Traveling... Italian Style - part 2

As promised, here I am with the second part of my Italian traveling experience. A bit late, but it's better later than never, right? This is more of an Italo-Romanian experience, to be truthful, because it involves my friends who are or were my colleagues too.

I'll go back a little in time, to explain it for people who don't really know me... Starting with 2001, I had the pleasure (in some moments, anyway) to work for the national railway company, implementing projects that were financed by the European Union. It was an entertaining job, which kept me busy most of the time, putting me in contact with loads of people from different environments and of different nationalities. By the way, this is how I first met Mr. L. I'm sure he doesn't remember me from back then, but I think I would start forgetting people too if I had his position and his busy schedule. Moving on...

The most enjoyable part of the job (and I'm not saying this because I know some of my ex-colleagues are reading my blog) was that I made good friends. Most people remember dearly the friends they made in school or highschool or at the university. I don't. I mean, sure there are people I still enjoy seeing from school and highschool, but I wouldn't say we're friends. From the university... jeez, the only person I'm keeping in touch with is Ionootzoo who was also my work colleague and... that's it. It wasn't really the best part of my life, I'll tell ya. I'm more and more regretting nowadays that I didn't study to be an engineer. Instead, I was stuck in an institution full of students who got good grades only because they had a good memory and could learn a lot of things by heart, not because their intelligence was one of a kind. Or maybe it was, but not in the good way... That's another story and this post is not about it, so I'll continue with what was initially meant.

About one year and 5 months ago, I left the railways, but not for good. I just changed jobs and crossed over to the "enemy" camp - the one of the consultants and contractors hired for different jobs by the railways. If you're an outsider, you probably stopped a little at the word "enemy". I'm sorry to say this, but unfortunately, down here, the habit is to welcome your contract partner by being suspicious and clearly thinking that they are not going to do any job, we know that, they are here just to rip us off. Discussions are held with guns and knives on the table. Not literally, of course, but you know what I mean. Of course, there are exceptions, but then you risk being considered corrupted... Yeah, only because you're nice with your contract partner and that you actually understand that both of your efforts are meant for getting a good output could get you in trouble. What a nation... How could you not love it, right? ;)

The company I work for now is supposed to do the management of the project that the Italians, together with other nationalities (German and British, fun! fun! fun!), have with the railways in relation with the local subcontractors. I know, I know, I'm getting too technical here, but you need to have the whole picture, believe me.

All this being said, you will understand that when the Italians had to prepare a very interesting course (on my opinion, anyway) for the railways, we decided to also participate. It was even cooler because it was held somewhere in the mountains, in quite a difficult to reach location, but beautiful nevertheless. It was also a good opportunity to spend some time with my old colleagues whom, due to the serious lack of time, I don't get to see or talk to properly anymore.

Guys, if you're reading this, please don't think I changed and that I don't love you anymore, it's just that I'm really, really busy, sometimes in uncomfortable situations, there are dozens of you and I just cannot give to each of you the attention I should. Big big BIG apology to y'all! I know it's easier to see someone's flaws instead of qualities, but, before you hate me and think I'm full of shit, just remember the good times we had together and how I used to be with you. I still am like that, despite the changing of times. You, of all people, should know how I am, how insecure, emotional and shy I can get. Remember that most of you HAVE what really counts in this life: husbands/wives, children, loving families, everything that REALLY matters. This is why I am the one looking UP to you and under no circumstance down to you, ok? :)

We left on Thursday, at nearly lunch, due to some unforeseen events. We = Vlad+wife, Orlando+wife and yours truly, followed by Mr. L+wife. I must admit, when I heard his wife was coming, I was very curious about her, how she would look like and how she was in general. We met them in front of Baneasa airport and I shook hands with this little skinny very modern woman, who was going to drive just because otherwise she would've got (to get - got - got, if YOU're reading) car sick. Adorable! She's called Emanuela.

We got to our destination some time around 2.30 p.m., after really believing we were lost. The road to the house we were staying in was very very damaged and difficult to take. Since the guesthouse at which my ex-colleagues were going to stay was fully booked, we stayed in a house which was very nice and were joined by Mr. L, his wife and later on by Mr. C. This all took place in Pestera, near Moieciu de Jos.

Some of us had been munching on pretzels the whole way to Pestera, but some were hungry. Since there was still quite some time until dinner which we were supposed to have at the guesthouse with everybody, we decided to let Mr. L prepare his lecture for the following day, while the rest of us went to a restaurant to nibble on something. It was very funny from the beginning because we decided to go only by one car. There were six of us and only five seats in the car. This is why Daniela, being the smallest one of all, decided to have a seat in the trunk. Do not panic, it was a hatchback car, so we didn't need to put some bullets through the trunk to allow her to breath! :P

After our snack, if you can call tripe soup+beer a snack, we went to Bran and then to the supermarket to load on beer. Also, since we had a barbeque in the yard, we thought it would've been nice to make our own dinner the following evening, while Emanuela decided to prepare spaghetti alla matriciana. As I said, adorable! And did I mention she has an awesome laughter? :))) It got more interesting when we started mixing languages: English, Italian, French and Romanian, quite the Tower of Babel, really.

For some weird reason (because people don't usually like me too much, since I'm arrogant, badly-mannered, not too diplomatic and not very well-cultured, plus other things that people who know me are aware of), Emanuela grew very fond of me. She explained she had two sons, one was 28 (like myself) and one was 15. She was missing having a daughter, so "now you are my daughter" (try to imagine the lovely Italian accent with that).

We joined my ex-colleagues at their guesthouse for dinner, in time to have a laugh, take funny pictures and play some pool... Or tzurka... or something similar... HILARIOUS!

I was about to start having my dinner on Emanuela's left-hand side ("You stay with me!"), when Mr. C called Mr. L to ask for directions. He was supposed to join us together with other three colleagues, but they had taken the wrong road and ended up in another place. It's when I offered to go, find them and bring them safely to our location.

Since none of the guys with cars (Vlad+Orlando) trusted me to go on my own, I got Mr. L's car keys, only that Alex was sent to watch over me. Pfff, such trust! Y'see, Alex is the guy who let me drive a car (not his own, of course! :P) on a forest road even before I got my driving license, but under no circumstances he was going to let me drive that night. Hmm, I just realised I had had a beer before! LOL!

So up we went, Alex driving the little Fiat Panda, "testing" it for an eventual purchase. Of course, we took the wrong road because I was giving instructions. :)))) We just stopped to set the navigator and turned around to find the lost bunch. After 10 or so km we found them, in the forest, on a very "friendly" road. I hopped on Mr. C's car, was introduced to Paolo, the ERTMS expert, and off we went towards our long awaited dinner.

The night ended quite peacefully, with a general blackout in the village, over candles and a couple of (I think there were only a couple) bottles of red wine. Could've been some Heineken involved too, but I don't remember everything... Because I'm old, not because I lost consciousness! :)

The next day, things got serious! Early morning, we had to attend the course. Just Vlad, Orlando and I, because the girls had spare time to go sightseeing and beer buying.

It was Mr. L who began the course, talking firstly about traffic forecasting, then moving on to explain what the Cost-Benefit Analysis is, what is the economic analysis, what is the financial analysis, what the outputs of this analysis mean and how based on the outputs you can realise if the project you're looking to implement is feasible or not. For example, this cost-benefit analysis proves very well that the alternative of alignment that the railways want on our project is completely unfeasible, but... who cares?

Look what was going on outside in the meantime. Beautiful, huh?

What Mr. L explained was great and professionally done, but I will admit I wasn't very much attracted to it. I am not very fond of this part of the projects, despite my university training. As I was explaining earlier, I'm more into technical stuff, which made me love what followed next. Mr. L bet I was going to fall asleep, though. I proved him wrong! Heeheehee!

It was my all time favourite Italian man who continued with the course, meaning Mr. C! We all pledged our undying love to him because he's such a wonderful man! :) He was very passionate about explaining all the chosen alignment alternatives for two railway sections and tried to propose a new alignment, with tunnel from Busteni to Darste, which very nicely decreased the time travelling. It was unfortunately dismissed by the railways, based on the following affirmations: Why not have a tunnel from Campina to Darste directly? Why not travel with 300 km/h? It does sound nice indeed, but it's not what we need now, guys... Sorry to be bursting your bubble and having to bring you back on earth, but... what we need now is a line for combined traffic of passengers and freight, freight that would not run with more than 120 km/h and would not run on a highspeed line anyway... We need to rehabilitate the crappy existing line and let the economy increase, not fuck up what's left of it due to the poor infrastructure... Sorry, I got too serious once again. Mr. C was great though! Big up, Mr. C!

And in the meantime, outside...

What followed in the afternoon was a bit disappointing to me, not from the course point of view, but from the people's reaction to it. Ok, so... you have some (good) money on a contract dedicated for the training of your personnel... Great! Take advantage of that! Ask that SMART consultant you hired (coz that's why you hired them, because they are smart and have experience in the field) to teach you about the things you're working with. Listen Mr. Consultant, I heard about this, care to enlighten me a little? Instead you choose the easy way: let the Consultant propose you some subjects. Fair enough! But when the Consultant (important Italian company) is bringing the head of structure department, the head of tunneling department, an ERTMS expert, the leader of the team working in Romania and the head of designing for a railway section to teach you stuff, and you're acting like a spoiled bored 5 year-old... allow me to be mad! Guys, as much as I love you, allow me to express my disappointment on some of your behaviour. It was not polite towards these people who strived to bring their best men and to show you what we could have if only we started assuming responsibility and growing up! It was not funny! Far by that! I can understand that it got a bit TOOOOOO technical and most of us were overwhelmed, but close your mouth, open those ears of yours, try to understand what is logical and possible, what you don't understand, ask someone nice enough to explain it to you (a.k.a. Mr. Orlando Craciun whom you all want back as director and Mr. Vlad Manu) and MAYBE we will evolve. I might sound a bit (or more) arrogant and maybe I am, but I have evolved a lot and learnt a lot since I started applying this method. You will definitely not become an expert in tunneling or whatever, but it will for sure help you to understand the entire phenomenon you're involved in. I don't know which is more arrogant: me telling you these things or SOME (again, not all) of you not realising how much you embarrass yourselves in front of people who don't know you or don't care about you when you state: "Pfff, don't tell us things we know very well, because we have been working with these contracts for years, we know very well what they are about!" and then, when asked an easy question, you start beating around the bush! I'm telling ya, a mouth shut in good times, can bring you more respect. I rest my case... and probably receive a lot of booooo's from the audience... But I had to say it. And I was happy hearing some of you mentioning how interesting it was!

It was Mr. A.P. who ended the day with the very technical presentation about tunnels. Amazing structures! Very risky! You are playing with people's lives, so safety measures are more than important. And who was there to teach us about tunnels? The Italians... If you have traveled between Austria/France/Switzerland and Italy, I'm sure you were impressed by their tunnels in the Alps. Or the tunnels and viaducts in Genova area towards the border with France. Just amazing! And they have done this for a hundred years... Interesting nation, after all... My hat's off to you, no matter some of the people, the stories about the Mafia and so on... These structures are there, can be seen and will remain standing for many years to come. In the meantime, we keep filling the gaps in the streets every 3 months...

We have decided to have dinner at our guesthouse, a barbeque and pasta prepared by Emanuela. This was a bit misunderstood by some people who thought it was more of a networking dinner than a dinner between the friends we had become. It was nice though and we were joined by someone who was adopted by Mihaela and Vlad, someone who was named Moti...

When I woke up the following morning, it was very cold, but the view from my balcony was amazing!

During the same morning, we had the pleasure (including Moti) to attend the presentation of Mr. E about bridges. Very nice and Mr. E was very nice too. Very busy guy, couldn't get off the phone. As you may see in the picture above. After the coffee break, it was Orlando's time to enjoy the presentation because it was all about ERTMS and he's the expert! Paolo did a good job, he also explained about ETCS Level 3... Again... what are we, Romanians, still doing in this business??

The afternoon was spent in Poiana Brasov and later in Brasov, but we got back just in time for the last supper, oops, dinner! :) Afterwards we fooled around a bit, having a karaoke session. It was fun! :) It was great to see another face of Mr. L while singing along his wife "Nel blu dipinto di blu". Check it below! And listen to Emanuela's laughter!!!! Cute, cute, cute!

Part 2 of my Italian style traveling's conclusions:

1. I loooooove Emanuela! And I really wish all women her age (which I will not say, because it's not polite)... ok, 25 years old like her, would be so cool! Thank you for your gift which I will cherish forever, especially because it goes great with most of my clothes. ;) Grazie mille!

2. I have four people that are becoming a lot more than I could ever wish for: my colleagues, my friends, my parents, my alcohol-experience tutors! Kidding about the alcohol thing... ;)

3. It was great to spend time with my ex-colleagues and I truly wish we had more times like this one. Remember, even if I cannot spend more than 5-10 minutes with you when I'm in your building, I'm always just a phone call away and I'd be very happy to see you somewhere for a drink or two... or more. :)

4. This mini-holiday/learning experience was exactly what I needed after a year full of hard work. So I hope we're gonna have another one soon! :D

5. There will be part 3 of the Italian style traveling, because I'm gonna spend New Year's in Rome. Be prepared for many many many incredible photos.

6. At the end of January, gonna start taking Italian classes! Can't wait!

Cheers everybody and have a Happy New Year!

Christmas present

BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT THIS YEAR...

AND MAYBE THE BEST PRESENT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS...

Black&White Xmas in Bucharest

So... when did I get to be so busy...?

It was beginning of October when my look passed over the TV screen and I noticed some men that looked very familiar and a lot like some boys I once knew very well. I went back to the TV screen and I realised I was looking at four of the members of New Kids on the Block, all grown up, in their late 30's - early 40's, looking incredibly hot! My first thought was: "Wow, look at them! My first ever favourite group! They brought them together to host an all-American chart on MTV... Hmm..." I admit I smiled broadly, it was so good to see them again! Those "kids" I pledged my love to and Jon, oh Jon! *BIG SIGH* Donnie was missing and I thought: "Hmm, he's probably busy with some new movie he's making..." He's an actor nowadays, y'see.

The chart was coming to an end and to my overwhelming surprise, on the top of it, there was this song called Summertime sung by, who else, NKOTB! It was the moment when I felt 12-13 years old all over again! Flashbacks of German Bravo magazines that were like gold to me back then appeared in front of my eyes. Pins made of each member's photo, cut from the magazine, stuck to a cardboard, wrapped in scotch tape and with a safety pin glued to its back. Pirated tapes bought from the kiosk in front of my building with the money saved over a month or so. First NKOTB T-shirt I got from a friend who was also a fan, priceless! Seeing the kid of your ex-teacher coming to school, carrying a NKOTB backpack and drooling behind him until the lovely lady gave it to you... The backpack, not the kid! Jeez, those were the days! I mean it, kids nowadays don't have the same joys we had back then. They have everything at their disposal. Of course, everything still costs money, but not necessarily a fortune as it did to us back then. Every Spiderman fan gets their duvet, every Tokyo Hotel fan gets their black nail polish etc. We had to be inventive back then, make what the kids in... Germany, for example, had just like the kids here have today. We really wished for a concert in Bucharest, but I guess we weren't worth it... or maybe just unknown. But let's have a break for you to watch the video of Summertime, while I'll bring a Leffe dark, then we shall move on with the story...

Don't they look great? Hotter than ever, n'est-ce pas? And imagine they are between 36 - 40 years old! Wow! How the hell do they manage? I mean, look at the 30 year olds around you and see how much older they look than the NKOTB! No, no, no, it's not the beer talking, I'm not even through the half bottle yet! And no, this story doesn't end with the NKOTB being reborn and me a sad alcoholic... You won't hear the "Hi, I'm Livia and I'm an alcoholic" at the end... Relax, I'm still a coke fan! Coke as in Coca-Cola or Pepsi, relax!!! And Jordan, you could get my number any time... ;)

The first thing I did after realising they were back was to share the joy with my NKOTB buddy (then Take That, then Boyzone, then Caught in the Act (was it?), then...), Catalina. To my even bigger surprise she told me: "Oh, didn't you know? I thought you knew! The single was out in May!"

May... June, July, August, September, nearly October, nearly 6 months and I didn't know a thing???? *pauses for a good mouthful of beer to drown the sorrow* It hit me right in the face... I had become one of those people you hear about or see in the movies, who are BUSY! Too busy to hear that your first musical love were performing again? How sad... I knew I was busier and busier with my job because I couldn't manage to catch up with the latest movies out anymore... It was getting nearly impossible to keep track of my favourite 4-5 TV series... But to not be aware that NKOTB were back again...? For six whole months?? Outrageous! It was like a sin! I felt dirty! Nah, I'm exaggerating, but really... it made me feel uncomfortable and realise that those working nights until 2-3 in the morning were killing even my hobbies... Or whatever was left of them...

To wash away the sins at least a little bit, I immediately ordered the new album that was out, called The Block (click on the pic if you wanna buy it):

It didn't seem enough though, so I added their Greatest Hits album too and visited their official website to buy two T-shirts! What did I tell ya? I was 12 again! Only bigger sized. If one T-shirt, an M-sized, I'll be able to wear, for the other I have to wait until I lose 20 more kilos, otherwise it will explode. And we cannot afford that, can we? Because it's beeeeeeeeeautiful!

My sin-washing adventure came to an end on Monday evening when I adorned the tree listening to their Merry, Merry Christmas album. Did they really make songs like that in the 90's? LOL! Big LOL! :)

Gonna grab another beer, until then I leave you with their next single, called "Single", with NE-YO:

Alrightie! Since I'm alone and Jon is single, could he help me with my lipstick too? I can easily drop mine into a sink... Poof! Just like that... So I don't gotta be alone and all... My boyfriend for the next couple-uh-minutes... Ok, that's the beer kicking in... Moving on!

About two weeks ago, I finally received a DVD I had pre-ordered a long time ago, Westlife's latest. Now who are Westlife? Wasn't I talking about NKOTB earlier??

As I was mentioning, I spent my teens and my adult life going from one band to the next (such a boyband whore! :P), started with NKOTB, moved on to Take That, then Boyzone, then Caught in the Act, then Westlife, since 1998, when I watched the TV exclaiming: "Yay!!! Boyzone has another single out!!!" just to realise that it wasn't Boyzone, but this new Irish group, co-managed at the time by Boyzone's Ronan Keating, Westlife. That song was called "Swear it again"...

Maannnnn, it's been 10 years since I fell in love with Shane, with Bryan, with Nicky, with Kian and with Mark! They have been my best friends! Always there, with their great voices, through thick and thin! Through my terrible love crushes! I have lived my life by their songs. Don't know if it was good because I'm still waiting to carve my name and his on everything we can find (Catch My Breath), still waiting to weigh 50 kilos and have one guy who didn't pay attention to me when I weighed 124 going: "I should have known I was wrong when I left her for a life in pity but they say you never miss the water until it's gone" (When You're Looking Like That), still waiting for the man of my life to sing to me Close Your Eyes the night before he's returning to his home for a couple of days or just goes away with business, just to call from a hotel room and tell me and our kids (when we're married) "I'm already there, take a look around, I'm the sunshine in your hair, I'm the shadow on the ground, I'm the whisper in the wind, I'm your imaginary friend and I know I'm in your prayers, oh, I'm already there..." (I'm Already There). Well, until then I'm just the "Fool Again", but when he finds me he'll know that I "must have had a broken heart to love" him "the way" I will (You Must Have Had a Broken Heart).

This beer is no good! I tell ya!

I could write my dreams and my life using only Westlife lyrics, I swear (it again)! See?? :)

So, 10 years after Swear It Again and they're still brilliant. But the problem is that it took the DVD two whole weeks of laying on my desk before it finally got played. I'm too busy! Too busy to see how emotional it was for them to perform in Dublin, on Croke Park Stadium in front of 82,500 people! Too busy to see their documentary "The Road Home" where they are with their wives, kids and boyfriends! Oh my God! Shane with little sweet Nicole! Nicky... damn, it's impossible, the baby-faced boy has twin boys, Rocco and Jay! You should've seen him push the double baby-carriage! Words cannot describe it! Too cute!

I was very disappointed with myself because I realised that I forgot most of the lyrics, so I cannot sing along anymore. Moreover, the last couple of albums are not too familiar to me and I completely dislike that! Note to self: from now on, when you're being arrogant because you have work to do (because you're at work, duh!) and your office mates are laughing loud, talking on the phone for hours and you're trying to focus on your work, not realising that it could be worse, you could actually share the office with 10 more people instead of 4, no more headphone listening to Bob Dylan or Stereophonics, listen to your boys!

Everyone has moved on... everyone has married and has kids... I think it's time for me to do something about it. I am still a complete child at heart, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't make a good mother to a baby boy or a baby gal, does it? :) I need to make more time for things that matter! Gonna start on 28 December when I'm boarding Wizzair's flight to Rome... Oh, it's gonna be such a party! I need to start a new life in 2009, getting rid of bad things that keep me back, learning new things and improving my life! Have a lot of resolutions! And I promise to take care of each and every one of them in 2009. I cannot allow getting to the age of 30 and not having done the things that any 20 year old has done! It's gonna be great! It's gonna be great! Keep in touch, reader! ;)

Until we meet again, since it's Christmas Eve and all, I wish you all the best, may you be happy, healthy and have only good things happen to you. May you be Flying Without Wings... Merry Christmas everyone!

PS - Thank you for the videos NKOTB-Official on Dailymotion.com and GuiGuiMatador on youtube.com.

Selling nationality... Anyone interested?

I know I have promised to post the second part of my Italian style traveling, I am in the middle of writing it and it shall be published soon. But after tonight's experience, I have to stop a little and just vent off my frustration. A frustration that builds unavoidable inside me everyday I spend in this country I was unfortunately born in.

Be warned that strong language is contained in the following paragraphs.

What happened? As you already know, two weeks ago I was enjoying a very nice game of football, in a city called Cluj-Napoca. The city is in the part of Romania that along history was highly influenced by the German and Austrian people, so the persons born there still have a chance. Our group was talking Italian at a football match that was between a Romanian team and an Italian one, but still, no one gave them the finger just for that reason. Of course, there were a lot of blow-jobs promised to the Italian team from the Romanian side, nobody said that football is anymore an artistic show like rugby, for example. But no one picked on you because you were speaking the opposite team's language. That was in Cluj...

Tonight we had the opportunity to experience Bucharest's style. Bucharest people, supporters of Steaua Bucharest which, as my brother says (but he's a Dinamo Bucharest supporter, so he could be biased), has it's stadium near the corn field, acted like they were indeed born on the corn field and spent all their lives in a cave.

Who was I with? A Romanian guy from Timisoara (also Transylvania), so he's a bit different. Even more, he lives now in the UK, so... lucky him! Then there were three Italian guys: Mr. P, Mr. R and Tommaso, a friend of theirs. This guy was polite, jolly, friendly, speaking Romanian with a cute Italian accent and with an adorable accented R, baby blue eyes etc. So, no reason to be picked on, really.

We managed to find a parking place somewhere, not very far from the stadium and started walking. I told them that they should keep their mouths shut because it was not a friendly neighbourhood and it was not Cluj-Napoca for sure! Of course, going to a football game, as I previously said, makes guys devolve into 12 year olds. (From here, it's what I've been told by Tommaso because I was walking in front of them all...) So they were laughing and joking in Italian, when this group of guys that would've looked better inside of a prison cell heard them. Tommaso, hearing and UNDERSTANDING what they were saying, realised that they were going to be in a bit of trouble. One of the guys asked another: are these ones Italians? Then walked towards Mr. R and asked him for a lighter in Romanian, preparing to hit him at the moment he would've replied in anything else but Romanian. This is when Tommaso stepped in, speaking in Romanian, explaining that they might've been Italian, but they were living in Romania and supporting Steaua. He couldn't end his explanation, because the brute's fist met with his jaw. Simply, just like that, for no reason at all. I think it could've got worse, but there were policemen nearby who, of course, didn't see anything. It doesn't matter though! This guy got hit only because he was Italian. This to me is unacceptable and it's filling the glass of frustration towards general Romanian behaviour. I felt like shit because I was Romanian at that moment. I wished the ground to open and swallow me in (maybe reach Australia on the other side).

The disappointment with the Romanian nation continued on the stadium where 3/4 of the spectators... excuse-me, hooligans (because spectators are at a show), were each inviting Adrian Mutu for a blow-job. Why? Because he used to play for the eternal rival team Dinamo Bucharest and now was playing for the enemy. No, of course, why not be proud that Mutu is one of the good things Italians know about Romania when you can tell him to suck your cock (Which one? The one missing?) every two minutes? Right? Oh, we, Romanians, are so great! All of us are fucking great! So fucking intelligent! We are the best players from the tribune, the best coaches, the best team owners, the best everything! We, Romanians, who are so great, live to criticise! No one is better than us, the other all suck (cock, eventually, like Mutu was invited to do tonight!). And you know what was even more annoying? That these guys were not even supporting their own team! You go to a football game which should be a show (together with your 10 year old kid) to swear, to crack sunflower seeds between your teeth and split the shell on the back of the person in front of you, to yell like a Neanderthalian and to scratch your... not balls, what balls, just your crotch! The education your child is receiving is priceless! The next generation is hopeless, really. We could shoot them now.

You wanna hear something funny? When I told Tommaso how sorry I was about what happened to him and that he still had a chance to leave the university he chose to study at here and to go back home where people have good railways, good roads, nice bridges, incredible viaducts, amazing tunnels, where people smile and are polite and not stressed, where people sing "That's amore!", "O sole mio", "Mamma...", "Italiano Vero", "Americano", "Nel blu dipinto di blu"! Aaaargh! So, when I told Tommaso that, he said very politely that things like these happen also in Italy because there are stupid people everywhere... Yeah, I agree they are not only smart there, but then again, the percentage of stupid and mean and rude and uneducated people and losers like here it's nowhere reached!

Concluding, I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth tonight. And not because of similar actions like the ones wished to Mutu, as some might think... This is the point when I decline the nationality I was given because the people who are civilised enough and still living in the country are starting to disappear. I am officially letting you know that I shall thoroughly look for another job in another country where people are more civilised than here. Even if they drink a lot of Guinness, you know. I am sick of the pettiness of the Romanian people in general, their unjustified arrogance and complete stupidity and nastiness. The more stupid they are, the more meaner to each other they become. I am sick of your lack of vision and of sense of reality. I am sick of your superficiality and ignorance. So that's it! I'll be leaving! Va fanculo! May you rest in your ignorant peace! You're all dead, you just didn't realise it yet! And I hope the devil, when you reach hell, because that's where y'all are going, will feed you what you wished to Mutu tonight!

PS-Buying Irish nationality. Accepting even Dutch, German, British, Italian, French, Austrian, any Nordic country ones, South African, Australian, New Zealander...

Traveling... Italian style - part 1

You're probably already wondering how exactly is the Italian style when it comes to traveling, but no worries, you will understand quickly, you'll see.

Since I had no time to post here since September, I will just tell you about my two last trips one post after another. They are connected somehow, so I just hope that in the end they're gonna show exactly what I've been through.

You see, I've probably mentioned before that I am working with an Italian company and the team that is here in Bucharest is totally adorable, despite the fact that nowadays most Italians are looking for one reason only for Romanians: easy lay.

I enjoy their company a lot because each individual is different than the other and each one is funny in their own way.

Let's take Mr. C, for example. He's the nicest man on the face of the Earth. So kind, always speaking with nice words. Everybody loves him! Believe me, I heard statements. I have a feeling he's a lot more than he says he is... Really, I believe he's Santa in disguise. Moreover, he's a blessing because he is replacing another expert who would've made my life unbearable. I love exchanging long e-mails with him and trying to change his optimistic thinking about Romania. We're always in a contest on who writes the longest e-mail. I think I beat him a few times... ;)

Mr. L is the Team Leader. Always very serious and sometimes with strong different opinions than my own. In the end, what matter is the result and I think we're still friends, so it's good. To tell you the truth, debating is not so bad after all, it might teach you a few things more. But I would really love to win sometimes too!!!! :) Someone told me though that he had nice things to say about me, so I think that evens a bit the situation...

Mr. P... :-D When I first met him, I was a bit amused. He tried to seem very serious and mixed with the fact that he was the deputy team leader, it had on me the effect that a mirth-provoking gas has on people... In the meantime, we got to know each other better and, although he's looking like this flirty not-so-serious guy, he's exactly the opposite. He's a very good-souled man, very smart and professional. I hate the fact that he doesn't read all my e-mails and that he sometimes doesn't reply when I need an answer. But, apart from that, he's great. I'm suuuuure he did a lot of naughty-naughty things when he was "young", as he says, but who cares! We all do at a certain point, right? ;)

Mr. R! I will try to refrain from laying down all the things that pass through my mind concerning this man, although it's difficult! Haha! I will just say that he is maybe the most beautiful man I've ever met face to face in my life. I'm serious! I'm not saying this in a type of being-on-a-cloud-and-dreaming way! No, no, no! He is officially recognised as beautiful, even by some men I gossiped with about his looks. :-D He has gorgeous green eyes, with perfect long black eye-lashes. When he smiles (see the pic), his whole face lightens and your day really gets better. Great hands! Nice way of dressing! He looks impeccable. If my spy reads this (Hello Ms. P! ;) ), she might disagree a little, but this is my opinion and I'm entitled to have it. :P

Anyway, now that the characters are introduced and the Italian style is explained, I will move on to the traveling part.

It was in the beginning of November that Mr. C invited me to go along with them to Cluj to see the football game that CFR Cluj was going to have against AS Roma for the UEFA Champions League. At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to go, especially because I wasn't in my best mood ever and I was very tired. But, as Mr. C put it, we work, work, work, but sometimes we need to have some fun too! Therefore, after asking Vlad's permission to skip work for 2 days, I replied that I was going to join them.

I was supposed to go with Mr. C, Mr. P, Mr. R and another guy I didn't know very well, let's call him Mr. C.A. All said and done, on 26 November we were meeting at their office to start our trip. Unfortunately, Mr. C, on whose presence I was counting because he's the only normal one of them all, had to urgently return home for some family issues. Therefore, here I was, stuck in a shit-ugly car, with three crazy Italian men, all talking in the same time. I was told from the beginning by Mr. P that we were just going to have to talk in Italian the whole two days we were going to be together. The bad part for me was that I didn't really speak Italian... The bad part for them was that I understood Italian. I chose not to join the conversations about women, cars and football, because I am not very good with these subjects, so I just listened to my mp3 player.

The closer we were getting to Cluj, the more the three men were becoming kids. I think it's a process that all men go through when a football game is about to start... Ahem! So I was pretty quiet that day, something that rarely happens to me. I let them be... Only that on some moments I really wished Mr. C was with us because I felt lonely and ignored. Nevermind, a smile was still plastered on my face and I kept on being amiable each time they needed my help.

The game itself was great! And I was surprised to see that I had been right about the score. Let me explain... In the morning, before leaving, my dad had asked me about how many Italians and Romanians were going to Cluj. I replied: as the score will be tonight, 4 Italians and 1 Romanian. Since Mr. C didn't come, we were left 3 to 1. You maybe know that the score was 1-3 in favour of Roma.

We had very good seats and with the new lens I bought for my camera I managed to take some close-ups of the players. Too bad I'm an idiot, state that combined with the fact that I was completely frozen, made me not realise how wrong the settings were until the next evening!

The seats were good, but in the middle of Cluj's supporters... which made it a bit difficult for my guys to show their happiness while goals were scored. They chose to exult in silence and this meant a few bruises for me... For Roma's first goal, I got my right leg squeezed, for the second, I got my right leg hit with fists and a quiet yell in my ear "Francesco Tottiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii". I don't remember what happened after the third... I was probably passed out from the cold. Yeah, it was incredibly cold! I was made fun of when I appeared in the hotel lobby wearing a hat, a muffler and gloves, but then, they slowly started to take out their hats too. Apart from Curly, I mean Mr. R, who suffered in silence.

I liked the game and I'm glad I went to see it. I learned a lesson: for the next one (Steaua vs. Fiorentina in 2 days), wear a lot of warm clothes!

After the game, we walked a little until we found some pub/pizzeria/restaurant because the guys wanted to grab something to eat. In the meantime, the clock stroke midnight and it meant that it was Curly's birthday. Damn, Mr. R's, I mean! :P He argued that he had one hour still because in Italy it was only 11 p.m. Fair enough, I said, but when it got to be 1 a.m. in Cluj, he had to face the fact that he was older. :) I took his first pic at the age of 32. He's never too photogenic which is damaging his real good looks, unfortunately.

We made plans to leave early to Bucharest the next day, so at 8 a.m. we were supposed to have breakfast and by 9 a.m., the latest, to be in the car. Need I say that it didn't really happen like that? Men, yes...

At 7.45 a.m. I was paying for my room, then went upstairs to pick up the birthday boy's present. I went to have breakfast and to wait for the rest. At 8.30 a.m., Mr. C.A. was making a sleepy entrance, saying hello and looking curiously at the present...

Mr. C.A.: "What is that?"

Me: "A present...?"

Mr. C.A.: "For you?"

Me: "No, FROM me."

Mr. C.A.: "Where did you get it from? Did you buy it here?"

Me (thinking): "Yes, after we came back to the hotel at 2 a.m., I sneaked out to a non-stop shop to buy it!"

Me (replying for real): "No, from Bucharest...", an answer that seemed to have satisfied him.

He drank two horrid coffees and went back to his room.

At 8.45 a.m., an even sleepier (but oh, so lovely!) birthday boy was getting inside the restaurant, collar up and all.

Mr. R: "Ciao Livia!"

Me: "Hello!" I pushed the present towards him and said: "Happy Birthday once again!"

Mr. R: "What is that?"

Me: "What does it look like? A present..." and I continued in my mind: "Duh!"

He thanked me for it and I got two kisses on my cheeks. He opened it smiling (the best!) and when he saw what was in inside... Oh man, I'm so sorry I cannot describe the scene with words... It was a "shoulda been dere" situation! The conclusion was that I got two more kisses. On my cheeks! :P

Mr. P managed to enchant us all with his ruffled presence around 8.50 a.m. Swore because there was no more coffee left, grabbed something to eat and sulked into the food at another table. Grumpy man!

We managed to leave at 9.30 a.m., so not so much later than planned, right? The trip back to Bucharest proved to be very exciting in the end. Mr. P found out that his wife, who was supposed to give birth on 1 December, was going to give birth that day. This involved a lot of yelling and threats to the Alitalia Romanian Agency to have a flight change and speeding towards the airport, combined with laughter and yelling when I mentioned that his baby was going to be born on Mr. R's birthday. Moreover, the excitement grew 98 km away from Bucharest, when Mr. R decided that he had lived enough, it was time to go to sleep while driving on the motorway. Thank God nothing happened! Mr. P took over just to nearly teleport us at the speed of 180 km/h, talking on the phone and setting the navigator... The important thing is that we got to the airport safely and in time for Mr. P and Mr. C.A. to catch their flight.

I was left with Curls and he drove me home. It was for the first time I liked the impossible traffic of Bucharest coz it gave us (or me) the opportunity to talk a little. I had missed that. Last time we REALLY talked was in July when we went to B'estfest. Maybe we'll have more chances to TALK. I know I hope so...

So this is where my trip to Cluj has ended. I will upload some photos and continue with part 2 tomorrow, if I have time. It's already late and I'm too sleepy to concentrate.