What is happening with the world today? At some point someone told me that the key to move on towards a liberal democracy is the youth. We would need to wait until the old, corrupt people die and then the new generation would have a say in politics. However, living in a liberal democracy for a short period of time, after living in an iliberal democracy for 19 years, has thought me that politics is all about dirty games, lies, and manipulations. Hard work does not mean anything, and people in power would, on the contrary try to squash you in the instant they see you are doing something right, by accusing you of being unconstitutional and undemocractic. These people have never read a constitution in their lives, but think they can intimidate you to give up your stand, and leave the position to someone us corrupt as them.
On the other hand, this does not make 10% of the politics students believe that they should join the perverted club, and start doing the same monstrous things to keep their power, in order to maintain peace and stability. Machiavellian realism does not apply in the western world nowadays. These passionate people, who have strong principles, and believe in democratic ideals, do dot give up, and keep fighting for what they believe in. In the end, none of them would get involved in hardcore politics, but they would keep fighting in the name of democracy.
Living here has given me the opportunity to meet extremely passionate people. Passionate about their work, about making things right, and about their culture. The Mexican, Latin American, and Argentine societies have been called monarchies, because without having elections the most capable people have been chosen to run them. This, of course, has not given the chance for all the racist intruders to rig elections and come in power. Nowadays, at least in our very political campus, democratic elections are just a means of manipulating the voting, in order to bring vicious people in power. You might think this is just a silly thing, a game played among students, but it’s actually the foundation for corrupted governments. If these kind of people think of lying, stealing, and using contacts to gain a position when they are 19, they would see how easily naive people can be manipulated, and continue to do it from then on, even at a larger scale.
Should i also mention the most moral side of it…you help someone, make them a friend, welcome them in your entourage, share all your ideas, and then they stab you behind your back, take all your plans, add some more catchy lies, and then run against you. After that they advertise themselves as heroes, that saved the society from an authoritarian coup against democracy. Or should i mention that, when given the chance, these people do nothing to improve a society. You elect them, they enjoy their tittle, and disappear in the dark.
Should one give a chance to such people, i wonder, to keep them as puppets, you do all the work, and then when it comes to achievements they try to push you away and take all the credit? Should young people, with no kind of experience whatsoever, no skills except for lying and manipulation, be given a chance, just because ‘young people’ are never given a chance to run a society? should we give this chance when they proved in two months time that the only thing they can do is failure and being ignorant?
Is it ok to blame people for gaining an executive position though hard work rather than anonymous voting?
I do not know any more if i’m being right, or wrong, if i should quit, or keep fighting for the things i believe in.
After the madness called freshers week, finally here comes the start of my second year at uni. Not much fun for me during last week, as I don’t enjoy to witness how these young birds just escaped from their parents’ nests and start drinking heavily. After half an hour you need to watch out not to be in the area where all of them start to be sick. Some might say i’m being judgemental, and i did the same last year, but honestly this is not the case. I still remember the pick and mix we had last year, when everyone was shy, trying to find friends they made on facebook before coming to uni. I don’t recall seeing anyone drunk that night, unlike last Sunday when a young lady was vomiting in the sink next to the one where i was washing my hands.
The organisation for freshers fair went well, although it was a pain. Now i can’t wait to go to my 2-hour seminar of Latin American politics tomorrow, and discuss about peronism and populism Not looking forward to the Political Analysis lecture i’ll have on Friday though. I can’t see many differences between P.A, and mandarin to be honest. They’re both unknown languages for me.
13th of August 2008…exactly a year ago, I watched the meteor shower from another place, more exactly, a beach in the South-East of Romania, at the border with Bulgaria. The sky was clear, no clouds like in rainy England. Back then i had my best friends with me, I had a lot of love, and although it was still cold, it was more pleasant than here.
It’s funny how much things change in just one year, and how fast time passes. Who would have thought today i would be staying on a windowpane, in my house, watching the sky from another place, and remembering what happened that night. The most ironic thing is that i’m still at the seaside somehow, without a beach, without a special someone, without any music. And this silance somehow reflects my feelings. No best friends, no romantic night, no crazy, drunk people around me…no cappy tempo de piersici, no headache. I wonder if next year will be better. Will it be romantic again, or lonely like this year? From which part of the world will i watch the shooting stars? Will it be cloudy?
Never, in my entire life, have I seen someone dancing tango like this. As i was saying in a previous post, neotango is not just about the music, it also inspires dancers to be more creative, and improvise moves. I was looking for a nice video for this song to post in my ‘music page’, but this is simply fantastic, and i decided not to post this video just for the great song, but also for the wonderful dance
Povestea cea mai scurta si frumoasa pe care ai citit-o vreodata
A fost odata ca nicodata un baiat care i-a cerut unei fete sa se marite cu el.
Fata a spus “NU”.
Si a trait fericita pana la adanci batraneti……..
Fara sa spele,
Fara sa gateasca,
Fara sa calce pentru nimeni,
Iesind cu prietenele ei,
Facand-o cu cine avea chef,
Cheltuindu-si banii pentru ea insasi,
Fara sa lucreze pentru altcineva.
Sfarsit.
…Problema este ca de mici NU ne spuneau povestile astea…
……….Si ne-au prostit cu tampenia aia cu “Fat-Frumos” …………………
English translation :
The shortest and most beautiful story that you’ve ever read..
There was once a guy who proposed to a girl.
The girl rejected his offer.
And she lived happily ever after,
Without doing laundry for anyone,
Without cooking,
Without ironing for anyone,
Going out with her friends,
Making out with whoever she wanted,
Spending her money on herself,
Without working for anyone else.
The End.
The problem is that when we were little, they didn’t used to tell us such stories,
Instead, they kept telling us that crap with… Prince Charming….
French Translation (by Dana) :
Voici le conte le plus court que tu n’aies jamais lu:
Il etait une fois un garcon, qui demanda la main d’une jeune fille. Le fille répondit non.
Dés lors la jeune fille vécut heureuse,
Sans laver,
Ni cuisiner,
Ni repasser,
Sortant avec ses amis(es),
En baisant avec celui qu’elle voulait,
En travaillant et dépensant son argent comme elle voulait.
Fin
Le problême c’est que depuis que nous sommes toutes petites, on ne nous a jamais raconté ce conte. Et il nous ont bien foutues dans la merde………Avec ce putain de Prince Charmant.
If someone would like to translate the story in another language, you are free to leave a comment And i will add it to my post
I have this feeling that once you give you’re number to an Estate Agency, they will chase you for life. Since i was worried that i might not find a place to stay for next year, i went to one of these agencies and gave them my details in case they would have something for me. And since then, there is this lady named Louise that keeps calling me, and most of the times, i miss her calls, and i find a lot of voicemails saying: ‘Hi Adelina, this is Louise from the Letting Shop. I was wondering if you are still looking for properties, please give me a short call back.’
And this lady has called me for so many times, that you could say we are best friends. So this week i decided to call her back, and since i was very angry, my reply was something like this:’Hey Louise, this is Adelina. As you might remember, i came to your agency about 1 year ago and told you i needed to move in about 2 months. Of course I found a property, I can’t live on the street, and you should have figured this out since it passed more than two months since i came to you. So, as I don’t need your services anymore, you can now stop calling me ‘
And a friendly piece of advice…If you’re a student looking for accommodation, don’t go to estate agencies, the fees are not worth it.
There are so many tourists who are keen on visiting Romania. And they go there, love it, but encounter a lot of difficulties. Why is that? They come back and say, ‘no one speaks English’, we have to communicate through body language’. And then I wonder, how come no one speaks English, from what i know, this language is now compulsory in many schools, and has actually been like this for a lot of years. That means at least people in their 30s should have a good level of English. We hardly have any tours around our best places and they have to organise everything, but can’t ask for directions or anything.
There are no signs in English, people at the airport look at you like you were an alien if you speak another language that is not Romanian ( and that happened to me as well actually). Now, should i mention the grandmas who work in the train station in Bucharest? What are these people doing there? Airports, train stations, famous resorts? They should employ people who can speak at least one foreign language in such places.
Then we have the web. Festivals, concerts, everything is in Romanian. I saw that in Sibiu, in August, will be a festival of national traditions. The perfect event for people who go to visit Romania in order to find out more things about this unique culture. And then i suggest to one of my friends to go there. But he does some research and says he’ll have to skip Sibiu because he didn’t find anything on the internet about that so it probably doesn’t exist. It does, just that Romanians don’t want to promote it. Romanians are not particularly interested in such a festival, we are at least supposed to know our own culture. So why not write that in some other languages to attract some tourists?
Acultam ieri Radio Guerilla, in primul rand pentru ca au muzica foarte buna, si in al doilea rand pentru ca voiam sa mai aflu ce se intampla pe acasa. Si surpriza mare, aflu ca Narcotango o sa aibe concert in Bucuresti pe 23 iulie. Din pacate eu nu o sa pot merge dar incurajez toata lumea care ajunge pe meleagurile bluishgreen.wordpress.com sa mearga la concert
Trupele de ‘alternative’ tango cu il numesc eu, au reusit o combinatie perfecta de muzica jazz, electronica si traditional tango. Dintre cele mai celebre trupe ale genului pot sa amintesc Gotan Project, care acum sunt destul de faimosi, Bajofondo ( al caror concert tocmai l-am ratat), Tanghetto, si Otros Aires (very charming name).
Atunci cand persoanele care nu au nicio legatura cu this lovely dance isi dau cu parerea, tind sa se refere la noi ‘tangueros’ ca fiind demodati. Evident, ascultam si mult tango traditional, dar in general tinerii tind sa asculte electrotango, sau neotango. Asta pentru ca iti da posibilitatea sa fi la fel de senzual, dar putin mai creativ.
Cateodata ma gandesc cat de norocoasa sunt ca am ajuns aici. Wivenhoe e cel mai superb satuc pe care l-am vazut vreodata. Nu avem prea multe de facut aici ce-i drept, dar mintile creative pot sa faca intodeauna ceva interesant from scratch. De exemplu eu si Dana avem biciclete foarte dragute acum, cu cosulete si ne vizitam si bem ceai si analizam tot ce se intampla din punct de vedere artistic, social, politic si descoperim cat de multe orizonturi pot sa ne deschida cursurile din timpul scolii. Si cateodata cand stam pe iarba si ne uitam la formele norilor ( pentru ca vremea e superba, nu ploua decat foarte putin si asta e foarte bine pentru noi, altfel ne-am sufoca de atata caldura), ne mai aducem aminte de tot ce aveam acasa. Si partea cea mai interesanta e ca nu ne e dor de Romania. Imi doresc foarte mult sa raman aici. Imi aduc aminte de multe lucruri si sunt foarte fericita, cateodata ne aducem aminte de cum era in scoala si pentru ea la facultate, cand tremuram si ne era frica de lucrari si examene. Si zambim. Si suntem fericite ca am legat prietenii foarte frumoase acolo si inca rezista. Si o sa reziste si peste ani, oricat ne-am schimba, pentru ca ne dorim asta foarte mult.
Si minunatia asta plictisitoare numita Wivenhoe are foarte multe de oferit, daca stii sa apreciezi linistea. Cred ca a venit oarecum momentul dupa un an plin de zgomot cu petreceri, abuzuri de toate felurile, alarme de incendiu, tipete si lovit de toti peretii cand ajungeai pe coridoarele inguste din towers. Acum seara mergem la Rose and Crown, pe malul raului (un rau foarte ciudat, dar o sa revin cu detalii), cu o bere sau niste cider, jucam sah, sau doar vorbim si cunoastem lume foarte amabila. E asa frumos sa privesti toate refelectiile barcutelor in rau si sa te bucuri de liniste. Si raul, da, a fost destul de ciudat. Am mers la o plimbare pe un foothpath, cu o persoana foarte speciala spre Brightlingsea. Si aproape am ajuns la mare, dar am decis sa ne intoarcem. Si descopar ca raul secase ca prin minune in doar 1-2 ore. Asa ca am cerut lamuriri. Si dragutul de G imi spune ca e ‘the tide’. Si ii zic: ‘Nu e posibil’, asta se intampla doar la mare. Si imi explica ce se intampla cu raul. Practic e un rau care curge si se varsa in mare. Dar apa din mare vine inapoi in rau, chiar foarte departe si se amesteca. Si de-asta ‘tide-ul’ ( mareea probabil), actioneaza si aici. Pentru mine a fost fascinant. Si imi mai spune ca deobicei , cand vine fluxul sunt sailing competitions, de asta 3 barci pe metru patrat aici.
Si e un sentiment asa de placut, cand mergi cu bicicleta prin padure sa ajungi la faculate, si treci pe langa rau si pe langa mlastini, vezi veverite peste tot si tot felul de pasari care nu traiesc pe acasa. Si e dragut sa stiu ca daca pornesc la mers de dimineata ajung la mare. Si ca am biblioteca langa mine si pot sa citesc orice. Si sunt privilegiata si pot sa imprumut foreign films de la Language Department pentru ca ii sunt foarte draga managerului si stie cat de mult imi plac, si ca mi-ar lua o mare bucurie daca nu m-ar lasa sa le iau.
Ca sa-i fac pe plac lui Dan ( Dan, postul asta e scris special pentru tine ) m-am decis ca e pacat sa abandonez coltisorul asta de ‘virtual place’ .
M-am obisnuit deja in fiecare duminica sa parcurg drumul de la facultate pana la ‘La Tasca’. In fiecare duminica ajung ori mult prea devreme ori foarte tarziu din cauza autobuzelor care de fiecare data cand te grabesti o sa ajunga cu 45 de minute intarziere si de fiecare data cand realizezi ca ai ajuns prea devreme la bus stop si ai vrea sa mai pierzi din timp la taclale cu alti oameni, hopa si nenea cu bus-ul.
Si duminica asta s-a intamplat sa ajung mai devreme. Si mergand pe strazile pustii, ca nu vezi nici tipenie de om duminica, decat porumbei, ma gandeam ca orasul asta si tara asta in general are multe surprize de oferit. Nu mi-as fi inchipuit ca au si ei ‘manelistii’ si ‘ taranii’ lor (aka chavs), sau ca in general lumea e atat de politicoasa. Chiar deloc. Sau ca oamenii te opresc pe strada sa te intrebe diverse, de ex: ‘Do you have a spare fag?’ , ‘Do you have some change?’, sau poate chiar , ‘ Where is the North Station?’ si apoi iti multumesc de 100 000 000 de ori zicandu-ti ‘love’ , ’sweetheart’, and so on.
Nu mi-as fi inchipuit ca un om poate sa bea 15 cans of beer si sa fie decat putin ametit, chiar deloc beat si cate tone de gunoi se pot strange la The End , cand toata lumea se aduna in squares sa petreaca. Si 2 zile mai apoi oriunde mergi calci pe cioburi de sticla. Zilele astea chiar mi-am adus aminte de melodia aia …’Walking on , walking on broken glass…lalala’.
Dar cred ca asta e farmecul pana la urma. Sa mergi la lac si sa stai sa tremuri in tricou si apoi cand ajungi acasa sa te trezesti all red, realizand cat de ciudat poate sa fie soarele de aici, stai 30 de minute , tremuri de frig si apoi marea minune. In viata mea nu am fost arsa de soare, cu sau fara sunsreen. Sa walk around si sa suporti ratele care te fugaresc si macaie sa le dai o bugata de burger sau niste fries. Sa te joci cu bobocii, sa lovesti cu racheta de tenis in tavan ca fac cei de sus galagie sambata dimineata la 9. Inteleg ca unii merg la biserica, dar nu se duc la nunta, de ce trebuie sa se scandalizeze atat ?
Apoi,realizezi ca a trecut aproape un an. Si ai facut multe nebunii, si nu dormeai deloc inainte de examene si la 7 dimineata cand nu mai rezistai iti faceai o cafea si plecai sprea human rights common room sa repeti, si gaseai acolo alti nefericiti care nici macar n-au avut the comfort of their room. Dar pana la urma, this is how it should be the life of a first year student. You have 4-5 years to be crazy, to do whatever you like, and then a lifetime to be serious.
Sunt convinsa ca cei care ma numeau pe mine si pe multi altii ‘insane’ pt ca terminam in 2 ore examenul si apoi dormeam pana puteam sa iesim o sa regrete ca nu au facut asta in primul an.
After coming back at the university, i realized how happy i was to have survived the nightmare i’ve been through. There’s one important thing you learn very fast about England: The transport is terribly expensive, and they’re always doing engineering work on the railways and your plans always get fucked up. Then, I get home, and can’t even have a proper midnight (ish) conversation with someone as i instantly fall asleep. In order to apologize for the whole incident, the next day i ask the person to go out for a walk. And that wasn’t too lovely either, as i meet my dear friend Sarah who begs me to take part in the MUNEX conference. I try to tell her I’m not prepared, as i would have a lot to work and study, but she just can’t take no as an answer.
So this is how i ended up being a delegate of the Republic of Peru in the Model UN conference held at my university. And now that those days are over, I realize how lucky i was. I learned so many useful things, made loads of friends, listened to human rights experts such as Michael Freeman, and Moazzam Begg.
We had two interesting workshops from which we realized how well theory matches reality. Governments will always fight terrorism, and terrorists will get more and more angry, whilst no one will ever listen to what NGOs have to say. According to our topic ‘ War on Terror, War on Human Rights’, we had to find measures that will protect the human rights of the minorities acused of terrorist acts. In the end, we came up with a resolution which was fortunately passed.
Tango, tango…i completely fell in love with its passion and sensuality. And hopefully I will be part of a tango show which is going to take place on the 22nd of May at the university. As always, all the funds raised will go to Casa Manu.
Revision? Not much to say, I’m ill I can’t do much But i already started to freak out since there are less than 2 weeks left until my first exam, which will scarily be : Politics!
And the mighty swine flu that has now reached the UK. We get e-mails about the flu influenza and everything, people look at you in a very suspicious way if they notice you’ve got a cold, some make jokes about it, come on people, wake up, it’s just flu, it’s not AIDS!
I really think some people should mind their own business and get a life, instead of sitting all day long, doing nothing, and talking all sorts of things about others. This is not something which has to do with education, economy ( high living standards), or civilisation. It’s pure human nature, and it happens everywhere you go. Still, theft is something serious thing which is reduced by all the factors mentioned above.
You leave your lighter on a table, in a club, on Friday night, come back after 4 hours and find in the same place. Loads of people sat there, still no one took it, as it did not belong to them. Also, you leave your memory stick in a computer from a public lab, come back the next day, and find it exactly where you left it.
There are some things you can’t change about people, like the fact that you can’t change a mean and sly person, but in some respects, the more you go west, the more improvements you see concerning individuals, and the way they behave in the society.
Patrick Wolf- I never dreamed of seeing him, and now I feel like i just woke up, and last night was not actually real. I waited for more than an hour in a terrible cold in front of the doors, just to be there in front of him, and see his artistic performance. And it was heavenly! The way he dances, the way he’s so nervous but in the same time so self-confident makes him so original. All those mixed emotions he is experiencing when he’s on stage. He’s more than a normal person, he’s an actor. He goes on the stage and does what he enjoyes the most. You could rarely see him looking at a certain person, or looking in your eyes, but in the same time he communicated with the public. For example, he was complaining that his latex shirt was too tight, and when a guy from the audiance suggested he should take it off, he invided him to do that later, after the show would have finished.
The way he was acting… i found myself sitting in front of a big man, tall, looking very strong, not fragile at all, but in the same time having all those gay gestures, you can’t actually say what he is, if he’s a human, or something else, beyond that. And then i thought of my potaie, the way she would have reacted if she had been there to see that libertine, that fearless creature…
Not looking forward to the Political Analysis lecture i’ll have on Friday though. I can’t see many differences between P.A, and mandarin to be honest. They’re both unknown languages for me. 
) m-am decis ca e pacat sa abandonez coltisorul asta de ‘virtual place’ .
But i already started to freak out since there are less than 2 weeks left until my first exam, which will scarily be : Politics!
