Katimavik

I've been hired as a replacement project leader for Katimavik. My training starts Sunday night with youth from all across Canada. Should be fun!

I won't be able to post for 2 weeks though, which sucks.

Humour relief

I feel a million times better (even if there's something wrong with my liver that my doctor is hoping is mono-related) so I had my rainchecque date last night.

Joel drove down from Charlottetown and we went to dinner and for drinks. My insides hurt from laughing so hard, which made him accuse me of blaming everything on my organs ("something's wrong with my spleen" "something's wrong with my liver" "I think my stomach is going to explode" "my intestines hurt from so much jiggling").

After an in-depth discussion on the lousy writing style of the Da Vinci code, I commented on how the characters are so one-dimensional. "You don't even care about them! Someone could die and you wouldn't care!"

"Sophie gets decapitates. Langdon looks up and says 'Hmmm, this reminds me of an ancient archive I once read'," Joel replied.

Then we started joking about Rashi'i subscripts and Aramaic transliterations. "Does it have a Nukkudot?" became our comback of choice.

After leaving the bar, we discovered it was pouring rain, so we decided to wait in my car (which was closer) until the rain stopped.

We were talking and listening to the CD player. We were in sort of a bad neigbourhood, so I locked the car doors from the inside.

The music stopped and wouldn't start again. "Hmm...strange" I thought. "Well, the CD player is crap anyways".

The rain almost stopped (it's about 12:30 am, I'm falling asleep) so I said I would drive him to the car. I turn the key and the car doesn't start. I jiggle the key and suddenly the alarm starts.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I jiggle the key and the beeping softens slightly.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I try to unlock the car using the button, and it's still beeping. Then it stops. I open the door and the beeping starts again. The alarm lights are flashing.

I'm afraid people are going to think we were trying to break into the car.

(This goes on for almost half an hour while I try to figure out how to get the beeping to stop)

I open the door. Still beeping. So I close the door and the beeping stops. I put the key in the ignition and it starts again.

So I get out (pouring rain) and manually lock and unlock the car. The beeping stops.

So it's about 1:00 am and we have no idea what to do. We decide to go downtown, get a cab, drive us to his car, we'll drive back to my car and get the cabbie to jump my car.

I think I leave the light on inside the car. I try to unlock the car. It won't open.

We walk up and down Main Street, me wearing the most uncomfortable shoes in the world, freezing in the rain, still sick (this was the first time I had left the house in a week, except for doctor's appointments) and no cab to be found.

We finally find one at almost 2 am and he said he would jump me himself for $15.00. He drives us like 200 metres to the parking lot when miraculously my car works again. So he's like "give me a bit of money, like $5.00 and that's fine". He didn't even do anything! Easiest money he probably ever made.

So then I drive Joel to his car and we say goodbye (and he had a 2 hour drive home, poor guy!)

I didn't get home till 2:30!

And had about 4 hours of sleep before my job interview.

Stupid liver

My doctor called me today.

Seems there's something wrong with my liver, according to my blood tests.

I find out tomorrow how serious it is.

Stupid mono. Stupid liver.

T-48 hours

I arrived in Timisoara quite early and went promptly to my old workplace to say goodbye (I had already said goodbye to the people at the Institute before I left for Turkey). Part of me wanted to take a walk, or to do something symbolic on my last day in the city, but in reality, I wanted to spend it with one of my best friends.

So I did.

I hung out with Cristi all day. We laughed, cracked jokes and remembered the old times. At lunchtime, I went to my favourite kebab stand and said goodbye to the owner and the lovely girl who works there. I got some ice cream (absolute cheapest ice cream ever...for 7000 lei a container! And it's damn good too!) and came back.

I called a few friends to say goodbye. I had a nargile I picked up for Adrian. Unfortunately, he was flying to Iasi and wouldn't be able to meet me before I left. Cristi took me to dinner and we had a last "traditional" Romanian meal.

I had my favourite soup, Greek chicken soup and frogs' legs. The soup was good, some of the best I've had in Romania. The legs weren't that great, and we were both a little subdued.

I wasn't going to write this, but I have to.

Cristi ordered ciorba de burta (the infamous tripe soup) and made me taste it. It was actually pretty good, if I didn't think about what I was eating (cow stomach). The broth was great but the texture of the burta...

Let's just say I'm glad I got *that* over with!

We got back to the office and Adrian called me. He was back from Iasi and could meet me for a few minutes. It was nice to say goodbye, especially since he was the first Romanian I met. I also got to see him in uniform! Very dashing.

Soon it was time to go to the train station. We loaded up Aya 2 with all my luggage and drove to the station. I stayed in the car while Cristi bought my ticket to Arad, and soon it was goodbye. Luckily, the train was small, so we hoisted everything into the cargo car and then it was goodbye. We gave each other a huge hug and I said "I love you, thank you for being such a good friend to me" and then I hopped on the train as it started moving.

Ma Ya Hi

Of course it had to happen.

I downloaded my beloved Dan Balan's English version of Dragostea Din Tei.

My verdict?

It sucks. Well...sucks enough that I won't be burning it on a CD to play as I drive down Main Street (nothing like playing Romanian pop to counteract all the Tupac and Wu-Tang that everyone else plays here).

The chorus is catchy though:

"When you leave, my colors fade to gray
I need a love to stay or
All my colors fade away.
Every word of love I used to say
Now I paint it everyday"

It just doesn't have that...joyfullness that made the original that good. Kind of like when Hollywood tries to remake Canadian independent movies.

Definitely mono

Mom took me to the hospital.

I couldn't breathe or swallow. That's not exactly normal.

Waited an hour in the waiting room...

Then got called up for triage

"What's the problem?"
"I have mono!" in the brightest, cheeriest voice I could muster. (I sounded like Mary Sunshine)
"You don't know for certain that you have mono." (Thanks Mom)
"Well, the doctor says I fulfill all the symptoms"

The triage nurse amused me with stories of when her own daughter had mono. "And she had all these white strings hanging down the back of her throat!"

I don't have white stringy things hanging down the back of my throat.

Then sat down for another hour.
Went to the examination room, doctor came twenty minutes later.
Asked all the usual questions.
The light examination thingie for my nose did not want to go up there. He must have dropped at least four caps on the floor. This causes Mom to burst out in hysterical giggles.

He went to get my results...and we waited almost two hours for him.

"Yep, you have mono"

It takes him two hours to tell us that? Why couldn't he say "I'm working with three other patients right now, I might be a while?"

We saw people who got called after us walk out.

It's like you go to a restaurant, and you see people who came in AFTER you get served first...and they're eating dessert while you're still waiting to give your order.

So he said my spleen and liver and enlarged, but in no chance of rupturing unless I start repeatedly hitting myself in the side. He can't give me meds because I have a virus (stupid virus). If it gets any worse, they'll give me steroids, but that's as a last resort.

I'm allowed to take three (3!) advil at a time. I feel so rebellious, because the bottle only says to take 2. TAKE THAT ADVIL!

We got a nifty steamer to help me breathe.

Luckily, he said if today wasn't the worst, tomorrow will be, and then I'll start feeling better. I hope so!

Having mono sucks

My day so far:

Wake up at 2 am, can't breathe
Go back to sleep
Wake up at 2 20, can't breathe
Go back to sleep

All the way to 10, when I finally decide to get up
Have a shower, almost pass out
Go back to bed

Mom tells me if I sleep normal hours, I could sleep through the night
Remind mom that if I could breathe, I would be sleeping through the night

Convince mom to go out golfing
Make breakfast
Force myself to finish said food
Watch 10 minutes of What Not to Wear
Fall asleep

Wake up 30 minutes later, unable to breathe
Get woken up by the phone
Get woken up, unable to breathe

Refuse to watch daytime TV
Come upstairs and answer email
Enjoy the outpouring of sympathy I receive from my mass "I have mono" email

I don't want to sleep, but there is nothing to do. Saturdays suck sometimes.

Hmmm...Maybe I can make this Saturday suck a bit less.

Contemplate whom I don't like in this city
Wonder if I could send mono-infected tissues to them "Please smell this new perfume!"

I have mono

I am very very sick right now. I will try to finish the rest of the updates, but at this point I barely have the energy to raise my head.

Nooooo! Don't make me leave Romania! (Or, how the heck am I going to get this all on the train?)

One last picture to say goodbye

I'm not as happy as I look

More goofing off

Goofing off in the car before the train arrives

Krisztina (dentist, dental professor, orthodontics student and perfectly fluent in Hungarian, Romanian and English. And yes, she's single)

Krisztina's beautiful step-sister

Random pictures

It was really really hard to post these pictures. Brought back too many memories...

Cabbage head!

I had to take a picture of him

Central market

Central market

These always reminded me of dancing stomachs

My old apartment (mine was the window with the grid and 3 windows missing)

My old apartment

My old apartment

Architecture

My fountain

My fountain

My fountain

I mentioned these signs a while ago. "The New Right". Their propaganda scared me.

Moon over Piata Unirii

Catholic church

My beloved cat ladies (with the famous Pussy)

Another view

"Here started the revolution that abolished the dictator, 15 December 1989" (can anyone check my translation?)

Building where the Revolution of 1989 started

Vlad and I (with my leper mosquito bites)

For Sarah

One of my best friends from university is now doing her masters degree in art history at the University of Manchester.

She's been a frequent commenter on here and I just wanted to wish her best of luck (and dedicate all these pictures to her)!

Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Closeup of cave paintings

Cappadocia

Ancient...house?

Ancient church

Ancient church with graves

Ancient church with graves

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church with graves

Ancient church with graves

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church

Ancient church

Obligatory post

Post that tells Blogger I'm not a spam bot.

Cappadocia