It's been a while...

...since I visited my blog. The place where I can lay all my frustrations, read them later, and decide whether to delete the post or not.

It's already May...and I:

- am still happily employed - important fact for the way unemployment rates go

- visited Paris for real - all I can say is: another town down, billion others to go :)

- turned 24 - which is before 25, an important age for me because that's when I should start wearing anti-wrinkle face creams

- miss leaving abroad and always think about what I was doing this time last year

- hate having to start digging more and more into the system - you can ask me anything about the labour law, taxes and income laws, state health insurance etc.

- am getting ready to move out

...but most important:

- am a volunteer for an animal association (ROBI) - I am doing what I always wanted to do: help those who can't ask for it.

I've been a volunteer for 3 months now. I can say that I passed my trial period well.

Yes, I did become a little bit more obsessed with stray animals, and turn my head after each dog.

No, I am not a vegetarian and I don't think I could ever be.

Yes, I've been called crazy and told that there are so many other good deeds that I could do, if I wanted to (like helping abandoned children or elderly people).

No, my house is not full of animals now, and I don't go around like people from the church preaching my cause and asking for money and moral support.

Yes, I think I became a better person.

I've done my first good deed and castrated two of the "bitches" from my block....tomorrow they will also be pest free. But this is like a star fish in an ocean. :)

I think my experience with animals (added to the experience I get just by walking out of the door in the morning) hasn't enriched my knowledge about them, their habits and diseases, as much as it enriched my knowledge about people. When I say this, I do not refer to the way people see animals and behave towards them, but to the way people are. We (Romanians) are very uneducated, frustrated and scared. The system is rotten, and as positive as I am in general, I don't see anything in the near future. Myself, like the majority of this country's population wait for tomorrow to see what will happen...it is well known that the lack of security can take away lives...unfortunately, this is what defines Romania in 2010.

First time at Glina

This week I became an official volunteer for ROBI - The Animal Association (http://www.4animals.ro/home.html), and today I had my first visit at Glina. This is a small "city" next to Bucharest, 40 km closer to Bucharest than my grandparent's village and it looks nothing different.

The stray dog's shelters aren't far from the main road, in an opened field. Water and electricity represent a luxury for that area. As we got closer a pack of dogs started running towards the car. They seemed to know that we were there to feed them and patiently waited, waving their tails, until a lady we were with got out of the car and gave them something to eat, not much...We weren't there yet. On our way, I got warned that I will be very muddy when we will be leaving, and next time I should pack extra clothes. We got there...150 dogs barking at the same time, rusty shelters, a filed full of garbage and mud, lots of mud. The land is loaned from a man, and there are several animal associations with shelters there. We started feeding them, they were rather hungry and impatient.

A few hours before we arrived "an intruder" was killed there. "Intruders" are dogs that don't belong to the shelters and surroundings. The others dogs attacked and killed him, fearing that he might become competition for food. The dogs weren't even tolerating other dogs from the shelter jumping over the fence and demanding food before their turn. As soon as one of them was doing this the riot started, 150 dogs barking at the same time again.

After we finished feeding them, 190 kg of dried food and about 50 cans (only a part of them got that treat), we added water and a bit of love. The mud and the hungry dogs make everything look scary, but once you start talking to them and see how they wave their tales and jump up the fences so you can put your hand through the bars and pet them a bit, your heart melts instantly. You have dogs of all sizes and personalities. You have three legged dogs and blind and deaf dogs...everything that managed to be saved from really traumatizing environments. Worst story: a female dog saved from a stray person who was...raping her.

This is nothing like Animal Planet. It is nothing like anything...but this is the maximum they can get from the mercy of people. Food is gathered from donations, just like the money for rent and building those horrible shelters. On my next visit I will try to take pictures and post them. 

Till then, a representative movie:

Eco Duties

In one hour I cleaned with Bianca this small public land area that's right under our bedroom window. Of course this is a insignificant area comparing what we have around our building block. We managed to gather 14 X 12 l garbage bags full of plastic bottles and bags, textiles, batteries, glass containers and loads of other plastic containers. Visible in the picture are 4 doggies. They are the reason why all this garbage appeared, not that everything around them is cleaner. People bring them food and water and dump the bags and plastic containers there. I called the District's pound to come and castrate them, and they scheduled for next week. Maybe if they are castrated people will be willing to adopt them :)

We still have a bit left, we will probably clean it next week because it's just behind our car. I was thinking about trying to call the City hall to tell them to do the rest, because it's kinda difficult to clean a whole neighborhood on my own :-§