Morning, again; 7am

Pink

I went to the office today and saw an amazing pink sky. The grandmother of Ruxandra, one of my colleagues, told her that the sky is pink when there are winds blowing (e vremea vantoasa).

Morning, early 2017

Waking up at 6 am every day comes with a short moment of horror. (Probably also because it's after only a few hours of sleep, sometimes as little as two or three). It's like having a few seconds when your mind sees with high clarity where you are, what you are. I see myself lonely, afraid of getting old, afraid of dying. I think of my parents, my friends. In those few seconds, I know who I am- or at least that's the feeling. Then I normally turn on the laptop, maybe get out of bed to make a tea. That's always calming and nice because it reminds me of my life with my parents. That's how every morning would start at home, with tea boiling on the cooker, them getting ready for work, me preparing for school. Then I check Facebook to see if I have any messages, I look at Sumi, who is  still sleeping. Or she may already be awake, asking for food.

And sometimes, I remember to look outside the window. It's still dark at 6am, but an hour later, it's day again. By 9am it's already too bright. It's my favourite moment then. I am done with work, so I pull the curtains and get in my bed for the sweetest three-hour sleep. The phone is on do-not-disturb and nothing can be more important than sinking into a deep sleep.

Frasinet, 2017

Adina turned 30, and she threw a party in Cluj. I arrived on Friday evening, slept at Alexandra Gavrila (& Ale Cosma & Arpi), drank beer, talked, listened to Ocean Drive. Slept until 2 pm, then went to meet Adina. Goga and Edi had come from Bucharest too, but they weren't at Adina's apartment when I got there. They arrived a bit later with a lot of presents and flowers. Adina was very happy. She also received from them a silver bracelet with a small heart. Party in Papillon, then some more party in Shelters, then I slept at Ciupe's place. I was tired and drunk, and I fell asleep immediately. I woke up in the morning at 12. Ciupe's dog Gustav got in the bed, and was all over me, the most affectionate & crazy dog in the world, huge, loving and extremely enthusiatic. I turned my head and I saw Ciupe with Sara on his chest kneading her paws (facea painici). It was extremely sunny, and his room is so much bigger than mine. I had a glimpse of what happiness looks like. To wake up like that, in a room with many animals (or at least a dog and a cat), with your partner, and the animals equally distributed between you two; and of course, a big room and a lot of sun. I was hungover, but not feeling bad at all. This was the morning's soundtrack: Heartless Bastards - Only For You [HQ]. We went for a walk with Gustav- Cluj was cold and sunny. After some small, narrow streets, we were on the main boulevard, then right on the shore of Somes. Gustav was excited and playing in the snow, not so much snow as in Bucharest though. And Ciupe told me a great story, that he once spotted a white hamster on the shore of the Somes river. The animal was carrying some big piece of food. He showed me the exact spot where he had seen it. No coffee until two hours later when we arrived at some restaurant with Hungarian decorations where Adina will organise her wedding. But until we got there, we went to Decathlon to buy some swimming suits. Then we joined the others at the Hungarian restaurant and talked about last night. I ate a gulas, which was really tasty, and I also bought a coffee and a beer. I had some doubts about that, but one of the guys said don't worry, it's not such a bad combination. Then we continued our drive to Frasinet- where we stayed for almost two days in a wooden guesthouse, with a pool room.
The pictures are from the last day, when we took a short walk in the village. The light was incredible, and so were the hills. On the second day we stayed in some jacuzzi-like thing, outside, at -15 degrees, and it was so nice. We drank some wine, not a lot though, cause it was hot inside, and even got outside a few times to put some snow on my face and hands, then returned to the jacuzzi (it used to be a more traditional ciubar, but the owner had replaced it).

Sumi Jo

Some afternoon with Sumi in late 2016.

Kosovo

Some pictures from Pristine and Prizren, in Kosovo. The first two pics are from the oldest cinema in Prizren.

Winter

These days I spend a lot of time at home watching TV series, reading some articles, eating seminte. I like it most of the times. Sometimes I hate it. These are some pictures taken from my apartment.