Tuesday, September 25, 2007

My visual DNA



Thank you Lexi

On and on about my life...

How wonderful is it to know that you are part of a generation for whom everything goes...everything is allowed and the sky is the limit. And when I say this I do mean travelling mostly, but also things like the fact that next year I can chose to live ANYWHERE in the world...as my mom says...opportunities give way to more and more opportunities. And I do mean anywhere...from Brasil to Australia, New Zeeland and Bahrain.
How bold and crazy do you have to be to think that you can run as a volunteer for the Chinese summer olympics and to actually believe that you are going to make it there? And even if you won't...it doesn't matter because just the thought and the opportunity are so precious to have.
How great is to wake up and realise the kind of life you are living at the moment and to wonder whether these are your best years really or these experiences can go on forever?
How good can you feel when you decide to take your leadership role seriously and not just indulge in being a really good team player? I just came back from a conference where I learned so much without even realising it...it was like a race to give my people the best sessions they can have...to wake up at the end with people who feel closer to each other, more empowered and more confident. How powerful the feeling that you and your team are actually changing people's views and attitudes?

This weekend I will take at least a day off to go to the museum and see the Chinese Teracotta army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army and http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/whats_on)
and just walk about, perhaps do a bit of shopping and find a nice place to have a yummy meal. Perhaps even a romanian restaurant.

I ended my day in style tonight. Candle light dinner with the girls and Harman, wine, music and then some yummy chocolate cake and shisha in the garden, looking at the stars under puffy duves. :) And now chatting away to my babe...

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Codruta...on the walk of life :)

Friday, September 14, 2007

A big big smile

No matter what I tell you these days, I am very happy.
I have 3 tonnes of work and I have been spending my time in the office till midnight in the past 3 days.

BUT...I have many reasons to be very very happy:
- I have a fantastic team who stick together when the going gets tough
- we are preparing for an amazing conference with AIESEC UK EBs next week
- today the whole team got treated to have breakfast at Jamie Oliver's restaurant and it was fantastic (he is a famous cook in the UK- has his own TV show, etc)
- we have all booked tickets to go to Barcelona for a weekend in December
- my parents are coming in December
- life in London is a lot of fun
- I have fantastic friends whom I am very proud of and who are organising a fantastic festival as we speak in Timisoara (http://www.plai.ro/)
- Andreea Neacsu is coming to see me this weekend
and many many more...:)
And even though I am still working in the office the girls and I are having white wine I opened by banging the bottle on the wall (thank you to all my highschool friends for this trick) and are listening to music.
Such a life is worth having every day...every year. :)

Thursday, September 13, 2007

In the meanwhile...

Left to right: Jan, Andrew, :), Laura, Juliane, Will, Jen, Ankit, JJ.


Monday, September 10, 2007

Fantastic Istanbul- introduction

I had no idea...I did not expect it...I hadn't realized...

I had no idea Istanbul can be so beautiful...altough it was the capital of three empires...
I did not expect it to be so close to Romania...just go through Bulgaria and there you are...
I hadn't realized before that it is split into 3 parts and that it's so close to the Bosphorous strait...

In Istanbul you can find the same kind of sweets as in Timisoara...Ulker, Biskrem, etc. But the baclava I had there is not as good as the one I am used to have at Istanbul in the student complex :P The kebab is quite tasty though. They have their own kind of 'mici' and 'kefir'- only theirs (ayran) is much more salty than your average yoghurt and they drink it with every kind of meal they have. They drink a lot of tea and sell water everywhere.

They have a huge bazar...even more crowded than on Brancoveanu and they are just as resourecful as us...if not more when it comes to selling in illegal spaces. Everyone is selling you something...from yummy oysters with rice and fish sandwiches..to turkish sweets and shishas.
Example: as night time came one day, the kitchen boat pulled to shore and docked. People jumped out and startd placing little plastic chairs and tables on the side walk. On each table: a bottle of lemon juice. And even though the boat was wobbling all over the place and smoking like hell, the brave cook was still doing his job in a tranquil manner, continuing to fry the fish that would be the subject of one of the best fish sandwiches you ever had.


On the other side of the sidewalk salesmen pulled out sheets and lay them on the pavement. Before you knew it, all the merchandise was in place and even though it was pich dark..they had lanterns on their heads and lamps they would flash out every time someone interested would come along.

We arrived there some days before the grand prix, so the whole place was filled with flags. The flags impressed me the most at first: grand, very big, everywhere and waving in the wind in slow motion. I suddenly started to feel a connection with history..given by those flags and the image of Ataturk everywhere...

To be continued...