Crăciun Fericit.

Well, I'm off. Leaving Wednesday morning for London. Today I have a whole laundry list of things to do (including, surprise surprise, laundry).

I'm trying to see all my friends one last time before I go. I got to talk to my friend Lana (fellow IR student from university), who is studying/interning in Ecuador. I guess I realised how I take feeling safe for granted. She and her friend were robbed in the middle of Quito. Five guys surrounded them, choked them, stole all their money, cards, cell phones and electronics. Lana had 500 pictures on her digital camera. I wanted to cry when she told me what happened. Her credit card has already been used seven times but luckily, she has insurance.

She's staying though. I don't think I could do that. She told me that things like that happen back home too, so she's just going to forget about it and move on. I admire her!

Happy holidays everyone. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back next year with tonnes more ro-mania and salacious stories.

Eat a sweet potato for me. I miss them.

Crăciun Fericit!

Copycat

I saw this on Peter's blog so I thought I'd try it.

Three Names You Go By: Karla, Karlita, K
Three Screennames You Have: Karla, Morphine, Morphie
Three Things You Like About Yourself: I can get along with anyone, my unlimited knowledge of mundane facts, my eyes
Three Things You Dislike About Yourself: I don't know how to relax, I am often indecisive, I can't say no to anyone
Three Parts of Your Heritage: Random mishmash of former USSR countries, English, French
Three Things That Scare You: Working in a call centre for the rest of life, weird cab drivers who ask me if I'm married, being blind, deaf, paralised or stupid
Three of Your Everyday Essentials: For Better or For Worse (the comic), hair straightener, Dots (for now)
Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Black zip-up sweater, black knee-high leather boots, brown pants.
Three of Your Favorite Bands/Artists (at the moment): Air, TRUSTcompany, Tiff Lacey
Three of Your Favorite Songs at Present: Keane - Bedshaped, Anastacia - Sick and Tired, 16B ft. Morel - Driving to Heaven
Three New Things You Want to Try in the Next 12 Months: Travelling around Yugoslavia with a friend, go to the Baltic countries, go to the Caucasus region
Three Things You Want in a Relationship (love is a given): Humour, acceptance, compassion
Two Truths and a Lie: I can sleep through a nuclear holocaust, I am facinated by fish, I'm good at math
Three Physical Things About the Opposite Sex (or same) That Appeal to You: A pulse (!). Oh, you mean for real? Taller than me, an accent, dark hair
Three Things You Just Can’t Do: Sing, wait patiently, be mean to someone
Three of Your Favorite Hobbies: European travel, painting, reading
Three Things You Want to do Really Badly Right Now: Wish my parents a merry Christmas, eat a sweet potato, show Romanians how to eat a lobster the New Brunswick way
Three Careers You’re Considering: Diplomat, youth exchange coordinator, travel guide/writer
Three Places You Want to Go on Vacation: I'm going to London and Lisbon next week, so I'm not picky. But I really want to visit Lithuania, Poland and Moldova next year
Three Kids’ Names: Girls: Laeticia, Chloe, Annamaria. Boys: David, Mattias, Calin
Three Things You Want to Do Before You Die: Learn a slavic language, visit every country in Europe, be a published writer
Three People You Want to Take this Quiz: Dario, Eric, Mariko

Isn't my eye cool? (This was not edited in any way) 

Arad 

Arad 

Arad 

Arad 

Arad 

Arad 

Arad 

This was made in 1889. My friend keeps all her embroidery in a garbage bag. It looks as new as if it were made yesterday. Maybe museums aren't such a good idea afterall 

Closeup of Hungarian embroidery 

Closeup of Hungarian embroidery 

Hungarian embroidery 

Hungarian embroidery 

Hungarian embroidery 

Closeup of monument 

Monument 

Victory arch 

Victory arch 

A state commemorating a Hungary battle victory (I think) 

Front view 

Back view 

Arad

Saturday night, we went to Arad. Three hot girls, one car and one city. We were driving down the main drag when we passed a police van. The policemen inside craned their necks to see who was in our car. We had a good laugh and then sped off.

A few minutes later, they were following us. Seriously following us. We stopped to take some pictures of famous monuments so they drove off. We went to a dance club but it was quite expensive to get into. So we went to another one.

I asked the bouncer if I could peak in to see what it was like inside before we paid the entrance fee. This is a normal thing in every other country I've been in. He grunted and let me in. Although I didn't hear it, my friends told me later that he mumbled "I bet bouncers don't let you do this in Canada" which really pissed me off. The club seemed kind of cool, like it was in a mall of some sort, and people were dancing in the halls between shops. The music was so loud that I felt sick, so we decided to go elsewhere.

We ended up at a little pub which played Air all night. I was happy. We got spiced wine and we were the only girls there. The guys at two tables opposite us kept staring at us all night. Just as we were about to leave, another group of guys came in. We left and were walking through the parking lot when one of the guys ran out and asked if we'd like to have a drink with he and his friends. I was tired, my girlfriends were tired, but we thought they had a bet going on, and we didn't want to see the guys lose a bet, so we went in.

They were all 23. My girlfriends are 28 and 29 respectively, but they lied and said they were 23 also. We had a great time. The guys were cute, funny and polite. I sat next to a young lawyer and we talked politics all night. He was very charming. One of the guys had studied in Sweden and we talked a bit in Swedish. Another guy decided to help me with my Romanian pronounciation so I read off the back of a cigarette package.

At the end, they asked for our phone numbers.

New Year's Resolution: stop giving my phone number to strange Romanian guys.
However, it's not New Year's yet, so I don't have to worry about that until January 1 (although I never said anything about strange Portuguese guys!)

One of the guys insisted on coming with us. My friend told him "Oh, by the way, I'm not 23. I'm 29". You should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he wanted to jump out of the car. She asked him sweetly "But you will call me,, right?" He said he would.

Driving home, we saw the policemen again.

Hands off! 

Don't touch 

Nobody comes between me and my Turos 

Don't eat me!