Today we photowalked at the zoo. It was fun!!! I didn’t expect to be that many visitors there, but the zoo was full of people and not only parents with children, but teenagers as well. A ticket is incredibly cheap - 0.8 lei for children, students etc and 1.5 lei for grown-ups. Imagine that!!! The zoo is not very big, but it’s mostly clean and people seemed to have a great time there. Of course, this doesn’t mean I like the idea of seeing animals in cages, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected.

Animals

Taking a beauty sleep

You little thief!!

Totally wasted

Fluffy paw

Sorry, I can’t take you home

Adorable cat!

A pony as big as a finger

People

Hello? Who am I talking to?

Adi’s ass

Thirsty, aren’t you?

Nice family you got there

Gramo-girl, I see you!

Always a pleasure to hear and see Gramo-boy laugh

Oompa, don’t ignore me because you know I love you

Sweet Marianne

Miscellaneous

It’s electrifying

Ran out of gas, huh?

Those monkeys are messy

I want a horse like that, too!

I took myself out walking
By the evening i was running
I hadn’t done this for a long while
My friend said cheer up it was high time

Taken by trees - Lost and found

My parents planned another trip to Hungary, so yesterday, after barely sleeping at all during the night, we drove to Nyíreghyháza. We went with my she-cousin and he-cousin and though we were a little crammed back in there, we had such a great time! Damn, I laughed so hard my tummy hurt. Sometimes it can be real fun spending time with my family

Colours!!!

Unfortunately, this trip was shopping-only, and we didn’t see the town at all. Oh well, there’s always a next time. Anyways, we went to a mall and a shopping center and Tesco and I bought like sooo many clothes: 1 jacket, 1 pair of girlie shoes, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 skirts, 1 dress, 4 T-shirts, 3 blouses and a dozen pair of Pink Panther and Pucca underwear ^_^ Yey!!!

The C&A store:

I still like my Adio better

And, while shopping in Tesco, I saw this dude with a clown nose who was making those complicated figures out of balloons and I asked him if I could take his picture and he said yes. He asked about my hair and said he wanted to have dreadlocks but for I don’t know what reason couldn’t. And I told him that Mum is kind of pissed off about my hair and all, and he said not to mind her cause my hair looks cool Then I bought a balloon from him and I saw him again when he was leaving and he waved. Yeah, he was really nice *stuff like that makes my day!*

The nice dude

Le duck

On Tuesday I’m going to Cluj, on Thursday to Carei, heck, when will I have time to work, read, go to the dentist, meet L., spend time with my folks and relax?

I was reading a book while waiting for the rest of the photowalkers to show up. When I looked up from my book, there was an old man sitting in front of me. He was about 68-70 years old, wore glasses with old-fashioned frames, a greenish overcoat and a hat. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear because I had my earphones on. I took them off and politely asked him what he wanted.

- You waiting for someone?
- Yeah, of course, I replied.
- Not good. You should come with me. It’s warm back at my place, I’ve got food and I’ll give you chocolate too.

Ok, I admit that the chocolate part was preeeety tempting, but I managed not to laugh out loud and continued the so very freaky conversation.

- No, I’m sorry, I think I’ll just wait for my friends to show up.
- Your loss. You have no idea what you’re missing.

And then he left.

Gee, some people are simply crazy!

Snobbish or not, my parents took me shopping in Debrecen. The city is only 160 km away from Baia Mare and I was surprised to find out that it’s the second largest city in Hungary. We stopped in the center of the city and we did just a bit of sightseeing. Everything there was quaint, but beautiful and I couldn’t stop smiling. In every shop we entered we were greeted by the shop assistants, not like in RO when they mutter hello and they act like you, the client, are a major pain in their butts. And they didn’t keep their eyes on you all the time, they let you take your time to look around. The client in me felt respected.

I also liked the way their blocks looked like. They were painted either blue or yellow or orange. They were colourful and happy and looked good. I’m sick and tired of seeing the same old grey blocks everywhere I go in RO. They all look alike: grey, ugly and depressing.

We did most of our shopping at a *kind of* miniPrix store but, hell, the clothes were better and cheaper than the ones you can find in such stores in RO. I feel in love with a Hungarian brand called VAU VAU *at least I think it’s Hungarian - I couldn’t find info about it on the net, and the label wasn’t of much help either*, and now I have a lovely pair of trousers and a cute bag *of course that’s not everything I bought! *

Anyways, the trip was definitely worth it and I can hardly wait to go again, most probably in March. Hungary rocks!

I don’t know why people hate this break-up line, why they consider it to be untrue. Say it out loud and hear how beautiful it sounds: it-s-not-you-it-s-me.

In my case, it’s always true. I can’t blame the other one for not being what I wanted him to be. It would be stupid and selfish. So, the *real* problem is me. Me. Me. Me. I’m superficial, snobbish, I want things to *always* go my way and patience is a virtue which I don’t possess. In this case, it’s normal not to like anyone, to be so *Goddamned* picky.

It’s not something I’m proud of, on the contrary, I’m starting to think there’s something wrong with me. And it’s not that there isn’t anyone good enough for me, but there’s no one I really like. Yeah, so I feel great hanging out with whoever, so what if I’m physically attracted to another guy, it’s not enough. There are no butterflies, there’s nothing special going on. I feel stupid waiting and hoping for Prince Charming to come my way, but I simply can’t be in relationship with someone I’m not head over heals in love with. I refuse to give it a try - I hate that phrase! - , to go with the flow and see what happens. I’ve never believed in love stories where they’ve know each other for many years, they’ve been friends and one day, out of the sudden, they discover how great the other one is and they end up being together. Please, cut the crap! It’s either magical from the beginning, with the butterflies and all the rest, or there’s nothing. I can’t be with someone and wait and hope that one day I’ll fall in love with him. That’s plain stupid.

So, what I really wanted to say is that I still believe in that kind of love that makes you stupid and blind, that sweeps you off your feet, that gives you butterflies, that makes you suffer; I still believe in Prince Charming, in fairy tales, in love at first sight, in that big, fat, pink love.

The Powerpuff girls - Love makes the world go round

I can’t believe the blog is working again! It’s one thing not to blog when I don’t feel like it/want to, but it’s simply annoying and frustrating not to be able to blog because the server is broken. Anyways, I’m back online.

In the meantime, I talked to Mum and we got over our very ugly fight and now we’re acting like nothing happened, but it still feels a bit funny; it was the first time we were mad at each other for almost 2 weeks She’s coming to Bucharest next week and we’ll talk face to face and everything will be fine until the next fight

I had another crazy weekend: Roxa and Puck came over. Roxa and I went to the Kumm concert on Friday and Alex saved the night by driving us back home - thanks a lot, dude! and then on Saturday we went to the book fair. We stayed there for 7h and I bought a lot of books - 10 or 11, can’t remember exactly, met some of my favourite Romanian writers, met many blogger and all in all, it was great!!! Nothing compares with a day spent at a book fair: there are so many books, so many readers, book releases, writers, promotions, it’s paradise for bookaholics!

Then on Saturday night some blog-friends came over for a glass of wine - it was so nice meeting you Bea, Romi and Selma, big, big hug! - and we talked and laughed and ate cake - Puck, next time you’re back here, do bring some more of that cake . I sometimes ponder about this blog thing and about the relationships I have with people met on the blog and on one hand it seems freaky talking and feeling so good with people I’ve met on the Internet but on the other hand, how else can I make new friends? Anyway, I like them and that’s that

Now, after the book fair, I’m on like very low-budget and I have no bread, no water, no chocolate, no oranges, no nothing. French fries ftw!!! Of course Mum is a bit pissed off about this, but she’s getting used to the idea that I’m an obsessive-compulsive book-buyer and there’s nothing she can do about it Yeah, I’m pretty proud of my obsessions.

Tomorrow I have to go to the publishing house and give the text I corrected. Hope everything will be fine and I’ll get the job, though there’s one more problem: Mum told me she won’t let me work if they don’t give me to opportunity to take days off during my holidays so I can go to Baia Mare. I’m a bit scared because I don’t exactly know how to bring up the subject with my hopefully future employer, so keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?

It’s back to work with me.

Ps. I simply hate people who still insist after I’ve told them a million times NO!
Pps. I hate it when somebody wants to buy me a drink/something to eat/anything when they know I don’t have money. It’s my fault that I’m penniless and I don’t need anyone’s help/pity.

Laura is to blame for everything: for introducing me to their music, for asking me to go to the concert with her, for making me laugh, for the nice evening I had. Thank you

The concert was amazing! An eclectic style, something of a chamber music orchestra, long-forgotten songs from the ‘30, ‘50 and ‘60 revived, professional players and a professional sound system - that was the Pink Martini concert. And it rocked!

I loved the stories they told about their songs: where they had found them, how they had written them, what they mean to them. I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan of theirs before the concert, but all’s changed now. Seeing them singing and dancing and trying to speak to us in Romanian [ah, they were so cuuute!] made all the difference.

Of course, there were other small things which made my night: seeing Jen , having someone to share my orange with, “you two look good together as friends”, a good-bye hug. Yeah, I love my friends

I went back home smilling and with a brand new obsession: Pink Martini

Does any of this ring a bell Eugene?

I’m back in Bucharest. The train ride was kind of hellish. uRMa miaowed and miaowed and wouldn’t stay in her cage and I had to let her out and then she wanted to explore the place, but I couldn’t let her because she would have disturbed the other passengers and I had to guard her for almost the entire night. But in the end it was ok, only that now I’m dreading future train rides

I was lucky that somebody waited for me at the station and brought me home. I had so much luggage, damn! Anyways, I’m happy that I’m home again. I tidied my room: vacuumed, dusted, changed the sheets, washed clothes… and then I went shopping. It’s scary how many things you need when you move from one place to another. I kept on going to and fro between shops and my apartment. When it was finally over I took a hot bath and went to bed. I slept for 12 hours!

Tea tastes better here than in Baia Mare. I can’t imagine living here and not having my daily cup(s) of black tea. Speaking of which, I have 2 different black English teas brought from London by my aunt, 1 black Turkish tea, 1 green Chinese tea from Mihaela and another 2 boxes of black tea, 1 green tea, 1 red orange, 1 tropical fruits, 1 berries - all these brought by Mum from Germany. Despite this, every time I go to a supermarket and see teas I want to buy some more. It’s exactly what happens when I go to a bookstore and see all those books: it doesn’t matter that I have dozens of them back home waiting to be read, I still want to buy more. Talking of obsessions…

I sent Cata a message and asked him how he was and he replied. I can’t believe we actually sent very nice messages and we didn’t upset one another. And I was more surprised to see that I didn’t even miss a heartbeat when he answered back. I think the fact that I haven’t seen him since we broke up in April helped me get over him… in a way. Anyways, I’m happy that I talked to him, after all, he was so very important to me.

I promised oompa that I would study, so it’s time I went. I’m so going to flunk this exam again

*uRMa - September

As I was coming back home a very strange thing happened. It wasn’t that late in the night, fuck, it was only 21:30, but the streets are almost empty here. So, as I was crossing a narrow street, a car passed in front of me and entered the street. The driver, a man, looked at me. I looked back at him. He continued to stare and slowed the car. I freaked out and almost started to run And no, I didn’t know the guy.

I was talking to a good friend about such strange looks. It happens now and then to walk on the street minding my own business when I get the Look. It’s not a dirty look, or a funny one… it’s a continuous eye contact that makes me giddy; I feel warm inside and I blush. I feel so lame that I can’t properly explain this… it’s not like I feel I know the person or that I find him attractive, it’s not like that at all! It’s the kind of look that could make me stop there in the middle of the street and not take my eyes off that guy.

But this time it was different. It was a freaky look, like the guy wanted something from me. Brrrr… I still feel the chills down my spine. And no, I wasn’t wearing anything provocative; I never do. Brrrr, freaky!!!!