Day 1. The first day I arrived in Bucharest, the city was swamped dirty and the airport was small. I tried to cheer myself up but inside I was so scared of being left alone at the airport. Luckily someone picked me up and we went to the mall to buy a charger (without any luck), then we rushed to the train station after no results. My whole flight was composed of regret for forgetting my laptop charger, there was fear of the unknown with a mix of fear of disconnection. The taxi cost was ridiculously, the drivers were basically robbers in a car but my guide was nice enough to pay for my taxi and half my train ticket. I was so surprised to find that I had another 12 hour journey ahead of me. Luckily the train was delayed so I only had 10 hours by train. But when I arrived in Cuj-Napoca, it was 5 am and I had barely slept for over 30 hours. My host met me at the train station and got me to her house where she let me sleep in her bed for the night, it was very kind of her- Andreea Bodi. I felt very lost and a sense of adventure overcame my fears but it was all so new to me and I fell asleep (passed out from the fatigue).
Day 2: Next day I woke up at 1:30 and headed to the dormitory, I had no idea I'd be living with 4 other guys. It surprised me very much, but I arrived too late and had to stay at a temporary room. I was kind of troubled that I still couldn't settle into an official room. Then I met with my Training buddy and she took me to the mall to buy a charger, she encouraged me to write about Cluj so here it is. I felt that it was really dirty and people smoke too much, I really didn't like it at first, what with all that smoking and drinking, partying was Cluj's famous reputation. My training buddy- Flo is very cultured and educated, I like her a lot because I think I can learn a lot from her, she said she could teach me French :). At plain sight from ground view, this city looks like crap but when you get higher, you can see a pattern, a very organized string of buildings that just works together to make a complete puzzle. It's beautiful. That day I just walked around and bought some food. Since Cluj is a party place, I decided to give it a try. That night I went to an Aiesec party and found out that people can smoke indoors, it disgusted me. I got drunk because of the cheap alcohol and I was a lot more light weight than I remembered. It was also the atmosphere, just being more fun with alcohol. The next day I woke up and moved out of that temp room.
Day 3: What a chaotic morning:I had to move out with 2 luggages and it was just hard. I went to several rooms to search for a nice place and after 30 mins finally found a great room on the 10th floor. It was nice because of the beautiful view, the closeness to the kitchen and bathroom and the roommates looked clean, nice and did not have alcohol. And best part was that they had a router for wifi! Then I met Carlos, the guy in my Rebranders project. He is so cool and nice. First glance, he's this tall Spanish guy that needs to shave but after like 20 mins, its hard to dislike him. We decided to go out with his travel buddy so I went back to the 10th floor to prepare, unfortunately due to some conflicts, I had to move out of that perfect room :( and had to find another room. Fortunately, Carlos' dorm just happened to have a spare bed so that's where I am right now. After I moved my things there on the 7th floor, we went out. So we went and bought a router and some essential things like food, candy :D and water. It was quite far but bus is cheap and I got to know Carlos better. He has the same situation as me with a new girlfriend then traveling to Romania for this. After all that I came home and settled in. Met the roommates, at first glance they are all nice guys, just living like students but one wasn't home yet. Then we fell asleep.
Day 4: All this time , I've been making an effort to video message or call Chloe or my family and it's been too busy for me to miss them but I do. A lot. Around 2 am last night, Carlos and I were rudely awakened by drunk entrances and a bright flickering of lights. Last roommate came home and woke us up. But that was the night. The day was here and it was time for another adventure. Apparently we had to wake up at 11 that day to get to a training at 12 nearby at the cafe. That's where I eat my meals because it was cheap and close by. I like it, good food for a cheap price. That day was just team bonding and I have to admit, it was nice to get to know people in Rebranders more. I started to like Andreea more as a friend that day than the other leaders, maybe it's because she seems more genuine and more willing to help than the others. She understands me so I tease her and stuff, I feel comfortable about being myself around her. I feel like she's the type of person to be a true friend :). Then I had dinner and went home to sleep.
Day 5: It was an early morning- there was a meeting at 9 so we had to wake up at 8. But the reason it was an early morning was because 2 of our roommates decided to go out to drink last night at 11pm and come back to the dorm at 7:30am screaming, yelling and being obnoxious with the lights. I woke up with almost 6 hours of sleep and was ready to get up. Unfortunately Carlos needed 12hours of sleep and he was so furious he looked like he was ready to kill (he did MMA) so I had to try to calm him. We left as soon as we could so we wouldn't do anything stupid. But that was the day we decided to move and complain. We didn't end up moving, just decided to talk with our roommates. I felt happy throughout all this, this new experience, meeting so many new people and experiencing anew city- this feeling is non-replicable. Although there are some bad living conditions: I felt happy and grown up. The whole day was boring trainings and Carlos met a Mexican, I started to feel left out, even though he tried to explain everything they said in Spanish, they were still laughing and had to finish laughing before telling me. It upset me to be so upset but I got over it and made it through the day.
Day 6: This was the last day of training before work started. This was when they taught us everything we should know in order to work well in our own companies. I learned a lot about planning and it was very useful as well as learning more about photoshop. Then it ended at lunch and we got to go home. That's when my stomach started to hurt a lot. I had some pizza all day yesterday (lunch and dinner) and I thought that had made me sick so I stopped eating the pizza and expected to get better. It didn't really help because my stomach continued to hurt a lot. When I got home I put on some oil and drank some minty medicine and felt better. Good enough to go for a jog! It was a nice view of the city. That's when I realized how beautiful this place was: when you're high up away from all the filth and crappy buildings, you see the rooftops like my painting and the beautiful ancient architectures as well as the marvelous church designs. Then I came back and went to the opening ceremony for Aiesec. It was nice, I just saw lots of other interns for the other project. After that I went for a drink with my boss- after meeting him for the first time and he talked about the project, company and what I could do to help. He's a really nice guy and very understanding. That was the night I figured out that it was the smoke trapped inside a room without windows that caused my stomach aches. It was horrible so I left and ate some more medicine and now I am fine. That's when my back started to hurt at night. I woke up to agonizing pains but was so tired that I wanted to pass out but couldn't because of the pain. I just walked it off and woke up the next day with the same pain.
Day 7: Early in the morning- 8am I woke up and Andreea greeted me downstairs to walk me to work. It was a longggg walk for 8 in the morning. I started at 8:30 and got there at 9. It was short, just too much uphill walking for the morning. It was fine. It was the night before when I decided to go to Italy with Andreea because she was planning on going alone and I've always wanted to go! So it's going to be great in Feb8-12. Someone can watch my back :D. From the beginning until now I've had full days and spent 1/4 of my budget, I need to cut spending's. D: Work was ok, just went through what I could do. Then I went home and went to the gym with one of my nicer roommates- George. It was nice to get back but I am a lot more unfit and weak than I remembered.... Sighs, Ive got to go more often. Anyways after that, Flo messaged me and wanted me to go to her house. It was a great dinner, she cooked and we drank wine to celebrate her birthday, she was 22. After I had to go home alone with her roommates. First,I had to go rush to the bus stop so that's why my travel buddy couldn't come, then I took an unknown bus with her friends to their house, it was suppose to be close to my dorm but it wasn't. So they led me halfway and I had to follow a drunk stranger headed in my direction. I was so lost and it was so dark. Then the stranger went into a bar and I was alone again. I was so scared it was like a page out of a horror book but the worst part was that I didn't have power in my phone so I couldn't call anyone if I got lost. But it's alright I made it home, hung out with roommates and skyped with Chloe. Chloe still wants to join that sorority and all I could do is support her but I still have some doubt about it. But the most important thing is that I trust her to do the right thing though.
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Day 8: This morning I woke up with back pains again and I just messaged my boss saying I'm not coming in today. He wasn't in the office today so it was fine. I just went out to buy lunch and medicine for my back then started this blog. It was a pretty boring day today but you wouldn't believe how long this took. I compiled a list of all my expenses and today was just an average day. Well that's really it, I do have an Aiesec meeting at 8 but I doubt it will be interesting. That night was one of the most horrid nights ever. I flipped my mattress over with little to no difference in terms of the springs. I suffered in agony as I laid on my worsened back wishing for it to heal. As I laid there I noticed how exhausted I was and eventually I passed out. I woke up to the sound of laughing and Romanian chatter around 1 hour later still with a raging pain in my back and stomach. It was almost unbearable and it just won't stop. As the pain grew in my stomach the back would fight back and start hurting more, it just wanted me dead. So I laid there attempting to sleep again so I would feel less pain. I woke up next morning, refreshed and awake with more then 7 hours of sleep for once and I was ready to take on the world again.
Day 9: What started out as pretty horrific turned for the better. My back doesn't hurt as much and the pain is really bearable. Even with the pain I was fine with dealing with it because at least I was awake for this. I went to work to continue my project.It was a pretty dull day I mean I felt great but had no plans. Several people were all like oh how is it? I don't know what to say except pretty good. So I went to the gym for almost 2 hours with Carlos and man he is intense. After I just went out to walk with Carlos because my roommates and 4 other people were sitting in our room getting drunk. I didn't need that.... So I hung out with Carlos, eventually we found a nice coffee shop and went in. It was very nice, good pastries and I really got to know Carlos better. He's struggling and all I did was listen and give my full support and in the end he said he was glad to have me here. That makes me glad because I am lucky to have him as a roommate- it'll be hard to have 4 obnoxious roommates....
Day 10: By this point it isn't really the first week... I mean it's almost the second week... But today I just went to work and my boss likes my logo design! So I'm very proud and happy about that. I met with a fellow aiesecer for lunch as our two companies sat in the same table. Then I went home after work and just rested. I mean I did laundry and played pool with Carlos but that's it. Not a very eventful day. I skyped with Chloe again but it was nice to rest again. I just hope this doesn't become a habit because I was starting to like my busy and filled days. I went out to check out the skating rink with Carlos but it was 25 Leis! Too expensive to just skate around... So we checked out a cool bar and headed home.
Day 11: So I was a lazy bum today, it was really slow and I woke up with a little bit of a stomach ache so I ate a pill that Flo gave me. I just woke up extremely tired and went to work, didn't do much work though because there wasn't much to do. I came home around 4, then watched a movie then just fell asleep. I intended to go to the gym with Carlos, but unfortunately I needed sleep more. When I woke up, I was told about a plan to go out with Carlos' spanish speaking friend- another trainee in Aiesec. So we went out to hang out. With Fernado was his training buddy and another aiesecer. We went to KFC to eat but after that my stomach started to hurt a little bit again. But since I knew Carlos needed this night to feel better, I went on. We found this underground bar with less smoke and we stayed there to hang out until 1 am! By that time I was exhausted and about to pass out so I stumbled home and just fell asleep.
Day 12: It was a good sleep. I woke up at 10, which means I got about 8 hours of sleep. I was awake but in my dream- I dreamt that I was home, with mom and dad counting money (weird but it would be something I would do) then I asked why I was home and they said I was visiting for the weekend, I just accepted it and jumped onto their bed telling them how much I missed it. Then I drove to church hoping to surprise Chloe but I realized it was a Saturday so she wasn't there. It just felt so real that when I woke up, I was really kind of upset. I told Carlos and he said- welcome to your nightmare- I chuckled at that. Anyways I just watched 2 movies today because I was so homesick. Then I skyped with Mom in the morning and Ian in the afternoon. But before I skyped with Ian, I went out for a walk by myself since Carlos went to work... It was a lonely walk- just to listen to music and to contemplate a lot of things happening. I just miss music and it reminded me of home. I walked to the Medicine University and then to the supermarket, I don't know how long it took but it felt quite long. When I got home I skyped with Chloe until I met up with Andreea. Chloe decided to not join the sorority and just focus on her education. I don't know how to feel honestly- on one hand I didn't want her to join because it will distract her. But on the other hand, I want her to meet people and have fun. It was conflicting but a small part of me really didn't want her to join so that small part of me is at rest now. Besides that she is ok, I just hope she finds a club she likes and meets new people. Right after I skyped with her, I rushed out to meet with Andreea. I had the best time with her tonight. In fact, my excitement wasn't even all because of her. Before I met up with her, the walk to our meeting place was delightful- all the Christmas lights were on and for once- the city did not look so grey. It did not look so sad and isolating. I felt connected and wonderful. All the blue lights made me prance around like a little child. It was incredible. I loved it so much because there were fireworks and the city was so bright. When Andreea came I just jumped because I was so excited to explore the city with lights. So we went around and I took a lot of pictures of the pretty lights and the glowing buildings affected by the shining lights. She took me to a rooftop and it was high up so it showed the major architecture around the city- it was breathtaking. Then we went to McDonalds where I ate a big mac combo with 6 chicken nuggets for only $7 Canadian! that can't even buy a big mac on its own!!! It was great- felt like home. So after that we walked around for 30 more mins and I went home to shower. Overall it was a great day, I stopped feeling so down and homesick after my walk because I listened to so many songs that were sadder than my case...
Day 13: It was a pretty dull day again.. I mean I woke up around 11 then I went to the museum at 1 and it was only $3 to enter which is less than $1 Canadian so that's fine... It was what you paid for... Just a 2 story building with a little amount of historical artifacts. Honestly most of them were just farming materials and pitchforks... Old equipment they use to use in the old days. I'm surprised to see that there was a time that was worst than this- ha. Anyways we went with a group of 10 and it was quite dull because there wasn't much to see, just farming stuff and ancient clothes and paintings. After that we went to lunch and I didn't eat anything because I finished my mcdonalds from last night. It was a good meal but I was the only one that didn't eat. I'm starting to be frugal again- it's horrible but I do need to watch my spendings. So I got home around 5 and just laid on my bed for the rest of the day, it felt like I wasted the day. I just skyped with mom after around 1am until like 1:30, I was exhausted because I need more and more sleep now with all the things I do. Anyways mom bought my ticket to hong kong and it is going to be from Aug 1-10, I just hope I don't get unucky and have to change my travel date because of an exam. After that, I just passed out.
Day 14: It was a early morning for work- at least it felt like it. But luckily I got an email from a coworker saying that I could come in at 1pm so I just sleep until 12. It was awesome until I had to go to work. It was alright I guess- I picked up so lunch and groceries on the way to work. So I bought 2 loafs of bread- very very cheap by the way (1 lei each) and some crackers for lunch- I am way to frugal. But at work- it was somewhat challenging today as I had to learn competitor markets on a slow internet as well as learn wordpress (I didn't end up doing it because it was too complicated.) Anyways so I got home at 6 and went to work out with Carlos. I am exhausted from it and i feel so weak D: it's sad :(. After that I just went back to the dorm and watched a movie and skyped with Chloe.
Day 15: Today started pretty early ay 8 because my roommates started the morning roughhousing around the room. But after I fell back asleep and got up around 9 again. It was a pretty standard day, went to work- did hardly anything except a few designs but I started watching X-factor... It's interesting to see how stubborn people are when it comes to a reality check. After I just went home at 4 to watch more. But at lunch, I went with a coworker to the supermarket to buy some things. I bought some pepperoni and I don't really want to share it yet.... Also I bought two bagel type pastries. After I got home, I was reminded to go to Fernado's place for dinner. But that's when some news struck me. I want to say it's bad news but it's also really good news- Carlos got (family problems ;( ) and is leaving in 2 weeks. See it's really bad news for me because he's actually my only true friend here that I can see everyday and he's become one of the reasons this place is bearable... So him leaving is horrible news for me, but for him it's wonderful. I'm really happy for him- I mean the prospects of a future is everything to him and that's amazing. I guess it was so sudden that I became really upset really fast. Anyways Flo called to go to her friend's place so I went after Fer's dinner. But I helped Fer with dinner a bit- I cut the tomatoes and peeled the garlic. It was a really good dinner- there was BACON <3 delicious... but unfortunately I discovered the truth about Mexican food- it really gives you stomach problems.... I think no one washed their hands that's why but I'm not sure... All in all- worth it. After at 8, I went with Flo to her friend's place and 2 other trainees came. It was ok, we made some pancakes and drank some wine- just a few people hanging out. It was pretty fun. Then I just came home around 12:30 and slept.
Day 16: So today was pretty ordinary, woke up around 9:15, got to work at 10, watched x factor most of the time because all I had to do was redesign a few posters... It was easy anyways I finished the first season of x factor... Then around 4 I went home and bought some water. After that I waited for Carlos to finish his work so we could go workout but he couldn't finish in time for me to go. So I went at 5:30 and worked out very lightly- it wasn't that good of a workout without Carlos, but I still did pretty good. Right after I showered and made instant noodles. While I made instant noodles, I looked out the window while playing music and I started to think, "what am I doing here?" I mean all I do is watch TV and stay indoors while all the other trainees go out and explore, that's when I decided to try to go out every night and explore, just to sight see, go to new areas. I need to find someone to do all this with me though- after Carlos I mean. Anyways, I ate it quickly and sped walked to meet Andreea for the movie. Although... Classic Andreea was late so I met her at the theater right before the movie began at 8. I brought some chocolates for her and she bought popcorn. We watched Unbroken- I really liked it because it was based on a true story, it really showed me the meaning of strength and a strong belief. I thought it was a little short because it literally just showed him suffering then BOOM ending... But still really good... I actually talked to Andreea throughout the whole movie.... I'm really surprised no one told me to shut up... But she told me something that really surprised me and I'm not going to share here. It just made me speechless. I didn't know what to say to her after she told me that... I just didn't expect that at all and I kind of felt bad that I can't help her and should just shut up for once. She walked to the bus after the movie and I went home. Flo called to ask if I was going to the party and I said no but when I got home and asked Carlos (I expected him to say no thanks) he actually said he wanted to go... So I called Flo to ask for the location and we went. We went at around 11. I bought him a beer and drank 2 myself, he left at 12 though- to play league. It was too loud but it was really nice to see everyone again. Later that night-12:30? I met this Malaysian guy and a Taiwanese girl! I told him we were the only Asian males in Romania, then I left for home and Flo walked me halfway, I was still scared of that scary path...So I ran... After that I was tipsy and almost drunk but that was because I was so exhausted that I was about to pass out. When I got home I made a sandwich for tomorrow and just watched some more x factor. I also skyped with Chloe- to be honest I was so tipsy that I forgot I had a girlfriend, it didn't feel real. It was almost as if I went back to the past mindset where I was just accustomed to the loneliness so it was nice to see her. I was just surprised for a minute but I talked to her for a bit and passed out at 2.
Day 17: I really didn't want to wake up this morning- I lied on my bed unable to get up because I was too tired from last night and from the gym. So I got up at 9:30 along with Carlos and went to work, on the way we talked about why I always stay until 4 even when there was nothing for me to do. I thought about it and decided he was right, so today I left at 1 and met up with him to walk home. When we got home, I took 400 American dollars and went with Carlos to exchange it. I just wanted to exchange it with Carlos before he leaves. It's because I just feel much much much safer with Carlos because he is so tank... I went to the exchange and could only exchange 300... Because one of my bills were ripped so they wouldn't exchange it and told me to go to the bank to exchange it. So I went to a bank- they told me to go to another bank, so I went to another bank and they still wouldn't accept it- it was ridiculous. So I went to the post office to just mail a postcard to my family and on the way home, I checked another bank as well as another exchange, all no... There is something wrong with this country if they won't exchange real currency that's just damaged, and I didn't even damage it I got it from a BANK.... sighs, they issue bills I can't fking use- that really irritated me. So I just went to lunch with Carlos at the Cafeteria. After that I just went home and Carlos slept and I watched some shows. So I went out today because of what I thought of yesterday and I think I'm going to explore even more instead of just watching TV.
Day 18: I woke up late this morning around 9:30... and Carlos decided to take a shower.... sighs well that made me even later to work. After I got to work, there was bad wifi and I just stayed until 2:30. Carlos came by because he was locked out of work but because of the bad wifi he just went home to work. After I got home, I watched some X factor and took a nap until 4:30. I went to workout shortly after- like 5:30-6. Then I stopped at 7:15 and went to stempunk bar. Honestly, it was a great day, Carlos was super optimistic this morning because of the shower. Inside Stempunk were all sorts of cool gadgets as display on the walls and it was just a very cool environment- I loved it. So it was a good day until... we met up with Fernado after Stempunk- around 9. So we all went for sushi and I was really looking forward to that. But I didn't enjoy it and they spoke Spanish most of the time. In fact- the waiter spoke Spanish- I was just excluded and did not feel comfortable. At one point, I said "I want to leave" but I don't think they heard that. It's just when you put those 2 together I just become an extra. The worst part is when they share their cultural values with me and just both talk together like they're right. I mean I have my own values but it's just not right with them. Sighs I was really frustrated but I'm ok now. I just came home and ate a sandwich. Today I spent the most money- $60 and that was because apparently we had to pay Carlos for the ingredients for the night of the 15th-$30 so not worth it. If I knew, I wouldn't have eaten, I didn't even want it. I guess I just wish they told me. Wow that was a lot of ranting- I usually try to hide the full range of emotions on this but I just needed an outlet. Anyways, at the end of the night I told Carlos to remind me that I DO have enough to spend- actually $30 leis a day and I will still survive. So I'm going to try to spend more money to be happy rather than suffering to save...
Day 19: So we woke up around 9:30 all ready to go. It was a weekend and we were going to see the salt mines! We were meeting up with Bianca at 10 so at 9:45 we headed out to Fernado.... Little did we know he just woke up -.- and we had to wait for him until 10:10. So we were late and started going to the salt mines late.Well by this point, you should already know- Fernado and Carlos the Spanish speaking duo. At least today was better because I had Bianca to talk to. So we were a bit lost on how to get to the bus stop but eventually we found it and ran into Andreea on her way to an exam. So the bus cost $7 one way -.- so expensive in terms of buses. When we got to another town- we had to take a cab to the salt mines up a mountain not bad of a ride quite short but up the mountain. When we entered the mine- it was unreal how beautiful it was. I'm so glad it was well lit. We entered and I took a lot of pictures. There were all sorts of sports in the mine- pool, ping pong, golf and bowling. There was even a Ferris wheel! So we went even deeper and there was a small salty lake where you could paddle around! So it was cheap for 3 people, so Fernado, Carlos and I went and it was awesome because it was just so peaceful. So we walked around and there was honestly a lot of salt. I ate some and well it was just salt... So we left after 3 hours and went to lunch. I had mac and cheese with real cheese and pasta... for only 5 leis- it was nice. After that we headed home on the bus again -.- and rested. At night, I wanted to go to the nice cafe with Carlos again but it was closed on Sundays. So we headed home and on the way I saw this nice small burger joint so I gave it a try. So worth $6 leis. There was all the ingredients I need- I mean the patty was a bit small but I had everything. :D That was it, I just went home and ate, then skyped with Chloe and slept.
Day 20: I'm so used to life here now, it's nearly been a month... So this morning we were going to head out to the botanic garden because Carlos showed me some pictures and it looked really beautiful. So we journeyed there only to find out it was $8 leis and since Carlos stumbled in for free he didn't want to pay for something he's already seen. So we decided to head to the opera- only to find that closed too. After that we just started walking and exploring- we didn't find anything and since we were getting tired- we headed back. On our way back, I thought we'd check out this China superstore and I don't regret it because inside there I found a pair of shoes for only $15 leis!!!!! That's the cheapest thing I have ever seen. So I bought it and started wearing it the next day! After that we met up with Bianca for lunch- she has a friend from Brazil over so we ate at this traditional Romanian place. It was nice- I enjoyed the food. After we went to the hostel that he was staying at to eat some Brazilian dessert. It was quite far but the place was so nice. The living room had chess, checkers, i-pod, speakers, x-box, play station, books, a couch, nice designer stickers and metal puzzles. It was so nice that we just chilled there and relaxed. Oh they also had this dog which made Carlos and Bianca melt. It was really cute though. So Carlos and I played a game of chess and I won. After I played with this Australian guy and also won. He beat me in checkers though. So of course, Fernado joined us by coming over and chilled. The dessert was just chocolate powder with condensed milk- still tasty though. We all went out for dinner and since it was snowing we just headed back to the dorm where there was a nice sharwma place. It turns out that it was similar to the place I ate my burger last night. Just more expensive, less ingredients and worse attitude. I won't eat there again. Chloe went to visit mom and dad at the store and ran into K K Bi and Ian too. It was nice to see that. So after I went home waiting to skype with mom at 1 but it was only 11... Somehow I passed out with my laptop still plugged in. And I woke up the next morning to unplug it. -.-
Day 21: I woke up to a snowy Cluj- it looked beautiful but in 2 short hours the sun melted all the snow. I had work at 1 today so I jus kicked back and relaxed as I woke up at 9 and had a few hours to kill. I watched a movie and some shows and showered, I just went out to work at 12:30. It was another slow day- didn't do much at work so I just came home around 4. I was starving so I bought a Sharwma from the burger place 2 nights ago. It was so much better. So I came home, ate it and did laundry. Unfortunately our roommates were drinking and playing really loud music so we went out as soon as we were ready. When I finished putting in my laundry, we went to the Iulius mall (the mall Flo brought me to on the first day). You guessed it- Fernado came... by now I'm already used to it and started to stop caring- I have my own little bubble screw their Spanish. Anyways we went to the mall originally to buy an adapter and get a haircut for Carlos but Fernado had a adapter and the haircut was too expensive. So we just walked around and looked on the nice platform in the mall. We also went to the big retail store- and I bought some candy. Carlos did something diabolical but I won't mention it here. I never knew he had it in him but well it was vengeful. So we just went home afterwards and Carlos and I went to the gym. I was honestly too tired but I still went with Carlos. It was alright- I just feel really weak because 20 Lbs is heavy for me. I feel pathetic- my arms used to lift 45 and now I'm stuck at 20- wtf happened to me. I don't want to think about it but I'm treated like a noob at the gym and it infuriates me that I can't show everyone my true strength. After that I took another shower and ate some instant noodles. The wifi was down for a while so I watched some spongebob. It was a nice quiet evening because we came home to our roommates asleep.
Day 22: So I woke up tired again this morning. I did have a good night sleep so I went to work and just watched videos all day until 1:30 then I went home. I met up with Carlos to go home together and on our way, I bought a burger and some groceries (water, ham, noodles). Then we just chilled at home. We took a nap, I slept at 5 and was awakened by the sound of my vibrating phone... at 5:30 but it was still a really nice nap. I was called by 3 different Aiesec people about meeting tonight to talk about Carlos and our living conditions. So we met at 7 and after that Carlos and I headed out to meet with Andreea. So we walked around and eventually went to a coffee place to sit and talk. Tonight I found a darker side of Carlos I never expected... But I also learned a bit more about Andreea and her Egyptian boyfriend :(. It was a nice talk then I just went home and rested. It was a slow day but at least the roommates were out all day studying.
Day 23: I got a call last night telling me I didn't need to go to work today so I woke up at 1:30. Of course that was because I slept at 3 waiting for my laptop to finish charging. So, I messaged Flo to see if she wanted to hang out. Then I went to Casa Vikingilor (Viking themed restaurant) with Carlos. It was just outside and it seemed cool. The food was overpriced and not up to standard. The worst part was that I thought I was so hungry so I ate all the unwanted vegetables first and saved all the good meat for later. It's pretty easy to guess what happened. I got full from the vegetables and had to give my pork and chicken(?) with cheese to Carlos -.- It was horrible. Anyways I went to the library with Carlos to meet up with Flo since it's been a while. Also because our roommates were playing horrendously loud music in the room and we couldn't do anything but leave. So I went to the library at 3 and Carlos went to work. I just grabbed 4 books and started reading. I started to test how fast I can read and still comprehend the material, turns out I can read absurdly fast for around 20 minutes and understand everything. This is useful. I just need to read super fast then take a short break then continue. I shall study like this when I get home. While I was reading, I got a call from work to tell me I didn't need to come in tomorrow or Friday.... And I leave for Italy on Sunday, so I don't have work for literally a week. Also, Flo came to check on me and told me that it was snowing outside. I was so concentrated that I didn't even noticed. It snowed for around 3 hours- the time that I stayed in the library. Around 7, Flo finished her project and we sat down for a bit to talk, we stayed until 7:30 and I headed home. It stopped snowing so I just made a bunch of snowballs and threw them at tree branches so the snow on top would fall- it was fun. So I got home and ate some instant noodles. Carlos came back from the gym after I showered. So he showered then we headed out to this bar with Fernado. He brought a friend from another Aiesec project. That guy was cool because he was just very social and easy to talk to. Anyways we went to this bar and I ordered this drink with beer, vodka and some other alcohol. It did the job- made me tipsy. After that we headed to another bar but it was full. Carlos went home because he doesn't drink and the rest of us headed to the supermarket to buy beer and some food. I bought a sandwich and they bought beer then we took a cab to the "party house". I asked and apparently it was a house devoted to partying... Interesting. So we played kings cup with another 2 guys that came and I really didn't drink that much but still got wasted. I just kept messaging Chloe while I was drunk :/ keep her up to check. Anyways, we drank until like 2:30 and Fernado and I took a cab home and I slept around 3. I was dirty, uncomfortable, wet with spilled beer -.-, hungry and soooo tired. So I changed and went to sleep. What a long day.
Day 24: It's been another slow day. I woke up around 9 still tired so I went back to sleep until 11 When I woke up I took a shower and met up with Flo for lunch. We went to this higher class cafeteria. The food really was delicious but a bit expensive. It's ok though because I'm trying to live more. I do enjoy my food more and I don't regret my buying decisions and wish I ordered something else. But my insides are screaming "you are spending too much" and it's true I have nearly spent up to 30-40 leis per day and that's too much so next week I'm going to try to cut back for a bit. Anyways, after that we went around town to walk around and then to the library to hang out for a bit. She taught me a bit of french and I taught her some Chinese. It was pretty fun. I went home pretty tired and wanted to jog and swim later. Unfortunately I was too lazy and couldn't sleep so I didn't end up going. So I just lazed around watching walking dead and such. Then Carlos went out to buy some food to cook some Spanish food- ugh more spending, but I am excited to try some new foods. But it was really good. He cooked a Spanish omelet for only $5! It was good and we hung out afterwards in the kitchen until 12. Fernado was there and he brought a friend so we all just ate and talked. It was nice. Once I got back to the dorm, I skyped with Chloe and that was my night.
Day 25: Honestly, it has been so long since I've updated this. Or at least it feels like it's been a while. This is because it the past few days, I've been to 2 different cities without my laptop and I'm still just getting used to it. Well, let's try to pick up from where we left off. So I think that Friday, Carlos and I woke up at 8 to prepare to go on a train to Brasov to see Dracula's Castle at 9:40. I decided not to bring a bag and just gave my clothes and towel to Carlos to carry. We got ready and went to Fernado's room around 8:30. Surprise surprise, he wasn't awake so we tried to wake him up without any luck. 30 mins past and I got really impatient then Carlos talked to him in Spanish, gave him a hug and said "let's go". Luckily, I read the room- noticed something was wrong and said "alright", no questions asked. So his roommate took us out to the bus to the train station. We went on our way to the train station and ran into someone we knew from Aiesec and she told us where to get off to board the train. On the way, Carlos explained what happened, apparently Fernado's father had just passed away. I was so surprised and was so glad that I gave him a hug before leaving. We were both silent for a bit on the bus because we just didn't know what to say. So we got to the train station at 9:35 and found the ticket station at 9:38, just our luck because the train literally leaves in 2 minutes and we couldn't board it. Sighs, so we walked back to the dorm because it was apparently pretty close- around 40 min walk. When we got back, I was starving so I made 2 instant noodles (small ones) and Carlos went to sit with Fernado. After I ate, I went there too to see how he was doing. He said he would come to Brasov with us which relieved me because he knew some Romanian and he knows places. So I just rested and watched walking dead while him and Carlos slept. At 12, we decided to head to the train station but Fernado didn't feel like going. So, I borrowed backpack from my roommate and packed some things to go to Brasov. This time the train left at 1:40, so we headed out at 12 just in case. We bought some burgers for the train ride because it was a 7 hour train ride. I bought 2 while Carlos bought one. We got to the train station and there was wifi, since the fact that we don't have a plan to where to stay, I hesitantly looked up some hostels. I found one for a very cheap price so we decided to head there. We boarded the train at 1:20 and it was a beautiful seat. I took a nap while Carlos just sat I guess. I was awakened by the ticket man announcing to us that we were in first class with second class tickets. So we moved to our rightful place and it was still and alright seat. I continued to nap then when I woke, I ate a burger and some bread as well as read my book. Carlos preceded to napping then when he woke we talked for a bit and just hung around. I never get tired of talking to him. Let's skip ahead to when we arrived. We got there and it was a pretty nice looking city. It was 8:30 at night, we bought our return ticket for tomorrow at 4:40 and then proceeded to find the no 51 to get to our stop. So we got on the bus asked for directions and got to the hostel alright. Apparently they were fresh out of the 25 lei rooms so we settled for the 50 lei rooms with 4 beds. It was a little pricey but it was a really nice room, comfy bed and a really nice roommate. Her name was Maurine, I talked to her for quite a bit while Carlos went out for food and showered. She is from France and just doing an exchange in Bucharest for 6 months. She was really nice and just like us traveling to Brasov to see Dracula's caste. So I invited her to join us on our trip and she agreed. The wifi was bad but I had good company so I just talked for most of the night until we slept. That night, we slept from 11-9, a full 10 hours because the bed was so comfortable compared to the ones in our dorms.
Day 26: I woke up so comfortable and excited as it was a new day with a lot to see. It was 9 and everyone was still sleeping, but by 9:15 everyone was getting ready. Carlos went to buy breakfast, I got dressed and poured some coffee from the coffee machine for Maurine and I. We drank some coffee and waited for Carlos to return. He came back with a croissant and I made some new coffee without a coffee machine- it tasted horrendous because that coffee wasn't instant coffee so there were bits of coffee beans remaining so Carlos made a fresh batch of coffee in the machine. After we took our things and checked out. We went to the bus station and bused to the castle. While we were waiting for the first bus, 2 girls approached us saying they were from the hostel and noticed we were going to the same location. Their names were Stephanie and something else.... So they joined us and we became a group of 5, they were American girls just traveling around. When I got on the second bus, I needed to go to the bathroom and it was a 30 minute ride. As soon as we arrived, I bolted to find a bathroom. I found one in around 5 minutes and you had to pay 1.5 leis. I just went in and Carlos paid because I couldn't pay in time- haha. Anyways, after we headed into the castle, it was a pretty cheap entrance fee and we took a lot of pictures. It was somewhat eerie but also pretty beautiful. I really liked it, it was a moderate sized castle with many things to see. We took a lot of photos everywhere and the trip in the castle took around 2 hours. It was nice and after that we went to buy souvenirs and I found these pencils which look like the daggers to kill Dracula with so I bought 5 for my friends and I bought myself this awesome Maze! The total was like 24 leis, 3 for each pencil and 9 for the maze. I went to the washroom again for precaution and then we headed back to the hostel. We dropped off the American girls and decided to explore the city in an hour before our train ride. We went to several places actually because they were all literally 5 mins of a walk away from the hostel. Just some historic buildings we found on the map- beautiful city. So around 3:30 we dropped of Maurine at the hostel and started to head to the train station. I bought some Mcdonalds for lunch and dinner and it was a cheap meal. We took the bus to the station, asked for the platform and waited there until a train came at 4:30, left at 4:50, 10 mins after it said it would leave. Notice I said "A" train.... because when we got on and sat there for 20 mins, a woman told me I was in her spot so I gave her my ticket and she told me I was on the wrong train FKKKKK. Holy crap I was scared- this train was going to VIENNA OMG. Carlos was talking to his girlfriend over the phone in another cabinet so she found a train ticket man to try and sort this out. I quickly found Carlos and started panicking. I was freaking out- so worried just irrationally panicking. Carlos had to tell me to just breath and calm down while he sat and talked to the train workers to figure out a solution. God, I don't know what I would've done without him. So we waited for around 40 mins until Carlos came back telling me we need to get off, take the train back to Brasov then take the next one back to Cluj, but we would have to pay for the ride back, so the station was another 30 mins away and since the train back was leaving 1 min after our train gets to that station, I was ready to bolt. In the mist of that, the woman who told me I was in her seat came back with a train worker and told us another plan. Apparently, we would hit another station in 2 hours that has a connecting train to Cluj an hour after we arrive to that station. So we just had to wait on this train until 9 then we could wait at the station until 10 to board another train back to Cluj. Thank god that woman was so helpful as to asking for an alternate way back. I was lucky to find such nice people. So since there was 2 hours left, Carlos and I just rested but I was still really scared of what was ahead. At 9, we got off, thanking everyone who helped again and headed into the station to explain our situation. Luckily we didn't have to pay to transfer trains and we found another woman to help us translate our situation. So we waited in the creepy train station for an hour and a half until the train came. Carlos met some Romanian guys who spoke Spanish and it was awesome because they saved us from the evil train ticket man. The moment that guy came into the cabinet, I knew he was an asshole- he literally screamed ticket so loudly. It was so lucky that Carlos had met those Romanians who helped us explain our situation and argued so we didn't need to pay. Carlos talked to them for the 3 hour train ride while I just played on my phone and rested. When we finally got to Cluj, we sped walked home and went to Fernado's room to stay the night. Fernado taught me thi card game: speed and we played until around 3. Carlos had work and Fernado started giving me some pointers about my Italy trip tomorrow. He was so helpful, he helped us book a hostel (because silly Andreea couldn't find anywhere) and it was so cheap and he drew me a map and told me what to try and all that. It was really cool of him to help out so much. So I was ready to head to Italy tomorrow at 11:45. I slept at 3:30 in Fernado's roommate's bed because all his roommates were home after exams.
Day 27: I woke up at 10, went to take a shower then got everything ready to go for my trip. At 11, I woke Carlos up to go to the bus station with me. It was our last morning together, I couldn't believe it. We didn't talk much, just some idle chatter until the station I said: "you were the best friend I could ask for in Romania, I will miss you a lot". I promised him that I'll try to visit him in Spain if I could. At first, I couldn't find Andreea because I waited at the wrong station and my phone died right when I needed it to call her. So eventually we found her in the other station down the street. I hugged Carlos and that was it. I was and am still so sad that he's gone. I mean he was really the only one I hung out with- and I really like how he's so true to himself, how he acts so silly and doesn't care what others think. He really was an amazing friend. When we got to the airport, we checked in and proceeded to wait at the gate. We got on a 2 hour flight and ended up in Italy around 3:30. I talked to Andreea a lot, I mean she's still very nice and funny so it's really easy to talk to her. We got to Milan and the sun and snow along with modern day streets reminded me of Canada. We took a bus to city central and I started taking pictures, we were at the train station and it was a beautiful station with sculptures and incredible architecture. Then I tried to follow Fernado's map to the hostel. Andreea was all crazy and jumpy from excitement. She had a higher than usual high pitch voice and jumped around a lot. It was quite fun to watch. Even with the map, we managed to get lost. It took us (or me -.-) over an hour to find the hostel. Luckily we booked it and the place still had a few beds open. So we checked in, dropped our stuff off and headed out to explore the night. We walked to the closest hotel to get a map to find our way around then we headed downtown. On our way, I just noticed how beautiful the city was. It was amazing- all the sculptures on regular buildings, it was so magnificent. Just the atmosphere, reminded me of Toronto but much more elegant and filled with history. It's a developed city filled with popular shops along with gorgeous architecture. Then we found the Duomo... It took my breath away- the beauty, the elegance, the grace. It was just god like beautiful and it just blew me away. Every corner on the building is sculpted with an elegant masterpiece and the top was golden with a roof filled multiple columns pointed upwards. It was just gorgeous. After we were took pictures in front of it and we were approached by some African fellows. They seemed nice, gave us some bracelets they said were "free", then they talked to us for a bit and asked us for donations. They insisted and insisted on any currency and everything. I just said I don't have money and will give back the bracelets but they kept insisting so I just left. We quickly walked away and luckily they didn't chase after us. By then, we were both starving so we found this pizza joint and had Italian pizza! It was just one slice each but we shared so I got to try both and it was delicious, I'm glad I tried it. Then we continued to explore the city, we noticed a lot of homeless people begging for money and a lot of rich stores, it really shows the contrast between the rich and the poor. During the walk, I continued to talk to Andreea, finding out more about her. It's interesting, she's interesting- I like how she listens and she has an interesting background. It's definitely the most fun teasing her due to her high pitch responses. Anyways, we walked until 10 when we hit the dirty canal and the end of the map then we started to head back because we were afraid the host would leave. It was a long way back and I was exhausted. So we got back at 11 and we just slept.
Day 28: I woke up around 8 feeling ready to go. I got dressed and brushed my teeth in the kitchen because there were 30 people fighting over 2 bathrooms... So by the time Andreea got dressed, the host offered us breakfast! It was so nice, we had some crackers with jam, very tasty then she recommended some places to visit. We headed out with our map, filled with circled destinations and excited for a new day. We started walking to the shopping street then we found this nice little souvenir shop and Andreea bought a cute little key chain. Then while we were walking, I felt it, a weakness in my legs, sudden coldness, a light headache and a faint urge to just go home- yes I was getting sick (a cold). So as we continued to walk, I zipped up but when we arrived at the park, it didn't help as their were no buildings and more windchill causing my fever to grow, until I just had to sit down to warm myself up. I was shivering like crazy and just wanted to sit. But the day just began and I needed to explore because Andreea was wayyyy too excited to stop. So we continued and explored the park- it was quite nice, I mean for a park because I've seen much nicer parks in Toronto and even better ones in Muskoka. Anyways, the pain wasn't going away but we continued on to the next destination- the Duomo. On the way, I just couldn't take the coldness so I just asked Andreea if we could head into the closest coffee shop (which we did). We went into this cute little Italian cafe with golden lighting and deli (I think). I bought an espresso and surprisingly it really helped. I was warm and getting a little better. We walked out after and slowly it returned as I got to the Duomo. We waited in line to get in and the outside was even more beautiful in the sunlight. Each pillar seemed to just absorb the glow of the sun and each sculpture seemed to just pop out. The Duomo was just like gorgeous, the most gorgeous building I have ever seen in my life- with the pure whiteness reflecting the bright sun and also enhanced due to the sunlight outlining each sculpture and detail of the building. We waited in line and eventually got in after 5 minutes. The inside was just a little less beautiful than the outside but very massive. It was just a different style with brown instead of white. It was very majestic still. Although there was a 2 euro picture fee, we decided to wing it and just take pictures. It was gorgeous inside because it was just so godly. I was still sick but just shivered at the majesty. After the tour around everywhere we could go in the Duomo, Andreea looked at some souvenirs for her parents while I sat to rest and just absorbed the beauty of the roof and the inside. I knew I would kick myself if I didn't take a 360 so I took my chance and just did it, when we left the Duomo I was scared they would check our photos but they didn't. We headed to a church nearby but it felt like an eternal walk for me, I was actually so angry and frustrated I wanted to die. I was exhausted beyond belief so when we found the crappy church we just sat in the cold. We didn't check it out much because it wasn't beautiful, it wasn't special at all. So we headed to Leonardo De Vinci's art gallery close by. On the walk there, Andreea got tired of my complaining and we sat down at a restaurant. I ordered another coffee and she had lasagna. I loved it because the coffee and warmth was really refreshing and Andreea shared some of her food with me so I really enjoyed that too, we sat for an hour then continued. When we got there, it was closed for today but we would check tomorrow morning when people couldn't wake up in time. Then we headed to the bigger park with a castle. I really liked the castle, it was simple but grand- reminded me of the medieval times castle. We walked around and found a carnival without many people, we just walked by it and headed to the benches in the park near the lake. It was nice to sit again and we just hung around for 15 minutes then continued. It was a beautiful park, very large and filled with nature. When we got through all of it, at the end there was an arc type structure and it looked really beautiful with all the sculptures on it. It was then when we finally headed home. I was so tired, exhausted beyond belief, I could barely take another step but the journey was so far that I couldn't believe it. It took another 45 minutes to get home and I just couldn't believe how tired I was and by the time I got back to the hostel I couldn't move my legs. Literally- I just lied in bed and lied there without moving. The host decided to introduce her best friend since she was also from Hk, but I was so tired that I couldn't get up and she just left. Andreea then left to go shopping because she didn't want to just lie here for the rest of the day- it was only 5. After around 20 minutes, I got up and apologized to the host for my extremely rude behavior as I was sick and tired. She understood so I went on to take a hot shower. It was soooo nice, I stayed there for over half and hour but I felt bad for using all the hot water so I unwillingly got out. After, I deliberated whether I should go to a local pizza joint with great reviews or just eat my instant noodles. My tiredness and laziness won and I just cooked. I felt bad for eating this in Italy but I was sick and the food felt really good and warm filling my cold body. I just ate and talked to the host for around an hour and a half. It was nice getting to know her- she was a nice woman. After, I just lied in bed waiting for Andreea to get home. I also got an extra blanket to get better. When Andrea got home I talked to her for a bit then went to sleep at 11.
Day 29: I woke up at 7 feeling a lot better. I had to wake Andreea up because we were going to be late for the Leonardo DeVinci famous painting: The Last Supper. So she got up at 7:20 and we headed out at 7:45. We got lost -.- because apparently she couldn't function without breakfast. We ended up getting there at 8:45 and luckily we got on a tour at 9:30. We just waited there, reading about the history on the displays. It was really nice of an atmosphere and getting to know the history of the painting. When we got in I couldn't believe my eyes, everything that painting had gone through and still so beautiful. I just stared at it and listened to the guide as she talked about the painting. It was falling apart on the wall but the painting was just so incredible, took my breath away again. It was so complex and simple in the idea. The complexion and detail was impossible to imagine. I loved every part of it. Unfortunately, we could only stay for 15 minutes to observe it as it was too popular. When we left, since we couldn't take pictures -.- I bought a postcard with a picture of it- worth it. After, we found a cafe where I bought a croissant and it was delicious. Andreea found somewhere else to eat a Piadina, a traditional Italian dish while I had a coffee. I had a bite and loved her pita style dish. it was good. Then we headed to the train station to go to another city- Como. The train was surprisingly cheap so we boarded for a 1 hour ride. On the ride, we met an American Mormon missionary who was from Utah. He was nice, talked about his trip and all, it was nice to hear English without an accent in person- it's been a while. He told us about this restaurant near the Duomo we "had" to try so we would head to it tomorrow. When we got there, we parted ways and checked out the beautiful lake. Again- it was nothing special, I've seen much more beautiful in Canada. But for Andreea, I guess it was beautiful. We headed up the mountain on a tram way. It was quite beautiful up the mountain I'll admit, nothing I've seen in Canada because there was this amazing view of snowy mountains in the distance. It was glorious. We walked around for around 3 hours and just observed the natural beautiful. Unfortunately, the climb to the top was much too difficult to bear but it was worth it because it was breathtaking, unfortunately my stupid phone AND camera decided to die and I couldn't take that many pictures :( So we headed back down after a while and explore the city. It was a beautiful city as well- very simple and filled with 3story houses and small streets. Andreea loved it more than Milan but I am used to bigger cities instead of small ones like this, so we had a disagreement on that. We explored a bit, saw their Duomo (not nearly as nice as Milan's Duomo) but still nice. We headed back at 8 and we were so tired, we just took the subway home. I loved it, reminded me of the rushed city life and of home- the speed, the rush it took me away. We got home and showered and got comfortable. Then we headed out to that pizza place. I loved it, I ordered the expensive pasta because I needed to eat what I wanted, not what was cheap- hey it's Italy. It was delicious, absolutely the best pasta I've ever had and the owner was so nice, he knew how to keep a customer. Then we headed home and called it a night.
Day 30: I have officially been away from home for a month and today was my last day in Italy. So we had a good night's sleep and headed out at 9. We had to take all our stuff, we walked down to the Duomo to try to find the restaurant but after 2 hours, we couldn't find it. The frustration made Andreea tear up, it made me very sad to see her like that. I was determined to make her feel better so we went to find the theater nearby. After she got better we subway-ed to the famous cemetery. At the cemetery I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Every grave had a sculpture on it. It was so majestic. There must've been a thousand graves, we spent around 2 hours just walking around exploring people's graves. It was so beautiful. After that, we decided to get ice-cream. We walked to the train station- I got rare (only in Italy) Mcdonald's pizza pockets- really expensive and wasn't that good. So we went on a 30 minute hike to this ice cream shop we found online. It was grulesome, when we got there it was closed and I was so mad. We headed back to get ready to board our flight. On our way, I found an ice-cream place and tried green apple flavour ice-cream- it was so good- but expensive :/. After we went to the supermarket to buy water for Andreea and we also got ice-cream for the bus. On the bus since we had no spoons, we used the lid at first... but it got tirering. So Andreea used her sim card holder and I used the tiny opener on the ice-cream container. It worked.... We got to the airport and I messaged Andrew to do me a favour to surprise Chloe back home with a teddy bear. I told her to meet him after her exam for "chemistry notes" then he gave her a rose with teddy bear :D.Anyways, I was so tired, I just slept the whole flight then we took a cab back to the dorm. I just played online for a bit then slept at 3.
Day 31: I got up and got to work late at 10:30. I didn't do anything except blogged. It wasn't bad.I thought I'd go home early but there was this really important conference I should attend so I did. Before that, I bought some vegetables for the "global village" thing for Aiesec and some lunch for myself. I stayed until 3, then my boss picked me up to move some chairs. Only him and I were there and we moved over 100 chairs, man they were heavy. So we got to the conference and luckily I didn't need to move the chairs again into the room- they had staff for that. We waited there for around an hour then the conference started. There were over 650 people and I was amazed at the results. The speaker was so confident speaking and he lit the room up- it was amazing what he did. Unfortunately it was all in Romanian so I didn't understand a bit of it. It was a free conference but I was still amazed at how many people came to listen to this guy. So I just sat there, I think I dozed off at some point. At the break, I ran into an Aiesecer and just talked to her for a bit. After the conference, I helped move the chairs- at least this time there were 7 people in total so we moved it 3 times as fast and easy. After my boss treated us all to dinner and I had a delicious chicken with mashed potatoes and fresh orange juice- delicious. Then my boss drove me home at 12. I slept around 3 again because I just use the internet all day.
Day 32: I woke up to go to work and it was again, just another boring day- watched some videos, improved the website design and that was it. I bought more vegetables at the supermarket with only 5 leis.... :/ I got home and skyped with Ian for a bit. Then after that, I hung out with Fernado. We decided to cook for the Global Village. So we went to the supermarket- without using the ticket :DDD weeee free ride :). He cooked something with wine but I couldn't because he set off the gas alarm.... All the stove shut off... I had to go unprepared. It was at the Iulus mall and it was including every intern. It was an awesome turnout- I was embarrassed that I didn't have anything because literally everybody had some food or some souvenirs from their country. I just hung around this Taiwanese girl- she's awesome, really reminds me of Chloe so I just talked to her a lot. I didn't stay at my booth- I was at Fenny's booth because it was right beside mine. After that we danced in a flash mob. Then after that we went home to get ready for a drink. We dropped off our things and I helped Fenny carry her things home because it was heavy and she was a girl. After she was tired so she stayed home. I was tired too so I decided to stay home and just rested. It was good because I skyped with Chloe before Valentine's Day and she loved the teddy bear and rose. I went to sleep a bit earlier- I think around 2
Day 33: I woke up on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day because there was a lot of sunlight and I just stayed indoors to watch X factor for a bit. At 1, I finally skyped with mom, she's sick :( I talked to her for a bit and then dad. It was nice to see them again.Then around 1, I went out to jog for a bit. I did not perform.... I was so bad- I jogged for such a short time, 2 laps then went home with George. I bought some eggs and juice back to the dorm. That's when Fernado called and offered to cook. I went to his place with my juice and he cooked the ingredients that I couldn't use yesterday. He made this delicious vegetable dish and we watched a movie in the kitchen for a bit. Then we went back to his room to finish the movie and watched another one. We went down to buy some snacks for the next movie. During the movie, I told Chloe about the card I hid under her bed, she loved it :D I did send a message to Spotted UTSC but they didn't post it until 12am -.- so I had to tell Chloe in person, I'm happy she loved it. After I just went home and watched more X factor. I tried to skype with Chloe but I couldn't because my laptop was dead and my phone's skype was stupid. At night, I bought some peach juice because I had a craving and it was nice. That was pretty much my day.
Day 34: I woke up to another beautiful day. I watched more X factor and then I met up with Fernado around 1 to get cupcakes since I had a craving. We ended up not getting a cupcake because there were no stores nearby, I got this green minty chocolate cake, it was still tasty. Then we went to the supermarket again to buy ingredients for both of us. I loved it as it was cheap and all the things we both wanted. We got $90 worth of groceries but we split-ed it and I just hope it lasts for a while. When we got home, Fernado cooked something delicious for us. This meaty potato thing along with fried potato in Rosemary. It was awesome and delicious. We watched we the miller while we ate then went back to his room to finish the movie. Right after the movie he rushed out to his date at 6 since the movie ended at 5:50. I carefully watched my post on Spotted- it blew up with over 300 likes, it is really sweet, it says: "To my girlfriend alone eating ice-cream. Sorry for being in another country on Valentine's Day but you know what, I spotted you and although I'm not there in person, I'm with by spirit. Happy Valentine's Day heart emoticon.
P.S: Check under your bed please and you'll find a surprise Valentine's card I left before I left. grin emoticon heart emoticon Stay awesome."
Then I went back to the room to watch X factor and blog. Then later tonight- at 10, there's this huge Aiesec party I will be going to. I got super drunk and it was nice.Well, it wasn't that huge, there were only like 20 people. But I did get super drunk.. only 3 beers and 2 shots of samboka.... I don't know how to spell it but basically I drink some clear liquid, someone puts a lighter in a mouth and lights it on fire -.-" yea I tried it twice and well my mouth didn't burn so whatever. Oh after the lighter, they put some spice powder in the mouth and then you swallow. It didn't taste that bad... I drank 2 shots and it wasn't bad-got me drunk. I went home with Fernado at 2 and he was drunk too. We bought a burger because we were both drunk and hungry. Then I went to his room and slept.Day 35: Today I woke up around 9ish and was so thirsty. So I went to get a drink and ready to go to work. Then I realized work started at 1.... So I went to watch some videos on my phone. At 12 I went to do laundry and went to Fernado's room to eat. I made some sandwiches and it was good. After I went to work and downloaded sooooo many shows, 12 episodes and 3 movies.... I felt bad for using so much internet but whatever I got so many things to watch now :D. Didn't really have anything to do at work and went home at 4:30 because the boss came in at 3 and I wanted to leave at 4. Fernado prepared something so it was awesome. Also, Fenny and some other interns are planning to do something for Chinese New Year, it's awesome and going to be on Wednesday. Fernado and I are going to cook some Chinese sweets- "Year Tall":/ bad translation, but it's ok, I get it.When I got home, Fernado had apparently started to prepare something and we finished it- as in I watched him finish the pasta... It was too sour, much too sour but he liked it I guess :/. It was still quite tasty. After that I just stayed in his room and chilled- watched the Simpsons only 2 episodes but that took 3 hours -.- because the second episode took forever to load... After that I just went back to my dorm and skyped with Chloe :) Then I woke Fernado to cook dinner around 11(he made sandwiches) and then hung out for a bit more and watched Big Hero 6- half of it at least, then I slept.
Day 36: Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well because my roommates were drunk (2of them) one of those fuckers snored so loudly that it woke me up a few times, holy crap I was pissed off. I ended up waking up late at 10:15 and got to work late :( ughhh. Hate those guys. At work, I didn't do anything as usually, just watched my own videos, the ones I downloaded. It was pretty good I guess, left around 2 when I got too hungry. Then I went home to Fernado where he just woke up. He cooked something uhhh like good- I don't remember but it was good... Anyways, after we just watched a movie and I just watched some shows by myself. Anyways, I just hung out in his room the whole day then went out to the Aiesec weekly LC meeting at 8 because I promised Flo I would go. So we met up with Flo there, I saw Fenny and we talked about tomorrow's plan- we were planning to have a hot pot with a bunch of people. :D Then the meeting went on- it was boring, lasted 2 hours. After Flo gave me my money back and we went to the bar. I saw Horatiu (my boss) and stayed there for a bit. After I went home to Fernado's room, met one of his roommates and made a sandwich, then went back to my own room to make another sandwich. After I watched a movie and tried to sleep. Unfortunately those bastard roommates still leave the lights on, talk at regular room volume, use their speakers instead of headphones and keep burping. So I said, fk it, I'm going to Fernado's room and I slept there.
Day 37: I woke up late again at 10:14 -.- this is a bad habit. I woke up because my colleague called to see if I was coming in. But apparently she told me to stay put while she got her laptop fixed, so that was a bit of a lucky break. I got a message from Ian that mom was still sick and I got worried so I messaged her :(. After that, I finished the movie from last night then at 12:30 got a call to not have to come in at all today :D lucky day. So I went to Fernado's room to wait for him to wake up and he did eventually at 12:45 and we started cooking. Or I started cooking- cutting tomatoes, pepper, onions and peeling garlic. It was ok except the onion :/. So after that he made rice and I hung out with his roommate for a bit. He had common courtesy unlike my useless drunk of roommates. Then I went to hang out with Fernado in the kitchen while he cooked and after we ate the rice and it was delicious. Then we just watched a movie, hung out for a bit then went out so I could exchange my money. I wanted to exchange because I've been reading some articles and believe that the US market might crash soon so I got rid of my American dollar. I mean it's just a speculation but whatever, just in case. Then we went for some tea and I had some Chinese tea (or that's what they called it). After we just went back to finish the movie and waited for the meeting at 7:20. So the plan fell apart last night when the other interns decided to do something themselves so I said fk it, Fernado, Fenny, Geng and I are going to a Chinese restaurant. So that's what we did along with one of their organizing committees and roommates. So we walked for like 20 minutes to this Chinese restaurant and it was really nice The fried rice tasted like white sellout rice with a hint of Chinese in it :). It was a bit pricey but worth it considering we celebrated Chinese New Year with Chinese food. After that, it was already 11 and they wanted to get into the New Year so we hung out in a bar until 12 then another Chinese intern came. We were always just playing Big 2 and when the other intern came she just joined. Oh yea, Fernado and the non Chinese people went to another bar to drink while Fenny, Geng , other intern and I were at another closer bar playing cards. We played until 1 then I went home and slept.
Day 38: I woke up this morning at 10:45 -.- oh my gosh I was so late for work so I messaged my coworker and boss that I wasn't coming in since I had to leave at 1 to skype with my parent. Well I sleep around 1 but its just my fucker roommate got drunk again and snored so loud that it woke me up at 6:30 and I hardly slept well. I recorded it from my bed and sent it to Andreea at 6:30 in the morning to beg her to switch my room for me. So since it was new year, I had to skype with mom and dad at 2. I stayed home doing nothing until that time. Then I skyped with mom and dad. Unfortunately, everything happened at once. Andreea messaged me and Fernado messaged me. So I had to finish with mom and talk to Fernado then message Andreea. So I ended up doing nothing again until 3:30 because I was too late. So then I met up with Andreea at 4 to hang out until5 then I planned to go with Fernado but we hung out at this cute cafe until 5:30 so it was too late since Fernado already left. So I chilled at home again until 6:30. Where I went to Fernado's room to eat dinner. His roommate cooked. We had to pay him for the meat he bought but for some reason, when he used all our fking onions , tomatoes and all our vegetables, he didn't have to pay- that fucker. Anyways, after another girl intern came in and I talked to Geng to ask hi to come out with us but he didn't want to. So I stayed indoors while Fernado and the gang went out. Then I went home and just watched t.v and sleep. I really need to wake up in time tomorrow, skipped work 2 days in a row already -.- But Happy Chinese New Year! :D
Day 39: You guessed it, roommates started talking loudly at 8 so I woke up and fell back asleep, late for work again but not as late as the past few days. On my way to work, I had a depressing realization: I don't specialize in anything, I can't even talk to business majors anymore (George) without getting lost and don't know what to say or how to win a discussion- simple put: I am ignorant. Then it hit me as to why I always avoid arguments is because it might reveal that I am a lot dumber than I perceived. So I set out to work determined to pursue knowledge from now on. So I got in, downloaded as many ebooks as I could along with a few audiobooks.I focused on one audiobook called Be brilliant everyday and the messages hit me hard. It''s a book about being happy and true to yourself. Like the idea of not rushing through life and simply enjoy the moments because we might be just doing a job we don't want, to buy things we don't need, to impress the people we don't like. When we get the things we "need" we don't really need them, all your happiest memories are from people not objects. It just hit me hard because it's saying I am not letting myself be brilliant or as smart as I could be because I am choosing the easy way out- watching tv to avoid the pursuit of knowledge, staying indoors instead of just going out for new experiences, finding excuses not to work, etc! So I'm going to try to just read everything I can, be interested in many more things and just stop being so fking ignorant. I need to use this speed reading technique because I have a lot of reading to catch up on. And I mean everything- first business, then science, then art and literature, then history and politics. Anything I can read, I will. I hope this lasts longer than a week because I truly want change and who knows? Maybe I'll find what I'm passionate about in life and find what I want besides stupid marketing -.-" Anyways... I met up with Fernado after work around 3:30 and since I was too hungry, I made a sandwich in my room. I found him and he was doing an interview so I started cutting potatoes myself to make french fries. Then we made french fries and ate them. After that, we went out for a walk in the park because we both had an existential crisis. He knew so much that he doesn't know what to specialize in while I didn't know anything and don't know what to do in life -.-". Anyways, in the mist of it, I blurred out- "let's start an import- export company". He then said, "yea we could do that". He said he knew how to get top quality cheap coffee beans from Mexico because he had a friend... So all we needed to do was ship it to Canada and he will handle shipping, product, labeling and everything. All I have to do is get the distributors in Toronto to start selling and distributing our product. The best part is: it's low risk, I only need to invest $800 for 1ton of coffee beans, packed and shipped. All I need is to go back to Toronto to convince some distributors. I actually think this could work because all the way home we talked about the viability of this plan. We could make massive profits for little work. So when we got to the dorms, I started messaging some suppliers or coffee sellers. Then he had some sort of party with his friends in his dorm so we drank a little. Geng and Fenny were arrived so we hung out and played cards again! After Fernado and his friends went out while Fenny, Geng and I went to the same bar to play more cards... We played from 11 until 1:30- worth it, so fun hanging out with Asians playing Big 2 in a bar. Then I went home and started messaging more suppliers, one messaged back refusing. After a bit of time, I slept.
Day 40: Wow it's been 40 days here... Anyways, I slept very well last night- no disruptions nothing because one of my roommates didn't come home, one was asleep and the other one drank by himself so it was fine. So I woke up at 12:30, having slept for 10 hours feeling very nice. So I met up with Fernado to see the plan for today and we just chilled until his Spanish friends came. They were going to make Spanish eggs but I couldn't wait so I ate a sandwich at my room, during which I cut my finger :,( I've been getting a lot of injuries lately, it's up to 3 now- on my left hand. So I ade the sandwich, traded ebooks with George and headed back to Fernado's room to hang out. At the room, they talked about going to another city tomorrow so I think I'll join- the real Dracula's castle.... Fernado will rent a car so it'll be cheaper, faster and just better. No hostels so we will rent an apartment, Fernado will just guarantee the cheapest it can be. So after that I just chilled with them because my roommates were playing music wayyy too loud for me to stay. Eventually they went out too and I stayed in Fernado's room to just watch tv and finally skype with Chloe :)
Day 41: So I woke up around 12 I think? I can't really remember... Anyways I went to Fernado's room to see the plan for today, I don't really remember what I did today... Because... At night, I went out with Fernado to this rock concert. I had fun, but before I exited, I went back to my loud room (full of loud music again and a bunch of guys smoking) and they offered me a drink. I accepted- it was palinka- this super strong alcohol like 60-70%... I had 3 glasses (mixed with juice) and I was already tipsy. Then we went to the concert, waited, met some new people and I drank like only 4 beers and was basically super drunk. I just enjoyed the music a bit, but just kept drunk messaging Chloe and Andreea... It's weird what I said. I was so drunk I didn't know what I was doing- in fact, I was so drunk I actually fell and got bruised... Anyways, after that it ended at 1am so Fernado and I went home hungry. Since we didn't have money and he spent the $100 I lent him, we went home to cook some pasta. It didn't taste the best, but I stole some cheese and Schnitzels from my room and it tasted better. Then I fell asleep at 2 something.
Day 42: I woke up around 8 because my roommate brought a girl home and started kissing under my bed -.- It annoyed me so I just went to Fernado's room. I watched some Big bang theory with his laptop and just ate the leftover pasta from last night. At 2, the spanish guys and kristina (fenny's friend) came over and we headed to the airport to rent a car around 3.... So they took a taxi there while I called Andreea to confirm how to get to the airport... So eventually I got there and luckily they were there too. I found them and we rented a car to drive, Fernado drove and he was a good driver, so it costs $32 per person (only)!!! Taking the train would've costed $60 per trip which means $120... So it was awesome and a lot faster. Anyways, we got there around 7 and found the apartment to stay in. It was amazing- an entire apartment, 5 spaces on 2beds and a couch along with nice decor, a fully equipped kitchen, free snacks, spices and coffee AND a free bottle of strong alcohol. Best part- it was only $38... So worth it considering Carlos and I only had a bed for $40 -.-". So we went out to the supermarket to buy some groceries then went home to cook. While the Spanish guys cooked, a crystal mirror kind of thing right behind the stove exploded (like literally exploded into a million pieces). So we vacuumed it up and hope the guy wouldn't notice because it wasn't our fault, he just lifted the pot cover, steam came out and the crystal exploded. We just ignored it and I had some delicious pasta, so I forced myself to eat another plate but it was worth it. After I showered and stole some shampoo- hey it was good shampoo.... Then we watched the conjuring... and I was scared shitless. I only watched half... the other half, I used my turtle pillow to cover my eyes and just reacted to the sound and the screaming of the Spanish guy.... haha. After we slept at 2. Fernado was suppose to share a bed with me but unfortunately his hormones got to him and he slept with Kristina, nothing happened.... I think. But I warned him before going to sleep that he didn't need yet another girl but I guess he didn't listen. That night I was awoken by something, a nightmare and creepy thoughts. The thing is, I didn't need to go to the washroom, I was just awake and I was so scared because every time I closed my eyes I saw horror images, just scary ghosts. I somewhat felt a presence (I always do but this time I guess I was more vulnerable because of my fear). I couldn't sleep so I called Fernado to come back and he laughed because I was scared -.-". Eventually a voice told me not to be scared because being scared would make me vulnerable and an easy target. So I stopped, relaxed and eventually dozed off. It took some strength, I kind of put up a wall (figuratively) and just blocked out everything. I think it was just the movie but I did feel something again. :/
Day 43: I was awakened by my alarm at 8, we had to head back to Cluj early because I had work at 1... So we all woke up, brushed our teeth, ate breakfast and headed out. Somehow, in the morning I cut myself with my fingernail and it was so annoying- this is my 4th cut on my left hand -.-". i headed out expecting to travel to a castle but apparently, I was already in Dracula's castle for the night... It was just a big gate-ish surrounding a neighborhood- that's his castle. -.-" it was so lame, we looked around it only took an hour and headed back to the apartment to leave. Before that we headed to a gift shop, I bought a Dracula figure and a tooth necklace- that woman did not know how to do business- she wouldn't even bargain, she's so stupid. After we went back and we packed our things, I stole toilet paper, chilli sauce, candy, some coffee and their water. We headed back to Cluj at 11:30. I fell asleep in the car and woke up halfway. We got back to Cluj at 2:30.. I was so late for work... I called at 1 to tell them I would be late so when I got back, I just went to work, but on my way I ran into Geng and told him if he was free tonight we could hang out. At work, I literally did nothing but downloads and watching video... I'm starting to question my purpose here... But at least I'm learning more and discovering my abilities to read... I mean this is really just kind of a vacation now, I just go to work to download things... I literally asked my boss what I could do at work and he said nothing... I could do nothing to help -.-" because I don't speak Romanian and they don't need any designs... So yay.... -.-" After that, I went home at 6, my boss drove me close to home. I went to Fernado's room because you guessed it, roommates were playing music too loud for me to hear through headphones even after I asked them to turn it down. I went and they were just stressing some luggage stuff. I just hung out for around 20 mins then went back to my room to watch a movie. After I went back and asked them to turn it down -.-" I just used headphones louder- I hated it. But eventually George came home to sleep so they turned it down. Then Fernado came in and asked if I wanted to go out. I paid the rest of my money owed for gas and groceries then just stayed hoe because I had $7 left when I brought $200 -.-". Anyways 30 mins later the 2 stupid roommates left and I got some peace, an hour later, Fenny messaged m saying she was mad at her roommate so I met with her outside at tube. I got Geng to join but he needed an hour to wrap things up. I met with Fenny and just talked about our horrible roommates. After a while, Geng cae at 11 and we played cards until 1. It was really fun, then we went home, I ran into Fernado because he saw me walk outside the bar he was in and we said bye to Geng. I hung out with him for another 20 mins then went home to sleep. When I got home, I found my roommates with 2 others drunk, playing music as loud as they could at 2am. I just calmly asked- "can I sleep?" they said no so I grabbed my pillow, toothbrush and went to Fernado's room. Unfortunately his roommates were all back, so I had to share a bed with him. It was still better than not sleeping at all.
Day 44: I woke up at 7:30 then went back to my room to sleep. I walked in smelling so much smoke and I. Was. Furious. I wanted to strangle something, I hit the wall and just breathed deeply. I waited for one of them to come back, confronted him and just slept for 2 hours. I went to work, thinking I should hang out with Andreea more because she's a great person, the only great person that exist in Romania. So I went to work, finished a movie about Stephen Hawking- great movie by the way and just listened to more physics. It's really interesting actually.Then I started listening to Law 101 while reading Economics, it's really difficult to concentrate on both but I tried to manage. Then I went home and straight to Fernado's room for food. So we cooked some rice with pepper, garlic, some ham, oil, water, salt and cajun spice. It was delicious. Then since one of his roommates just "joined" we were still hungry and fried some potato slices- also delicious. Then we went back to the room to watch Cloud atlas. That's a deep movie and long... So we couldn't finish it since Fernado had to go out. So I waited until 8, went out to the Lc meeting. It was not that interesting... But it was nice to see Flo. I got 2 more SIM cards but both didn't work. Then after I went home, met up with Geng and headed out to meet with Fenny for CARDS again... It was awesome. Then at 1, after I won most of the games :D, I went home, listened to some law and blogged then slept.
Day 45: I woke up to an insufficient amount of sleep, around 10, got to work late. This was the. worst. day. I have ever had. I think one of the worst I have had in my life but definitely the worst in Romania. To start of the day, my boss tells me my designs suck (he said it nicely) but it still really hurt, I guess what hurt the most was he told me to "google how to be a better designer", I can't believe he was serious. After that I was speechless, he just told me to make some crappy easy memes for facebook. Sighs, I didn't argue because this was a vacation for me but it still hurt. So I just stayed until 2, went home to try to feel better. I met up with Fernado just as he was leaving for lunch, so I went to my room, made instant noodles and a sandwich and watched some shows. I guess I made some plans for today but, I was not in the mood to talk to anyone, I was just told I had no career so I just wanted a quiet evening to enjoy some time with a close friend and forget my day. Then Fernado came back at 4, we talked for a bit and watched a movie. Then we went to play pool and I got beat at ping pong by a Romanian guy- of course he had practice while I played pool. After Fenny invited us to go over for dinner. So Fernado and I went and she made rice with some noodles- it was really good. It was cheap, only $5. Then Fernado left and Fenny, Yan, Geng and I went to play cards as usual. Everything was going great, until I got a message from Flo, apparently we were suppose to hang out but I forgot and since it was already 10, I told her it was too late (since I was already hanging out with the gang) but I left out the part where I was hanging out with other people. So when Geng came late- Flo ran into him, followed him to tube and found me, she was devastated. I know I was at fault, I tried to apologize but she stormed out. I messaged her on facebook just to find that she doesn't want to be my trainee buddy anymore. I tried to talk to her, I really did. I used everything I knew to try to make her stay. By that time, I was just ready to go back to Canada- there was almost nothing here for me. I had tried to keep a few close connections just to make it easier for me to keep track of everyone. But she had felt I was not honest with her and did not spend time with her. To be honest, I really wanted to hang out with her more, but it always seemed like she was busy so I didn't want to bother her. But I guess that's how neglect starts. She was literally half the reason to stay in Romania. I. Am. Not. Kidding. I only have two reasons to stay after Fenny, Geng and Fernado leaves: Flo and Andreea. Everybody and I mean everybody else is less significant. But I guess that's life and I need to learn to deal with this. That's not the worst part by the way. So Geng noticed my emotional state, well I guess everyone did. I can normally act through small things, I can normally let go, I can normally look happy and even feel happy because I know psychology- I know if I smile I will feel better, I know if I occupy my mind with other things I will feel better. But not for this day. I just couldn't fathom how much of a jerk I must have been to Flo to make such a wonderful person feel like she needs to leave me. If you are reading this Flo, I'm sorry and I guess I just really wish we could remain friends because you have such a kind spirit- better than so many people I know and it breaks my heart to know something I did could push you away. Anyways, we left really early- 11 and Fenny gave me a hug- I really needed that. I was suppose to talk to Olivia but I just couldn't so I explained everything to Chloe and Olivia. I asked Geng to have a beer with me and surprisingly he agreed. So I went for a beer and talked my heart out. This was the first time a beer tasted good. So after this tragic event, obviously silly me decides to try to make it better by: occupying my mind with something else. So Geng and I talked about internet... Then we went home, I had to walk up 10 floors because the elevators were broken- both of them... Then I went to Fernado's room to talk but he was heading out for a beer- so silly me went out with him. We met with Kristina and this guy called cata. I talked to him and he said he would be my new travel buddy- he's not super cool but I guess it's better than being all alone. I had 3 more beers and was piss drunk. Fernado and I played chess and he was a new player so the first game wasn't a challenge. The second game however, when I explained tactics, he got so much better, he is so brilliant to learn and improve so much in a game. I mean, I was still winning, but it was 3 times as hard and I actually had to think because he wasn't making the mistakes a beginner makes. He somehow won because I was careless. We played another game and I won because I was less careless. After, we hung out at the bar for a bit and I just messaged Fenny explaining what happened tonight. But the point is: I'm glad someone so smart is my future business partner. So I went back to my room and slept even though I haven't showered or eaten at all tonight. Oh you thought it was over huh? No way this day could end on a good note, at 3 I was awaken by my drunk roommate- he was very pissed. Apparently I had puked a bit on his bed.... I vaguely remember... But I did so all I could do was apologize a million times, offer him my bed and just emphasized it was an accident. Ha, 3 tragic events in one day, and I thought it couldn't get worst. So I went back to sleep to the worst day ever because I was just too tired.
Day 46: I woke up to an early morning- 9:15 so I wasn't even late for work today. When I woke up, I left a note for Dennis just to apologize again, promised I'll wash his things and told him I'll move out soon so he doesn't need to talk to me if he doesn't want to. Then at work, I just took an hour to blog since yesterday needed to be elaborated. I guess I'm just glad I have a few people to talk to here. I just made some posters at work, that's it, I tried to stay as long as I could because I wanted Dennis to wake up and read the note first. I also talked to Fenny, Andreea and Fernado at work about things. But I'm going to meet with Flo and Andreea tonight and try to meet with Fenny if I can later tonight. At work, I didn't do much, and my co-worker told me I didn't need to come in tomrrow. Anyways, I went home at 2:30- really late for me and went to Fernado's room to just watch a movie and just eat. I avoided going to my room as long as I could. So I went out with Flo at 4:30 and she just talked for an hour straight pointing out what she didn't like about me. How I exaggerate and have a really bad attitude. How I lie and make excuses, so that's why she wants to leave. I don't remember all that but I guess I did. So she left and I went home to talk to Dennis, surprisingly he didn't care, I just washed his bedsheets and hung out with Fernado. At lunch we just made some rice with garlic, oil and cajun powder... that's it but it was delicious. For dinner, I went out with Andreea at 8, while Fernado went out to drink, I gave him some money to use. Anyways, Andreea was ok, she was somewhat sad but I tried to comfort her, apparently my blog post yesterday made her sadder. But I felt great when I met up with her because all my sad day stuff was over. Apparently my blog is now public, I only hope that I wrote so much everyday that no one will actually read through everything... So I went home at 10 after talking to Andreea and walking to a far pizza place that wasn't that good, but it was ok. I took half of it home to Fernado's room and headed back to my room. I entered to loud music -.-". I just went to hang out in Fernado's room for like 20 mins. Then at 11 I went to try to sleep. I used earplugs but that only helped a little.
Day 47: I woke up at 6 to my drunk roommates just talking loudly and playing music and burping and farting. I watched 2 videos and they asked me why I was awake. I didn't tell them it was them. I jut messaged Andreea to ask her to move me. Denisa came in the morning and helped me confirm that I can move into Fernado's room when he moves. I was ecstatic. Then, I went to Fernado's room, watched a video, hung out then bought groceries, apparently he got some money and we bought some food to cook. While we hung out, he brought up that he had an IQ of 187, that's genius level, did I believe him- yes, this guy knew everything so I'm glad I'm going to be working with him. He made this delicious rice with beef, soy sauce, garlic, onion, potato, carrot and that cajun powder. It was the most delicious rice I have had in a while- better than what that Chinese restaurant made. So we started watching Harry Potter, I don't know why I have avoided it for so long, it's actually really good. So we watched, then at 8 made another plate of rice, just as good then at 9 went out for a beer. Before we went to the bar, he returned the money he owed me, it felt nice to have money again then we entered the bar with games. We played a game of chess- I won then he went on a date while I went to play cards. The bar we were usually in was full so we went to another one close by. I ordered a milkshake and played until 12. It was earlier than usual because Geng and Fenny needed to wake up at 5 tomorrow to go to another city. So I went home, talked to George for an hour about well everything and then waited for Olivia. She wasn't online so I talked to Chloe until 2. Then I just slept, it was a better day.
Day 48: I woke up almost ready to move, so I went to Fernado's room all excited. He told me he could stay for a few more days. I was happy and sad. I just watched Harry Potter for a few hours. After, Fernado just packed, we bought some ingredients to cook something. I think this time, I cook a pasta from tomatoes, potato, onion, garlic, cajun powder, salt and carrots. Same as yesterday except I added the tomato and an onion. I actually made a really good pasta, it was quite god, even Fernado agreed :D. Then we just hung out until we met up with a few people at La tina at 8 to hang out. I ate this delicious pasta for only 14. It was carbonara and I was so fulfilled. I don't think we did much today. I twas a lazy Snday, Fernado didn't even go out later that night. We just went home to watch Harry Potter and then at 1, I was just too tired so I slept.
Day 49: I woke up at 10 and wondered if Fernado was moving today. He was suppose to move today... So I went to his room, he would stay one more day. So we watched Harry Potter while he try to finish packing. Around 2-3, we went to an escape room with my new roommate and Fernado's friend, I tried to invite George since he was smart but he didn't have money. The 4 of us went to a Area 51 escape room and it was awesome. We solved it in 39 minutes- 2nd fastest ever. Fernado was really fast at visual things. I was astonished at how fast and smart everyone was. I helped only a little with some of the clues. There were lasers, codes, hidden messages that unlock locks, cool background with realistic aliens. It was really fun and we skipped a puzzle because we were able to figure the numbers through 2 plates instead of getting all 3. So that was awesome. After that we just went to a nearby cafe, had a few beers and hung out. We waited then more people joined us. We decided to go to another one at 8. This one's theme was the museum. This time it was still only us 4 because the others didn't have money to join. So we went, met a really nice host, I found free candy in the room and went crazy over it. So this one we took 52 minutes to solve because it had 3 rooms and it was just a lot of locks. There wasn't as much critical thinking involved, just a lot of looking around for numbers to get the locks opened. It was cool because there was a secret chamber- I was really impressed at that. So after that we talked to the host for around 30 minutes. She was really smart so we talked a lot. After we went to this bar, 3 of us ate, Fernado taught us how to make roses out of napkins. It's amazing how that guy's mind works. So my new roommate and me got the hint, so we left Fernado and his "girl" friend alone. I went home and started watching the walking dead again- t was intense.
Day 50 I woke up and started watching the walking dead. Fernado woke up early too. Since it was a Monday, I had work at 1. So I hung out with him, watched Harry Potter while he packed. I bought fish fingers for him as a breakfast- it was good. He had to skype with his mom so I went to my room- made a sandwich left him a few bites and kept watching HP. We hung out for a bit then went to his friend's house to cook. We walked for around 10 and arrived at this 3 story house. It was actually amazing. It was small compared to some houses in Canada but so beautiful compared to the dorm... I forgot how amazing an actual house was like... So Fernado used the kitchen and it's ingredients to cook this gourmet meal. It looked incredible- and tasted... alright, I think he focused too much on its appearance but it was still really good. We ate, hung out for a bit then headed home. He needed to meet with Aiesec to sign something and I went back to watch an episode of walking dead. I went back to his room, and we went out for a beer with one of his roommates that he really liked. He paid for beer- it was only 2.5 so it was cool. After we went home because we had to go out again soon. We went to the place next to La tina to have a last hang out with the people Fernado liked and I shared a pizza with Kristina. Fenny and Geng were there and we just hung out for a bit. After, it rained so I went home, took all my luggage (with some help) and I just waited for Fernado with some Walking Dead. He came home around 1 and I walked him to the cab and he left. I was sad, I went home, watched more walking dead then slept.
Day 51: I woke up in my new room- it's nice, roommates are quiet and nice. But now I'm all alone. So I went t work and unfortunately my boss was there so I had to work. I just used the day making posters for a facebook page. I wanted to learn more but Walking Dead has been so intense that I have been slacking. I will get better tomorrow.So I went home around 1:30 then bought some ingredients. I made an omnlet with tomatoes, onions and eggs. It was great. Then I unpacked and just watched more walking dead. This morning my roommates said we should clean the room tonight and I agreed. Then around 5:30 I went out to Andreea's event promoting Aiesec. It was all in Romanian so I didn't understand a thing. I spoke a bit about my experience here which wasn't bad. After a few of the presenters went to a cafe to have a drink.I stayed until 8, then Vio paid for a cab home, it was close-by and he needed to go to the lc meeting which I ditched. I went to the convenient store to buy some more ingredients. Then I met up with Denisa to sign a form. I went home and then cleaned the room. It took around 30 mins but it was worth it. We cleaned, threw out trash and organized. It was nice. I slept at 11.
Day 52: I woke up and went to work.Just listened to more physics and such. I learned something very interesting. "The night sky is a time machine, the stars up above sines a light 10-100 light-years away. That means the light that we see is from 10-100 years ago. What we see is the past lights shining to us now." It's amazing so I need to learn more. Anyways, I went home around 1:30 and bought some more ingredients. I feel kind of obsessed now... Then I went home and cooked this rice with an egg, potato, tomato, onion and garlic. It was pretty good. After I just chilled and watched some shows. How to get away with murder is too intense. Then my roommates came home and asked me to play ping pong. I did- and lost every game... ._. they had practice and I didn't! After, I worked out for a bit then headed home to watch more shows. I went out again to buy more ingredients- I have enough ingredients to make a lot of food, with so much pasta and rice... For dinner I finished the rice I made for lunch, then I just ate a lot of snacks and chilled. My laptop died around 9, so I had to do nothing. I ended up cutting potatoes for fun and for tomorrow's lunch. It was then I realized, I only had 2 weeks left here and I began to start missing this place- although there are some things I don't like, I feel like I just got here (mostly because I just perfected my new room), so I am going to try to enjoy the rest of my time here. I really didn't do much, oh I bought my train ticket for $75 leis instead of $150, so that's awesome. Then I slept at 11 again, I like this lifestyle.
Day 53: I woke up and went to work. Came home at 1 and found my potatoes rotten. I was very upset. I had to cut 3 new potatoes into fries. Then I fried them and it was actually really good. After that I finally was able to skype with mom for around 30 mins. Then I just watched more harry potter. I finally was able to put 2 of my audiobooks into my phone, so I was happy about that. I was unusually tired for someone who sleeps for 10-11 hours a night... So I took a 45 minute nap before heading out. At 6, I had to go to the coffee shop for an interview, but they cancelled at 5:50 so I was very frustrated at that. It wasn't only that but also that my laptop restarted and all my audiobooks, ebooks and documents were closed and I had to find everything again since I listened to parts of every audiobook. I went home, on my way bought some juice, cheese and tomatoes. Today was not that good of a day. I was going to meet with Andreea at 8:30, but it was raining too hard so I stayed home. That's when Cata came and I don't know (kind of is an ass) just talked to me for a bit, gave me a new sim card! :D and just talked about our Sibiu trip this weekend. Apparently there might be some complications with the closing ceremony and the trip because they happen at the same time. So he called Denisa and tried to sort things out. There were no certain conclusions reached. After he left, I just made a delicious omelet-like dish, charged my laptop, watched all the 2 remaining Harry Potter movies until 1 am and went to sleep.
Day 54: I woke up at 9, got 7 hours of sleep so I was pretty tired. I checked outside and it was snowing. Sighs, I hate snow so I got my winter clothes and headed out to work. At work, I'd like to think I was pretty logical, I made a new gmail account for the sole purpose of professionalism because a hotmail account is pretty juvenile. I listened to more physics, but most of the time, I was clearing my browser links and watching shows. I guess I mostly just searched scientists and read the links I had open so I could close them. I did a minimal amount of work- but it was still something. I think the Sibiu trip is going to work out. I started an account on Wiggio for Fernado and I to work together more efficiently. After, I went home at 1 and made some pasta- it was pretty good. I watched more walking dead until I decided to called Cata about the events of tomorrow. He called back around 7. It was then when I realized that Fenny and Geng were leaving tomorrow and the day after that. So I won't get to say good bye. So I went out with them around 9- along with some other grow project people to hang out for a bit. For once we didn't play cards and just talked. Geng was leaving tomorrow at 10 and Fenny would leave on Sunday at 1. So we talked for a bit, Geng went home to pack- I said my goodbyes. Then I talked to Fenny until 1. I knew it was a stupid idea since I had to wake up at 6 tomorrow- so 5 hours later... But I still walked her home and said my goodbyes. :( I'll miss them. Anyways, then I went home to sleep.
Day 55: I actually woke up to my alarms and got ready at 6:30 like I promised. Cata came at 6:45 and we headed out to the bus station. We caught a bus and arrived in Sibiu around 11:30. I slept for around an hour on the bus, went to the washroom halfway just in case. In Sibiu, Cata's dad picked us up and we headed to his home. His parents were very welcoming and kind. I settled down then we had a barbeque- which was more like Cata's dad grilling meat in the backyard then serving it to us. It was very delicious- I tried mince for the first time, and there was some chicken and pork. I ate as much as I could but that wasn't much. After that, we went to visit Cata's relatives who were also very nice people. None of them spoke English, so I just sat there and smiled. They smiled too and occasionally asked me some questions, Cata would translate. We went to two different houses of relatives then we went to buy my return bus ticket for tomorrow. It only costs $60 for the way to and back. After that we went to the city center. Already, I like this city better. Maybe it's the sun or the fact that the cars look cleaner (meaning the streets are cleaner), but it also looks more beautiful than Cluj does. Probably because it's a smaller city, so there are no creepy alley ways between every building. It even looked like there was a lot of history here which made it feel medieval and a little ancient. It was a beautiful city I went to the top of the clock tower and saw all the orange rooftops and you could see the entire city, all the edges and borders. It was truly beautiful. We walked around a bit more I bought some souvenirs because it was just too cute. Then, we headed to the city edge to see the castle defenses built in the medieval times used to protect the city and I started feeling a bit cold. After that, We went back to Cata's home by foot which only took 30 mins. Then we just chilled for a bit and Cata worked while I watched some videos, after a while we made some sandwiches with tea for dinner. Then at 8, his friend drove us to a pub and we just hung out with his friends. He has really nice friends, they're all so welcoming and pretty funny. I liked them a lot. Cata seems really similar to me in some ways- I think we'll get along just fine. After, we went home and Cata headed out to a birthday party for his friend while I stayed home and slept at 11. He was kind enough to give me his room while he slept on the couch.
Day 56: I woke up around 9:30 to Cata's dad talking. They all talk really loudly here, just like in Hk... So we just stayed at home until 10:15. Something happened to Cata last night- it was very unfortunate, he ran into his ex and some events conspired- he just had a rough night. So I tried my best to talk to him but I was a little sick so I couldn't think even though I slept from 11-9 which was suppose to be 11 hours but was only 10 because of stupid daylight's savings. So I listened to him and tried to consolidate him. After we walked to the park, it was a nice park- very large and well decorated. Then we went to the city center and saw the churches. We climbed to the highest point- the Catholic church- it was so beautiful inside and on top. I could see the entire Sibiu again but even higher, so now I saw the mountains filled with snow and the houses spanning across like an organized maze. It really reminded me of one of my paintings- but in real life. These roofs weren't broken, dirty or brown. It was a bright orange which glowed in the sun. Then Cata showed me the castle defenses again but a different part. The walls are smaller than I expected but it was still cool that this was so well preserved. Then Cata went to his Aiesec meeting and I went with him to the Cafe to wait for his friend. His friend that I met from last night would pick me up and show me a museum. So I waited for 30 mins until his friend arrived and showed me the museum. It was really nice, Sibiu had traces from the neanderthal age to the present, there was a great looking display with a timeline theme to let you see the entire history. I really liked it, it also showed old coins, old weapons, books, tombstones, pottery, tools, etc. After that, I went on a bus back to Cluj at 4. I slept and listened to physics because Cata wasn't with me. I started using my data because I had some. I messaged Andreea and she asked me over for dinner. So I got back at 7:30 and walked to her place by 8. Her mom had send her food so she shared some. I didn't eat much but it was really good. After, I went home at 10 after hanging out for a bit. I asked many times if I could stay over since I had a cold and didn't want to go home but she insisted that I can't sleep on her chairs since she had to go at 7am tomorrow. So I took the last night bus (without a ticket) and went home. I wanted to sleep right away but since I don't have work until 1 tomorrow, I stayed up watching walking dead and killing my laptop battery for tomorrow. Also because my roommates were playing a video pretty loudly so I couldn't really sleep yet. So I just waited until 1 and slept.
Day 57: I woke up around 10 and watched some walking dead while eating a failed omelet I made. I had burnt it because the top part looked uncooked so I didn't touch it. :( wasted so much egg but I still ate all of it. I watched until 12:45 and headed to work. At work, no one was there, so I just waited and called. But no one answered, so I was going to go home at 2. I downloaded a lot of books, 2 videos and some audiobooks since I was somewhat disappointed no one contacted me. So I waited for the downloads since I didn't want to have walked here for nothing. While I waited, Flo called me at 2 asking if I was free, I said I didn't know until my boss contacted me so I would let her know later in the day. I waited until 2:30 when I got a call explaining that my co-worker did text me... but I had switched numbers. I called Flo telling her to meet another day. :/ So they came to work around 3:20 and I entered to finish my downloads and do a little work. I went home around 5. I didn't eat anything because I thought I'd be going out soon anyways. So I just watched some walking dead and relaxed. I was so lazy that I was patting myself on the back for getting and pouring water 20 cm away... So it stayed that way for a while, I just snacked on peanuts (I'm kind of hooked on peanuts now)... and watched tv. Then I headed out at 7:50 because I knew everyone would be late. When I got there, I was right- only Denisa was there, so we talked for a bit until Andreea arrived 30 mins late. Then a few people came around an hour later and so on. Bianca didn't show up, I guess I won't see her anymore... It's been so long but I guess she's just been too busy or important to show up, I don't know. So I got bored and made a paper rose I learned from my roommates- apparently mine are really nice. Around 10, I left, bought a burger and went home by bus. I ate the burger at home and I was so pissed. I specifically asked for a cheeseburger without pickles and guess what I got? A fking burger WITHOUT CHEESE AND FULL OF PICKLES omg. I was so angry- I think the walking dead episode was also a contributing factor to my anger, but still- angry >:(. I just watched more episodes until my laptop died then I tried to sleep around 1. No luck- I couldn't sleep because I was stupid enough to order a cappuccino at 8:30 and drank it and I had stomach problems from the unwashed vegetables from the omelet.... Yea I forgot to wash the vegetables this morning -.-" so I kept going to the washroom- so annoying. I finally fell asleep around 3-4.
Day 58: The countdown continues as I am just 2 weeks away from going home. I woke up at 8 today- washroom -.-" and couldn't fall back asleep. I was thinking too much- I really want to continue the business idea with Fernado because people like that- I rarely meet: both Academic and social smart. That's the perfect human....... So I hope we could succeed in the plan. I also really want to continue this pursuit of knowledge journey. It's really taught me how little I know and how much more I should learn. Since I couldn't sleep, I went to work early and made a rose for my co-worker for international woman's day (I also just wanted to practice :). I did a little work then I downloaded some anatomy books. It was the most difficult thing I've read. It's not only complicated but it was because there was so so much terminology. There was too much, literally over 900 pages full of definitions- not paragraphs explaining but pure definitions. It made me feel so dumb so I didn't do anything for the rest of the day. I just went home and made some rice- there was a lot of rice but it didn't taste good :/. After I just watched more walking dead and just relaxed there for a bit. Then I was fed up with being so weak and scared I couldn't lift my luggage when I leave so I went to the gym. I worked on my shoulders, biceps and abs. I worked hard and I hope it's worth it. I hope I can lift my luggage properly after this and easily travel without any trouble. After that I showered and lied in bed for a while- watching walking dead. At 7:30 Cata came and I made some pasta- it failed because I added too much water because I was greedy :(. So I've noticed the past two days I've had a lot of failed cooking... So we finished it with ketchup and soy sauce and I saved the rest for later along with my rice. Then I just watched walking dead until 12 and slept.
Day 59: 8 more days in Cluj.... My shoulders somewhat hurt from yesterday's workout- I've got to train harder if I want my trip to go successfully. I'm going to start packing in around 3-4 days. I went to work and really did nothing for the first hour for once. I wasn't feeling that productive... So I just read a fun book- turned out to be a history book but it was still pretty interesting. I worked a little since my boss came in until 1:30 then I headed home. At home, I watched more walking dead and a movie. Then at 4, Flo called to ask me to hang out so I went out at 4:30 to meet with her. She had nothing to do so she walked with me to the China shop. I bought a new back pack for like $35, which is like $10 so really not that bad. After, I went to go buy some stamps for dad then I walked Flo to her classes. We talked for a bit until 6- when she had class. When she left, I had a choice between 2 staircases- the one I came up from or the one I took last time I was in the building- I chose the 2nd one. I brought this up because I bumped in Andreea! If I took the other staircase I wouldn't have met with her. So we talked for like 15 mins then she headed out and I went with her to the bus stop then I went home. When I got into my building- I went into an elevator with 4 guys.... and it got stuck... They were nice guys- one of them was kind of a nerd while the other 2 were kind of just angry normal people. After 20 mins everyone was angry because no one was helping us even after they called many people and rang the alarm. The administrator had left and the door man won't do anything because "It was not his job" god that pissed everyone off, I just stayed calm. Another 10 mins passed and the guys got impatient and one of them plied open the door and the 2nd door stopped us all. He eventually found a button to open the second door and we made it out. I took a selfie with all of them because they were pretty cool. I went home and finished the movie and more walking dead (I'm almost caught up and finished the show :D). So after lying there for a while- I went to make a spanish omelet- fried potatoes in an omelet... I mean I failed because I didn't mix the eggs with the potatoes and I also forgot the onions :( but I'll know what to do next time. :D I ate it and it was really good actually. I just chilled until 11:30 then slept.
Day 60! wow it's been 2 months here... one week until I leave. So I bought a banana and went to work early because I woke up early. Used my new backpack :D. I just looked for some nls recert courses then did some work and waited until my computer restarted. That took around an hour for me to save all my work before it gets lost. By work I mean all my pdfs and audio files.... I went home at 1:20 and made an omelet with an onion- it was perfect :). After I just chilled- watched a movie then went to work out. It wasn't really a productive day. I came back, took a shower, made some instant noodles then finished my movie. Then I just kept lying there until 8 when I made another instant noodle... Hey someone's gotta eat all of this- I got a week here :P. So not much work today and tomorrow I don't have work woohoo! :D. I slept around 12 when my laptop died.
Day 61: I woke up at 8.... Couldn't sleep so I just went on my laptop for a while until I got too hungry- went and bought some eggs and juice for breakfast. I also made some spaghetti and that was really good. I lied there all day today and Cata and Denisa said they would meet up with me later today- separately of course. So I might go out later today. Around 2:30, mom called on skype and we talked for a bit- that was nice, talking to them again.So I just lied there all day and I went out to buy an adapter and candy in the mall. There was no adapter -,- so I just went to the mall to buy candy I could've bought at the convenient store -.-" but I had a nice soup and chicken nuggets so that was an up side. I lied on the bed for the rest of the night until 12 then slept.
Day 62: I woke up early again, around 9. It was a rainy day so I just lied in bed all day watching videos, man I'm wasting time here-I'm not even learning :(. I was lazy- so I made an omelet without onions- just powder... Then I ate an instant noodle...I went out at 2:30 today when Cata came over. We went to buy a adapter- the store was closed -.- at 1... ugh. We went to the super market to buy a pi since it's PI DAY. 3.14.15! There wasn't a pie... ugh so we walked around and we found one- it wasn't really a pie- but that's what Romanians called it.. At the supermarket, I bought a rose since I didn't want to waste my time getting there. I went home, made an extra salty omelet since I didn't want to waste my powders... Then I lied there again.... Waste day... At 7 I made spaghetti- it was wayyyy too salty because again didn't want to waste powder :(. Cata ate it with me- it was so bad. Then I lied there watching spongebob for the rest of the night. I also skyped with Chloe for a bit :). Then I slept around 12.
Day 63: I am closing to the end of my trip. So I considered packing today since it was a Sunday- but then I saw how organized I was and decided to just pack on Tuesday maybe. I woke up around 10 and I really didn't do much all day except watch spongebob and read that history book. I was surprised about the 3 kingdoms fact and how much Romans fought in the past. I made an omelet and instant noodles for breakfast... I met up with Denisa around 4:30 she gave me a small, framed painting along with a traditional spoon and my certificate. :) After that I bought a sharwma and went home for a bit. After about an hour, I headed out to the Opera! :D I went with Andreea to see a ballet show! It was a beautiful opera and a beautiful show. There was a story along with fabulous dancing. My daughter's going to learn ballet for sure. After that I went home and made a Spanish omelet and finally succeeded! It tasted so good and I finally made it right! :D It had a good mix of fried potato and eggs. It mixed very well too so I'm very happy about that. I ate it and watched walking dead until I slept around 12.
Day 64: I woke up and started packing. My laptop had no battery so I watched some youtube on my phone for a while. Then I made an omelet and instant noodles. It was a beautiful day so, I packed the big luggage and went to wash my clothes- all the machines were used and I had to wait, I was pretty pissed. I went to boil water to make coffee, but it was too hot so I didn't drink it. I went to work at 1 but my phone died so I couldn't listen to music or physics for once. I got home around 4:30 then made found out I was locked out because I forgot to bring my key. So I went to the 5th floor to stay in the study room to use my laptop. I waited around an hour then checked my room to find it finally open because one of my roommates got home. I went to make some fries with my last remaining 4 potatoes. I cut them so small then I ate them. It tasted so good, that's when Andreea came over. I gave her a few of the remaining fries. There wasn't a lot but it tasted so good. Then we watched Interstellar, it was a great movie. After that she went home and I ate another instant noodle. Then I just watched shows until I slept at 12.
Day 65: I woke up early again- around 8 then I couldn't go back to sleep so I did my laundry at 9 after moping around for a while. Then I made one egg for breakfast- wasn't much but it was enough then I headed out to work. At work I did a little work and caught up to the walking dead episodes- yay... So I went home at 1 and decided to make rice with a pot.... It was disgusting. I forced myself eat it all, I just added 2 spices with salt with no other ingredients but an egg because I have no others left. The spices were flavor packs but the mix was really gross because the rice was gross. I cannot make rice- so horrible. I am so full after eating it and I had to add some BBQ nuts to make it taste better. After I skyped with Chloe ans she got a bit mad at me, we talked for around 30 mins. Then I started washing the dishes and flooded the sink.... I had to unplug it and let the water flow into the garbage. There was a bit of water because I used a 2.5ml jug to take as much water to the washroom to dump before unplugging it to the room. I felt so bad but all the garbage covered it.... Although there was still some leakage >.< ewww. So I played it off cool when my roommates came home, they barely noticed it. I started reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because I really want to watch the movie. It's actually a really good book- I haven't gotten far but I love the writing style. After a while, I left hastily at 6 with Cata to go buy an adapter.... The cheapest one costs 30 Leis when my charger only costs 140... But then again I don't want to waste my charger... After I walked with Cata for a bit then went home to drop some things off. I hung out at home with my book for 30 mins then went to the LC meeting. It was pretty boring again except this time I was the last intern remaining so they addressed me much more often... After a long session I went to "Beer time" with them and met a really cool guy, he was in Comp Sci and Econ and he was pretty smart- I had a long intelligent conversation with him. I only had 100 and the bar couldn't split it so a guy bought me a beer. So I just talked to the comp sci guy for a bit. He told me he liked comp sci because everywhere in the world- there was a computer so it's the most important thing to learn if you want to adapt. I think I'll think of that when I'm trying to learn comp sci myself. So we talked for around 1,5 hours then I went home starving. I quickly made instant noodles and read my book for a bit. I was really tired so I slept around 1.
Day 66: woo 66.... So I woke up early again- around 8, it's becoming a weird habit. I used my laptop to read for a bit since it had some battery left then I went to work at 9:30. I got to work and my co-worker told me it was my last day here since no one is in the office tomorrow... Yay I guess but that means I needed to finalize my work :/ so I actually did some work today. But it's ok I had a good time here chilling and learning a bit :D. Unfortunately, the boss came in around 1 and I had to fix a SMALL detail in all the 40 posters TWICE. If it were any big change- fine whatever, but it's just that I had to save it so many times that angered me. I'm out, finally got out at 3:30. I went home and made an instant noodles then watched some new shows, it's all so good! :D Then I just watched some other shows then took a shower for once. At 9, I went out to dinner with my boss and the team. We got to the restaurant around 9:30 and it was a panoramic mountain top restaurant- hands down the best restaurant I've been to in Cluj. The view was just breath taking. It was amazingly beautiful and inside the restaurant was so elegant. The food was high class and came in small potions but it was surprisingly filling. They ordered a bottle of wine and it was very great wine actually. My dinner cost 40.... I was prepared to pay myself but they picked up the bill and I am very grateful for that. I realy enjoyed this evening because it was full of jokes, laughter and fun. I talked to the emotional intelligence expert about how I always order the cheapest food and he told me to change that because when by the time I'm 40 I would go crazy because I have developed this habit. I think I'll change this habit. Anyways, I had a blast- with great conversations, outgoing people and good jokes. The food was very delicious, I had chicken with cheese, herbs and mash potatoes and a nestea. That's it! 40! I was surprised but then again not really because of that amazing view. After that they drove me home and I said my goodbyes to everyone. It was 12 by the time I got home and since I wasn't really tired I stayed up for a bit to watch some shows. I slept around 2:30
Day 67: Boy was sleeping so late a mistake.... Remember that 8a habit I mentioned? Yea I couldn't fall back asleep so I played the war game and then at 10 made an omelet. I can't believe I'm leaving tonight- there's so much I'm going to miss, sighs. At 11:30, I met with Flo for lunch then a coffee then we talked in the library until 4.., Time flies but we talked about a lot of thing, including why Lun B might like fong fong- maybe it's because his life was always so easy that school work was so much harder than anything else. So his ex-gf made people put him on this pedestal. I came up with it after Flo told me the same story about her cousin. Anyways, besides that i taught her some Cantonese and she taught me some Romanian and I talked about how I treat others in my life... I don't know it was really interesting and a nice talk- I rarely talk about this stuff in this depth. After that I went home and played the game until 6... Then I finished packing around 7, right when Cata dropped by. Apparently he couldn't come to the train station with me, so we hung out for a bit. Until 7:50/8 then he went back to his room until I would call him when I leave for the station. I started drawing a card for him and Andreea. I drew a picture of Sibiu along with a personal message to Cata and same for Andreea except I drew Cluj for her. I really wanted to draw one for Flo but I'm going to make one on photoshop instead later on. Then Andreea came in as I was finishing her card -.- so I had to make it in front of her. I said goodbye to Cata and it was pretty difficult because he really grew on me- I gave him the card I made. Then we headed out to the train station at 9. The luggage was unbelievably heavy. I told Flo to meet me at 9 but by the time I got there it was already 9:30, it was so sad that I let her down again :(. So I just bus there with Andreea then waited 30 mins for the train. I was so nervous and somewhat upset about leaving. So I barely talked.When the time came at 10:15, I thanked Andreea, Flo and Vio for dropping me off. There were other Aiesecers on the train but they were in another cart. I got to my cart and dropped off my luggage while Andreea, flor and Vio stood outside the window just waiting. I stood there in my cart looking sad. I was sad, I will really miss Andreea and Flo. So the moment came and I had to leave as the train started I was so sad to leave- I can safely say- I love this city. I was in a crowded cart but it was ok. I tried to sleep and woke up an hour later. I had a dry throat and it was killing me because I didn't bring food or water. I slept again but woke up at 2:30 dying of thirst. So I hunted down the snacks seller and bought water at twice the price- it was worth it. I drank it then stayed up for a bit because I was talking to Chloe and another friend from my PV days. She asked about my trip in Romania and I said all the positive things. After that, I tried to fall asleep but I noticed how many drunk people there were on this train because they kept bumping into the glass. Eventually I dozed off and slept for another 2 hours. When I woke up, I felt sick. I wanted to vomit but I couldn't because that was gross and because I hadn't eaten anything. It cntinued for 20 mins but I was so tired I was passing out. It was horrible- and it came from the fking smell, everyone was putting their feet up and stank up the room. I was so pissed, I walked to the hall and just breathed for a while meanwhile leaving the door open to air it out. It was ok after an hour then I went back to sleep until 7. I woke up and just enjoyed the snowy view. It was so beautiful. Then at 8, we reached another city with a green grass summer view- also beautiful. It's like going through the season change- amazing.
Day 68: I got off the train around 9 and called the person Cata told to meet me. I met with hm and he had a car!!! Wooo! He drove me to the hostel in 30 mins because of traffic then took another 15 mins to find parking. Finally I reached the hostel at 10 and settled it. It was a beautiful hostel with 3 floors, too bad I lived on the 3rd.... Free breakfast though! So I made an omelet with milk and ham- it was actually really good. I checked in with everyone on facebook, wrote a thank you note on the facebook page and updated Chloe and mom. After, at 10:30, I got a map and headed out. Silly me brought water, glasses but no phone charger so I headed to the smaller park to check it out. I kind of for lost then found another place with a beautiful church and checked that out. Then I found my way to the park and it was gorgeous, I just wish I could've taken more pictures. There was this long staircase so I played Eye of the tiger and ran up the stairs!:D The statue on top was nice so I checked it out and some things around it. Then when my phone died, it had also started raining- so I got the hint (go home) I got home around 12:30 then just hung out and charged my phone. I would wait until the rain stops then head out to see another part :). I met this girl also in Aiesec for a 2 month project- told her she would love it. I headed out at 3 when the rain had finally stopped and my phone was almost charged. I planned my journey and started. I bought a pastry on the way and it was good. I routed several stops that was across the northern part of the city and I walked. What I didn't know was how far it was as well as how many beautiful buildings were on the way. By the time I finished all my stops, I was exhausted beyond belief so I headed home but I took another route to see more. That was no mistake because I saw even more beautiful glorious buildings. This city is amazing. I have so many stops for tomorrow that I'm going to rest earlier tonight so I have enough energy for tomorrow. I got home at 7 after buying a sandwich- a spicy sandwich- the guy didn't understand what I meant by pepper and he added chili -.- but I was so hungry that I didn't care. Then I just chilled in my bed for a while until the big group of French travelers went out so I could have a shower to myself, and also because I needed to rest for a bit first. I showered after skyping with Chloe for a bit. It was pretty nice. Then I played the game for the rest of the night until around 12. Some Spanish guys came in after I showered, they filled the room- they're all about the party god I hate them so much. They play loud crappy music and they don't know english and they were preparing to drink as I spelt. They were so loud. I wanted to attack them but there were too many. I had to wait until 12 to sleep because they were way too loud. So they came back at 4:30 and those fuckers jumped on my bed- 2 of them, holy crap I was pissed but I still didn't say anything, I just pushed them off and eventually dozed off again.
Day 69: At 7, I woke up to loud talking and just laid there watching videos as loud as I can because I :was just so pissed. At 7:30, I couldn't take it- I went to the living room to stretch and practiced Kung fu to burn off the steam. Right after, I found the hostel staff and complained my heart out, he said he would talk to them again. Then at 8, I went to the kitchen to make an omelet. It was delicious- right after I made 2 sandwiches with the leftover eggs and extra ingredients for lunch today. Then around 8:30, some guy came into the kitchen as I was about to leave- he was making coffee and I seriously needed an extra cup.So I talked to him and he pointed out coffee with milk was bad for digestion- I asked him how he knew and he said it was because he was a med student!!! Finally I met one and he was one that was about to graduate! So I talked to him about why he like Anatomy and how I could learn it. He told me, anatomy is like a map for the human body, it also comes with practical applications in order to truly memorize it because there are so many variations in the definitions that could occur in a real life situation. He taught me some small facts and then told me a real life story about his wife's accident wrist cut and how lucky he was to be there and was able to have the connections to take her to the hospital faster. He told me his love for helping people was what drove him into medicine. He said he wanted to help burned victims after he graduates with plastic surgery. He is truly passionate about this, and he taught me how I could learn it better in my case. It was so amazing to have met him and it wouldn't have happened if I had slept in. So we talked for about an hour until 9:30 but then he had to go to a conference. I got his facebook so I could message him later and he said I was an interesting person. I guess that book was too correct, I was just genuinely interested in what he was interested in and I listened and asked more questions. It was such a great way to begin this morning. Right after, I started walking to the park intending to make it back in 45 mins for the free city tour. I have already visited the locations but it would be nice to get some history too. I went to the park that I went to yesterday because it was beside an even bigger park... It was a beautiful with the sun in the sky and a great temperature. I thought of 2 new and nice ideas- first captain america shark- the last serum from cap spills into the ocean and a shark drinks it then becomes a super shark... and second- hobos would get a lot more money with a sick dog because humans are more sympathetic towards dogs. I also just kept thinking about my conversation from this morning all the way, then following the map- I somehow got lost... wasted 30 mins but I finally got to the bigger park. It was so easy but I somehow messed up. So some kind father helped me- even called his daughter to translate so I found my way. You probably guessed that I didn't make it for the tour... So I just wandered the park slowly. It was such a beautiful park, so nice and quiet. I got to the lake and that was the best part. It was just a man made structure around a natural place. I walked around and the whole trip took 3 hours because I was enjoying it... Also because I got lost since I went to the amusement park nearby and it was huge. Bucharest has some amazing playgrounds- it's just so innovative and advanced... Right then, it was already 1 and I promised to meet with Maureen (girl from Brasov trip on feb 7) today! So I bought a 10 way subway ticket and headed up to the biggest park. She was late so she got there at 1:45 and wegot to the park at 2. We decided to rent bikes because the park was too big. So we rode around the smaller part of the lake quickly- while stopping and sitting down at the prettier spots. I talked to her for quite a bit. After that small part, it took only 2.5 hours and since we rentedthe bikes for 24 hours (cheaper bundle) we decided to finish the lakes. But it turns out that after the smaller lake there was a dam in the river so it stops the flow... :( It wasn't pretty on the way but we decided to go to the end to see the forest. It was a crappy view the whole way and it took an hour because we rode as fast as we could. The forest was a huge let down (I started to feel bad about getting her to trvavel to the end). But as we headed back on the other side to make a full circle, the lake was there (on the other side, so the river only stopped the middle section), It was much nicer so we biked around, found some parks and used the main streets and eventually found our way back at 6. What an adventure. We literally crossed thee whole city sideways and we weer both exhausted... After that we subwayed home and visited another smaller park. This one was smaller so I checked it out and it was small but pretty. After that, it was getting dark so since we were so close to the parliment, we checked it out and it was so majestic- I loved it. By that time- it was 7L30 and we were both starving. We walked to my street where there were more restaurants and found a Greek fast food place. I ordered a bacon Pita and it was so amazing. I'm getting another one tomorrow- it was really that good. After, we made plans for a dinner toorrow or Monday to say our goodbyes. Then I got home around 8:30 and lyed there for a while. At 9 I took a quick shower and played the war game. The roomates woke up and started doing their shit again ughhhhhhhhhhh. It continued until 1:30 am then someone came and caught them smoking indoors so they were fined another 50 euros :DDDD. I say another because apparently last night they got drunk and threw eggs against the wall and got fined 100 euros. Serves those fkers right for being useless. The music stopped and they went out. I was so happy to hear that they were leaving tomorrow. I stayed up a bit because well my laptop wasn't fully charged.
Day 70! Wow been a while... so surprisingly I didn't get woken up last night, unfortunately I slept at 2:30 so I woke up at 8:30 with only 6 hours of sleep, then tried to fall back asleep until 9. I made breakfast and finished by 9:50. I met this Korean woman traveling alone and has been to over 20 countries, I asked her about traveling and she recommended Jordan, Georgia, Indonesia, Budapest and other third world countries. I don't know maybe I'll go after I graduate. So I headed out at 10:30 with a map and enough destinations to fill my day. I first went to the history museum and it was so amazing. There were only remains of the Roman empire's column and some statues but that was enough to kill 2 hours of my time... I had to go back to the hostel after to get my charger and get some tea since I was so tired- luckily it was only a 5 min walk. So by the end, I headed out at 1 to 3 far locations. First I went to the west side's famous Botanic garden. I subwayed there and was so certain I was walking the right way. Stupid stubborn me just thought to keep walking straight even when I was lost. So I walked until I reached the station previous to the one I arrived at. I was so angry, By the time I found the entrance to the Garden, it looked crappy, I was exhausted and I had killed another hour. I didn't g in the garden since I saw a bit from the outside. So I went straight to the palace next door. I went, (luckily had my passport) and had to wait 45 mins until the tour started. Unfortunately there was no English tours until Tuesday so I had to take a Romanian tour. I sat at the place and just rested with my eyes closed until the tour started. I saw this guy that looked honest and nice so I asked him to translate some things from the tour. He did a bit of that with translating the important stuff. So before the tour, I was told there would be no picture taking. I was infuriated. So on the tour, I sneaked my phone under my arm and took as many photos as I could without looking at the screen :/ I didn't see how bad they were but I took a lot just in case. After, I went back to the Botanic garden and checked it out- it was nothing special, very small and some what mediocre compared to the other parks that were free -.-". After I subwayed to the east side around 5 knowing that I could not go to the parliament today :( So I went to 2 more parks which took another 2 hours but it was all looking the same to me now. But at least I was done touring the city (except the Parliament). In the first park I went to, I saw a man holding 3 adorable puppies and I was like awwwww while he walked by- seeing this a woman that walked by behind him said "these are not for eating." It sounded like a joke but that was just way too racist considering we never even met. I was like Wtf. After the long walk- I subwayed home and ate instant noodles. Then I went upstairs and finally finished packing. I played the game for a bit then I blogged. While I blogged, Matei called and he asked to hang out tomorrow. He thought of a solution to my living arrangements tomorrow and then said I could stay at his place! :D. I slept after blogging at 11 because I was too tired and now I have awesome roommates that are also asleep...
Day 71: Well it's my last day in Romania... So I woke up early around 8:30, saw the 2 Brazilian guys I had as roommates and thanked them for being great roommates since they actually whisper talked and had common courteousy. Then I made breakfast again (with 5 eggs this time >:)) and then met this older gentleman from Taiwan with his wife here for a cruise. We talked for a bit- he's from Boston, son in med school blah blah blah. Then I headed out to the cemetary, it was really nice, I only spent 10 mins there then I went back to the Parliament building for the tour at 12. It was a beautiful building but pictures costed alomst 3 times my ticket price, so I said fk it and just took pictures anyways since a lot of other people took pictures without the pass.... I ran into the older gentleman from this morning from the hostel! After that I met up with Maureen, we walked around (it was cold) but kept leaving the bars since their coffee was $10 -.- it was ridiculous, so we just bought juice from the super market then headed out to lunch. I got a call last night from Matei (the guy in Bucharest that took me to the train station to Cluj in the beginning...) and he asked to meet today so I took Maureen with me and we all had lunch. I had a very expensive lunch and Matei mistakenly took the change... but it's ok I guess since he was hosting me tonight and was always so generous. So after we hung out at the Aiesec office while he worked for an hour then I said goodbye to Maureen :(. Then we went back to the hostel, took my luggage then went to Matei's house. He lived very far but had a very nice place. We watched the immitation game and it was a great movie. His mom came home half way and talked to me while Matei worked for a bit. She was so smart, she was a CEO of a music/movie industry company. She taught me about the importance of curiousity and cleverness when it comes to an employee. And also how people don't want to hire entrepreneurs since they think they can't control them. But all in all, it was a good conversation and I could tell she was very smart. Then we finished the movie and I slept around 10 since I had my flight at 7.
Day 72: I woke up at 4:30 and left the house at 5 on a cab. I got to the airport in 15 mins and checked in. Then I waited for the exchange office to open at 6 to convert all my money since you can't do that outside of Romania. Then I waited at the gate exhausted but unable to sleep because I need to board. The flight ended up being delayed by 1 and a half hours, I mean I didn't mind because I had to wait 4 hours at the German airport anyways but so many people com"plained" hahahaha. We boarded at 8:40 because of a flat tire and I slept on the flight (starting to adjust for the time difference). Iwoke up to an announcement of all the flights that have been changed due to the delay. Apparently I was really lucky to have not to miss my transfer flight. So I waited and was finally going back to Toronto! I was so excited but I had an 8 hour trip ahead of me and I needed to stay up for the whole flight in order to adjust since it was the beginning of the day in Toronto when I boarded (8am). So I watched 3 movies, 2 episodes of spongebob and some other show. Then we were about there. I was so excited I was smiling when I got out of the plane- I was reallyyyy happy to be back. So I nervously got all my check ins and then went to get my luggage- I called mom and Chloe before that. Then it took 40 mins for my luggage to arrive and the worse part was after. I lost the declaration form so they had to check my luggage ughhhh but at least I had nothign to hide so I went through. Soon after, around 7 mom and dad came to pick me up then I finally made it home. :)
That's the end of this trip, thanks for sharing this adventure with me! :)
