Meet my life

This will be a rather short post. No news in this one... though I do have some, even some shocking ones... I reserve them for my next post.

This post is a special presentation. I have finally gotten my camera out! And so, meet my new life!

First, meet my "Romanian" hairdo... which I got the day I left for Romania:

Bangs, at least in my book, are a very Romanian, very European thing... much more present than in America. And so I thought I would indulge them for a little while and I am still enjoying them.

Now, meet my good friend Alexandra, without whom I would be lost:


She was driving me around when I stole this picture (February 20). She has been and still is my rock, my very own private angel in Romania. She has shown me around my new city, helped me in everything from settling in, to bus routes, to grocery shopping at all odd hours and, above all else, being there for me no matter what, no matter the hour. From her, I have learned and am still learning the meaning of friendship. We were born 1 month apart in the same apartment building and spent the first 12 years of our lives being best friends. Now, after more than two decades spent on different continents and with not much contact, we have become sisters.

Now, meet my apartment!!!! Just yesterday I had an epiphany... I could not live in ugliness anymore and so, for not too big of an investment, I have beautified the part of my apartment in which I live, to such an extent that I actually LOVE it now! There is MUCH more to do... and show, but it will be for another time.

Now, meet my living room, where I eat, sleep, work and play :

This is my sofa bed (responsible for my recurring neck pains and visits to new age osteopaths) that I never make into a sofa because it is so broken that it might not become a bed anymore... which would be a tragedy... for I have actually become quite accustomed to it!

I beautified this are with the new purple curtains, the carpet to hide the UGLY and ripped linoleum, the bed spread (exactly the same I had in Montreal!), the plant and the 3 cushions. Following, the other side with the door to my as of yet not usable balcony.


My "office space":


Meet my little and now fully functional kitchen. I have actually cooked meals in it (yes, I have!) and have even satisfied taste buds and stomachs (other than my own) with my cooking skills!

In order, from the left: gas stove, (previously stinky) midget fridge, washer / dryer (thank you Mommy for your investment!!!), my Ikea support for drying dishes and an Ikea poster to cover up an old Orthodox calendar that was super-glued to the wall, sink and little shelf with my beloved traditional cups and ... my meds!

In this next picture here you can see the sum total of my storage space in the kitchen. It includes dishes, cups, glasses, cutlery, pots and pans, food items (perishable and not), plastic bags and containers, scissors and various sewing items (my great aunt was a seamstress) as well as a collection of old shooter glasses from my grandparents' pub from the pre-communist era whose only purpose in life now is to gather dust and occupy precious space in my already small (but LOVELY) little cupboard.


That's it for the apart. I have yet to show you my scary bathroom... and some other equally scary corners which I avoid at all costs.

Now, a few cute places and houses I took pictures of today. And, believe it or not, a bunch of bamboo trees, right in the heart of Bucharest!

House with bamboo bunch:

See? BABMOO!!!!
Bucharest beauties:




And, last but certainly not least... Alexa & Alexa... posing in front of the bamboo trees :)


All for now....
Coming up shortly, real news and a shocking perspective of Romania... not a rosy picture AT ALL.

Till then, all my love!
Alexa... in Romania