It can always go worse: hospital story

The last few weeks weren’t the best of my life. Apparently, the chaos I have been living with not having a schedule for eating and sleeping and having some stress also lead me to getting to hospital. But even like this, after just a few hours spent there, I realized that my problems weren’t the worse.

I got to the hospital because of some nasty belly ache and a ball that had grown instead of my stomach. The doctor that saw me first said she wants me to go to the hospital so they can also run some tests there, rather than just give me some pills. It seemed fair and so I went to the Emergency Room at the hospital, where they’ve told me everything was because of stress, basically. Which was really close to the truth, given my beginning of the year. Thank God it was all good and I felt better after a few hours of investigation and then treatment.

Still, this visit I paid to the hospital made me realize (once again!) that there are always worse things than what happens to each one of us. There is even a saying stating that if we put all our problems into a pile and would pick a random one to solve, then we would much rather go back and have ours back. Or something like that, you get the point. And that is because our issues – we know them, we can control them, we can make them better.

That was my idea after a few hours spent in the Emergency Room. Of course I will need to have better control of my lifestyle so that I do not end up in the same story again. Like they say it – make it better so it won’t be worse.
And even more, the stories you witness while in the hospital make you want to keep as further away as possible. This time I don’t even have anything to comment on the cleanliness or the doctors. Amazingly, it was all good and nice. But the following story seems out of this world:

Once I got to the Emergency Room at the hospital, they kept me in a waiting room that I would always get back to between investigation I had to take. A some point, I got back from the echo room and I found in the waiting a colleague. The doctors had brought someone on a stretcher. The guy was all crying. I looked at him and he didn’t seem bad. He looked more homeless than anything else. He was wearing some dirty clothes and some weird socks. Although he wasn’t allowed to use his mobile phone in that area, he kept making calls. Firstly, he called his wife or life partner or what she was and he started swearing her and accusing her of some attack. Only after he made some more calls to friends and relatives I found out he had been beaten by a group carrying baseball bats. He called everyone he knew to let them know what happened to him and that he will get revenge. The last call he made was to his son to say ‘goodbye forever’ and giving him details on what happened to him and how he will murder the guys who did that to him and also he will kill himself afterwards. Meanwhile, in the waiting there was no one from the hospital that could hear him, they all came in to scold the guy on talking on the phone, but that was it.
The guy was brought into another room for investigation and my perfusion had finished, got my prescription and was supposed to leave home. Don’t know exactly what had my attention – the story might not even be true given the fact that the guy smelled like alcohol really badly – but I couldn’t just leave without telling someone what I just witnessed. So on my way to exit the Emergency Room I was looking for a doctor to let them know. As I found one, I heard her telling some other guy that they should call the Police for the case of the angry patient.
More than being peaceful for knowing action was taken on that, I was happy that the doctors did not just let it pass by, all the story. Of course that given how the shouted and cried while making calls, it was very difficult not to hear his story. But also I figured that doctors were way too busy doing medical stuff and would not pay attention to the guy talking on the phone. I guess I was expecting the doctors to only take care of the medical part and that is why seeing them be human made me very happy.

As for me, I got my treatment and started feeling better, I’m working on my long lost discipline, I’m starting to learn how to cook and thank God I am gonna be good enough to leave for Rome next week, as planned!

So now I’ve chosen to take a step back and see the bigger picture. I will start taking more care of myself, I am thankful that nothing worse happened and I am happy that I am good enough to follow my travel plans. 🙂

As a final thought, I would advise you to also look at the bigger picture and I also wish you to not get to the point where you go through difficult situations and only then realize you are still happy and thankful for what you’ve got.

Closing on a happy note, I leave this with you:

Being a tourist in Bucharest…

The great part of when friends from abroad come to visit Bucharest is that you are their guide. The bad part is that you actually have to show them around Bucharest and you’re praying that you don’t encounter situations you’re gonna be ashamed about and will have to apologize on behalf of, oh well, Romanians.

Last weekend I had a friend from Germany visiting and just for fun. I decided to play tourist along with him and speak English everywhere we went. The result was…depressing.

On Saturday we took the double-decker city tour for a few hours. Short story, the bus goes from Piața Presei Libere to Calea Victoriei and turns at Palatul Parlamentului (The Parliament). It’s the Hop On-Hop Off type of bus, that means you can get in and get out on any stop you want depending on your interest. When you buy the tickets you also get a (big) map that you can use for better orientation.

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The bus comes every 20 mins between 10AM-10PM hours and the last bus is at 9PM from Piața Presei Libere. The traveler card you get is valid for 24h from the first use and the whole tour takes about 50 mins.

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Some of the main interest points would be Piața Presei Libere – Free Press Square, Muzeul Satului – Village Museum, Arcul de Triumf – The Triumphal Arch, Muzeul Antipa – Antipa Museum, Muzeul Țăranului Român – Romanian Peasant Museum, Ateneul Român – The Romanian Atheneum, Muzeul Național de Artă – National Art Museum, Palatul Parlamentului – Palace of the Parliament.
A ticket is 25 RON ~ 5E for adults, 10 RON ~ 2,5E for kids 7-14 years old and free for under 7. You can opt for an audio guide but the only thing you’re gonna get is confusion. The audio guide plays only when it wants regardless the points of interest you are near and when it’s not playing you can only hear a blank sound that makes you think it’s not working at all. Its English is so bad you can barely understand it. And you also get a pair of headphones used and overused.

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When I was in Barcelona and enjoyed the same type of service, I at least received one-time headphones and I knew I was the only one using them.

The only really lovely things about all this experience is that you truly see Bucharest in a different way. Even I got this impression and I am in town every day. The pics below speak for themselves.

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And when it comes to the many THUMBS DOWN, they are related to people, of course. The bus tour was more than 50 mins.  The buses were later than 20 mins. No, the bus didn’t stop so that you could get off it. The bus would stop only if there were people waiting to get in. Otherwise, if you wanted off the bus but there no one to stop the bus from the street, you had to rush on the stairs (if you were upstairs). Although, the signs say you are not allowed to do that. Much more useful would’ve been a stop button that you could press and ask for the bus to stop.

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No, it wasn’t clean. In fact it was filthy dirty. And I’m not saying just on the floor. Okay, let’s say that the floor was dirty because of people throwing their trash onto it, but even that could be solved by placing two bins, one in the front and one in the back of the bus.

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But my bigger problem were the filthy seats.

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And also the dust on the stairs roof. The way you present your service to the people, that’s the exact way they will appreciate it.

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Yeah, and it was lovely that we could see the Government building… *ironic tone*

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Oh, and thank God we had free Wi-Fi. Yeah the network was there, it just didn’t work.



Many of the people on the bus were Romanians, I had enough time to meet lots of hop on-ers and hop off-ers. First time I took the bus for the whole tour just to enjoy the views. And on the second tour, I started analyzing. I left disappointed because we finally have got a good thing like you see abroad and we treat it typically Romanian-style, not caring about anything.

Anyways, that would be it about the wonder double-decker tour bus of Bucharest. I’m pretty sure the people who are amazed by it are the people who didn’t rode it.

The next day, on Sunday we went to the Botanical Garden of Bucharest, Cotroceni area. I actually was more impressed with it than I would have expected. There were many people there and still it wasn’t crowded. Yes, some of the areas of the garden could have been more taken care of and the communism buildings ruin a part of view, but oh well…

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Still, I was impressed by the fact that most of the signs had an English translation.

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And one more thing, in the garden there is a special place for people who want to enjoy some peaceful and quite time while reading or studying or working.

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Plus, they have a souvenir shop that had for sale stuff for the passionate and also just cute things like T-shirts and mugs with funny messages – ‘Plants are Friends’ and stuff.

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Of course there were wedding people coming in to take pictures by the lake – which btw, was horrible. I was joking with my friend that they made it look like that on purpose, so that people wouldn’t be tempted to take a dive.

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Either way, still. For 5 RON ~ 1E the ticket for an adult, 3 RON ~ 0.75E for a student/retired person and free entrance for school kids and veterans, the Botanical Garden is a really nice alternative to the parks in Bucharest, every day between 9AM-5PM. Especially since we’re starting our own Pont des Arts, baby steps 🙂

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At the end of the weekend, my friend told me that Bucharest is a nice city, he enjoyed it and had a great time, but without a local’s help he would’ve been lost because of the lack of signs to help tourists in their orientation. Also, he was very surprised about the high number of abandoned buildings near the city center and that could have great potential.

After the two days I spent as a tourist I can only think of the tourists that come to Bucharest. In the center, the old city and Calea Victoriei area you could see that Romanians were used to tourists and acted really friendly and even learned a bit of English. But other than that, as soon as they heard us speak English they would act like they were bothered by us and even tried to fool us when we asked for the check…

There is nothing left to say for me, except for the fact that we such fools for trying to see only our short-term interest and not think for the long run.

Photos: my fingers pressed the button of an iPhone 6, #noedit and #nofilter

I just vanished… Poof!

Yep, exactly like that.

2 months ago (where did that go?!) I moved from Bucharest, Romania. To Austria, the mountain side, Tirol. I am at the end of the world, in a village of max 1000 inhabitants. I tend to believe that’s the number of tourists over a whole year.

Let’s just put it this way – there is just one sidewalk, one way. Nope, no 2 sidewalks, one on each way of the road. Basically, because even if it was, I’m not really sure there would be enough people to use it and walk on it.

So yeah, I’m here in a place that’s got nothing. No coffee shop, no doctor’s office, no pharmacy, no supermarket to buy stuff. And no internet connection. I’m lucky when traveling cause I enjoy other people’s internet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, not anymore. I was, at the beginning. Oh, I was really annoyed! But then, I looked at is as a challenge. You know, I am a Social Media & Online person, and now I have to deal with no internet connection. But it helped me see things differently.

First of all, I started paying more attention to the people around me. I started enjoying more having a real conversation and I am more into stories. I laugh like I really mean it, finally! I am peaceful with my phone not having to vibrate all the time – messages, phone calls, emails! I enjoy this mountain air and the white view with lots of snow! I feel like I’ve discovered things in me I didn’t even know I had.

My friends here make fun of me, a ‘princess’, a big city girl moving to a village. And the thing is that it wasn’t even that bad. I mean yeah, I miss the comfort of craving for french fries in the middle of the night and just hop in the car and go to McDrive. Now, if I wanna meet someone or buy basic stuff, I need to hop on the bus for half an hour and go in the next town and shop there. At least, there’s something there, like 2 mini-malls with some stores and coffee shops and supermarkets.

All of this helps me live really basic. Me, the people around me, nature, emotions and moments.

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Life here is so unmaterialistic (if that’s even a word) that a few days ago I had this happened to me – my phone died. It just died. It shut down by itself and I couldn’t turn it on again… I wasn’t even panicked. I was just thinking that I’ll have to live without my phone on top of the internet thing. I was just trying to think of ways to let my people know so they won’t get worried. I left it alone, and after some time, my phone recovered by itself and started working again. I wasn’t even feeling relieved… It was just a thing, an object and I wasn’t gonna be mad cause of that.

One of my Bucharest people asked me at some point if I miss home. It didn’t take long to say I don’t.  To me, home is a feeling, not a place. As long as I am happy and peaceful, home is where I am. Yes, I do miss my people, I admit it. But that is easy to work out when they’re the right ones. They know I think of them and I miss them, even if we don’t talk everyday.

I truly believe that we got used too much to all this comfort the technology gives us. It is helpful, not gonna deny it, but somehow we let it replace life. Because when that is not in the picture anymore, it’s still us, humans. Us, with our thoughts, emotions, feeling and all that surrounds us. I found out this way that we forgot how to live… And I speak for myself also, my past self.

This same time last year, I couldn’t even picture my everyday life without internet, my phone, my laptop. And somehow, I feel that like this I exist more than ever. 🙂

3, 2, 1… 24! [en]

One year ago I started early with my preparations for that time of the year. You know, when your birthday is right around the corner and all you can think about is how you want it to be this year, and you can’t wait to see all the people you love under the same roof and just enjoy your time.

Last year, I made my wish-list one month before, just in case. I enjoyed special moments with my people then. And, even if some relationships have changed since then, my memories stay beautiful, and the surprise they gave me – unique. I was really sorry for letting them wait for me in front of the door, for 2 whole minutes, while they had my ice cream cake ready and the candles lit on it. They were so cute, and when I played the recording and saw that they were so close to losing hope, aww………….. But all is well when it ends nice 🙂

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Now, one year later? My wishes remain the same. I don’t wish for material things. My most precious present are my people, the people that I have in my life. If some of them decide to be a part of it for a long time, I appreciate them. And for those who leave, that’s it, it’s their end in my story and I become happy for the experience I had with them. Anyways, I am gonna add to my last year’s wish also – I’d like to get to know people that know the meaning of being human, and not in how they look. But in the way they act, people who are open-minded, who know how to make best use of the soul they’ve got, who like to communicate, who know what respect is.

And I would also like to add one more thing! At 23 years old, at the end of the most screwed up year of my life, I realised that no matter what happens in this life, no matter what I win or lose, nobody can take away my experiences, the stories I’ve lived. So I set a goal in this life – to live a life full of experiences worth telling, no matter the closure.

Unlike last year, I now find myself in Austria, far away from my lovely people. But they somehow manage to make me not feel the distance, and to still feel them close to my soul. These are my people, the people that hold a special place in my heart. And I only wish for them to stay there as much as possible, because I really like it the way I feel now.

As to the rest, happy wishes to everyone, no matter the age or place! 😀

Thanksgiving or giving thanks?

Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada. It is the day of the year of giving thanks for the blessing and the harvest of the previous year. The tradition includes a large meal, in which the star is a roasted turkey.

The first Thanksgiving dinner was held in 1621 by Pilgrims and lasted 3 days (!) but it didn’t become a national holiday until 300 years later, in 1941. It is believed that there were no turkeys for dinner back in 1621. Still, the turkey is the traditional Thanksgiving dish, given the fact that it was one of the first animals to be domesticated in the USA.

American or not, another year has almost passed and this would be a good time to think about all the things we are really thankful this year, in this life. Day-by-day we’re busy complaining, focusing on what we don’t have, because it’s easier this way. So, sometimes, it is important taking the time to remember the things we are thankful for and that every so often, we take for granted.

After giving it some thought, replaying one of the most challenging years of my life – if not, the most! – this is my personal list here:

People – generally speaking. I like the fact that I’ve met and will meet enough people in this life, to have things to learn from them. People who inspire me to be better or, on the contrary, people who make me say – ‘I don’t ever wanna be like that!’. People whom I admire and will follow, and people whom I know my life would be better without.

Life – ’cause when you try and think about it, life is pretty amazing. You just need to know what to do with it and how to create it. And this year made me realize that I’m just starting creating my life, building opportunities and taking chances.

Love – it makes the world go round. It’s happiness, power, beauty, kindness, support, honesty, trust, communication, understanding, peace, acceptance, respect, patience – okay, stop me now.

Good Friends – you know, the people you feel. Some people you see, some you hear, but only few you will feel. Those are your friends. And no other words could describe this feeling.

Physical activity – dancing, fitness, yoga. Whatever makes me move, lifts my spirit, gives me energy, puts me in the right mood and reminds me that I look better fit 😀

Pets – and even better, if you don’t own one – friends with pets! 2 in 1, big win!

Challenges – they serve a purpose. They make you the person you are now. How you overcome them it’s your choice, in your hands, your control.

Pain – without it, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the good times. Like – when your tooth hurts. You become thankful for all the times you had a good time, even if you had other dental problems.

Control – over your actions, your attitude. Yes, that is the only thing you can really have control over. You won’t be able to decide how people treat you, how long you will have a job or a car. But the thing that you can master is how you react to everything that comes your way, in this life.

Loss of control – imagine if all the issues were in your hands to handle them?! That’s one hell of a complicated life! It may be hard, but try and see the good in it. Enjoy every moment you lack control, it’s yours to feel free!

Money – yes, the last one. It makes many things possible in this world, because I like to be also practical about life. It can be your friend or your enemy – your choice, you control it.

 

How’bout you? What have you got to be thankful for in this life? 🙂

 

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Happy bday, Mickey!

I hope that everyone here knows who Mickey Mouse is! If so, your childhood was awesome! 😀

 

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So, Mickey is the official mascot of Disney. He is a an animal cartoon and was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He is part of a gang, along with his girlfriend – Minnie Mouse, his dog – Pluto and his friends – Goofy and Donald Duck with girlfriend, Daisy.

 

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Mickey’s body is made out of circles, to make the character easy to animate. And that is a reason why Mickey is easy for the audience to recognize, his ears being an unofficial trademark. There is even a symbol used to represent Mickey – Mickey Mouse

The original voice of Mickey is Walt Disney himself, the co-creator of Mickey and founder of the Walt Disney Company! It turns out even more cute – starting from 1977, the voice of Mickey Mouse was Wayne Allwine, who was married in real life to Russi Taylor, the voice of Mickey girlfriend, Minnie Mouse!

Mickey Mouse is so famous that he’s received ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and in November 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Being Turkish

‘I wanna go back’ – the first words that came out of my mouth as soon as I arrived from Istanbul.

First thing – God, they’ve got so many shopping malls! I got there in the evening, around 18h, so there wasn’t much to do besides dinner and a walk – after all, I was on holiday 🙂

Aqua Florya – shopping mall near the sea. Perfect place to relax…

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…and for something delicious (and sweet, ofc)…

Wet Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake @ Pelit

Wet Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake @ Pelit

…and for watching the incredible sunset.

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The traffic in Istanbul sucks. What it’s like in Bucharest, oh well – there it’s like dying bit by bit! And I was told I shouldn’t be too surprised, it was holiday – Kurban Bayramı – and everybody’s was out of town so the traffic was like 1/3 of the usual. I was that close to driving in Istanbul, but apparently I had a fairy who made me think twice. As soon as we left the parking, going on a narrow-one-lane-for-every-direction-up-hill-street, there comes this crazy taxi driver. I really don’t know how I made it out of there alive, I jut closed my eyes and hoped for the best, and I thanked God I wasn’t the driving and that had this great driver!

Oh, and don’t get me started about taxi drivers! Again, Bucharest is crazy but these guys are loonatics! Yeah, they’ve got great infrastructure, lots of highways to make the traffic better, but really, you just can’t keep calm when driving. At some point, we were close to having an accident at 120km/h, just because one taxi driver thought of racing when changing the lanes, and hitting the brake every 5m.

About pedestrians, yeah, well there’s not smarter either. Why use the effin’ zebra crossing when it’s so much easier to just jump in front of the car and ask for priority?!

But, one thing that I appreciated was the special lane in the middle of the highway – for buses. It looked so well thought of and……………useful!

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Istanbul is a city of cats – like you see stray dogs in Bucharest and maybe other cities, they’ve got stray cats. It’s not a problem for them to find a place, even if it’s a store, restaurant, art gallery or car.

anamariapopa.com blog post turcia turkey istanbul stray cat 3anamariapopa.com blog post turcia turkey istanbul stray cat 4anamariapopa.com blog post turcia turkey stray cat 5anamariapopa.com blog post turcia turkey istanbul stray cat 1anamariapopa.com blog post turcia turkey istanbul stray cat 2I was looking at their registration plates and I was asking myself why do they use that number – 34 – and what’s the connection with the city.

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And I found out that Istanbul is the 34th city of Turkey, in alphabetical order. The other numbers and letter are random or they can be personalized.

Oh, I almost forgot. The most delicious thing ever: it’s called Oreo Magnolia and it’s vanilla pudding and Oreo, from CookShop. It looks like this.

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When it comes to sightseeing, well I’m not much into that. It’s not my style to stay in a line. And yes, Istanbul’s got a mosque everywhere you look. And honestly, they all kinda look the same to me.

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Sultan Ahmet Mosque

But what really got my attention was Basilica Cistern, the largest covered cistern in the city, that dates back to the old Constantinople, built by Emperor Justinian in 537.

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And there I took advantage of the tourists corner and I got dressed up in this Turkish costume, letting myself be photographed 😀

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And if you are there, you really have to try this thing – Uludağ, I’m only gonna mention it tastes like bubblegum!

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In the end, here is a tiny dictionary with the words that I learned in my 5 days there:

Yakamoz (iacamoz) – Moon reflection on the surface of the sea

Harika (haarica) – Wonderful

Așk (ashc) – Love

Çok yaşa (cioc iasha) – Bless you

Teşekkürler (teshechiurler) – Thank you

Rica ederim (rija ederim) – You’re welcome

Merhaba (meraba) – Hello

Günaydın (ghiunaidîn) – Good morning

Iyi günler (iii ghiunler) – Good day

Iyi geceler (iii gejeler) – Good night

Afiyet olsun (afiet olsun) – Enjoy your meal

Evet (evet) – Yes

Hayır (haiîr) – No

Efendim (efendim) – What? What did you say?

Yavaș (iavash) – Slow

Yıldız (iîldîz) – Star

Șerefe (sherefe) – Cheers

Su (su) – Water

Pasta (pasta) – Cake

Makarna (macarna) – Pasta

Satılık (satîlîc) – For sale

Kiralık (chiralîc) – For rent

Salak (salac) – Stupid

Havalimanı (havalimanî) – Airport

Canım (janîm) – My dear

And, because all of us wanna learn this stuff:

Sikecem (sichejem) – Fuck 🙂

Overall, it is a beautiful city, I’m gonna be back.

P.S.: You can find nicer and edited pics on my Instagram account.