Move it, it's 2012!

Can anyone please tell me where did the last 3 years go? Cause not long ago I was somewhere in Romania with my studies, then I left to India to change the views, then I came back home and then....where did the days go? Is it just me or this planet and sun and whatever else in this Universe is spinning a little bit faster than the old days? I mean I remembers everyday when I was little and the day was so long and the year was long also, and now, everything ends like in a few hours...And what do you know, it's 2012!
OOOOHHH MYYY GOOOODDDD, this is the end!!!!!! Let's do something, let's do everything, let's do it all now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Does anyone believe this shit, except me? Do you really think the end is now? I will admit that I do, I really do believe. And I am not talking about the end of the world as in the huge mushroom will wipe us away or planet earth will become a lonely sad place full of water or dust or ashes. I believe that this year something will happen that will end the world as we know it, like a start for a new kind or era...and wow that sounded so deep :))) So what do you know, ACTA is on and the economical situation is wipping the countries away from the european list, and snow is covering our houses in nowadays winter. Kind of weird, don't you think? Should we really expect cips in our brains and robots to come and do our stuff in the next future? You know I don't exclude that either :)))
(play song)
Long ago, in the land where everything was possible, while walking on the streets to my home, I met a small girl with big blue eyes. She was dancing her way home, saying hy to all the trees and flowers around, singing a song that sounded to optimistic and happy even for me. I stopped and asked: Why are you so happy little girl? She looked up at me, smiled and gave me the drawing. Then I understood...

Old style happiness

Speaking about happiness, no person is happy all the time, the feeling comes and goes, and blessed are those who have it everyday, at least a little bit.

Well maybe some of you know the story, but I'm going to tell you my old small daily happiness, in my house, with my dad and a big old fancy record player, with an 80' Radio Europa Fm.
Sitind in the corner of the livingroom, in a comfty armchair, with large headsets covering half of the head, enjoying every song played on the radio and recording the "good ones" on tapes. One of the best "toys" in the house for small Oana.
Whenever I used to walk in the room, I could see my dad with his eyes closed, in a fluffy bathrobe, with his white hair and kind face, keeping the rhythm from the huge headset in his snapping fingers, enjoying the songs. I would sneak next to him, draw his attention, smyle and take over. That was my daily happiness back then.
And as a return in 2012, yesterday night flashbacks came around when in one of the usual bars to hang out, I found the old songs filling the place. God remembered the singers or the name of the songs, but thanks to modern technology and magnificent Google, it's enough nowadays to just write some lyrics and Google finds the song for you. Exactly what I did, ending up with below playlist.
And while sitting in the tall chair, in the late night, with a glass a beer in front and friends giggling around, I found myself .... extremly HAPPY ....

Cele 3 tipuri de barbati

Indraznetul vine beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Sotia lui sta in pat, treaza. Indraznetul apuca un scaun si il aseaza langa pat.
- Ce faci cu asta? intreaba nevasta, infuriata la culme.
- Vreau sa stau in primul rand cand incepe circul

Curajosul ajunge beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Nevasta il asteapta la usa cu o matura in mana. Curajosul o intreaba:
- Vrei sa maturi sau sa zbori undeva?

Neinfricatul vine beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Duhneste a parfum si are camasa mazgalita cu ruj. Isi apuca sotia de fund si zice:
- Acum e randul tau!

Pls use google translate if anyone else curious about the post :)) Just to have an idea, it's about the 3 types of men....

Back home

"I'm taking the long way home", was the song from ATB. Well guess what, it was worth it, even on the long way. Imagine I am writing theese lines from the cousiness of my home, in my room, with my decorations and a cold cold winter outside the window. Not snowy, not in my town, but still winter.
Now what can you do in the cold hometown after 8 months of summer and sand , spicy food, skyscrapers, camels, salty sea and lots of work? Well surelly a lot, starting with seeing all the friends, and neighbours and family and long lost family and friends again, and old colleagues and the list could go on, visiting the city's old places, bars and clubs where you used to hang out some time ago, (re)culturize yourself with a little bit of drama (theatre), a little bit of music, a little bit of art, walk a lot or go with the trolleybus and tram :D, go in the middle of the city centre square, picture the beautiful old buildings around and carry those images with you wherever you go, visit friends new houses and play with the cats and the dogs, have a cheap and healthy haircut :)), read some books and listen to old national music, explore the city if anything new appeared while you were gone, go pray a little bit and visit old county monasteries just in case you don't have any nearby churches in the place where you now live :P, talk to the people from work to be sure you'r not missing something important :)), eat all the traditional delicious home made foods, spend lots of time with the parents, prepare all the projects for the semestrial exams when still a student :-S, protest along with the country citizens in the city centre to get rid of the president and put country on the right track, go in another city to visit you old friends, write home impressions on the blog to share your happiness with the world and of course enjoy all the small things cause you won't see them again soon.
You guessed right, this was my home vacation, ready now to go back in the desert and continue what I started last year in May, Dubai baby adventures :D

It's time. It's Christmas time.

Who said you cannot enjoy Christmas if you're far away from home? Of course it's not the same feeling as when you are there, but the ones who are really making the spirit are the people with whom you spend it. And what do you know, I did it! I'm in the spirit. It took me some time, usually at home I'm in the spirit since 1 December, while in Dubai it came a little bit later, that beeing yesterday :D
The plan went wrong in the last 4 days, after buying tickets and having ready a small surprise for my family and friends to appear home on Christmas Eve, one working day on 24 Dec and the imposibility to change that ruined everything. So here I am stuck in Dubai, with 3 tickets that will not be used soon and just the dream of Christmas carolling :|
Instead of that a very nice family brightened my holidays by comming in Dubai and spending Christmas with them, my folks from home calling me and decorating the Christmas tree along with me on Skype (tree e-decorating was quite nice I must say) and my dear friends packing santa's gifts for friends and family again with me on Skype (God bless whoever invented this program) It might sound too much electronic, but when you'r away from home and from the dear ones on these special days of the year, internet is one of the most welcomed inventions :D
In the end it seems Christmas will still be about spending time with the dear ones, having lovely times and foods together and celebrating God's birth, because even doe Santas croud the places and Christmas trees are everywhere, the celebration is not about them.
Merry Christmas to all and may these holly days brighten your thoughts and hearts.

Gold card...

One great thing that I like about this job is that sometimes, but only sometimes, I have quite interesting discussions on the phone with our customers. The last one, a few days back, was with a "gold member", as in a frequent flyer with Emirates, who reached the gold stage with the numbers of miles earned.
I always say that the "gold card is a cold heart", because of the amount of expectations and rudness that some of these kind of customers have, but of course every forest has its exceptions.
After giving me his booking in economy to be upgraded to business with cash (because now I reached the next stage where I am able to change tickets and know how to read aviation fare rules, which suck by the way) he told me he needs to fly to Singapore for 3 days and, what do you know, in first class. Cause according to him, Dubai is that kind of place where if you don't have fancy cars and travel in business or first class, you'r not "good enought". Of course beeing intrigued by the idea, I rejected it saying that it is each persons choice to spend money in such a way, nobody forces you to do so... The guy paused a few seconds and agreed, but still he bought the first class ticket, which was for my good sake of course :))) Besides that his assistant was travelling also, however the guy was "punished" to stay in economy, in a normal chair with a normal screen in front of the eyes, with chicken biryani and fruit, not a flat bed in an own compartment, with lcd wide screen and champagne and caviar as dinner :))
Apparently the customer was not at all boderred by my sincereness and after releasing his card of a few thousand euros, he wanted to know some more about the agent who disagreed him, within the company confidentiality policy of course, do not imagine otherwise :P And here we were after 50 minutes of chit chats, exchange of ideas and book impressions (because what do you know, I started to read here :))) ) happy with the service and with the long talk, the "gold guy" went to have a beer and I went pleased home, happy that I made someone happy that evening.
Gold card...sometimes warm heart :D

Happy nation(s)

Stuck (in a good way) between 2 countries, and what a coincidence, both with the national day in consecutive days, 1st and 2nd of this month. We celebrated 2 times of course, first on 30 Nov, with Arabic goodies and traditional tea and last but not least on 1st Dec, with traditional Romanian food and Romanian colors. If you are wondering, no fireworks, no parades, no music, quite a chill celebration, not as sophisticated as I would have wanted it. And now ... a little bit of history.

1. Romania, a small country on the left hand side of the Black sea, independent from the turkish domination since 1877, completely united in 1918. Official language our own, Romanian, flag colors red, yellow and blue, cleared out from the comunism rules in 1989, when Nicolae Ceausescu was erased from the image. What you can do here, well almost everything cause you find mountains as well as sea. Winter -5 degrees even less, summer 30 degrees even more. Snow and sun, forests and sea (by the way it's not black even doe it's called Black sea, just to be clear :)) ), traditional clothes and delicious foods, welcoming people, kind of corupted ruled but which country isn't :P This is my home country which I miss so much.


2. UAE, in translation United Arab Emirates. Now here there are some interesting things to say, first may it not be confused with Arabia, as in Saudi Arabia, which is a totally different story. UAE became independent in 1971, so 40 years of life were celebrated this year. The "country" is formed out of 7 emirates: Ras al-Khaimah, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain and Abu Dhabi which is the capital, each with its own ruler-emir and a national president. Official language, Arabic, flag colors red, green, white and black. Well known for the strong Arabic coffee, which I do not like at all, palm tree fruit-the dates, Arabic tea which is good and the long clothes that cover the entire body both the men and women. The culture and people hospitality I cannot write about, cause I did not really meet it, probably because of the interesting fact that there are lexx than 20% of local arab people living in this area, the rest are other world nationalities. Desert and camels all the way, falcons, mosques, tall glass buildings, very less vegetation (a thing that I hate), a beautiful, extremely salty and healthy sea, dry stony mountains. This is my host country.

...in search of ...

What women really want...

I somehow have the impression that I wrote about this a few years back, or maybe the topic was lot discussed here lately. Probably one of the oldest questions ever, what the hell these women always want?
Movies, magazine and newspaper articles, public debates, stand up comedies on this subject when it's all so clear. Why would anyone pay so much attention on a subject that is not at all difficult and not at all as every guy says. That women are not to be understood, or if possible, how do you do that. Well it's not hard at all, considering that she is a human being like any other, and well she might have the same basic and even not so basic need like you have. What do they want?
News flash dear male, nothing special :))) In fact a woman's mood changes according to the things happening around her (which is normal, right?). When she is seeing a romantic movie whe wants to be loved, when she's in the club having some drinks and sees sexy ladies moving like snakes she goes home and feels bitchy like (time for you, dear male, to take advantage :)) ), when she reads culinary magazines she's in the mood of cooking fancy things but when she's tired from work, be sure not to ask for food, but maybe ask her out for a dinner...and so on. When she is alone she wants attention and company, and sometimes when she has to many people around she needs some moments alone (which even men need, isn't it?), time for you guy to back up and let her be. If she had an argue with someone be sure to support her not to acuse any of her ideas or words, which is normal by the way...
So with all above examples a woman's needs change daily, every hour maybe, not even she knows all the time what she wants...so then, how should someone else know, especially if that someone else is a man :)) The best thing for you to do is be there, take it as it is, assist her and she'll be gratefull or ignore her but be sure she will remember that. She'll forgive you but remember always :P
Now don't come over my head, of course there are exceptions when nothing you do will make it better and then the inevitable question rises, "What the f**ck do you want, woman?!?" Those moments are the moments when men go insane thinking that they will never figure out what the opposite sex needs and tent to give up. Well, don't! cause it's not your fault, it's her fault, and she know it, just that she will never admit it :))
So to summarise the idea dear male friends/readers, women do not know what they want, therefore no worries in respect of you knowing that :) Just enjoy and help her do the same, and be sure to thank me after reading this article and iluminating your life :))

Surprises

Few days back, tired of work and bored of staying in Dubai, a bunch of fun people decided to make a trip, somewhere quite close but still out of the "country". This is how we ended up in our neighbour country, Oman. The interesting part of the whole story is that Dibba-Musandam, the place where we've spent our day, is a small part of land and water pertaining to Oman, but surrounded by United Arab Emirates. We only needed to show our passports to enter the place.
4 people and 3 digital maps were enough to get us there in time, without getting lost on the long & many UAE highways.
UAE surprised me in a very pleasant way, with the landscapes and big mountains. After half year of no vegetation and only sand, as I keep writing in every post :)), the road to Dibba took us through some lovely hills, mountains, not all green, but new views for a change. The 2 hours drive was fast at one moment, then became fun on a undefined road where all cars and big trucks were driving however (kind of Indian style :P ) and on the way back scary, on the same "undefined" road all dark with car/truck lights blinding you all the way :| The moment we reached the main highway on the return our hearts came back to the normal rhythm and we managed to enjoy the rest of the evening.
For the first time in my life I saw, live, the amazing underwater life, the one that I always used to admire on national geographic or animal planet. Our cruise included snorkling, so of course being a fish most probably in a past life, I did not got out of the water for at least one hour. The snorkling equipment did not "fit" me at all. I panicked when I started breathing throught that long tube so I went under water just with glasses and a deep breath of air. All the fishies were looking at me curious. Different plants, corals and spiky sea creatures at the bottom of the sea were living quietly in the not too salty water. A memorable picture and experience I must say.
The last surprise of the day happened in Dubai, in the restaurant called Fridays. Funky waiters with funky place decorations, funky food, and at one point, a funky happy birthday song with a small candle cake showing at our table. It is so beautiful when you have dear people around to give you such presents on your birthday, so beautiful that not only the birthday girl was surprised but me too, so surprised that my mouth could not hide a big impressed smyle.
Life? is full of surprises. All you have to do is... believe :)

The story

I miss

Just walking in the mall a few days back, looking around, staring at the places, the people, the colors. And then hundred of chaotic thought came to my mind. I realized that so much time passed since I am here, It's already more than half year and I don't remember when the days went. At home, I always used to say with my mom that the planet must be spinning faster nowadays, cause 24hrs and the months are going so fast...too fast.
Life in an Arab country can be quite hard sometimes, even if the place is so modern and international as Dubai. But even with all these fancy, tall buildings, with this blue skies and clean sea, with the palm trees all the way, with the delicious foods and exotic fruit, with a big company and a reasonable salary, I really miss the Romanian street dogs :D Today in the bus, on the way to work, I realized that I haven't felt a whole on the road since half year, also I haven't felt ground (soil) since my 5 days in India, only sand. No rain for half year, no cold weather, no animals around, no family lunch, no tram rides, no forests, no dear ones. Pfff...to many NO's just in one phrase. Instead of that Indian food, going to the beach in the middle of October, air conditioned in the middle of November and for the middle of December... yet to come :))) The worst part is doe, no real Christmas this year.
And then among the hundred of thoughts, another few thoughts come around, is it all worth it? Is it worth being sometimes so unhappy just to create your way in life for later, for when you are a "grown up"? Or I am already a "grown up"? And then hundred of answers come over. Among them the idea that life is full of sacrifices, sometimes you suffer for some later happiness, sometimes you cry and after that the "sun shines" and you smile back, sometimes you stay away from someone so long, and when you get back to him, it will be much more better.
So at the end of the day, a conclusion: it's worth it, for now, and it can go on, for now. For how long, not yet known. But man, one thing is for sure, I miss you Romania!