Lazy Madrid

An empty apartment and the silence of a Sunday. A double bed with a corner covered by the strong Spanish sun. A curtain slowly moving, blown by the hot wind of Madrid. The street under the window is quiet...a woman can be heard from time to time, moaning with pleasure...and another one calling somebody across the street. No footsteps, no cars...just the calming silence of nothing... disturbed by my hamsterish friends, that make squireling sounds from time to time. The air is dry...my lips are constantly dried and I even get nose bleeds here...Andre´s room is bigger and it´s easy to enjoy the breeze on his huge bed...huge comparing to mine. I´m already sleeping in his bed and enjoying the space it offers. Tomorrow Irina is coming and I will have to share my ocean of softness...I had a hard week...and I deserve my weekend of laziness ..I cleaned everything I could clean, except my mind...which keeps creating dreams that are difficult to understand in the morning.

My international studies

I came to Spain because I wanted to improve my knowledge in the international field. My internship is suppose to help me apply the information I learned through my studies. What I didn't think about before was that in this period I am trying to apply the Western style of teaching in Romanian methods of work. It's been a month since I've been in the embassy, between well-trained people. Unlike Ukraine, the people in this embassy are young and easier to communicate with. The work and procedure though it's pretty slow. This month I didn't have so much to work with...just translations, studies, a few meetings at the ministries and culture houses and reading the media daily, for news about Romanians. The problem is that people are on holidays in this period. I was expecting this, but I thought that they would still find something interesting for me to do. Till now I didn't apply any of the stuff I've been learning, but I learned a lot of great new stuff...which also applies to daily life...like paying super attention in everything you do. I begged them to send me to the consulate also...and because I perused and stressed them out they took me there today. The first thing I saw was a priest somewhere close to the consulate’s building, begging for money for the church. The image continued with people lying on the grass across the street in the shadow...waiting to come in. Inside there was noise...a thing that was missing at the embassy. Everybody seemed to be talking at the same time. I realised that I was behind the cashier’s office. They took me inside a room full of papers and registers. A woman greeted me...she said that she knows me from somewhere...and she actually has the same family name as me. She told me to sit and gave me one of the registers...for 9 hours I wrote down numbers and names of people applying for papers to go home. Because it's holidays and they want to go to Romania they realise that their legal forms have expired and they need new ones...and since the Consulate is the place where they are being released, this is where they come. People work together here more, and so the atmosphere is very different. I don't know if I like it more or not...but at least I get to observe the people from the diaspora. They tried to do the whole system by computers, but some people didn't agree, so even if the ambassador thinks that computers do everything, people write down everything by hand.

I will be here for one month at least...I will see...but I don't think I will stay there for 9 or 10 hours everyday.

Live healthy

We live in an age of technology and office work, which means sitting in front of a computer and working out only our fingers. The lack of physical activity and the stress we face on a daily basis usually leads to unwanted weight. It's better to prevent than to treat the weight gains that can lead to severe heart diseases and an inaesthetic look, which lowers our self esteem. Ageing also has a great impact on the outside and inside of the body, and so, the best way to maintain it, is by providing the right resources of energy. Being healthy is a better way to looking good than buying expensive clothes and putting on a ton of make-up and other cosmetic products.

+ eggs; low fat diary; beans; oatmeal; olive oil; oranges; whole grains; strawberries; cinnamon; tangerines; ginger; grapefruit; bananas; apricots; almonds; watermelon; fish (salmon, tuna); apples; chicken; hot chili peppers; turkey; kiwi; lentils; spinach; olives; dark chocolate.

Also there is a list of things that should never be combined if you want to maintain your body slim and healthy:

- milk should always be drank alone..and preferably it should be skimmed milk;

- meat should never be eaten with bread, diary products, fruits or other fats...but with green vegetables;

- bread with butter;

- pasta with ham and any diary products;

- cheese with bread...in this case the amount of calcium absorbed by the body goes down;

- potatoes with bread...the golden rule of NEVER;

- in fruit salads, sweet fruits should never be combined with sour fruits...that's why I never liked it so much, people usually put banana and pineapple with orange and kiwi;

- no fruits immediately after a meal

It's important to drink between 1.5l and 2.5l of liquids/day...water, green tea and home made juices. They help rebuild cells and clean unwanted elements from your body. Also exercising is a key factor, the best way to keep in shape is of course running, but if there is no time for going to the gym or jogging, a long walk can also be a good option.

Now, traveling thought me that we are different...we have different routines, different national dishes and different eating schedules. We should enjoy the way we are and not try to change just to stick to the rules. The foods mentioned above should not become an ONLY in our diets, but an EXTRA, they can be used as the 4-6 snacks every person should eat/day. It's important not to skip meals, so these food options could also be an "on the go" meal. We should always make time for breakfast, waking up 15 minutes earlier is not such a pain, and try not to eat for dinner the amount of calories that should have been eaten through out the day. Starvation is not the answer, don't forget that humans are like animals, and when the human body is starving it thinks that it will never get food again and starts building resources, fat resources.

Ah yes...reduce alcohol and tobacco and sleep 8 hours/night (not more not less).

My favorite websites with info about ab and glute exercises:

http://www.lose-fat-belly.com/

http://exercise.about.com/od/butthipsthighs/tp/butt.htm