Experimenting India

So we finally got to india...into an indian home...to an indian bed...and even though we were exhausted from the travel we just slept 2 hours we opened the door and took a first taste of india: narrow, dusty streets...chaotic trafic...people walking on the streets with the cars, bicycles and here and there a cow...monkeys on the rooftops of the houses...and that's just from the view from the apartment's balcony.

The first second we stepped out of the apartment building we became the attraction of all the pairs of eyes on the street. Everyone was practically staring at us...and then I realized that we were for them like the monkeys on the rooftops for us.

The first surprise was the subway...newly opened in 2010 it looked quite modern and nice. Even though it was a Sunday there were quite a lot of persons waiting in ordered line for the metro...but when the trained came the order was broken and everyone was pushing to get in and the ones from inside were stuggling to get out. What the hell had happened to all the order you may ask...oh, well...the thing is that if you wait like a normal person, like we did for the first time, for all the people to get out of the train you will probably remain on the platform as the doors closed automatically no matter if all the people got out or in.

The next thing that intrigued us was the strict security...they had scanners for luggage and persons controlling you from head to the toes...armed guys at each entrance...little barracks made out of sand bags behind which an armed man was staying...it was a little to much if I can say so...but, it was Asia...you know...the land of terorism.

Also at the metro we noticed everywhere signs forbidding spitting...but everywhere...and we were like:"how much can this people spit?'...weeeelll...pretty much. They buy little bags of tobbaco, they chew it and after a while spit everything out on the streets...it's quite disgusting. So...for them spitting at the metro is the worse offense and is punished by law.

I think that's enough for today...many more stories to come.

Love u. Take care.

Let the tale begin

OK...I'm back...safe and sound (at least for the moment, the side effects are yet to come:))...and at everyone's question of "how was it?" I could just say:"totally different from what I have ever lived before, it's like another planet".

The first nice surprise was the how the Turkish Airlines treat their customers. Those 4 flights (bucharest-istanbul, istanbul-delhi and return) worth every cent of those 640 euro we paid.

We arrived in New Delhi's international airport in a Sunday morning, 5 am local time - 1.30 am romanian time. It was a gigantic building with endless halls, equipped with conveyors and covered entirely in carpets. At the end of each conveyor there were restrooms where a nice Indian lady would welcome you with a warm Namaste.

There were 2 old guys at the passport control who thought it funny we were from Romania and starting laughing from one another on our behave and mentioning Ceausescu...the greatest romanian of them all:))

After recovering our luggage we followed the instructions of our indian friends and went in search of a taxi. From the very first contact with an indian salesman we know that these guys will always try to take advantage of the foreigners asking ridiculous sums of money, hoping to make a fortune. They were asking 1200 rupees for a prepaid, but we know we shouldn't pay more than 600. We just took one from in front of the airport after negotiating the sum of 500 rupees as the fee of our drive.

Another surprise was that the driver didn't know the address and that there were no inscriptions on any street in that city (fact which was proven over and over again until the end of our trip). Fortunately for us the guy who was supposed to host us called and explained the driver where exactly is his house. After wandering the streets about half an hour we finally got to the right.

The guy was actually a 19 year old young man who had great care of us, showing us around, cooking and answering to all our pretty stupid questions...but about that I'll tell you more in a future post.

Love u. Take care.

Here we are...

The day has come...tomorrow I am leaving for what I am sure to be one in a lifetime experience. I've been planing this trip for almost 3 months and I am so excited right now that I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight.

I can't say that the next two weeks will change my life, but I'm sure I'll be talking about them for a looooong...loooong...time.

See you when I get back.

Mada out.

This was not my fucking day

I had a terrible day at work...can't explain really why...but it was crappy and when I finally got out of there I really hoped to have some fun and I went to the mall to see a movie.

Of course that being Wednesday night the entire mall was full and everyone was at the line to buy movie tickets.

Of course we had to sweat 15 minutes at the damn line to buy some tickets.

Of course the movie we wanted to see was sold out and we had to buy front row seats to another movie.

All of these I somehow expected to happen...I handled them well, but what happened afterward needs to be told.

On my way home, after parking my car, I realized that I couldn't find the key. Fortunately for me my flat mates were home and I could get in. After searching the room for about 15 minutes, I decided to go to check the car too. NOTHING. No clue of what had happened with my key. i tried to remember what I had done the day before. Still NOTHING. I went through all the drawers and at the end I found it. I' m usually getting anxious when searching for something I should find easily.

After getting rid of that stress I took a shower and being very tired I was getting ready for bed. before I go to sleep I check my phone to see if the alarm clock is set for the next day. And then, surprise...the phone was gone. as usually I took my other phone and called myself on the other number. The phone was not in the room. Went again to the car, called again...the phone was not in the car either. Then I realized I have lost it at the cinema. I was already making planes of buying a new phone. But I was feeling terrible about all the phone numbers so I tried to call again...and I was surprised someone answered to my phone...it was the manager of the cinema, telling me that the staff has found my phone and that I could go and retrieve it...and that's how at almost midnight I was wandering the mall in search of my "precious" phone.

I should keep them all hanging on my neck as I used to keep the key in the first grade so I won't lose them again.

I usually learn from my mistakes...so hope to be more careful in the future.

Love u. Take care.

Martisor

Today is first of March, the simbolic begining of spring. Unfortunatly otside it's still snowing and there's no sign of better weather any time soon.

Mărțișor is a traditional celebration of the beginning of Spring, on 1 March. The name Mărțișor is the diminutive of marț, the old folk name for March(Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means "little" or "dear March". It is also the folk name for this month.

Mărțișor, marţ and mărțiguș are all names for the red and white (or black and white, also blue and white) string, from which usually a small decoration is tied, and which is offered by people on the 1st day of March. Giving this talisman to other people is an old custom, and it is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be powerful and healthy for the year to come. It is also a symbol of the coming spring. Usually, women wear it pinned to their blouses for the first 12 days of this month, until other certain spring celebrations, or until the bloom of certain fruit-trees. In some regions, a gold or silver coin is hanged from the string, which they wear it around the neck. After wearing it for a certain period of time, they buy red wine and sweet cheese with the coin, according to the belief that their faces would remain beautiful and white as cheese, and rubicund as the red wine, for the entire year.

In modern times, the Mărțișor lost most of its talisman properties and became more of a symbol of friendship and love, appreciation and respect. The black threads were replaced with red, but the delicate wool ropes are still a ‘cottage industry’ among the country people. They still comb out the wool, dye the floss, and twist it into thousands of tassels. In certain areas the amulets are still made with black and white ropes, for warding off evil.

Nowadays evrything with a little white and red string can be considered a martisor. The merchants take advantage of the meaning of this day in order to gain as much as possible.

For some years now, I just wear a string around my wrist as a bracelet and I think that is enough.

Love u. Take care.