Sunday, January 30, 2011

M. Street, Engomi

OK, Cipru nu e inca "acasa", dar nici nu are cum sa fie dupa nici o saptamana (nici o/nicio… same difference). Casa in care locuim e destul de mare, la parter e o bucatarie (utilata, desi ii lipsesc multe, printre care un cuptor cu microunde, dupa care suspinam zilnic), o sufragerie cu masa si TV si o alta camera, a carei utilizari nu am inteles-o inca, pentru ca are doar o masa si atat. A, mai e o baie pentru musafiri si camera unei fete din Sri Lanka, care locuieste aici si se presupune ca se ocupa de curatenia parterului. Se “presupune” e cuvantul cheie, pentru ca atunci cand e pe aici (rar, cam o data la 3 zile) tot ce face e sa stea cu gura pe noi si sa critice ce au facut chiriasii de mai inainte. Nu comentez sarcinile ei de servici, dar ar fi o treaba sa vad si eu cum are grija de parter, ca vasele e clar ca ni le spalam singuri.

La etaj sunt camerele noastre, eu cu I. avem cea mai mare camera, cu baie en suite (WC si dus – lux) iar cealalta baie e impartita de ocupantii celor trei camere single, in care stau doi baieti inalti si simpatici din Anglia si o tanara romanca, la radacina careia a curs atata apa cat si la mine :D… si e tanara pentru ca s-a nascut dupa revolutie… tot ce e dupa 89 nascut nu are cum sa fie decat tanar :P

Camera noastra e ok, mobilata minimalist cu un pat, un dulap (mobil, de l-am si mutat mai langa pat), muuulte sifoniere in pereti si un aparat de aer conditionat. Nu covoare, nu calorifere, nu masa… masa o sa cer, restul o sa le accept asa. Probabil ca temperaturile ridicate din primavara/vara i-au facut sa puna gresie peste tot in casa, ca sa se mai racoreasca, problema e ca acum e frig, uneori e mai frig in casa decat afara, unde mai poti spera ceva soare. Zilele astea a tot plouat, dar ploi trecatoare, nu ma pot plange ca « iarna » cipriota e prea dura, rar scade temperatura sub 15 grade.. :D Si folosim mult aerul conditionat sa incalzim camera, si noi si ceilalti colegi, ceea ce va aduce o nota de plata kilometrica, dupa cum am fost informati sa ne asteptam la 400 de euro pentru electricitate (pe 2 luni)… nu e putin deloc, insa cand iti ingheata sufletul, banii pe care ii vom plati peste o luna sunt ultimul lucru la care te gandesti… si stam si noi cu speranta ca in cateva luni vine caldura (stati sa vedeti ce ma plang atunci ca e prea cald !!!)

Cel mai mare minus al acestei case e lipsa internetului. Singurele cai de conexiune sunt ori la scoala (care incepe maine), ori la cafeneaua de peste drum (Second Cup, dar unde si prima cana are preturi de Starbucks) ori furand net de undeva din vecini, care se prinde cel mai bine de pe terasa (a, da, avem doua terase, din care una chiar din camera noastra – abia astept sa ma bronzez pe terasa !!) sau uneori chiard in camera noastra. In orice caz, e incomod ca nu ai acces la net cand vrei, unde vrei, drept pentru care am mers zilele trecute la un furnizor de net si am incheiat un contract sa ne aduca la toata casa internet. Acum tinem toti pumnii stransi sa se intample asa, ca si-au luat o marja de 20-30 zile (lucratoare !!!) pana sa apara la usa noastra… Incredibil, insa chiriasii dinainte (printre care si cei doi colegi englezi) au incheiat contract in vara cu aceeasi firma si au fost nevoiti sa il anuleze in decembrie, pentru ca nu venisera cu cablurile pana atunci !!!!!!!!!!!!

Mda, punctualitatea chiar nu e punctul lor forte… insa e frumos in Cipru… :D see you around!

O.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A place you see is a place you can call your own

Having experienced flying with a good number of European airlines so far and being a frequent-flyer ”freak” (read: card owner) I have to admit that I was pretty apprehensive about flying TAROM some days ago. After all, I am Romanian and therefore the first to criticize (and also value) the products that my home country presents to the world.

I was surprised, to my shame, to be received and treated with the outmost politeness by the flight-attendant and the flight was excellent, safe and in time. Well, I never doubted the proficiency of the pilots, to be honest, as we have been pioneers in this field, to name only Aurel Vlaicu. … OK, the sandwiches were very dry, but at least they were onion-free and I would prefer brewed coffee instead of hot water and instant coffee, but I trust they are constantly working in improving their customer service.

TAROM has just finished in December 2010 their first ever image campaign, which was about time to happen, considering they’ve been operating for 56 years already. The title of this blog entry is their slogan and their belief, promoting values such as “you are what you are, and not what you own” and “we want to go back to the true things that make our life beautiful: experiences, memories we share with our family and friends”.

Another big cornerstone for this airline company was in 2010, when they joined the SkyTeam Alliance, which is a win-win-win situation, meaning that TAROM gets prestige and visibility, whilst rising and keeping the same standards as the more popular airline companies in the alliance, SkyTeam expands their market share and customers benefit from all of the above, plus Flying Blue-miles for every flight with TAROM. Have I mentioned about my frequent-flyer obsession yet? :D

All in all, I recommend to any and all of you to fly TAROM with confidence, you will get good value for the money (as long as the price is within your budget) and I sincerely salute this airline company for their efforts and wish them to keep true to their beliefs and work, work, work to achieve progress and improve far beyond their dreams.  

O.

Friday, January 14, 2011

And so the life has taken me to Cyprus

I finally decided to open up the English content of this blog, so that the tri-lingual character does not remain only a good-hearted intention.

So here I am, in Nicosia trying to push through the school paperwork related to my status as an exchange student in here. On Wednesday O. flew to Romania and I flew to London Gatwick to spend a relaxing night at the airport before hopping on the plane that took me here. Must say that the stay at the airport was actually pretty pleasant, even though the Yotel-hotel where I had semi-seriously decided to stay for the night was fully booked. I still slept some hours on a bench - just like dozens of fellow travelers seemed to do - ate some very British sandwiches, read cheap tabloid-papers, went to a morning service in the Chappel and so on...

However, the most interesting event of the journey took place immediately after I arrived when the fire-alarms went on in the passport-control area and the hundreds of people queuing in there had to get out through emergency exits :) The funniest thing is, that we somehow ended up in the baggage reclaim area and right when I walked in through the small door, my backpack was rolling on a conveyor belt next to me! So before I even realized I was in the baggage reclaim area I already saw my bag - the shortest time ever I had to wait for one in an airport.

The initial settling to Nicosia went fine as well, even though the situation was still extremely uncertain the day I left Finland. Luckily a couple of friendly exchange students agreed in the end to take me to stay in their flat until I can move in to the place we rented with O., because that place will be free only in a week and a half from now.

About Cyprus... I have to say I didn't quite have the time yet to get to know Nicosia, never mention the other parts of the island. What I can say is that the capital certainly is not a metropolis - quite a different capital than Seoul (where I still was a month ago) for example :D One thing I can say though: this city certainly is not the most pedestrian-friendly I have seen. There is no sidewalks at all and the cars go sometimes pretty fast, so you'd better keep your eyes open as a pedestrian.

I'll try to provide more material once I have had time to see a little more than University offices and all kinds of documents to be filled in and information to be acquired for course registration.

I.