An internship experience in words and pictures...
Turning every page of feelings and thoughts with every scroll you take, you have the chance to be a witness to my summer of diversity!!!
After a Romanian party, Information meetings, Farewell parties and way to Warsaw...
The airplane landed Saturday, at 13:45 in Otopeni. My mom and dad were there waiting, Dee and Pop as well. Everybody was speaking Romanian and I felt strange that all of a sudden I could understand what people around me say.
Yesterday I got back in Bucharest, moved in the new flat. Attended one class (the information systems audit) and I remembered how it is to hate school and teachers. Went to Carrefour to do some shopping. There are so many cars on the roads and they don’t respect the traffic lights, the air is too polluted, there are too many people on the street.
For 3 months, I got used to live everything in smaller, different and now it’s so damn hard to readapt. My friends are happy to see me but I’m not happy to be here... I don’t like it so from this moment on, I’ll do my best to accept how Bucharest is. I know I used to love it before...
Anyway, I’ll enjoy giving presents, spending time with my friends and telling stories about my beautiful Polish summer.
Maybe the trip to Hungary will ease this path... I don’t know exactly how... but I’ll see!
PS: I won’t close this blog, so you are free to visit it once in a while and check how’s my time back home...
I spent my past weekend visiting beautiful places, full of history. First came Olsztyn – our host city for the past 2 months. But until now we didn’t find the time to visit it. This Saturday, the new trainee form Hong Kong made us move and see how beautiful it is.
In the evening, a party took place, in one of the most popular clubs in the city. All the new trainees were there and 2 AIESECers, as the others had left in the AutoCo. I even succeeded in convincing an alumnus to come, in spite of the pessimism of the ones that knew him. I didn’t know him so maybe that was my success secret.
On Sunday, another beautiful city was to be visited. On Saturday night, before the party, I convinced Lee and Anna to join me in my trip to Torun. There, we met Alexandra and we began our new day.
We fed the pigeons, visited a church, stayed for the beginning of the service in another big church, took pictures, saw the City Museum, climbed up in the tower on the old Town Hall, visited Copernicus’ house, the Teutonic Castle’s ruins, the Under a Star house, the Theatre, the University, the interesting architectural prison downtown, and the Leaning Tower with his fabulous legend. This tower leans gently to the north and the legend says that on their first date, the guy brought the girl to this tower and asked her to stand against it’s leaning wall. If the girl succeeded to stand for 3 minutes, he knew she’s a virgin. I don’t see the connection but who knows what miraculous energies support this idea.
In the evening, my legs were hurting like hell and all my body was so tired I thought I’ll fall. I didn’t though.
The sky was blue, the leaves of the trees were just starting to consider the option of flying because of the autumn and the people were walking their heads up, smiling for the beautiful day. It was, without any doubts, a weekend to remember.
During the past few days, in almost all my conversations with Romanian friends all over the world, the issue of Romania’s integration in the EU was mentioned and discussed.
Finally, yesterday, 26th of September, the Commission Report for Bulgaria and Romania was released. And YES, both countries will join EU on 1st of January 2007. There are still many things to improve, some other things to get rid of and a lot more to be changed in people’s minds. But we’ll get there and we can celebrate this.
There’ve been too many years when people were wonderring if Romania is part of Europe. One of the biggest foolishnesses I have ever heard, as from the moment when you first learn geography, you can discover that Romania is right in the south central part of Europe, if you consider Europe to spread from the Atlantic Ocean until the Ural Mountains.
You can find some of the rows in the international media of today above:
Romania and Bulgaria have welcomed the announcement that they will be admitted to the EU in January 2007, albeit under strict conditions.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said the move was the final fall of the Berlin Wall for his nation.
His Romanian counterpart, Calin Tariceanu, said his people should be proud of themselves.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said both countries had made enough progress to join the union.
But they will be checked for progress in curbing organised crime and corruption, and ensuring food safety and the proper use of EU funds.
The conditions are tougher than those imposed on previous new members.
'Remarkable transformation'
The commission's report confirms that after seven years of talks, Bulgaria and Romania are able to take on the rights and obligations of EU membership.
Reading the report, Mr Barroso said the two nations' entry would be a "historic achievement".
"Bulgaria and Romania have carried out an extraordinary reform process and they have gone through a remarkable transformation," he said.
The two countries missed out on the EU's big eastward expansion in 2004, which saw the EU grow to 25 member states.
Correspondents say they will be delighted that they can get in on schedule before Mr Barroso puts a block on further expansion.
Both countries will have to report every six months on progress in fighting corruption.
By March, they also need to set up agencies to handle millions of euros worth of EU farm aid, or risk losing a quarter of the cash.
Both will face food export bans due to the prevalence of animal diseases like swine fever, while Bulgarian planes could be banned from flying into EU airspace until the country improves its air safety standards.
There could also be restrictions on migration to other EU countries for up to three years.
'Limits'
An EU official said the commission did not want to punish Bulgaria and Romania, but to make them work harder to carry out reforms.
Another interesting thing that I've discovered while reading my BBC Newsletter, was the Quiz that BBC prepared for the readers to check how well one knows the first thing about the two next EU countries.It’s a quiz with 10 questions on history, sport, culture and wildlife. I took the quiz myself and the result was of 7 right answers – I definetely have to read more about Bulgaria:)
One never thinks about how a dream can becometrue in a livingnightmare, before it actuallyhappens.
When I first saw the pink house I was supposed to live in for 3 months I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was my dream ever since I was 3 to live in a pink house. The weeks kept on passing and so did more stupid rules that made the pink dream house become an awful place to live in. I can give you some examples of these rules:
no showers after 23:00 – excellent after a party or a weekend out of town;
washing clothes in the washing machine but not more than once a month and before 8:30 in the evening;
not allowed to start or turn off the washing machine;
they took our clothes off the drying place and left there just our underwear – pretty embarrassing;
must leave the windows open when we are not home, even if frogs kept on getting in. If not, they entered in our room and opened them;
use of the hot water (shower + washing hands, face, brushing teeth) no longer than 5 minutes;
turn off the light on the hole way to the bathroom before 23:00;
turn off the light on the exit hole way where we had our shoes, before 7:40 am.
These are the most annoying ones that I remember now. Most of them were told to us just by using body language or small pieces of paper with written hours, as the landowners didn't speak English.
Anyway, we accepted many of them and paid the huge rent, just because we were told we can stay there till the end of our traineeship, not having to move out on 1st of October, how it happens usually for the rooms rented in the summer.
BUT, on Wednesday, after the meeting that Ewel (VPPD&X) had with the landlords we found out we’d have to move out from there on 29th of September and that they want the money for this month. That was the end of our limits. So the next moment we decided to pack all our stuff the same evening, and leave the flat the next morning. Where to go? We had no idea but we knew for sure we want to leave that nightmare house.
Yesterday morning, we moved all our stuff to our LCP’s room and went to work. Once we got at work, our office colleague told us that his brother has a big free room and that he can bring some beds for us, that we can see the place after work and even move in there. So we did.
The new landlords are a nice couple in their 20s. They live in a 4 rooms flat, with another guy, a cat and a rabbit. We have our room equipped with a TV (totally fabulous for us, as we hadn't seen one in 2 months, since we’re here) and can use all the other facilities. No rules were implied yet. Hope they will be intelligent rules, at least.
It was amazing to come yesterday to work and listen to my colleagues telling me about the options they thought about for us. Each of them made his phone calls or at least cared and showed interest in our sorrow. Maybe they don’t talk English when we drink coffee in the morning and just resume their discussions with us to the main idea of the conversion, but I know they have a heart and are not afraid to use it. I’m wondering if back at home, there are as many people ready to help a foreigner that faces problems like ours.
There will always be different people: tall or short, nice or unkind, smart or dumb. Anywhere you go, whatever you do. But it’s just up to you which ones you choose to remember and cherish and what you want to see in them.
My two days spent in the little Sztutowo in the start of a peninsula that waters in the Baltic Sea, brought the peace and relax I was so longing for.
What can be better than seeing the smile on a friend’s face when you meet in the middle of the road after you had got off the bus at the wrong station? Or to receive a warm hug and a kiss on a cheek that will make stretch your back after a long trip sitting on a not so comfortable bus place? Don’t you love it when a friend you’ve just seen three times offers you a cup of hot coffee, sugar and milk to go with it and asks what do you want to do for the 2 days you will spend together?
Then, he gets the car and takes you to the beach, to feel the softest yellow sand you’ve ever seen in your life on your cold feet. He tells you about the perfect place to live that he dreams about... you have a chat about your childhood times, about future plans, about what excites you nowadays and the things you’d lost interest in or just about your present worries and dreams. You want to try the water with your feet and he smiles when you run away cause the water is too cold for you.
Then, he will choose the best fish to eat... while having lunch, you talk AIESEC systems, not in complicated strategic phrases, but in a personal way. You go back at his home and try to choose a movie. You watch one the most stupid movies ever but have fun predicting the end. You are almost always right and he doesn’t like it. Then you watch the second one, which he had already seen so you start asking questions, too many questions. He doesn’t lose his nerve and you like that.
In the evening, you fry some chips and while drinking a tea you share secrets. You both remember the far places where you met and the crazy times of the past summer. Your eyes are too tired to stay open and he asks you if you want to go to sleep. In the door of your room he tells you he’ll go to church in the morning and you ask if you can join him.
You wake up and enjoy the strong sun that enlightens your bed. You get off the stairs and find him in front of the computer... you are both ready so you leave. The church is full of people. Why are they all sad? - you ask yourself. You stay there and just follow what the other people do. You wish for something from God when he tells you that’s the moment to do so. The service finishes and you both leave home chatting about religion.
You have breakfast and he insists to prepare it by his own. You help him with the coffee not to feel useless around there. In the afternoon he takes you to the end of the peninsula to enjoy the marvelous view. You admire the beautiful forest, the nice wind on the sea, his stories about the environment in the area or the high-school times and just play your legs like a child.
You sit on the sand of the beach while he returns the same questions you asked him a night before. But unlike you, he already knows the answer. You look at the people around; you talk or just enjoy the sound of the mild waves.
You get home and you get scared of his dog barking at you so he smiles and get off the car to open the gate. He shows you the music he likes and you copy some of it on your MP3 player. He offers you some postcards his father made and you ask him to write something on one of them. You have to close your eyes while he does that cause he wants you to do that. You read it and it’s just what you thought it will be and you tell him that. You both smile.
He walks you to the bus station and advises you to try the best ice cream in the area. You don’t feel like it. He hopes you’ll find a place to sit. The bus arrives full of people with luggage, standing even on the stairs. He gives you a hug and says you’ll meet again in some weeks. The doors close. He smiles and waves a hand. His wish comes true cause you sit on the stair of the bus. A dirty place but pretty comfortable considering the crowded bus.
You watch the road through the dirty glass of the window. You feel the warmth of the two days in your heart. You really love how your friend smiles shy when he hides some mystery, or when he chews his nails, when he rubs his thin hand because he’s cold, when he plays in the sand, when he runs to answer the phone or when he offers his help when you almost fell while putting your shoes on. You love his not perfect teeth and hope he won’t ruin them by making them perfect. You love these little, normal things and you love your friend more than ever. It’s one of those few people you’ll always love, asking for nothing in return, just for what they are. You’ll always feel his joys or sorrows and you’ll always want to move even the mountains from their place if he would need you.
Is there anythingmore pure in this worldthan having a friendyou love to hear himjust being?
Nowadays it seems that the time runs too fast. Sometimes, people say they feel like prisoners of the time.
Yesterday, me and my other roommates, decided to have a trip back in time. So, we dressed in some traditional medieval costumes, specific to Warmia and Mazury Region, where we have our internships.
To begin with, we chose a color. I chose the red costume cause it seemed the most happy one. Then we started dressing: first came the tutu – the many white laced skirts to cover our legs – they had like 3 kilos I guess; the large long skirt followed – one kilo added; seconds later, we put up the long sleeves shirt that was really tight; a waistcoat came right after that and last, but not least, came the short skirt to give some more volume to all the costume.
I put on the red boots that matched perfectly the entire outfit. I fixed my hair as Ewel told us that the women in those times used to wear it.
And now, the photo shooting was to start. People were looking at us with smiles on their faces. But the best thing that happened was Ewel’s idea: to go on the tennis playground and ask please some guys to borrow us some racquets to play some tennis and make a mixture between old and modern times. Although we didn’t consider ourselves very sexy in those clothes, the guys agreed instantly.
After all this fun, I put on my normal 21st century clothes and in a matter of seconds, I felt like flying. I’m not a fashion victim but I prefer wearing lighter clothes and not a lot of kilos.
All in all, it was a very nice experience that I will remember for a long time (maybe because it was also my first time playing tennis:)) and I must admit the traditional Warmia and Mazury clothes are really beautiful.
I just wanted to share with you my friends, a short movie (not so short actually, 1h15'), about one of the modern geniuses of this mad world! It's about Salvador Dali and a life of colors. "Intelligence without ambition is just as a bird without wings"
Have you ever watched a movie that really touched your soul? I had this chance, and not just once. I loved that movie so much; I wanted to live if only just a piece of it. And Beforea Sunrise, I felt some of the scenes of the movie in my life.
Then I watched the second part of the movie, the continuation of the beautiful story after years. Once again I felt a warm touch on my heart. You can find it in the rows below... But I don’t want for my story to follow the movie script, I want to live my own history and to have my ownBefore Sunsetsmile.
I always feel like a freak because I’m never able to move on like this. People just have an affaire or even entire relationships, they break up and they forget. They move on like they would have changed the brand of cereals.
I feel I was never able to forget anyone I’ve been with because each person has specific qualities. You can never replace anyone. What is lost is lost. Each relationship when it ends really damages me. I never fully recover. That’s why I’m very careful with getting involved because it hurts too much. Even getting laid. I actually don’t do that.
I will miss of the person the most mundane things. Like I’m obsessed with little things.
Maybe I’m crazy but when I was a little girl, my mom told me that I was always late at school. One day she followed me to see why. I was looking at the chestnuts falling from the trees, rolling on the sidewalk or ants crossing the road... little things.
I think it’s the same with people. I see in them little details so specific to each other that move me, and that I miss... I’ll always miss. You can never replace anyone because everyone is made of such beautiful specific details.
Like I remember the way your beard has a little bit of red in it. And how the sun was making it glow that morning, right before you left.
I remember that and I miss it! I’m really crazy, right?
What's the movie that touched you so that you still feel that unique sensation on face? Don't hesitate to use the comments section!!!
Have you ever heard of St. Bronisława? I have to admit that I had never heard of it before last Friday. We were invited for some cookies and coffee in the training room. The occasion: our secretary’s name day! We ate homemade “black woman boobs” cakes and drank some champagne so the day at work was pretty nice.
In the evening, another party showed up, in one of our colleague’s home. I got there a bit earlier so I got to admire the house and to watch some interview in TV (device that I hadn’t seen in months). The other people from work showed up and there we were 9 people and a table full of tasty dishes made by Arek’s mom and glasses with vodka or fruit juice. Before eating we have to toast, they said so everybody took his vodka little glass and cheered and drank it all like a shot. I couldn’t do the same, as I don’t usually drink strong drinks so I just took a swallow. They were shocked: “what’s that? You have to drink it all! Come oooon!!!” I succeeded in convincing them that I cannot do that and that I will throw the vodka in the apple juice so I’ll drink them all together.
Every 10 minutes (or even less) another shot was drank, making them become more and more funny, noisy and laughing louder and louder for almost any word. They got empty 4 bottles of vodka. When they were opening the 3rd one, they noticed I’m still drinking form my alcoholic apple juice glass. The words pressure began:
“Come on Cori finish it so that you can get shots of vodka!”
“But I don’t want any more vodka.”
“What? No, that’s not right! You HAVE to drink! You’re in Poland now so you have to drink! Don’t even think that you’ll leave here without any shot drank!”
“I won’t drink anymore because I don’t want to. And yes, I’m in Poland but I’m still myself and I’m still Romanian. So I’m sorry but I just want some juice.”
The party in Arek’s place ended after 4 bottles of vodka, I-don’t-know-how-many boxes of juice and a lost of sandwiches and salads. We left for some club where I had to meet a friend from AIESEC. On the way they told me that poles use to say that the one that doesn’t drink in party is considered either sick either spy. I told me it’s not the case for me – it’s just how I am; I don’t drink (that much)!!! We couldn’t find my friend so we were heading for another club. On the way some people decided to leave and I said I’ll leave too. The 2nd round of pressuring:
“Come on Cori, why do you leave?”
“Well, I’m a bit tired and I want to leave.”
“But it will a cool club and we’ll stay there till 5 or 6 in the morning, come on Cori, don’t leave, come with us, you’ll love it, why do you want to leave???”
“Ok, I’ll tell why: because I don’t you to push me to drink again or to stay till morning. Because you’ll all speak Polish like always and I’ll stay all by myself. I don’t want that anymore so I’d like to go home before it will get me down.”
“Come on, we promise we will speak English and you’ll see it will be fun and we’ll stay there till morning.”
“Ok, I’ll come just for one hour!”
In the club, the beer waves started flowing. And after more than 10 shots of vodka and half a liter of beer, everybody was thinking about broken heart, sad love stories in their lives and anything that relates to it. I tried to cheer them up but it seemed impossible to fight with all that alcohol so I left home with the beautiful Marzena and her fiancé.
On Monday everybody smiled, telling me about the sleeping Saturday they had. It was interesting to discover the true polish party and the true alcohol lovers Poles.:))
It started like another ordinary rainy Wednesday in the cold Olsztyn. Or maybe the universe is preparing some little surprise for today? Just wait and see!
After somefunny conversationswith my friends from different corners of this round and still flat world, I left work. I made some shopping, and I left for the AIESEC office, to chat with my parents on GT. It rained on me. Calm cold raindrops. It was not warm, as Romanian summer rains are but it didn’t bother me.
I didn’t want for my hair to get all wet again, as it got almost dry again while staying inside the office, so I put my large pink scarf on my head (the picture is on the way!). Until Kortowo station and while I had been waiting for the bus, everybody looked at my head and my tattooed hand. I think I could even sell tickets like in the circus. I didn’t feel bad. Up until now, people were looking curiously at me just after I started speaking Romanian with my friends. Now, the simple fact that I had something unusual for them on my head and a henna tattoo (made by a girl from the United Arab Emirates’ delegation in Global Village), made me to be considered the strange stranger. Maybe it would have been the same if I were black or Chinese or just by being me but inanother part of the world. So, it was one of the first steps in preparing for my truly different traineeship.
While waiting for my second bus for 7 minutes under the gray sky, with no shelter nearby, the rain started to drop even faster... millions of huge raindrops made the street look like a continuous river, with a lot of clear bubbles. It was just me in the rain. Singing the songs played by my MP3 player, feeling the raindrops on my back skin and arms (even if I was wearing a pullover and a jacket), thinking about how little we are... human beings with no control and still so much will. I remembered the title on the poster in my room at home and in the office of AIESEC in Bucharest – “We all have the same sky. Do we all have the same horizon?”
I was feeling happy – just me and the universe. Started asking myself what do I really want? What do I really need? Who do I really love? Am I really leaving in a soap bubble or is it just the reality that my soul can perceive?
The bus arrived and took me at the last stop: Brzeziny – my 3 months home. Walking on the way from the bus stop to the sweet pink house, I sang a song I love nowadays;I dancedin the rain, in my all-wet shoes. The trees were there for me, dancing by their leaves and branches. I thought that trees could feel the rain maybe deeper than we do. They find in the rainwater all their life and essence and they love the sun as much as I do as well. It was just then when I understood how could Maytrei fall in love with her tree. I felt a bit sorry that I didn’t have somebody to kiss in the beautiful rain, under the dancing trees. But I can’t have them all, right?
I got home and the entire spell faded away. But yet another special thing was to be discovered.
I undressed my wet clothes and put them to dry. Then I went to the bathroom and when I stepped down the little single stair towards the bathroom door, my foot got wet again. What’s happening, I said. Turning on the light and opening the door I could see an enormous green lake coming from the shower tub to my feet. Because of the rain or I don’t know why, the water came inside, through the sink in the shower tub. Green dirty water, stinking like hell. I called the owner to tell her. She informed her husband and they waited for somebody from the sanitary service to come and fix the problem. In the meantime the polish girls arrived home so I went to warn them about the stinky out of order bathroom. They saw on the hole way a frog and started screaming: “Żaba! Żaba!” (frog in Polish). None of us wanted to kiss the huge frog and make it become a prince since we don’t believe in fairy tales anymore, so the frog jumped in the green lake from the bathroom and left us. We couldn't use the bathroom last night.
In the morning, it was all-ok, like nothing had ever happened. The sun was shooing the gray clouds to show its smiley blue sky.
I have to tell you, my friends, it was the most extraordinary rainy day ever! Don’t hesitate to try for your own when you’ll get the chance!
In the end of the week when I wrote that sad, gray post, I decided I have to leave the used scenery and the people I get to see everyday, for something new. So I left to Poznan, after all the pushes of Eve.
It was great to meet Asia, the girl I worked with for months but I’ve never seen till then, Protoku and Natali, the crazy VPs from Poznan, Barka, the polish-turkish friend of Protoku and to meet Kamil again, my dear friend who had a sad smile – haven’t found out why yet! They were all some super people that brought me up to good spirits.
I left Poznan with a lighter soul, starting to dream about the IC, were I was to meet my beautiful MC and sweet friends.
So, last Thursday I left Olsztyn for another amazing long weekend. On Thursday evening we participated in the AIESEC International Congress Opening Ceremony. It was full of dances, colors and 2000 people smiling, shouting and clapping. 95 countries together, a whole world in a sports hall in the ambitious Warsaw.
The same night I meet my darling Romanians: my full of energy smiley Mo, my pink Nico, and the opposite Vlad who held me and rose in the air, fulfilling my longing for a Romanian hug. Thank you guys for coming here!
On Friday, there was the Global Village. I dressed in my traditional suit and started visiting the tents. I met many of the people I’ve worked with in the past: ex TN Managers from the time I was matching my SNs, MC VPs that worked on Leonardo, delegates or facis in the conferences I attended... we were all very glad to meet, shake hands and kiss on the cheeks. I must say that regarding the richness of the stands, the GV in IPM in Bucharest was better. Here, the countries were not allowed to bring drinks – no sake, no wines, no nothing and there was no actual food, mostly chips.
I bought a lot of presents for my friends at home. So, don’t be surprised if I’ll bring you some Chinese or Egyptian stuff instead of a white red polish thing!!!
On Saturday we visited the rebuilt Warsaw. It’s incredible how much they achieved in just some decades after the war, taking into consideration the dust and ruins that remained after WWII. Warsaw it’s by no doubt, really ambitious but I have to admit I like Bucharest more. I miss Calea Victoriei and a boat ride in Cismigiu.
In the evening, we went in the bright flat of 2 Romanian trainees in Warsaw (actually one of them is Hungarian as nationality, but he considers Romanian being born and raised in the beautiful Cluj-Napoca). There we started cooking salata orientala, tochitura with mamaliga, carnaciori and omleta and friganele dulci (they are all Romanian dishes – the only chance to understand the words is to taste them!!!). The guests started arriving: Serbians, Polish, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, Russian, Macedonian, German, Croatian and of course, Romanians. They all enjoyed our dishes, watched the Romania presentation and congratulated us for the great evening. The secret was in their enthusiasm and passion for knowing our culture but don’t tell them, ok?
After climbing up in the tower of the Culture and Science Palace in Warsaw – a communist building similar to the House of Free Media in Bucharest, we breath the high airof clean Warsaw and let ourselves towards the train station, and then back to our trainee homes.
It was a full weekend indeed and it’s very hard for me to tell you all in just some lines...
I’m in the middle of my traineeship here and I’m getting reflective when I see there are just some more weekends to spend and so many places to see and people to meet...
Last week I was feeling of my own the descending curve of the emotional graphic when in a traineeship. I was dreaming for the weekend in Krakow to bring that push on the ascending line back up zero.
On Saturday, after we got in Krakow, after 9 hours of travel and just 3 hours of sleep at night, we decided to leave the Aqua park attraction for a more salty one. We took the bus and went to visit Wieliczka salt mine. We learnt its great legend with Hungarian origins, we wide opened our eyes for the marvelous salt chambers decorated with pieces of salt jewels as enormous chandeliers, sculptures, statues and we walked in the small corridors for more than 2 km.
The next day we visited Krakow with all its churches, castle, university, squares, narrow shopping streets and cloudy sky. In the evening, returning to our dorm, we faced some problems with drunk polish guys that paid us an unexpected visit. We managed to get out of there safe and sane. We met our saver, a former member of AIESEC Krakow in the Main Square at 1:30 amand then spent the night over his place. It was an apartment of 2 AIESECers, where you could tell from the door that is owned by some men. But we felt really good chatting till morning and then sleeping in a rocker’s room, full of black posters.
After the adventurous night, we left for the death place how it was called: Auschwitz – Birkenau. I thought it wouldn’t be as scary as I was preparing for it to be. And in the end it turned out that it was even more. I had some moments, when I felt I would fall in front of those showcases with personal objects of little children or thousands of ordinary, innocent people. We visited the museum and the 2 camps with the torture rooms, the stinky cells, the sanitaria, the gas chambers or the death wall. Even if you don’t get much more information than you knew from your previous readings, it’s the place that makes you realize better the size of the massacre.
I think that going to Auschwitz is a lesson every one of us should take in order to always have in mind what wars and crazy egos can lead to. In a world of natural catastrophes what’s the need of wars? Aren’t there too many people who dye? One doesn’t get any stronger or powerful by bloodbath making.
In the evening, to chill out a bit we went to a trainee bye bye party for an Iranian guy from Canada. It was great to see almost 40 trainees in one LC. I’d love to have more trainees here too but... Anyway, after the short party in the trainee’s flat, we left for a gay club. Everybody told us that there’s great music and they were right. For me that was my first time in a gay cluband it was pretty shocking to see how they exchange partners from men in their 50’s to youngsters in their 20’s or the other way around. I have to say the impression was that gay people are more active than straight one.
This was my weekend full of surprises and diversity. I’m preparing myself for a more peaceful one (I hope) in Poznan, where I’ll meet one of my friends and people I’ve worked with on the project but that I will get to meet face to face just now.
Until the next post, I hope my heart will get back to pink...
I’m in the middle of my forth week in Poland. I get little cultural shocks everyday but I keep on remembering some stuff from my preparation for becoming a cultural sensitivity trainer. That what we’ll find different in another side of the world is not good or bad, normal or completely absurd, is just different and probably normal for the country and people among which you are.
The one thing that I strikes me most of the days is the English issue so let me just tell some stuff about this topic.
There are not so many people speaking English, as I was expecting from a EU country. It’s very seldom to find somebody who speaks English in shops, supermarkets, banks, train, on the street. Let’s just say it was not very hard to accept this.
The other day we went in a language school office to ask for some information regarding a polish for foreigners course we found on their site (also just in Polish). Shock: the girl over there spoke English so badly, we couldn’t believe our ears. Just greetings, sorry, no, I don’t know and that was about it.
When being in a train, getting a fine for having a student ticket, the conductor tried to find somebody who spoke English to help him. There was nobody who spoke English in the whole wagon (around 45 people). Cool, isn’t it?
At my work people know English but use Polish so we decided to answer in Romanian whenever they speak Polish. That’s how we arose their interest in learning Romanian. Today was their first lesson: the Romanian greetings. It was funny seeing them how the made their best to pronounce “Bună seara!” and not „Buna sera!”.
If I would have just 10 words to describe the last weekend, I think these would be the chosen ones. 4 girls left to visit another castle. No princesses and no princes. Just empty repainted rooms with thick walls and historical atmosphere. There were many German, Spanish, or Polish groups of mostly old people with guides to explain every little piece of dust in the castle. Malbork is a beautiful huge castle. The biggest I’ve ever seen, rebuilt after the wars. The Teutonic Knights built it in the XIII century. This fortified castle became the seat of the Teutonic Order and Europe's largest Gothic fortress. After taking a tour of the castle, bought some souvenirs as normal tourists, and taken pictures with the strange knights in front on the gate of the castle, left for having lunch in town; now called Malbork, the town is the old Marienburg that some of us heard of it in the history lessons in school. We ate Mediterranean pizza in Andaluzia, an Algerian restaurant. Through the raindrops we left for Gdansk. First stop: the St. Mary’s church where there was a wedding taking place. Simply beautiful. I’m thinking about finding a catholic guy to marry just for having that beautiful catholic wedding ceremony. (Calm down, just kidding!!!). Any candidates? In the evening we went to Sopot and took a new look at the funny building, drank a beer, went to a club: Atelier. It was so crowded that we were not allowed to enter... on the front door cause from the beach side, nobody looked. Inside, so many people dancing like crazy and hitting you if you dared to occupy some centimeters to move your body on one of the funny songs such as one called “Superman”. We left to sleep over Alexander’s place (the Serbian trainee in Reuters in Gdansk), in Gdynia. Once we got in front of the block, he realized he can’t open the front door of the block because there was a broken key in the keyhole. That was his first night in that flat, just rented the same day. After some minutes of repeating, “Oh my God, this can’t be happening! It’s 3 am!!!”, a neighbor opened, swearing us in Polish, of course. The flat was big enough for Alexander and the 4 Romanian girls. The funny thing was that I was in Poland, visiting a Serbian guy and finding posters with Budapest on his walls. I wonder why Budapest and not another city. For any answer, the comments field is available!!! After a kebab as breakfast in Gdynia, a walk on the stormy beach in Sopot, we left back home, tired but smiley.
There was the 1st August’s cloudy afternoon. Just got home, escaping from the rain. After some halves of hours Lia returned home with news. There’s a Byzantinemusic concert in town today, she said. My eyes pressed attention and my ears were asking for more words. It sounded interesting. The concert will take place in the Evangelic Church in the Old Town. The chorus is formed of students form the George Enescu(am I dreaming?) faculty in Iasi (Iasi, Romania???). It was getting more and more interesting.
Andy and me had planed a going out evening with some ppl from AIESEC so the plan was to get to the concert first and then go to the pub. Strange mix of existence: church and drinking place.
Once we entered the Old Town, we’ve seen a group of men dressed in long black robes. Maybe they are priests, we said. Passing towards the church, we started hearing beautiful, strong voices. We entered: a group of around 10 young men were heavenly singing, in Romanian.
There were no complicated church songs... just simple lyrics of common prayers. My heart trembled when I heard “În numele Tatălui, al Fiului şi al Sfântului Duh, Amin”, in the only language my soul could use for praying.
I don’t go to church, don’t believe in many religious customs or so but I trust in God wherever I am. I think that there will always be a connection between what is Saint, my family, my home country and land and me. Those dozens of minutes in a cold, strange and dark church full of saint brought a piece of peace and calminside of me.
I could speak, write, even think in another language but when it comes to praying, I can just be myself, Romanian.
I’ve never thought of this phrase until the weekend that has just passed. We were in a Reception Weekend, organized by AIESEC Kielce. We had the chance to meet internationals, finally. There were 13 Romanians out of 51 people present in the RW.
It was a strange feeling to be in an international conference in Poland, with people from 17 countries and the language you heard most often to be Romanian. Maybe that’s why Piotr, the LCP Kielce, used to say “Romania and countries”.
After a 10 hours travel, we got in Checiny, in the dorm where we were accommodated. The AIESEC Party started with traditional AIESEC dances, which I so missed.
On Saturday we started visiting: Paradise Cave, Sobkow Castle, palace in Kurozwki and castle in Ujazd. It was interesting to see how the wars affected in such a way the castles that all you can see now are ruins. You might try to imagine how the castles used to look like but it’s not a easy thing to do. Despite their destroyed look, they are fabulous and inspiring. In Sobkow Castle we visited also a stable with beautiful horses that make you remember of the story of Black Beauty. A TV crew showed up and starting interviewing and filming us. We were offered a carriage trip like in the medieval times and started feeling like princes and princesses.
At night, we got in a camping and started to complain about the bad conditions where we had to spend the night: an awful room with metal beds, a dirty blanket to sleep on, just 2 showers for I don’t how many ppl (beside the 51 of us there were other tourists), 3 toilets and a lousy disco where it was a radio station playing.
After dealing with drunken people in the disco, we decided to go to our cottages and listen to some music on a laptop. No chance for any Global Village or country presentation. Most of the people went sleeping early that night. Just some Romanians and Polish people stayed to chat and dance.
On Sunday morning, after the yogurt rich breakfast, we started a discussion on “Strange Habits Observed in Poland”. Many habits came up, most of them observed by more that one different culture. There were mentioned: speeding maniacs bus drivers, no kissing or hugging (the Latin interns miss this the most), no bread on meals (the people from the Balkans are pissed of because of this), men shaking hands without addressing a word, sometimes, beggars on the streets, Polish guys touch the girl when dancing and are very passionate (for the Ukrainian and Russian girls, they are simply unbelievable), all the dishes contain either cream either yogurt, no lunch breaks at work (Asian girls starved on their first day at work), going to the bank office it’s a nightmare (everybody agreed), people don’t speak English: not in banks, international brand shops, museums, on the street (it’s a good start for using body language).
After the interesting discussion, we all left on a little mountain, climbing to the Holly Cross, an old Monastery and took pictures in front of the beautiful scenery discovered from the top of the hill.
Being in hurry for catching the train back to Olsztyn, we missed visiting Kielce, a city in a complete reconstruction with EU funds. This was the international weekend: discovering another part of Poland, some other cultures, bounding some connections and having interesting discussions on different topics.
During these weekends with just some hours sleeping each night, the train will become my second bedroom for the next months.
It's been a week since I'm here and I like it more and more. In the weekend we decided to visit Gdansk so we contacted Bagdan to tell him we plan to pay him a visit. A proactive person like him, learning about our welcome party on Friday evening, decided to get the train and come to Olsztyn for the party. So on Friday evening all of us went clubbin'. After long researches, we finally found a club where we could enter - no club cards or special outfit requiered. It's not a fabulous club but it's ok. I prefere Twice in Bucharest though. Twice it's also cheaper. Here we had to pay 5 zl for the entrance, 1 zl for the wardrobe and 0,5 zl for the toilette. Strange but true. We got home at 4 am, got up at 6 am to catch the bus to Gdansk and continued our sleep on the bus. We arrives in Gdansk with a 1 h and a half delay because of the rod under construction. We started our sightseeing with some shopping. Nice start I'd say as I bought a swimming costum from the first shop I entered. It's pink and it has a buterrfly on it:)) We visited the old town with the golden gate, the old city hall, the St. Mary church and many others. After a few hours in Gdansk I felt my mind all free of worries and stress... I felt like singing and jumping but the peace and relax was stopping me to do that. Narrow streets with old buildings, all having lots of colored flowers at their windows and balconies, little street shops with silver and amber jewells, nice teraces serving fish dishes and cold beer. In the evening we left for Sopot and his beautiful beaches as Bogdan said. We took a walk on the beach, watched the see from a dock, felt the soft sand on our feet and promissed to come back the next day. So on Sunday morning we were in Sopot, looking for a terrace to eat "lunch-breakfast": cabbage soup, a sort of "sarmale" - rolled cabbage leaf with meat and rice and patotoes. The sandy beach was waiting for us. Our feet were just sinking in the thick coat of sand. The water is like 20 degrees I think so we had our bath in the Baltic sea. The sun is not burning so badly as in Mamaia and the breeze is not so strong. A wonderful weekend in a wonderful scenary. For me, Gdansk and Sopot are now simply the best. Paris, Vienna, Venice, Budapest, Bucharest please don't get mad at me...
Am racit de la aerul cond din avion si inca mai trag de nas si tusesc dar pare sa fie pe sfarsite. In prima zi dupa ce am ajuns m-am taiat la un deget incercand sa tai plasticul in care era niste salam pe care l-am cumparat. M-am taiat la degetul mare de la stanga si nu am realizat atunci cat e de adanc. Am pus degetul sub apa rece si am rugat-o pe Andreea sa-mi aduca niste tifon pe care-l luasem de acasa. Am tinut presat vreo 15 minute si nu se oprea din sangerare. Atunci am vazut ca e f adanc asa ca am taiat si niste finet si am improvizat un bandaj pe care l-am legat foarte strans. De dimineata era iar plin de sange.
Am luat atatea medicamente de acasa dar nici macar o compresa sterila si niste apa oxigenataL. Ne-am adus aminte ca la serviciu aflasem ca mama unei colege e doctorita asa ca am zis sa plecam mai devreme la serviciu si sa-i rugam sa ne ajute. Au fost foarte draguti si imediat au scos cutia de prim ajutor, una din tipe m-a ajutat si mi-a turnat apa oxigenata sa dezlipesc pansamentul, mi-a spalat rana cu betadine si mi-au pus un plasture foarte bun. Asta e povestea cu sunt bine J. Am fost calma si e in ordine, nu mai curge nimic si urmeaza sa se inchida asa ca puteti sta linistiti ca nu mai e nici o problema.
I’m fine
I caught a cold on the airplane because of the air-conditionning and I’m still coughing but it seems to end soon, hopefully. In my first day after I got here I cut one of my fingers, trying to open a plastic bag of salamy. I didn’t notice how deep is the cut just until I realized I was pressing a bandage against the finger for 15 minutes and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. We had no oxigenate water or other stuff for wounds so we improvised a bandage to stop the bleeding. The owners were not answerring the door and the other girl hosted in the same house told us there’s no pharmacy nearby and that at that hour all of them are closed. In the morning the bandage was full of blood again so we went at work earlier, knowing that one of our collegue’s mother is a doctor. Once they saw me with my finger all bloody they got out the first aid box and helped me clean my wound and bandage it so it’s all ok now, thanks God!
+ In casa roz
Acasa e foarte mare liniste. Plecam dimineata devreme si ne intoarcem seara tarziu asa ca linistea este excat la locul ei. Avem baia, bucataria si camera masinii de spalat la comun cu celelalte doua fete care stau acolo cu chirie. In aceeasi casa dar la etaj stau si proprietarii pe care nu i-am prea vazut. Avem voie sa facem dus doar pana la 23 dar celelalte fete fac si dupa si oricum nu se aude nimic, nu inteleg de unde regula asta stupida. Avem voie sa folosim masina de spalat o data pe luna. O sa vedem cum facem cu asta. Daca nu ne descurcam, putem merge la Magda, presedinta din AIESEC care are si ea masina de spalat. V-am spus deja ca stam intr-o casa roz cu multe flori si ca e intr-un cartier numai cu vile noi si f frumoase, nu?
Living in the pink house
It’s very quiet at home. We leave at work in the morning and get back home late in the evening usually so the silence is welcome home. We have the bathroom, kitchen and washing machine room common for the other people living there. The owners live in the same house but at the top floor and we don’t get to see them very often. We’re allowed to take shower just until 11 pm but all the other girls hosted there make a lot of noise in the kitchen or outside the house till late after 11 pm so I guess this rule is useless. And not to forget that we’re allowed to use the washing machine just once a month. We’ll see how we’ll manage this one.I already mentioned we live in a pink house with lots of flowers, in a marvelouse neighbourhood with big new houses, right?
+ La serviciu
Fundatia in care lucram e implicata intr-un proiect al UE, numit INTERREG III B. E un proiect mare, destinat tarilor Marii Baltice. In cadrul proiectului mare, este dezvoltat unul mai mic, numit SEBco. Ideea e ca astia au semnat contracte de participare dar nu prea stiau exact despre ce e vorba. Stiau doar ideea mare dar nu si ce presupune proiectul, ce trebuie exact sa faci. Asa ca dupa ce am citit materialele de la ei, care nu spuneai decat chestii juridice intre partile contractuale si nimic mai mult, m-am apucat sa caut pe net si am scos materiale despre proiectul mare intai si apoi despre cel mic. E ciudat ca peste tot e plin de vorbe frumoase dar nimic concret de facut. Ideea e ca se cheltuiesc niste bani pentru conferinte in care fiecare isi prezinta regiunea si altele dar nu fac altceva. Despre regiuni pot citi si pe net. Dupa ce am citit toate materialele m-am gandit la ceva palpabil si util care ar putea fi parte din proiect asa ca am facut o schema de lucru si le-am propus-o. Inca nu am primit raspunsul final, ei fiind insa destul de incantati de idee. Avem multe discutii despre cum e in Romania si cum e aici. Despre UE si cum influenteaza intrarea in UE. In Polonia s-au schimbat multe dupa ce au intrat si ei sunt chiar fericiti ca sunt in UE. Isi reconstruiesc drumuri, au renovat toate blocurile vechi, comuniste din oras, au construit niste cartiere cu blocuri noi si moderne, au fonduri pentru cladirile care necesita restaurari si pentru monumente. Zona asta e una din cele mai sarace 5 zone din UE asa ca ei trebuie sa gaseasca solutii pentru atragerea de mari corporatii care nu prea sunt acum. E decat o fabrica Michelin, una Tymbark (fac sucuri naturale) si inca una mi se pare. In rest IMMuri care nu au foarte mare succes. E o zona cu potential turistic enorm datorita lacurilor dar hotelurile sunt goale. Ei spun ca e din cauza drumurilor. Eu cred ca e datorita faptului cu acorda atentie si nu investesc in turism si promovarea zonei.
At work
The foundation where we work is called “Foundation "upport and Promotion of Enterprise in Warmia and Mazury". They are involved in EU project called INTERREG III B. It’s a big project designed for the Baltic Sea Region Countries. On the frame of this project there many other small scale projects. One of them is SEBco, the one in which this foundation is involved. The fact is that the responsibles for the project signed the papers for the the involvment in the project having almost no idea about the project objectives and all. So after reading the legal papers, we started surfing on the net, looking for materials about what’s this project supposed to do.
It’s funny that all I found where just nice words but no specific things you have to accomplish. So the project objective is to go in some conferences and present your region, spend the money and prepare financial reports.So, after reading all those materials, I thought about something usefull to spend money on, inside this project. I prepared a scheme of the project and I presented it as a proposal. They liked the idea but they thing it’s to much work to do to put it in practice.We have many discussions regarding Romania and Poland, about EU and it influenced Poland after joining. They are very happy about the EU changes. Many roads are being rebuilt, the blocks of flats where renovated, some new neighbourhoods where built, almost all the old buildings will be repainted.
They have a lot of money to spend on the improvement of the infrastructure. This is one of the 5 poorest regions in EU so their solution is to attract big corporations in the area. They have just a Michline tyres factory, a Tymbark juice factory and some other SMEs. It’s high potential area for tourism because of all the lakes but all the hotels around here are empty. They say it’s because of the low quality of the roads. I say it’s because they invets nothing in promoting the area and don’t attract tourists in any way.
+ AIESEC
RECEPTION in OLSZTYN RULESSSS!!!!
Pana acum am cunoscut 4 fete din localul de aici, care sunt unele din putinii care mai sunt in oras. Pana acum au facut cu randul sa ne plimbe in functie de programul pe care il au la serviciu. Sunt foarte dragute si disponibile. Astazi ne-au invitat la un « barbecue » la Language School iar maine iesim intr-un club pentru ca ne organizeaza Welcome party. Andreea si cu mine ne-am hotarat sa mergem in weekend la Gdansk sa vizitam. Am vorbit si cu Kamil, tipul pe care l-am cunscut asta vara la Moeciu si e foarte fericit ca merg sa-l vad. Bogdan, care e in traineeship acolo e de asemenea fericit ca a zis ca l-au lasat cam singur cei din AIESEC Gdansk si ca macar asa se va plimba si el cu noi.
+ AIESEC
RECEPTION in OLSZTYN RULESSSS!!!!
Up until now we’ve met just 4 girls from the LC. They are the little few that stay in the city for the summer. They tryied to meet us everyday, take us to see the city, the campus, the lake and so on, depending on their working hours. They invited us for a barbecue party in the Language School and tomorrow we’ll go out out for our welcome party.
