Luckily the castle is so beautiful that once you turn around you forget about everything.

Curiosity pushed me to visit the dinosaur park. Since Hategului Country is such an old piece of land, in the area they discovered the remains of small dinosaurs. The area is promoted as being a park so I my passion for dinosaurs pushed me to go there. The park is on the way from Hateg to Sanmaria Orlea. What you should find here is the valley of the dinosaurs, the hill of the dinosaurs, the hills of granite and a traditional old village. Yes...ahm....there was nothing there, just a beautiful landscape. Still on our way we went through this really Irish area...green hills, road surrounded by trees...Also we saw a different type of castles - gypsy "houses"

And here is the Dinosaur Park, don't get me wrong I was not expecting Jurassic Park, especially since it is from the Cretaceous period...but I was kinnda the only dinosaur there. I'm really happy we went though, the landscape was spectacular.

Fairly disappointed we turned back with our minds to Ulpia Traiana Augusta. A lot of churches and holy places to visit on this way, but the only interesting ones I found where a medieval church and and evangelistic one.

Ulpia Traiana Augusta is a waste of time. I don't have anything against the Romans, but it's utterly boring. The place seams to be more popular though. It's really easy to get there, they also have a place to eat (bad food, bad bad bad music...) The citadel is bigger than Regia, but it has nothing to see except for a pile of stones in the form of buildings and temples.

Last stop - Gura Apelor Dam. This is the biggest mountain rock built (arocamente) dam in Europe. Retezat National Park is perfection....our road there was bumpy due to rocks fallen from the mountain in the middle of the road, but it was simply beautiful. I obviously found a stray dog even there...a beautiful wolf who ate all my biscuits.

The trip was a real success when it comes to the places we visited. I would do it 100 times again and wish we had better roads to get from one place to the other faster. Somehow I am grateful that tourism in Romania is poorly promoted. These places would have not been the same if we where not, almost, the only visitors there. The weather was on our side, it was always raining when we got into the car, but very warm and sunny when we got out.

My plan of visiting Romania more seams to be working out well. In the past years I've seen really beautiful places I did not know of and were so close to me.

We ended the trip with a return road through Jiului Valley. The strong river pierces through the mountains like a needle. It creates a spectacular view as it streams down. Too bad that from place to place you could see hundreds of plastic bottles floating around forming islands....too bad.

Our last stop was Targu Jiu, the town of the famous Brancusi. The park was very crowded so we barely managed to take a couple of photos.

♥ Alba Iulia

This weekend we visited one of Romania's best and for a while forgotten cities - Alba Iulia. We went there because of Dark Bombastic Evening's 3rd edition and ended up bedazzled by everything that surrounded us.

The fortress is currently being restored and what they managed to do until now is simply wonderful. Our dearest guide (mr. Andrei - the nanny) took us around in a very efficient and informative way. The fortress is about 300 years old and was built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Before that, 2000 years ago, there used to be a Dacian settlement here....depending on who owned the land the place evolved into the beautiful and still mysterious biggest Vaudan Fortress in Easter Europe. You can read its story here: http://www.apulum.ro/ro/istoria.htm  I'm extremely happy to have seen such a wonderful place in dear, old Romania.

Other than the fortress you can also visit the two huge cathedrals set one next to the other - Orthodox and Catholic...a great cultural trip if you ask me. The Catholic one was built in the XI - XII century. Till this day everything is written in Hungarian first and then Romanian. The Orthodox one was built about 700 year later and this is where Romania's king Ferdinand and his wife Maria were crowned.

In front of it there was an archeological site, and they were just digging out some bones...unfortunately the story of the place was not yet available to tourists.

There are other things to see, such as the University and the Great Union Hall and its Museum...The city is also rather beautiful...and to my surprise pretty big...typical capital snob :)

The festival - Dark Bombastic Evening's first summer outdoor edition was absolutely wonderful. We loved the music and the place where we camped. The food was also delicious and we had things to do.

My summer weekend trips

Summer is when everything turns towards the sun. Summer is when you make new friends and fall in love. Summer is when you travel and discover new places…and this is just how my summer is.

We are already half way through the holiday season and the unpredictable is still around the corner.

Places I visited in Romania this summer:

1. May - Macinului Mountains

http://www.parcmacin.ro/

A great place to turn into a prolonged weekend!

Macinului Mountains are the oldest mountains in Romania, a Hercinic chain (I think in Toledo – Spain you find something similar). Their altitude varies from 7 to 467 m….small but strong. It’s a pleasure to go from one pick to the other. Though it feels like a small walk on mountaintops, once you get up you feel like you just climbed the highest mountain on Earth. The rocks look very powerful and give you feeling of strength. The landscape is greatly unique; it’s impossible not to be impressed.

Extra to that, the fauna is just amazing. The climate created a wonderful combination of ecosystems (Mediterranean, Central European and Asian). Though they only occupy 1% of Romania’s territory, they have over 50% of the countries fauna:

- 1770 plant species (a lot of them very rare)

- 181 bird species

- 47 species of mammals

- 1436 species of insects

- 11 species of reptiles

Extra to that, there are a lot of wild animals that you meet along the road there

Not very easy to access, it would be good to know the road before taking the trip.

Though every website says that you actually have to pay to enter the Natural Park, nothing is organized there…so we had no idea about this. Just as nothing is organized related to the entry, nothing is organized for camping either. There is a small place where you can place your tent, but it depends a lot on what other people are there at the time. We had a big surprise to have neighbors that day. Though it’s a monastery just there, they had very loud, very bad music…and were getting ready for a BBQ. We were lucky and had the best place ever to set our tents, in a nearby village in the garden you one of our friend’s grandfather. Unfortunately I cannot give you a solution if you get the luck we did.

2. May - The Muddy Volcanoes (Vulcanii Noroiosi)

http://www.inromania.info/vulcanii-noroiosi.html

Perfect for a one-day trip if you leave in Bucharest. The place is in Buzau, a county that’s only 100 km from Bucharest. The road is fine and easy to get around. You can bulls eye the place even if it’s your first time there.

When you get there, you have to pay a very small fee to get inside. Then, the fun begins. What you can see it’s mini volcanoes created with the help of natural gases that come out from over 300m underground. Everything looks extremely muddy and in the places where the mud was dried by the sun it looks like a deserted planet. If it weren’t for all the green around the are, the landscape would be very lunar.

This phenomenon is very rare in the world, so if you happen to be in Romania, it must be on your list.

I recommend walking barefoot around the volcanoes and sticking your hand into them as deep as you can

We also tried visiting surrounding tourist attractions – such as the Chihlimbar Museum – but we’ve been told that the road is really bad and you basically need a 4X4 to get there. Hopefully this will change soon, I’ve been there while in primary school and it is beautiful!

If you’d also like to eat, as you go down to the main road, there’s a great place at the crossroad. There you can also try traditional food from the region.

3. June - Vama Veche

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vama_Veche

This is a traditional, not surprising place to have on my list.

If you want to experience freedom and heavy drinking on the beach till morning, catching the sun rise from the sea while listening to Bolero, then this is the place to be. The place is not the same as at used to be, but the feeling of freedom is still there. 

You can choose to put your tent on the beach or find a good shadowed camping place in somebody’s garden, or find a cheap room at the people in the village or a more expensive one at the hotel.

You can choose between eating at a restaurant or on the side-walk with a plate in your hand. You can also eat freshly captured fish….or the best pancakes in the world.

4. July - Hasmasul Mare Mountains – The Lonely Stone (Piatra Singuratica)

http://www.piatrasinguratica.ro/index.php?lang=ro&id=cabana

A long road from Bucharest…very long. If you make a lot of pit stops and visit the places around, it’s a 8 hour road trip.

One of the places to visit in the area is Lacul Rosu, a natural lake formed in 1837. This is the largest mountain lake in Romania. The name – Red Lake – comes from the color of metal residues. It’s also called the Murderer’s Lake, as the legend says that a pastor and his sheep were caught under the slipping ground. (http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacul_Roșu).

The little detour is definitely worth. Once back on the road you have to be patient till you reach the little town of Balan. This is where you can leave the car and get ready to hike. The mountain hut is at an altitude of 1504m, but the way up is not very steep. If you take it as a pleasant walk through the forest it takes about 2 hours to reach it. The road starts and ends very rough, but it’s worth every single drop of sweat.

Up there it's wonderful and the hut, which has just been remade, is great. We slept 16 people in a room with 9 beds and it was perfect. Unfortunately there’s no “toilet”…at all…anything, except for the forest We had a wonderful host, she even cooked something for us. We also had a campfire in the evening, a horse to ride and dogs to play with.

That part of Romania is simply wonderful and impressive - clean and neat; with good roads and flowers everywhere. We saw many storks

If you take a longer trip you can visit a lot of other places in Harghita. This is the source of natural sparkling waters and an area full of resorts and spas.

 5. July - Vadu

http://www.turismland.ro/plaja-vadu/

My middle of July trip – a first timer again – Vadu Beach. They say that this is stil a vergin beach. A large sand limb that goes directly into the Black Sea. A lonely place which gives you the sea and it’s wonders as they naturally are. There’s nothing here….no lifeguard, no garbage place (you have to take it back with you), no supermarkets and ahm…no toilets or showers. It’s just you, the sea and your tent.

Officially you are not allowed to camp there, but the beach is filled with tents.

But, the place does not seam different from others at the seaside anymore. The wilderness is not really there anymore. The beach is clean and you can find lots of unique pebbles...and the water is very clean with tiny fish in it. At the same time there are lots of bugs and mosquitoes.

If you want to spend a day and night without water in a killer sun and with bugs around you...than it should be fine. I felt really good here, but I couldn't take more than a weekend.

Romania's unwanted grown ups

I'm talking about my generation. By generation I mostly refer to the people born in the '80s. That was a pretty rough period in communist Romania. Ceausescu turned mental and wanted to reach impossible stars. Some of us only spent few years in communism, kindergarden or just the first years of school. Let's say we stared on the wrong foot. I'm saying that because ones childhood is reflected later in all his desires and reactions. Most of us are the product of unwanted pregnancies...same as most of our parents. We are a generation of tormented people, born out of another tormented generation. Abortion was a big no in communism, especially after the 1966 Decree. Ceausescu's industrial dream of equality brought peasants into city factories which brought mixed feelings in people's hearts. The fact that they weren't even allowed to express these feelings made frustrations grow and people change. This is who our parents are ... a rootless generation who did not have the power to choose. Funny how on the bus I only hear elderly people (grandparents) regretting the wonders of communism.

I'd say that we are the same. We started our life as equals and lived our childhood through the biggest change a state could go through - going from dictatorship to democracy. We are just as rootless and even worse. While our parents at least had their plan made by the state, we struggle to make ours. We have no guidance because nobody could even help us understand how to choose what's right, and that's why we lie, we become dependable, we are depressive and don't know how to behave most of the time. We choose to flee and live abroad because we long to blend in. We want to find out who we are, get accepted and mostly respected. We have no hope for/from/in a country that forced us to come into this world and then abandoned us.

This happens everywhere but Romanians, as people, have a certain pride that instead of making them smart, interesting, unique and special in their own country, it turns them into hypocrites, liars and double-dealers that so nicely become nothing but a piece in the grey puzzle. Such a pity to see young grown ups wasting themselves with frustrations and regrets.

Loving Romania =4=

This post is closer to the people surrounding me, girls who are survivors of a systems that's pushing them to sentimental suicide. Since I came home, I mostly met with my girlfriends. I haven't seen or to talked to some in a while. They are all my age and we know each other pretty well and talk about everything and anything. I am talking about girls I know from highschool, work or university. Other than the fact that they are my friends, another thing they have in common is their relationship with guys. When I left everybody was almost "married" and now most are sad, lonely or in confusing situations. I feel like everything turned upside down. I am definitely not talking about myself now, but about all the girls around me, who feel bad and sometimes do stupid things not to think about "those who we don't speak about". I usually take the side of the opposite sex, because I know that girls can sometimes be difficult, but these days I've been a little confused. I don't get who's fault is it: girls or boys?! I don't know if these things were there before and I was to selfish to see them or I just missed for a while and forgot that it's not all rainbows and butterflies. I have not faced these problems for a while, not coming from other people than myself. I thought I was the only one having problems and going into odd situations.

Is it just because of the weather?! Is my generation mentally deranged and we will not manage to procreate, because we are all to confused to see into each others eyes?! Are we not willing to make sacrifices anymore and stopped believing in feelings?! Are feelings just another part of this world of consumption, and we started looking for the cheapest, because we know that if it will not work and we are not sad when we “throw it away and get another one”?! Do we all believe and live a fake Western life we are not yet ready to comply with, and we get lost and confused by the too many things we would like to have in a society that offers little to people my age?!

Loving Romania =3=

Fault 3 

We don't know. Go to Denmark!

The incident with the bus controller pushed me to finding more information about the transportation card released by the Ministry of Education for the 50% off.

Step 1: Try to find the needed information on the Ministry's of Education website. Total failure, as people like me don't really exist for them. Still, I found information about a place where you can get public information, a building that was a street away from the Ministry. The schedule on the internet for Monday was 8:30 - 16:30 (http://www.edu.ro/index.php/articles/c247/)

Step 2: I went there to find the information missing from the website. I found the place pretty fast, the building I mean. I pass into an entrance, a door on each side, one says International Students and the other Register. I go through the one that says International Students (department for foreign students coming to study in Romania), and ask about the place where I can get public information. I am directed to the door across the entrance, saying Register. Inside, I was expecting to find lots of cashier desks and people nervously demanding their rights. It was nothing like that, complete silence...and two door again, saying nothing. I knock at one of them and go in. I ask about the public information desk and a woman tells me she only works from 14. "...but, but...the website..." "I don't know what the website says, it's from 14" Still, I must admit she was kind enough to ask me what I want.

My text was: "I am a student in Denmark, without grant, on my own, and I would like to know what my rights and obligations are during my stay in Romania, because while I was in Spain I could get student reduction on my Danish student card, but here not!". Parts of her answers, "That was in Spain, herreee...." "Than go in Denmark!". Because she had no real answer for me, she sent me to the Ministry at the Department for Superior Studies, with an interphone code. I go there and call. After talking to two people, I found out that nobody raised this question before, and they don't have an answer. I basically don't exist as a student in Romania, though both countries belong to the European Union. I finally wrote a request, registered at the Registry where I have been sent again from the Ministry, for which I have been informed that I will get an answer in maximum 30 days. I wrote all the possible information there, to make it as clear as possible. I would have liked to help them and give them my e-mail, because in my naive imagination things would work faster, but the woman at the registry told me with a big smile on her face, that they don't have people sending e-mails there.

Oh, well! I already knew the system is bad. That is why I left. I just want to write about system related information I face during my stay at home. I know the bureaucracy is deep and these are only small examples. I think I would like to work for a newspaper, to get paid to try and find out different information, basic day to day information, people paying taxes need to make their life better...it would be fun.

Loving Romania =2=

Fault 2

Get well or die trying

My second fault is about how I don't understand the medical system. This week I had to go with my sister to the doctor's office to get a notice that she is able to perform during her sport's classes. Since I was little and she was born we were registered at the local health care office in our neighbourhood. The doctor loved us and knew everything about us. But last year she unfortunately died. Since than, my sister and I had no family doctor, though our files were still registered there. Now we moved to a bigger medical center, where you can find all sorts of doctors. First I went to a very bad family doctor to get a paper for analyses and than to a very good dermatologist. Nobody asked anything about my medical file. But when I went with my sister to the paediatrician’s office, the nurse asked me for her folder. I told her the story and she said she cannot let me see a doctor unless I have the folder, because the doctor needs to see her medical past. I went home, told my mother, and after two visits at the former medical office and several requests, she managed to get the folders, both my sister’s and mine. As we had my sister's folder, we went back to the medical office. Another nurse, another rule. They didn't actually need the folder, she only needed some information I gave her to make a new folder. I told her to also keep the old folder since we have it now and the answer was "No, it's better to keep it at home. It's safe at home!". So, not only the rules change from one day to another, but I should also understand that not even a paper is safe in that place. This is how, in one week we managed to get the medical notice for sports, that we could have gotten since the first time we went there.

After all, we had to take them from our old doctor, so it was ok. Now, personally, I am a bit confused. I have at home my medical folder with my medical past since I was born to this day and also my medical folder from school with all the vaccines I took. At the sane time I have the analyses from all the private clinics I went to and even the notice from the emergency room, from the car accident. All these are totally different papers, not related in any way or centralised in any system. I am thinking that in case anything might happen to me, they would be useful for the doctors analysing my case, because it would be easier to see where the problem starts. As I know, all the information I have at home in one plastic folder, is not centralised anywhere...a folder that tells my blood type, my allergies, my surgeries...everything. Should I carry it with me every time I leave the house, just in case? Would that make me paranoid or would it just help me in case I have a sudden accident?

I know the medical system has a lot of problems, and not only in Romania. Ana’s accident from this summer is a good example. Still, wouldn’t the feeling of at least knowing that if you have an accident you will not die because something you are allergic to might be administrated, could make people trust the system more and bring at least a superficial feeling of safeness?! Maybe I am doing something wrong...

Loving Romania =1=

Before taking the first flight to Denmark I had a fuzzy feeling about Romania. Living abroad made me see things differently and made me understand where that fuzzy feeling was coming from. I hated the idea of being Romanian and wished more than anything to get lost in the world. I realised that's basically impossible, because no matter what, I will always be Romanian just like my children, grandchildren and so on. Now, in the middle of the financial crises, most of the people I am meeting have the same feelings I had before leaving. Because arguments are the best way to understand the world and sustain your cause...I decided to bring everyday examples of why I hate the Romanian system and not Romania or Romanians.

Fault 1

No ticket, no ride

I am a hypocrite, because the only city I have ever travelled without a ticket during the day is Bucharest. Why don't I usually buy a ticket? I used to always have a monthly pass when I was in school, because it was 50% off. After I finished school, I never bought a ticket again:

1. though I continue being a student in the EU I don't get the 50% off anymore - I don't know if this is about an EU agreement or something, I hope I will find out soon;

2. the bus doesn't have a schedule and comes randomly, sometimes having to wait even for 20 min - it would be impossible for the bus to have a schedule in the madness of the traffic in Bucharest, it would be a lie – this how the system connects it’s faults and relates them one to another;

3. the bus is super crowded and in summer it becomes an impossible environment - no air conditioning system, sometime the windows are stuck, becomes it barely comes, just like in any other European capital a lot of people use the local transportation and of course it gets crowded...

...and other reasons everyone who travels by bus must know about.

So...I never buy the ticket, though it's my responsibility as a person getting on the bus. I am a bad person and I backstab the Romanian economy.

The same thing happened just a few days ago. I was going with my sister at the doctor and I didn't have a ticket and neither did she. (NOTE! All the brackets are bubbles of thought emerging above my head during the conversation I was about to have.) The control comes and I politely tell them that I don't have a ticket, and neither does my sister. He asks me where I am going (as if it was his business!) and tells me to get off at the next station. He tells me that my sister needs to have a ticket from the age of 7, but since she's not 14 and doesn't have ID he can't do anything (so why should she have a ticket from the age of 7, if he can't do anything about it until she's 14, it's polite, but who cares about politeness when you don't have enough money to buy bread!). Than he turns to me, he had my ID in his hand. He clearly tells that I cannot pay less now and more later as the law changed (actually the law changed only in the sense that I cannot pay him now and more later), so I can only pay a lot more later and only and the legal office of my district...and while he was saying this he was turning a green paper in front of my eyes. I told him that from what I saw in the bus it still says that I can pay half now and more later, but he says the law changed and they forgot to take the stickers in the bus off (very smart...bullshit!!!). Than he asks me:

“What do you decide?” (What are the options?)

"What are the options?"

"You decide miss, the decision is all yours!" (Oh no, he's asking for bribe and I am not giving him anything)

"I would like to get my normal fine, thank you"

"Do you have enough money to pay so much for a ticket" (excuse meeee!!!!! why do you care?!)

"No, I don't…but I will manage"

"Please think well, you cannot pay half" His colleague comes and tells us that we discussed for a while and we should make up our minds. (Great!!!). He says:

"So...I will make you a favour. (HA HA HA!!!!) I will write you a paper, with which you can pay half..." (Didn’t he just say that the law changed and it's not possible to do that anymore?)

"In 48 hours like before right?!"

"...no, I will let you till...hmm...Friday...if my computer, because I will check (HA HA HA!), says that you didn't pay I will send it to your district's legal office..."

I get my green paper, I say thank you and hit the road. Out of curiosity I read the paper he was till then waiving in front of my eyes. You can pay 50 lei in the first 48 hours everywhere you can find monthly subscriptions, just like before. It becomes between 100 and 150 lei (I don't who decides the exact amount) and if you don't pay, you get a request from the districts legal office to pay it within 15 days or you will get called for audition.

All he wanted was a small bribe. When I got home and told my mother, she asked why I didn't give him something to solve the problem. Well, this type of problem solving got us where we are, hating our nationality. I didn't pay the fine and I am curious about what will happen next.

Decreteii

2 Mai - Vama Veche - Sighisoara

I don't know if it's the fact that I leaving tomorrow or the fact that I had the best days ever why I'm feeling so relaxed and lazy. As I was saying before life takes you places you never thought you would ever end up in. My past 25 days have been more than I could ever ask for. I'm sad they are ending but I'm happy they happened and I know they are just a beginning.

The first part of the ride was in 2 Mai, Vama Veche and Mangalia with Irina and Ana. Though I didn't stay with the two of them this year, ruining our tradition, we tried to follow the staying in Vama Vache till the morning comes and sleeping on the beach at sunrise part. It wasn't as fun as it usually is because I guess we kind of got bored of the same songs and tequila drinking part. But it all got even because of him. We woke up together for the first time and it was fun…no not fun...but warm. We went with the motorcycle and it was my first long trip on it. It was also a trip I never took when going to the seaside. I saw the most beautiful sunset in my life. Again I was mesmerized of what life can do to you and what things you might miss along the way if you refuse to look around.

Probably the fact that I was leaving so soon made us both open up as much as possible and give the other a good preview of what we could be. I tried avoiding making a psychological profile of the person I'm leaving with but than again I realized it's best to do it because this way I will have no unanswered questions in my mind while I'm away. The problem is that this quest has made me fall in love for real and now my heart will be split worse than it would before. It's really difficult to leave behind more than you were ready to at some point and it makes the trip difficult and bumpy. But at the same time I think it's a great test which we have to pass before saying yes and I love you with a full glow in our eyes.

When my parents got back and we couldn't stay together anymore we had to leave and run into the world. So we decided to go somewhere where with shame I must admit I've never been before: Brasov-Sibiu-Sighisoara. It was a full breath of air I could take in Romania. These are three great places one shouldn't only visit but also dream of leaving in. You feel like at home but with a different view of what home is.

My return from the trip meant saying goodbye to the people I love one by one. I don't want to remind myself because I don't want to get tears in my eyes again. There is one person I know I'm never going to see again and maybe this is the best for her - my grand grand mother. I never thought it was going to be so heartbreaking to just say goodbye. I guess I have to get really pissed and angry to never want to see any of these people anymore, ever in my life. I'm glad I'm leaving things behind me pretty settled and I'm glad the feedback was good because I know than no matter what I decide to do later I can always return to a handful of people opened to accept me back in their hearts and homes.

In Romania...you live like a dog - you die like a dog

Scandal la morga din Găeşti: O familie şi-a luat mortul plin de viermi

Familia unui tânăr decedat îi acuză pe medicii legişti de la morga spitalului din oraşul dâmboviţean Găeşti că nu iau măsuri astfel încât cadavrele aduse la autopsie să nu se descompună din cauza căldurii, fiind ţinute la temperaturi de peste 30 de grade, fără aer condiţionat sau lăzi frigorifice.

Familia unui tânăr de 28 de ani, din comuna dâmboviţenă Mogoşani, sat Cojocaru, spune că a primit, luni, într-un sac de plastic, cadavrul descopus al acestuia, după ce a fost ţinut mai bine de 48 de ore la morga Spitalului din Găeşti, într-o caldură insuportabilă.

Tânărul, Marian Dragomir, a murit în urma unui infarct în timp ce muncea la construcţia propriei case, cadavrul acestuia fiind dus, sâmbătă, la morgă, unde a stat până luni, când a fost făcută autopsia.

"L-au ţinut la Găeşti mai bine de 48 de ore, într-un grajd, nu au cameră frigorifică. Vinovat este medicul de gardă, care l-a primit şi inspectorul de la Poliţie care nu a anunţat medicina legală să vină să-i facă autopsia. Am anuntaţ-o eu ieri (n.r.-luni) la 10.30. Practic l-am luat cu viermi de la morgă", a declarat, marţi, Marin Tănase, unchiul tânărului.

"Suntem un popor creştin ortodox şi la orice înmormantare trebuie îndeplinit un ritual, adică mortul să fie spălat şi îmbrăcat. Din cauza unor instituţii ale statului nu am putut duce la îndeplinire acest ritual. Am înţeles că este plin de viermi", a declarat primarul comunei Mogoşani, Angelică Marinel.

Potrivit managerului Spitalului Orăşenesc Găeşti, Cristina Seltea, morga nu poate fi dotată cu aparatură de răcire din lipsă acută de fonduri.

"Fiind tânăr, am pus sub semnul întrebării decesul lui şi în astfel de cazuri este obligatoriu examenul medico-legal. Trebuie solicitată Poliţia, Poliţia solicită medicina legală. Până la consultul medico-legal, mortul stă în mod normal la morga spitalului. Normal că pe căldura aceasta, morga nefiind dotată cu aparate de aer condiţionat şi nici cu ladă frigorifică, cadavrul a ajuns într-o stare degradată până să fie consultat. Ne confruntăm cu lipsa fondurilor", a declarat managerul Spitalului Orăşenes Găeşti, Seltea Cristina.

My first , my last....my everything

We decided to spend this New Year's Party in the mountains.

So we went to Piatra Craiului.

I couldn't take any pictures with the rough part of our little road trip in the mountains. All I can say is that i felt several times on ice and now all my muscles hurt like hell. it was an amazing experience and I fell ready to do it again at any given moment. This summer we will take another trip again for sure and it will be way easier.

Happy new year to myself and everyone know. I hope it will be 10 * better then 2007.