Gallery 44

It's only been 3 months since the last time I wrote anything on here, which by the gaps between my other posts is actually a really short break! I am currently on my way to Singapore, with 2 hours to go and feeling like I might puke, probably the tiredness, jetlag, 13+ hours in a plane and sleep deprivation, or I'm just having a bad day! It's been more than 9 years since I last visited Asia, although I'll only be in Singapore for 3 days with another 3 in Hong Kong before a 14+ flight to London to connect to get back to Scotland, I'm so fortunate and grateful to have this privilege. I do think 10-11 hours is my limit for no sleep flights and should also plan better my arrival times so I get there in the morning, and can sleep on the flight, oh well, maybe next time... The AWS Summit in London was fantastic, and I just wrapped up writing a blog around it actually. It's much more my vibe than re:Invent, and since London is 1 hour away, think I'll take that to L...

This time I'm back even sooner, after only 6 months since the last digital letter to the universe (aka blog post) I'm yet again in an airport, life is slowly getting back to what it was pre-pandemic and so is travel, so surprise surprise, my blogging memory is returning too! I think a few years ago I mentioned how airports make me reflect and think a lot about life and everything that happens, that I'm sad, grateful or excited for. Here we are again, more importantly, here we are after 10 years exactly (give or take a few days) from when I moved away from my home country, Romania, and took the biggest leap of faith in myself and the universe making it all happen! It's been a heck of a ride and it brought an immense amount of things, people, places and knowledge I never even dreamt of. Last night, coming back with some of my friends I made through some miraculous match of fates, we were discussing life and youth and doubt and how everyone says your 20s are your best year...

Well, this time it took me less than 2 years to return, actually, just a bit over 1 if we're counting! This new year has found me in a new year of my life too, almost at the 30 mark, so I thought it's about time to sit down and write down what's been happening and where we are in this new year, 2022. Now the good news is that the pandemic restrictions are starting to lift across the world, the even better news is that I'm typing this from my newly setup office by our lovely Dave, in the newly acquired house I purchased in June 2021, who knew that it will all work out after writing that last post in May of last year. The list of achievements doesn't stop there though, indeed, the MSc has been completed with a distinction, unfortunately, no graduation yet, but guess what, I just got an email today that it might happen in July 2022, yes, apparently it's never too late to wear a silly gown and shake hands (although after the pandemic not sure how much handshaking wi...

So it has been 10 days, they have been fun and long and passed too fast! The bad news is I have tonsilitis and the past 2 days I have not really been doing that much besides working on a few projects and trying to get some rest as I can barely swallow water or talk! The children in the schools are now like my own family, our greetings have moved from the Zambian handshake and the formal meetings, to jumping and hugging and starting to giggle. The container from Operation Sunshine has not arrived, therefore, I am still waiting to see the whole process in practice. I am still waiting on a meeting with Rotary PP to settle all the projects I have had as I will be leaving my beloved Zed in exactly 2 weeks. I have mixed feelings, I feel like home here and I would really love to stay more but I am also aware of all the people waiting back for me in Europe and my new job in Belgium in September. I am a bit tired and ill but this will not stop me from having the best 2 weeks so far. The we...

These past two days have been packed and I have got to meet most of the Lusaka Rotary club and spent some time dipping my toes into the projects that I will be involved in.  Yesterday , I met the headteacher of Libala High School, which I offered some autographed books to for the ne library they are opening, and unfortunately, the tutor I was looking for was away at a funeral. Therefore, we made our way to the Radisson to have the weekly Rotary meeting where I was warmly greeted and made acquiantance with many impressive Zambians. Afterwards, we went to a large advertising and printing company, Magic, where I might be working for a part of the time that I will be here. Afterwards, I came home to chill with my adoptive Zambian family and then, in the evening, I went to a traditional Zambian bbq where I was again made to feel like one of the family. If there is something that Zambians are, that is welcoming pros. Today, was another story, I started my day at Libala High...

This is my third day in Zambia and I am settling down in a nice routine, I am now feeling very much at home and in the past two days I have started to learn a bit more about this wonderful place. I have realised that most families, as in India, have maids and that it is common practice. I must admit that I still feel uncomfortable but am trying to adapt as well as I can as I know that this is how they earn their living. I do try to clean up after our meals and do things myself but find it that I feel embarassed and awkward in telling them that I don't mind. A similar situation happened today, when we were in the market, and the boy we hired to help us carry the groceries wasn't able to get all the bags and I just picked a basket and a couple of bags to carry them myself. Regardless of the fact that I was one of the couple of foreigners there and the constant questions from little boys offering to carry my bags, the look of disbelief and amazament that they had, looking at ...

The only bad thing about moving to Zambia for 2 months is the neverending flight that you have to take to get here! Now enough with the moaning, and on with the story. I left Romania and came back to London to catch my flight, after seeing my friends and some lucky encounters I managed to make it in time for my flight to Amsterdam. That was the easy bit, as the flight from Amsterdam to Lusaka take aprox 12.30 hrs and first stops in Harare, in Zimbabwe. The flight was quite tiring but the view and the entertainment made up for it, vast stretches of the Mediterranean sea at first, then the joining of water and land as we passed above the countries bordering the African territories, then neverending Saharian dessert and dunes, with temperatures so high that they made the air turn into clouds of heat and then, as the sun set on the horizon, the glimmering lights of Zambia's captal, the sea of lights, that drew me in as we touched the tarmac. When I first set my feet on Zambian gro...

So this is it, the last 2 weeks of university and life in Oxford, for now! I have been trying to do so many things lately that I have not even felt time swiftly passing by! Since I came back from Dublin I have been so immersed in work and university that I have lost it a bit... we all do sometimes, let's just admit it! I have been packing, writing and organizing my life that I reached the point of giving up, nonetheless, one of my good friend's family crest says Press through, a slogan I will always remember because that is what I do! So, I have been saying my goodbyes to friends, work colleagues and lecturers, I have been going out for breakfast, cooking breakfast (pancakes- YUM!) and going out for cocktails, drinks and birthdays, but the best thing I have recently done was- see John Butler Trio live, in concert, in Nottingham!!! They were amazing, the guitar skills of John Butler left me breathless and for almost two hours I was charmed, feeling that my life in England...

Another month gone, another country crossed off the list! I promised myself that by the time I move to Belgium in September I will visit the UK, a little bit of every part of it. However, I still have to do Wales and being so strapped for time I think I might squeeeze it in for August. I am in Dublin, lovely city, waiting on my flight back to my English home, Oxford, this becomes a habit, to write from airports, watching the sunset turn into darkness and the  filling the city skyline with lights that remind me of the life that flows through all these beautiful capitals, of the people I met and the kindness I encountered! Dublin has taken my breath away and after Edinburgh, it is a city in which I want to live in, don't know when, don't know how, but I definitely want to give it a go. I was talking to my Irish friend, that convinced me to visit, that we would love to retire here, live in a coastal house, next to the beach, have two dogs and a cat, and all sorts of silly dre...

It has been almost a month since I left India but India has never left me, or my heart! England has been most welcoming, with warm and sunny days that try to lure me back into its fast moving life. I admit that since I returned I have not had a moment of silence, peace or meditation, always working, always studying, always somewhere to go and something to do. I feel tired but I also feel melancholic, I feel that some part of me is missing and yes, I miss India! Even though I will hopefully return next summer, it seems like aeons from now. I am now busy planning my next adventures, including securing my work placement year that I want to undertake abroad, maybe in India, maybe in the US, maybe in Dubai, who knows where this theatre play called life will throw me. Nevertheless, I have other smaller adventures to look forward to, a week holiday back home in Romania and a weekend away backpacking in Poland for my 21st birthday. More recent than my trips will come the reunion with al...

This morning started at 6 AM with and early shower and then hindi class. All was well and breakfast was really entertaining as I got to have some giggles with some of my newly made friends, I will miss these little group encounters when I will leave but that's life, it never stops, we have to keep on going and just enjoy everything while it lasts. After breakfast we all got into coaches and went to the British Council again for a session regarding their mission in India and a meeting with Sam Miller. From the latter I collected a couple of quotes that I will share with you "I write why I try to understand why I think what I think" and "I am for better or for worse, distinctive"( about his life in India). The seminar was followed by a lovely al fresco lunch which gave us a good boost for the next leg of the race, the trip to the India Gate, which is an impressive construction meant to represent it's independence. The next part of the journey was a...

And other day has passed in new and exciting India. Today was eventful and gave us more of a taste of how India actually lives and breathes. When we arrived at the YMCA we were greeted by some very friendly receptionists and somehow managed to finish our check in just before 5 AM, although the bus journey took a little under 2 hours, and then settled in our rooms.  I did not want to sleep as I thought that if I keep going until the evening my sleep pattern will adjust itself but how wrong was I.  During breakfast we planned to go out exploring and that is exactly what we did, in the heat of the morning we set out to see New Delhi for the first time and we were greeted by a noisy, fast-paced and wonderful city. We all were on the same flight and made friends really fast and that is what I love about having a diverse group, you get to meet people that will inspire you and support you just because you are thrown in life's challenges together. One of our friends, man...

I first became in love with India when I was back home,through the novels of a great religion historian, Mircea Eliade. He was also a writer and in his novels he portrayed this magical land he had adored and all the its beauties, it was India. Further on, I understood through history lectures that during the 20th century it had been given a name worth of its treasures, the Pearl of the British Empire. My journey to, through and from India does not begin in a port,like it did for the beforementioned author, but in an airport. As soon as I left the bus,faith made it so happen that a talented young gentleman from Seattle would tag along in the search for terminal 4 and, as we lost each other during check-in, faith reunited us again when we realized we were queing besides each other at the coffee shop. We spent an enjoyable 3 hours together,keeping us entertained and discussing politics, music, media and journalism among others, and knowing that one day we will meet again either in...

I know it has been a long time since I last posted, aproximately 9 and a half months to be more precise. After I moved to the UK and started university it seems that I got so caught up in the web of my new life that my writing has been trapped in it as well. So many interesting and exciting things have happened, so many lovely people have come into my life and, still, I have not written about them. This post is also due to a new but very good friend of mine with which I was talking last night. It is funny how people can make you remember things you have forgot about even if you enjoyed them so much. I think I will fast forward through the past months and try to highlight some of the most interesting and important things that have happened in my life. It begins with: OCTOBER- Soon after I stopped writing I found myself with a work permit, on my dad's birthday, 10th October, and 4 days after I was happily employed at the Bear, a very nice inn just outside Oxford, where I have ...

Today I had a very long and tiring day, it was one of those summer days when you have so many things to do you stop at the end of the day and marvel at how much you achieved. These are the days I treasure the most and the ones that stop me for a moment or two and make me think. When I start my list at the beginning of the day and write all the tasks I want to complete, I try to make a schedule and stick to it so I manage my time efficiently. Although I don't count breaks or unexpected last minute changes, I mainly stick to the time frames and even try to do more than one things at a time. Even after all the hussle and bustle of the day, the world kept reminding me of how beautiful it is and even made me stop in my tracks to admire it. I managed to catch some shots I found interesting and also some of my lovely baby boy, Max, that just turned 10 months. He is my german shepherd that I will sadly leave at home and which I love greatly. I walk him everyday and taught him some tricks...

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3982534/?claim=rktp3wbrjzr">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> In life we take decisions that guide our actions. My actions so far have guided me to a place I didn't even imagine I would go to when I was young. I am not quite sure what I wanted to become as a little girl but I do hope I knew more about it than I do now. At the moment I have so many plans and I want to do so many things that I cannot possibly imagine settling on only one thing for the rest of my days. However, I now know that in two months' time I will no longer be here, in the place I called home for the past 20 years or so, if I count my mum's pregnancy months as well. It is hard to imagine but I know that my decisions are the ones that have lead me onto this path and I also know that in life you must make sacrificies to succeed in finding you true self. I cannot say that I am not excited about living as a student in a new world, a new coun...