End of the Vacations, Beginning of the New Year

Property of Stormberry

 There's something beautiful about ending the year away from home, taking a bit of distance to see things in perspective, recharge, and then come back with fresh energies. I love being in Europe, but my life has lead me to find my chances to work and earn a living outside my beloved continent. That income is the one that made it possible for me to save up and build my house, to be able to pay my debts, and to visit my darling Europe. I really love this place.

I'm writing this in the last minutes I'll spend at the hotel (less than an hour), and I would love to, at least, start journaling a little bit too, all before I have to go across the street, buy a new Navigo card, a new One Day Paris Visit Pass, because yesterday I lost my card. That really got to my nerves. I know, I know, there are larger problems to have, than having lost a public transport card you just recharged with €45,40 (a two day Paris Visit Pass), and now having to pay €33 or so for the card (€2,00) and the one day pass. Why one day and not just one ticket? Because I like being sure I am covered for the day, even if I only have to go from Gare du Nord to Charles de Gaule. I like to be on the safe side. 

I believe the card must have slipped out of my pocket when I put my phone in the same pocket and then pulled it out. Because the card is really gone.

Not having that card ruined a few things for me yesterday. I had plans and once I found my card missing, not only I didn't feel like doing them, at my age (that would be 50 years-old) walking that much, in winter is not as feasible as it used to be when I was 40. Now I like to wander, yes, but having a public transport card in my pocket that can take me back to the hotel when I'm too tired to make another step.

My plans had included going to Foucher, the chocolate shop, to get some chocolate and candied fruit for my mom, and then find a LEGO store to see if I can get a particular LEGO my brother wanted, but I forgot to buy in Budapest. Or check if it was already available. From the hotel, I decided to walk to the chocolate shop (a 31 minute walk that felt like 45 minutes), since the but I was counting on was not available due to construction work on the street. So, at that moment I may have had the card in my pocket, or maybe had already lost it. I went to the chocolate store, bought the chocolates, and when I was out and started looking for my Navigo card to have it ready for swapping at the Metro gates, I noticed it was nowhere to be found. That's when all got pear shaped. 

My next stop would have been Châtelet-Les Halles, where the commercial center was where the LEGO store was... as well as a FNAC. It was going to be a look-for-LEGOs-check-more-books kind of trip. I had no chance but to walk back.

That walk back felt annoying and long and more tiring. Though I logically knew that I could buy a new Navigo Card, that I could recharge it with a new Paris Visit Pass, even again a 2 day one, and honestly €45,40 isn't that steep of a price I couldn't afford, it felt like a catastrophe and ruined my mood. I went back to the hotel, bought food and holed up in my room, annoyed. It was funny because I was anxious about getting that big LEGO for my brother, and how would I get it through customs at the airport, as it surely has no "cabin luggage" size. Now I was off that task because I wasn't getting the LEGO, and still, I felt upset. I felt upset because of the card, and for disappointing my brother. Not like he can't buy the LEGO by himself, and all he wants is to have it before it arrives to Costa Rica, and not like I have the moral obligation to supply my brother with huge LEGOs every time I travel. Gods, I am not a courier! And still, my mood was ruined.

How many times have something small, logically irrelevant ruined your mood? Maybe more times that you care to remember. Through my conversations with psychologists, I realize I tend to rationalize a lot, and my first instinct usually is to think things through rationally. Well, I'm an economist, I work with numbers. However, there are times when logic doesn't help and may even make things worse, for instance when something small, irrelevant gets the best of you. Why bother so much for something that can be fixed so easily? No, I don't have €45,40 laying around idly, and yes, that is still money, BUT the point is that, if there was a real need, like the train is leaving me and I have to jump on it in that moment, I could have paid it again, and only be mildly annoyed about having lost the first card. So, if it was so "grave" why wasn't I going to the next station, look for a ticket seller and getting one? Because the point wasn't rational, it was emotional. I was upset I would not make my brother happy. I was upset he would be sad because I didn't get him the LEGO he wanted.

I was annoyed for the one logical, rational, material little detail - the Navigo Card and the pass already paid and lost - and getting riled up because it was so small and irrelevant and yet, I was thinking it was making me upset. But I wasn't really upset for the card, but concentrating on the card was easier that facing my feelings: I was upset I was disappointing my brother. Once I was ready and willing to face that, I could start working on feeling better, and I will. I still have to work on stop rationalizing everything, accepting that's how I feel and knowing that the feeling will be over once I see him, he makes a sad face and then we will move on. And the world won't end.

Sometimes it is worth to think a little bit deeper about what annoys us, give ourselves time and be willing to ask ourselves not from the logical, rational perspective, but from the emotional one. We are, after all, also emotional beings. All of us.

Getting Sick on Winter Holidays

 It has been happening for a while now, that I tend to get awfully sick during my winter holidays in the Old Continent. And that's not funny. It's annoying. Getting sick is annoying as it is, but getting sick on the holidays is doubly annoying because I can't get sick days out of it. And it's winter! I love winter. Even if it's not snowing - which I definitively adore - I would love to be out, walking in the chilly air, breathing hin the fresh, sharp scents of the season. And yet I am sick.

Last year, on my trip to Europe in winter, I've got very sick in Brussels, after visiting a friend, with some sort of stomach flu that pretty much floored me for days. It wasn't funny at all to drag my carcass from Brussels center to the airport, up the plane, down the plane and then all the way to my family's home. But I made it. I soldiered through it.

After a long period of not traveling - I was engaged building my house, so time and money went entirely into that noble cause - last year's extended trip was the first in a long time. I did remember, due to the symptoms, that I have had a similar experience in the past, also during a trip to Europe in winter, but then I thought it was due to some odd sort of beverage poisoning. (Now I have a different theory.) But now, as I've got sick once again - probably due to having caught a nasty type of flu on the plane here - I've started thinking about how many times have I had to suspend my plans to go places and meet people because I was nursing some sort of sickness. It didn't happen every time, but I have the feeling that it has happened more often than I care to remember. So, something needs to be done. (As for what, I'm still preparing my plans on that front.)

This year I've been to Europe twice, if we don't count that I started the year here already, and my plan is to continue traveling twice a year here: once in winter, which is my favorite season of the year, and once in spring. I don't travel to Europe in summer, because the heat of the summer is intolerable. In Spring, however, I was totally well. I guess that type of weather is closer to what I'm more used to, so I'm better prepared, but still, I don't want to give up winters. So, what should I start to do different to make sure my stays here are better? The things that are expected are: regular medical check ups, keep my vaccines always updated, always be punctual with my meds, though I actually don't take any regular medication right now.

Other things that come to mind always include improve nutrition with more fresh, natural, home made foods, maybe even include superfoods in my diet, though I'm not very fond of those. More exercise and all that, and all that is good, but... I live most of the year in a tropical country, and I come to spend holidays in the winter of Europe, so I suspect that there is a part of all of this that no amount of great nutrition and exercise is going to help me with. Shall I go with supplements? This things keep me thinking.

Then there is the other part of the question: how much will this cost me.

My whole budget plan for 2026 is already planned out, and tweaking it at this point is already quite complicated. My budget is really tight. There is a fund of health, and though I always make my best to get my health matters covered by the Social Security, I'm not sure how much out of pocket money would a potentially extended plan require. These are things I still have to think about.

Starting the New Year

This year has started with a lot of different things of a lot of different natures. For once, for the first time in a long, long time, I actually passed out drinking for New Years. At a friend's place. Friend who is a priest and lives in a church. It was a strange case, because I did black out, but from the amount of drinks I had before I passed out, there is no way in hell I would normally pass out. To put it in another light, I passed out from an amount that would normally not even get me tipsy. Why? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. As result of this unfortunate event, I spend a couple of days feeling sick and weak. One whole day of really fucked up hangover, and then a couple more of days feeling like food and I might not be best friends at the moment.

Quite soon after, though, I had a trip to Germany - specifically to Essen - to visit my friend Tina. It's always so good to see Tina :-)

Also, for a little while now, I've been thinking about getting a tattoo. You see, I had this "witch" tattoo done last year with henna, and it felt so right, so me, that I had to have it done permanently. I wasn't sure where I wanted to have the tattoo done - as in which tattoo parlor - and to be honest, I don't really know any reputable ones close to where I live. So I asked Tina - since she has some ink work - and she helped me get an appointment to a place in Essen. That in itself was also quite chaotic, as the original place in Düssedorf wasn't replying to our request for a speedy appointment, and then another one in Essen - Art Faktor - was also at odds.

Property of Stormberry

Before flying to Essen, I had spoked to my dear friend Jules, who turns out also was going to get his first tattoo done (on January 5th), and told me to talk to his tattoo artist, and maybe get an appointment by the end of January, since they are also quite booked. The day I flew to Essen, Tina got my appointment for the next day (January 5th), and so all was set in motion. We went to the tattoo parlor - Lebenslänglich - where I met my artist, Charly. I was nervous, a little bit, but Charly was really nice and insisted that I should have the tattoo only if I really wanted it. I did wanted it, but I was somewhat worried about the price - which was much higher than what I would have had to pay in Budapest - and then it also worried me that the original size I wanted wasn't really doable because it was too small. Another tattoo or another placement was out of the question for me: I wanted that tattoo, in that place. Charly then did some size tries, and we've got the perfect size that would still be covered by my fitbit.

Property of Stormberry

We actually went to the tattoo parlor the day I arrived because we were asked to leave some deposit, which in my case amounted to half the price of my tattoo. This was a good thing, because then I've got to meet Charly previously and was made feel comfortable.

The next day I was excited and nervous. Would it hurt? Would it hurt too much? Would it be good? Would I develop some strange reaction? It did hurt, but it wasn't anything bad at all. Some parts hurt more than others, some were barely registered as a sort of "spicy pressure" and that was was. I actually bled some, which wasn't really supposed to happen - and Charly asked me if, in spite of the instructions given to me, I had some alcohol or coffee. I had none. Some of the parts I found quite funny was that the ink seemed to splater at some points. Turns out, that was because I was bleeding. First I wasn't concerned at all: I have a lot of blood, so a few drops don't bother me, except that Charly said that the problem with bleeding could be that I bled out the ink, so the work could be ruined. Awesome. There I started to worry just a bit.

Property of Stormberry

My tattoo is still fresh, and it's still getting a scab, so we still have to wait, but I hope it will set nicely.

The tattoo in itself isn't an original design, but it is the one I wanted on my wrist. I choose also the position so that it can be easily hidden with a piece of accessory I'm already very acostumed to use. I'm not a Millenial, thus I do am used to wearing watches. As it is, I actually have to wear them not only because I am used to checking time on my wrist, but also because I have a suntan band on it, and the straps have always changed a bit the shape of it.

Now, I like that I feel there are secrets behind this marker of my generation, that we are more than the last Watch-Wearers, but that out generation, our world, our culture goes deeper than the surface of our skins.

The Road so Far

Starbucks at MOM Park
Picture by stormberry

A few days ago I was thinking about blogging (FINALLY!!) on a the subject of relationship - again - and how in some cases people seems perfectly happy blaming others for what's basically their own fault or their own dysfunction. Of course, by now you are all very smart little peas and you are aware that every time I talk about something is because something has happened around me, or something made me aware of that particular subject. Then again, I don't mind you, Lovely Nameless Unheard Of Readers, knowing about those things because you and I will never, ever meet in real life, right? Except that... I almost told someone who knows me in Real Life about this blog, and THEN I had to stop myself and think about it. And this person and their entourage tend to read into everything, and so, that gave me pause. Shall I express myself here, or shall I wait? You see, this is the good thing about a journal: you don't have to wait because it's private and every single thought can go in there, untreated, unfiltered, pure and raw.

We are already past the middle of the year now, and as I hurried to read what could be read in my blog - previous to consider sharing it with that person I mentioned earlier - I found a post where I expressed my goals and wishes for this year. Oh, how we dream in January, only to look back in August and say "Well, that's a wish you can recycle because ain't no gonna happen this year". Thus, though I really wanted to go back to archery, that shall be postponed because my time is otherwise occupied. The idea of goig to yoga was nice... it's just that I'm not really feeling it. You know what I mean? I'm not really there. Also have planned on oing back to the 90 Minutos PowerAde free fitness program, and that didn't happen either. So what had happened?

2017 has been the year of the Study. I advanced in German all the way to B1C, which I'm coursing now, at the end of which I'm supposed to do the B1 Zertifikat test, and pass it if I want to continue to take B2 classes. B1 is supposed to be the "intermediate level". You know, where you are still not a pro but you already can understand well and express yourself well. Yeah, not my case. I've been studying German for a year and a half now, and I feel like I don't know anything! I was surer expressing myself when I was in the beginners levels. It's so not fun.

I also finally managed to enroll into Service Marketing, which is one of the last 3 subjects I must complete to finish the Marketing Career. IF the program doesn't change before I can properly enter the career and do my thesis. The class has had some minor complications, as I had to submit some homework and papers and was supposed to do so persomally, but then I had this three week trip to Hungary in summer that cut into it. Thanks the gods, the teacher knows me from other courses I've taken and we are in good terms, so he let me submit my papers by e-mail. It was quite an adventure, because I spent part of my vacations working on that paper. In the end, it came out just perfect.

At the same time, I've got into the Directed Investigation course for Finance, which is basically one of two semester classes I must take during which I write my Finance Thesis. Dear gods of old, this is happening too! I pray all goes well with this. It feels so big to be here again, writing a thesis and getting ready to finish yet another cycle of studies in my life. I'm overwhelmed.

In this light, I believe it's easy to understand why I haven't kept up either with my Letter Writing Mondays. I want to, I'd like to, but I'm not sure I can afford it with all the things currently looming over me. I've been thinking about giving it a forgiving twist, make it at home, a couple of hours, so that I can still study a little and not feel so pressed, but it's not easy, I must say. Letters slowly accumulate again, and I don't want to be in that same spot again. Time management sometimes is complicated.

The trip to Hungary... well, maybe I'll talk about that some other time. I mean, it was good, and I didn't spend much tme in Hungary per se. I went to Vienna, because I always do, and then went to Essen to visit my friend and then went to Amsterdam with them and it was beautiful. Of course, things can't be perfect, so I developped an allergy the likes of which I have not had in ten years, coughing my voice raw, getting a dripping nose, coughing until nearly suffocating myself... and then an unsightly case of dropping blood pressure. I felt so bad for my friend! Hope they don't think it's on them, or that I'm some ailing old lady.

Hungary and Austria were awful. The temperature was between 30°C and 40°C around the clock. Heat and I don't get along very well. I even got a rush from the allergy on my face! It was hell on earth. Not fun.

Back in Costa Rica, I met with my friend Li for a coffee, and I noticed her very changed. My goodness, she looked so thin and young! I was so surprised I couldn't stop admiring her. Yes, she is doing better, claiming her life back, checking what she eats (she has sworn off carbs), and she has started putting on make up. Wow, I though, I shall try my hand at that! And so I have been, playing around with some BB cream and CC cream (because I still don't feel very comfortable with foundation), and trying to give myself the winged eyeline of Rowena, from Supernatural. What can I say? I'm not girly, I'm a witch and proud of being so.

On Wild Dreams and Wishes

Lately I'm struggling to get a good grasp on the reigns of my life. After the last post, I still went on considering these things that are changing and need to be changed in my life. In a way it's like living in the center of a flower and that flower now is blooming, and though the blooing is good, the very opening of the petals fills you with the feeling that not everything can be controlled, and if you know me, you know that I always need to be on top of my business.

AT WORK I'm getting pretty much on top of things, though I recently realized that some details may have slipped last time, which are no biggies, really - nothing that can't be fixed and nothing really, that can't be written of as an honest, human mistake (I may have not sent the last updated file, which is odd and makes me doubt my files, because I'm so anal about that). Regarding the changes I've been thinking about (and this odd slip also gets me thinking more about the need to move, how my brain isn't happy with my current work and might be acting up on me), I had it on good source that I may want to wait a little more as big changes are to be made and it wouldn't be convenient for me to be caught between the moving forces and politics. The "agression" have been waving, truth to be told. One day hot, then there's a piercing icicle here and there, spicing the days. One of the arguments I hear the most about not making the move go about the concept of the "integral professional". This "Integral Professional" is the kind of professional that knows about many fields, not just one, specialized area.

Personally I'm a bit more old-school in this sense and prefer a different approach as to what makes a professional or a scientist a good professional/scientist. I don't think that "knowing about everything" is actually good, specially not the way it's usually managed around: the professional that tries their hand at everything, regardless of their studies. Yes, stepping outside your field is good and enriching, as long as you do it with the purpose of adding to your field. However, trying this and that, getting a feel of the ropes and gathering a whole bunch of information without an actual, deep knowledge (the type you get at the University), doesn't really add up to anything.

I know I'm needed here, but this is no longer the place where I could grow professionally within the line of my field.

AT UNIVERSITY I had some of the hardest, most brutal weeks recently. Though this four-month period (the University  works on four-month periods, not on semesters) I've taken only two subjects (I wanted to take more, but not all the subjects I wanted to enroll for were being offered, and some got filled quite fast), the amount of homeworks, forums, virtual activities and then final papers had me crashing down. Not to mention the tests. It doesn't help either that the level of chaos among teachers is simple appaling. You couldn't possibly get on track with most of the work even if you wanted to, when the teachers upload material and instructions late.

Thanks Hyne we had off the whole Holy Week, (the week before Easter), because that way I could use all those days to get THREE homeworks and the FINAL PAPER done. Oh, are you doing the maths and thinking, how can you have for one week four things to do for two subjects? It's called "lack of organization".

I'm only 5 subjects and a final seminar away from my Accounting diploma. Just what remains of this year and the next.

The sad thing is that I'm actually considering the possibility of continuing and getting my Finance and my Marketing diplomas. Well, Finance first, if I get through Accounting and don't end up too traumatized.

ABOUT MY PENPALS, I'm still on record as the most hideous penpal of history. I'm carrying their letters, but can't really get to write to them.  I read their letters, speak to them in my head, but when I were to land it on paper I'm overcome with guilt because "I should be studying" or working or something of the sort. And when I do have the time, my brain seems so void, like I can't even spoon a single word, a single sentiment to tell them.

Girls, I haven't forgotten you, I'm just going through a crappy momentum.

AT MY PERSONAL LIFE things are sort of split. Generally they are well. Good friends, plenty of series, loving boyfriend, but there's also this thing about what would our future bring and whether there is actually a future somewhere in there. I like to have definition, but then there are things that can't be defined as clearly and perfectly as I like them to be. Thus there's a big haze right now in the box that says "INSERT LOVE LIFE FUTURE HERE".

For sometime I had all this questions in my head, whether this was going anywhere, whether this is healthy, whether this is what I want, whether this will actually become a long term thing or if this is the moment when the thread breaks and things come to an end. I needed to know in order to prepare for any and every possible outcome. Then I realized something important: I don't actually put my whole life on hold for a relationship. Kari has his agenda, and his issues to sort out. I don't have to sit put and wait, but carry on, and so, now I carry on. Honestly, my life is so full of all sorts of things, that the last thing I need is to worry about things I can't change. Eventually something will come out. I put my cards on the table, but the ball is on his court, and there I can't do a thing.

As result of all that, at one point there I decided that I need a break, I want a break, I CRAVE a break, and so a crazy idea started to form: I want to take a trip to Salem, Massachusetts (yes, the Salem of the Witches of Salem). It started like a wild thought that you may not think all so seriously, like "oh, if I do this I'll award myself with five gallons of ice cream". However, the thought stuck with me and I started considering it more and more and more, until I found myself making plans, researching, looking at prices and fares and drafting up a potential budget. I do want to go to Salem!

Yes, I'm currently saving quite hard to buy a house or an appartment - we shall see when we get to that point - and I have other expenses, including my car related expenses and my University related expenses - which don't come cheap - so squeezing in a trip to Salem might not come without effort, but now this is giving me something to look forward, to do, to dream with. It would be actually much longer than my not-Hungary related trips (the average period of most of my trips is 3 days), for I plan on staying a week. For Halloween. Ok, must make sure that I won't have any tests programmed for that week, but I do want to do this, I do want to make this trip, finally go to the States for the first time in my life and get myself a break. I can do it, right? It's ok to dream this big, right?

Trip to Bratislava

Yes, this post was due a couple of days ago, but if you go to Bratislava, you will understand why I had taken me this long to write. I actually started to write the entry in my Blackberry, but later on I realized I have no idea how to upload things from my Blackberry to my computer. Indeed, smarphones are too smart for dumb people like me. And they are not helpful. Predictive features? Yeah, not for the smartphones. You seem to need a PhD on Artificial Intelligence so that you are worthy of interacting with them. (Okay, I know my BB wants me to sign up and do all this "protocol" so things can get synched up, but I would love if it would have done the simple stuff without all that electronical or digital red tape.) I'm currently at my favotite place in the world, about to run out of battery in my laptop, while nursing my second Black Magic. Boy, this cocktail should be available everywhere in the planet!

But back to Bratislava. Oh, and prior warner, this post won't be as complete and fabulous as the ones my friend Trish usually does. She's an expert in traveling, and I am not, so bare with me.

Anyway, in order to celebrate our aniversary - kinda, because everything was booked for New Year - my boyfriend and I decided to go spend three days (the usual extent of our holidays, as I tend to get bored too fast) in Bratislava. We did had other options in mind, but when it came to deciding on the destination, Bratislava was not only the most affortable, but also  the best place, considering that it wouldn't mean an extenuating trip, such as Munchen would have... which was the place I really, really wanted to go to (because Meise is too far, and I would have spend all my time with a friend of mine and not my boyfriend, and that wasn't the point of it). Neither of us knew much about Bratislava, so I did some research to know what was there to be seen, and quickly found something that caught my attention: the Grassalkovich Castle. By itselt if may say nothing to you, but for me - having visited the Royal Castle of Gödöllő more times than I care to count, I knew it was a castle that had been built by the noble family that had built the castle that later became one of the favorite places of Empress Sissi. So yes, I had to go there and see it.

Our trips usually don't involve much planning, as we go, get to the hotel, and either start with a nice, refreshing bubble bath or raiding the minibar (that would be me, of course). However I knew I wanted to go and see the Castle. And next time we did. Yeah... don't make that same mistake. The Castle seems to be the private residence of the President of Slovakia, so it's not open for the public, though they nicely fill the streets with informative signs telling you how really beautiful it is inside. Too bad you can't go in and see it.

Well, there are really nice churches, but they are all very, very small. Much like the churches in Sofia. Very ornated but only one small room, that would hardly make 20 square meters, to my rough calculations. You enter, pivot, exit, and you have seen the whole thing.

There is the Hrad Castle, a nice place where the ticket must be paid in cash, and the lady tending the cashier is really pissed at all the tourists. The walk to the castle is quite easy to be made, you can walk it in 20 minutes comfortably, going pretty much around the hill. Through the walk you notice that there's hardly anyone on the streets. Where are the Slovakians in the middle of the day? Not many cars and nrealy no people. Stores are empty as well, and many are strangely luxurious, like too luxurious to belong there, do you know what I mean? Like finding a Carolina Herrera store in a University District: it doesn't mean that there won't be people there with enough money to buy stuff in there, but rather it's not the place for such a store. To be more specific, you really don't expect to see a high fashion shoestore, with shoes that normal people would hardly use or even think of spending on right next to a Tesco or a Spar (or a Walmart, in American terms). Now you get what I mean? It was down right off.

But let's go back to the Hrad Castle. This castle is quite nicely mounted on top of a hill that looks over the Danube and Bratislava, getting quite a magical air through the day, either hued by the hazy lights of dusk and dawn, or sparkling in the crips light of broad daylight. If you are a silly Western child like me and you thought you could pay the entrance with a card, then don't sweat it - there's an ATM 50 meters down the road from the main entrance. But what do you get for your 6€? Well, three floors of... um. Well, there's one floor with big photo signs telling the history of the castle and also a little bit of Slovakia. There's like half a floor dedicated to historical documents where you can see all sorts of old, preserved documents, including old books and certificates (like wanderer certificates) complete with their many hanging seals. Then there's a floor with portraits of a whole bunch of people. Nothing but portraits, and then there's another floor dedicated to an exposition called "How time is measured" and includes calendars and all sorts of devices and old clocks. For many people, this part of the exposition could be terribly boring, but for a filofax enthusiast it's kind of exciting to check these old calendars, and wonder abotu what life could have been in those days when calendars didn't really had any space for you to write down any appointments. No to-do lists, no sections, no alarms set, no deadlines written in, no days divided in hours, no decisions about whether you need a "page per day" or a "week on two pages" to be able to keep all things going on in your life organized.

Then there was an exposition I didn't understand very well. It showed a collection of things, but non of them belonged to the castle or even to Slovakia, or there was any particular explanation at what they did there.

The souvenir store had nothing that would relate particularly to the Castle, save for some magnets, which I sadly lost somewhere. There aren't many souvenir stores, but even in then you hardly see much "typically Slovakian" stuff. Yes, you can get the t-shirt and the postcards, but if you wanted to get some embroidery, dolls dressed in typical costumes, or anything you could call "traditionally Slovakian" you would be looking for a long, looooooong time.

However, one GREAT thing that needs to be acknowledged is the food. Yes, it could be pretty much German, or quite Austrian or even very Hungarian, but their cuisine is FA-BU-LOUS! It's one million calories packed into a hearty meal, it's two years of severe dieting, but it worths it!

Bacon, sour cream, sheep cheese, handmade noodles, it's too delicious for words. And you'll need to bring a friend to help you eat the portions they serve you! So be warned, NEVER enter a Slovakian restaurant alone! This is a battle of Man vs Food where Food will always win, unless Man comes with reinforcements. And not only it never looks little  - it's almost as if a nuclear cuisine sized portion would be considered a national offense - but it doesn't matter how big the dish looks like, when you eat it you realized it's far bigger! For instance, we tried a dish of "samples". Samples won, because the two of us couldn't battle with it! But it was delicious :-D

So, what to do, what to go see in Bratislava? Well, try and find out how the tramways and trolley buses work, and tell us about it, because we couldn't figure them out. Also, go, look around, walk a lot and prepare all day for food.

Trip To Cuba

It's been a while since I haven't posted every day, and it felt strange not to do it - I mean, not posting every day - but I survived it! Wow! That was something! But now I'm back, vacations are over, and even my personal mail is up to a lot, which is unsettling for me, as I like to see all of my mailboxes empty... except of my real life mailbox, where my letters arrive. But anyway, shall we get this show on the road?

As you know, my boyfriend and I spent a few days in Cuba, a place where none of us had gone before. Cuba was a destination interesting for him, as he wanted to see what did it look like, being one of the last remaining Socialist countries in the world. I must admit that Cuba wasn't really a destination that would attract me much, though I do have read some about it and their economical system does intrigue me a lot. Now, I won't get on much details about the travel as I'm really not good at it. You should as my friend Trish, Aileen or Arjen to give you a fabulous recount of a trip. Instead I'll tell you about what I noticed, the things you should be aware of, what you are told and what really goes on. But just for formalities, this was our trip: we arrived to Cuba on Thursday afternoon, got picked up by the transfer we requested, got to the hotel, next day paid a tour at the touristic places of Havana, including a stop at the Cigar Factory, Romeo y Julieta. Then on Saturday we got a trip to Varadero, a fabulous beach 2 or 3 hours away from Havana, then on Sunday woke up freaking early (like 0:45, yes) and caught our flight back to Costa Rica.

Any thing else... we stayed at a Meliá hotel, and used the transfer and touring services in Cuba of a company called Solways.

Now, can I tell you what I meant to tell you? Good.

First of all, if you go there you should know that there's a very, very high chance that your credit and debit cards won't work there, even if you have checked previously. That's because they can't process any type of card which issuing bank or financial entity has any type of connection with the United States. Why? What the hell do you care? It doesn't work. Period. So, if you plan on going - and you should - take cash, though never any amount over US$5000 or you'll have to declare it. Also, don't take American Dollars. They can take them, but the conversion rate is very low, and allegedly - I've no actual data about this - you must pay some extra fee, so you'll end up getting much, much less. Take Euros, those are accepted just fine.

I'm not very good at making reservations for travels, as I basically leave it all in the capable hands of my favorite airlines and Booking.com, however with Cuba you won't find much on this last site. I remembered that I had a membership card for the Meliá hotel's, so I went on it's website and found myself our hotel, and it worked fine. Note of advise: the site took my credit card when I reserved the hotel, since that was managed globally, BUT at the hotel in Cuba they couldn't process it, so just because ut works on the site, it doesn't mean it will work on the hotel. So please, take cash! Listen to me! A good way to know how much you might need is to take the amount of what you're paying for the hotel, multiply it by two and round it up. That's the amount of cash you should take.

Now, one thing we almost always hear about Cuba is how poor it is, how people live in dire conditions, and you may have also heard how they would pest you on the streets begging, asking even for your toothbrush and whatever remaining soap, handcream or old flip flops you can give them. Well, I don't know what sort of Cuba others have gone, but I experienced none of this. We had three cases of people begging, but none of them were really insistent, and actually were quite discreet. This was very, very different than Dominican Republic, where beggers followed you up to two block and wouldn't get a no for an answer. Part of the reason for this - one of our tourist guides later explained to us - is that beggers are forbiden in Cuba. For instance, if a child is caught begging, they will arrest the parents and take away their child. Streets are also full of cops, so there's nothing to be worried about. It is a good idea, though, not to go out after dark, basically because the city is very poorly iluminated, but your chances of being mugged are small.

There's a sort of culture of not giving recipes, which is very unsettling, so whatever you order, you must always make sure you know the prices (and all prices have taxes included, or at least I haven't seen a single menu which would indicate that taxes are not included), and add them up. Why? Because it might happen - specially at the bars of the hotels - that the waiters may try to charge you more. These "overcharges" go around one and two CUC (convertible peso. One Euro buys 1,27 CUC, so you do the maths from here on). So you might say that that's less than an Euro, or not even two, but if you multiply it for every time you go out to eat or have a drink, it becomes a lot, and when you don't have your card at your disposition, you have limited cash AND you remember that you need to pay 25 CUC per person to leave Cuba, then yes, it might add up and become quite an amount.

Now, not all of them are like that, and actually, even though they really need the tips to make ends meet, they can give you amazing examples of honesty. Some of them even go as far as to correct the coworker who's trying to charge you more. On the street they are quite honest with you, and wouldn't even try to either charge you more or keep the change. In any case, if you want to make sure not to be charged more - and thus feel well by choosing to tip them according to your liking - then write down what you consume, and what you ask for the bill you say something in the line of "I'd like the bill, it's #CUC, right?". If they say another number, ask for the written bill.

In some hotels - like the one were we stayed - the lobby becomes full of "high end whores". Some are very evident, and others couldn't be more obvious even if they had a t-shirt on that said "sex for money". It gets even more disturbing when they have a sort of agreement with, say, a bartender or a waiter, who makes sure to keep their sopts free, and place all of their orders before you, even if you have ordered a simple beer or a mojito  30 minutes ago.

To understand a little bit more this behavior, you must understand Cuba and its circumstances better, however if I explain it to you this post would strech eternally, and we won't want that, so I'll do my best to summarize as much as I can, but if you are interested, you'll have to investigate on your own.

Cuba has had a very particular history, much of which has been often greatly distorted by some, or at least told leaving out the parts that don't agree with the point of view of one or another part. Most Cubans, however, who live in the Island, are okay with the current regime, and you can hear them refer to the change of regime, and Fidel Castro's coming to power as "the triumph of the Revolution". You may agree or you may not, but what you have to understand is that this is their view, this is how they live and you must respect that at all times. I say this because it doesn't matter how evident it is, you can still find idiots - like two Spanish women we met - who go as far as call everything Cubans do and strive for to be bad or even "shit", and claim that the current president of the country, Mr. Raul Castro, or his brother, Mr. Fidel Castro isn't the "real president of Cuba, but Batista", the president that was deposed with the triumph of the Revolution.

Cuba is beautiful and there are many squares and parks and buildings of astonishing beauty. There are also other architectural structures that are amazing, which were build before the triumph of the Revolution. Cuba was then a land of dreams for foreigners with money, but many Cubans lived in dire conditions. After the triumph of the Revolution (out of respect, I prefer to used the same term Cubans use, which I heard them use), foreigners and the most powerful Cuban families left the country and their properties (you can't just pack a house, now can you), and the new Government took posession of those buildings turning them into Administrative buildings, for the smaller ones, or making hospitals, schools or houses for the people. Many buildings in the city have deteriorated, but others are being restored.

Wages in Cuba are low, with the salary of a physician being the highest, and which goes around 35 CUC. After the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the subsequent withdrawl of the support it gave to Cuba, the country started having a lot of issues, specially due to the embargo it has, which keeps them from having commercial relationships with the United States and many countries who are political or economical partners of it. When you consider that nearly all of the American countries depend on their commercial relationship with the United States, you certainly can see the bleak perspective Cuba had to make money out of trade. So they did what they could.

When the support disappeared, they decided to open to International Tourism. At this time they came up with a currency that foreigners would use - the CUC. Slowly all prices were given in CUC, and these matched European prices. Shoes, for instance, can go up to 60 CUC, so even a doctor would have to save for a while to buy them. Sounds harsh, right? Then, there's an ice cream parlor in Havana, were people stand in long lines because it's the only place where they can buy icecream with local money. The Cuban Peso worths less than the CUC. One CUC costs them about 20 local pesos.

At the same time, the majority of the houses are provided by the Government. There aren't all that many - you can't really see new housing projects being built - so the housing units are passed throught the families. They pay no rent, no tax, and nobody takes it away from them. All they pay are the amenities, which are basically electrical power and water. Houses don't have Internet, only hotels and a few companies. Even there, Internet has a speed of 15 kbps... sort of.

The Government also makes available for all Cubans a Basic Basket of Staples, which costs them nearly nothing, and both healthcare and education are completely free. They have the best medical service, and even the medications are all for free for them. Regarding education, they must study up until they are 14, but they can continue studying and go to the University. University is also for free, however only those who pass the admission tests. This way only those who would really study, who really have the passion for a given career get into it.

So, at the end of the day, we have a nation with people who have needs, who can't pay for luxuries, and can't afford things many of us consider basic parts of our lives, but they have all they need so that no one lives in misery.

They've got me thinking. You see, yes, there's these people who's strugling and are even willing to do things that aren't exactly right or moral to get what they want, but there's also other people who struggle with what they have, even in the most dire conditions, with the world against them, and they remain honest and make things work. Some are able to see the greater good, some don't want to take from others because their life is hard, and assume that others have it easy and must pay for them. Some acknowledge their limitations, but know also how to count their blessings. These are the people I admire.

Do we really need to buy shoes every week, and have the latest mobile phone? As a matter of fact, no. What would happen if we were to concentrate only on what we really need? If we were able to say "enough" and not fall prey of marketing? Maybe we would be able to appreciate the actual, real world that surround us. Maybe we would be able to stop our prejudices and be better people. There are many chances, and I'd like to see if I can try some of those out.

Another 2013 Resolution: I want to become more sensible, more rational about my expenses, and find my basics, what I really need, and cut off all the unnecesary excesses of my life.

When Your Opinion Matters Too Much To Others

More and more things are getting settled for our trip to Cuba. My boyfriend is already making his own research about our destination, reading blogs and travelogs to know more and be better prepared to make the most out of it. Isn't that exciting? ^_^ All we have left now is packing and then the things that can only be taken care of at the Airport and then at Cuba. I can't wait to taste a real Mojito! ^_^

I've also finished replying to another letter for a friend, so it seems very much like I'll be able to pull my End-of-the-Year purpose it time. ^_^ I don't gte tired telling you how wonderful all of my friends are. Today I woke up at 7 am and was replying to this letter for about 10 hours, which anyone into penpalling can understand very well. Some letters can take you maybe 4 hours, others 10, 12 and some take you several days. It just depends on the topics and how much some topics pull out of you. (And it also depends on how word-efficient are you.) My Mom saw me sitting at the dining table writing for hours (my boyfriend was occupying my desk) and asked me why did I bother so much, why didn't I just cut it short and reply only on a few pages, rather than writing what seemed to her as a novel. I told her that I don't mind it, I love it, and my only concern is that after some hours my fingers start hurting and cramp up.

Penpalling is a rather time consuming hobby, even though you often have to wait for long periods of time to get a reply. It's not really something you can program like "penpalling every Saturday from 9 am to 11 am", and this is why selecting your penpals and often being able to say "no" or "let's not be penpals anymore" is so important. One of the biggest nightmares of most penpals is to meet people who demand too much from them or make a fuss about being dropped. Why they do it isn't something we can say for certain, but most agree that it's a case where these people expect to get their self-esteem shots from you. They need to get validation from their peers, and any rejection or ignoring is taken as a personal offense, even if you don't mean it that way.This is the people who would try to pick a fight with your or make you feel bad because you haven't replied to them immediatelly (even if you are writing to them from Norway and they live in... the Southest corner of Argentina). Some would also react badly if they request to be your penpals and you tell them that you are not taking new penpals. For those how have many penpals (20 or more) this is one of the most common issues. In a way it's good to find of these things from the begining, as some people don't really get it that their pals, or people at another part of the world may have a life that doesn't involve replying to their letters and messages.

This type of behavior happens also among people who are not penpals. Needy people is everywhere, people who expect you to give them what they won't give themselves "love". I've met people who live really disasterous lives, full of issues of all shapes and sizes, and often stuff that's rather easy to fix if you only strap a pair and do the right thing, for instance people who suffer because the neighbour of a friend they rarely visit, refuse to acknowledge them and greet them when they see them (this is a real trouble for someone I know!). My advise in this case is "give it a fuck" but for some people that's not a solution. Others load off all their troubles on you, and when you give them your point of view (you are a friend, not a psychologist, so if they tell you something, you might safely assume that it's because they want your p.o.v.), then they react badly if you do not reinforce their precoincived ideas. It made me laugh when someone posted a message that basically said "you are not an expert about my life". Well, whomever you are talking to might not be an expert, but honestly, Honey, neither are you.

Where am I getting with this? Well, for once, when you put your whole life out for others to judge, when you depend on the opinions other have of you, get ready, because you won't get only praises and positive thoughts. If you share your things, you will get things also in return. If you want to unload and receive no feedback, write a journal. Paper doesn't talk back, has no opinions, people do. Finally, the opinion that should matter to you is yours. You can get a second opinion, but that's not a sentence or something that breaks you or makes you, that's only up to you. People have as much power over you as you allow them to have it, so learn to give every comment its proper place. Bad critics are just opinions, just like good critics, so take them for what they are. And also, a rejection isn't a personal offense, it's just a rejection, so don't take it personally. You also reject and you have the right to reject too.

Be happy, find your own happiness and just be free.

Rushing It!

Is this Tuesday really? Oh Hell, it looks like "I don't know what"!

It started early with a rush to the gas station to pump some gas into Sookie. I went to my usual gas station since I like the service there, but the service is less than awesome in the wee hours of the morning. Yep, nothing like rushing to work and waiting for an incompetent worker who rather chats than pumps, and who forgets where she put the cap of the gas tank. From there I had to rush to the office - even if I left with plenty of time to drive peacefully and make it early - and made it just in time. Then somehow that stuck to my day.

I was having problems with the plane ticket and the reservation for our Surprise Trip - as you already know - and was worried the problem was with my credit card. So I called my boyfriend, and he told me - on another matters - that he would have to reschedule his flight for next week. Bummer :-(. But then again, at least he's still coming, so I'm still happy about it! Then on second thought, that way I won't have any problem going to a Wiccan Encounter with my friends Marcy and Mary Elle. I'm really looking forward to it, and it might have been a bit complicated with Kari, since the whole thing is in Spanish, he's not into Pagan stuff, and would have not understood my friends, even if they speak English. But above all, he would have been bored. So now my going to the event is fully confirmed. :-) Hn, then that might mean that I'll skip yoga, but there's yoga every Sunday, and this is the first Wiccan Encounter I'll attend to, and I'm excited about the things I can learn an maybe the contacts I can make. Wish Muslims, Buddhists and Jewish would do the same so I could collect information about their view of the world as well. ^_^ Yay! Excited!

From there job started POURING on me. Literally. POURING! The expected information for two different and rather big projects came in today, but I couldn't give them my full attention because there was yet another BIG Instant Project that had to be done in the best Action Movie fashion: "You have three hours to solve this murder, Trigger!". Boss asked, so I worked through it, even cut my lunch time to 20 minutes... including the climbing up and down over ten flights. But that was done! And in the mean time I worked one of the big projects. Left the office with 1.5 projects to work on for tomorrow.

In the meantime I called the Airline company and then my bank and there's nothing wrong either with the airline's website or my card. Yeah, except that NOBODY told me that the "local currency" button on the webpage doesn't WORK! Things went dandy the moment I opted for American Dollars. Bottom line, the card was fine, the Bank is SUPER, and sorry, but the website is less than perfect.

I went home, but just before it, I went to the Post Office where my P.O.Box was stuffed with letters! One of my penpals will be happy to know that her bulky and purposefully uninteresting letter arrived quickly! I think that's the trick: make your letters look like you are sending boring academic papers, or tests or xeroxed notes for a "Trascendental Philosohy" class or anything that's likely to be printed in tiny letters, big, thick paragraphs and no pictures. Then decided to give myself the last "Great Drink of the Week" of my List of 13.

Once home I did some checking pertaining some specifics about the destination, and went on reserving the hotel. There I had a pleasant surprise. I'm checking with a particular hotel chain, and from the options I had been checking suddenly the best option became available for my budget, so I clicked away. Oh, I wished I could tell my boyfriend about it... but that would ruin the surprise.

I pulled my filofax out - which I don't keep in my purse yet, because it's not 2013 yet - and filled in the details of the flights, the hotel, things that need to be taken care of prior to the flight and some ideas of where to go  visiting. Notes piled up, and my first week is already full. I need something to arrange that, as I have day slots blocked already with all the things to do - which aren't all that much! - and then there are post its and clipped up pieces of paper all over with reminders. Wow. I love my filofax! ^_^ And I am definitively making a video of it. :-)

It was a rush, things went really fast... and I loved that rush! ^_^ I love my job and I ADORE my life!

Plans

I'm going on a worktrip tomorrow. Me. A real, actual worktrip and not one of those trips HHRR comes up with that have only an educational intention. Excited? Hn, I don't know, truth to be told. More scared than anything, I guess. The trip is rather far, and since we are going by car, we'll have to leave from the office at 5 a.m. Add to it, I'll be coming back at night. LATE at night. And still have to come work on Friday. Yupi.

Hitting bed early tonight? Not likely, as I signed up for a conference about the role of auditoring in money laundring. That ought to be exciting! Now, now, don't you get excited thinking I'll learn new techniques of money laundring, no, that's not the point. Hopefully, though, it won't be a flat conference sayings something like "the role of auditoring in money laundring is to prevent money laundring, so auditors must be very careful and check everything, within the law". Oh, you'd be surprised about the hability of some to delude this plain sentence into a one hour speech!

Yesterday I was supposed to go watch Skyfall again. I didn't. I had the time, I had the means, I had the opportunity, but I didn't feel like it. I had actually rented "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", so I watched him play a Swedish investigative journalist. Did you know that I still haven't read this book? And I have it! I just always find something else to read. Anyway, I swapped some suave, sexually playful 007-Daniel Craig for a more human, troubled relationship-wise, thinner, softer around the ages journalist-Daniel Craig. And I kept wishing to hear him - him actually, not dubbing! - speak in Swedish. Not like I would understand a word, but I would have loved to hear him speak Swedish!

I've other movies to watch, such as Margin Call, Magic Mike (though I might skip that, suddenly), and something called "Perfect Student". Have no idea what's it about or why on Earth have I picked it. Well, if I get home not-too-late, then I'll watch Margin Call tonight, so on Friday I can watch that student thing, and then on Saturday either watch Magic Mike or return the whole thing and hit the movies for some more Skyfall. Or shall I lay off Skyfall and go pick something else from D. Craig?

Oh well, I'll leave my suggestions in my planner, and think about them later. ^_^

Back at the Office

Well, here we are, once again, and as expected, I had to rush like hell to the office because I woke up freaking late. And when I say freaking late I mean that I woke up when I was suposed to leave the office. Thanks to this I made an important scientific discovery, namely, that there's no better way to get fully awayke fast than to realize you are fucking late to school/work/catch a train-plane-bus/any other absolutely important activity linked to time. Of course, maybe my empirical evidence isn't enough, so if there's any volunteer out there willing to take the bullet in the name of the science, we would appreciate it.

Then, after six months, I sat in my car again, and loved it! I love my car sooooo much! Sookie is, indeed the best car in the whole wide planet (though I must admit that I really loved the Volkswagen Polo we rented in Helsinki ^_^). I did notice, however that the steering wheel was quite hard to maneuver. Was it always like this and I never noticed it before, or has my dad done something to it which got it like that? I mean, yes, it isn't a hidraulic steering wheel, but it wasn't that muscle bursting. Anyway, since I was late, I had to step into the gas and drive like a maniac -  which I am not - pushing my driving to 80 kmph, instead of my regular 60 kmph. It had trouble trying to shift into 5th, it kinda didn't get in gear, which was really weird, because my Sookie is butter soft in the gear shifting.

The streets in Costa Rica were also different, particularly the width of the lanes. I realized that indeed in Hungary the lanes are at least 33% narrower to those we get in here. My car is small, I know, but finally I felt like I fit into the lane, instead of feeling like I have to do precision driving worried that I may go scratching the many new cars that pack up the streets of Budapest. No excess of traffic signs, so I only have to pay attention to two or three signs when most, instead of millions of them, all arranged in weird symbols that aren't easy to guess. (The square fried egg got me puzzled for quite a long time.)

If you wonder about the flight, it was nice and uneventfull, with great seats - I particularly enjoyed my Economy Premium seat, though if asked, I might pick the Business class seats next time. :-). The food was terrible, but then again, this was a flight operated by KLM, not Air France, so you can't ask for miracles. Loved that I could get all my boarding passes at once in Budapest, picking out my seats and making changes if I wanted to. :-) I bought a couple of things on board - because there's no meaning for traveling without purchasing - among them a tiny potted red tulip carved in Swarowsky crystal, which ended up being the Mother's Day gift for my Mom (Yesterday was Mother's Day in Costa Rica). She loved it a lot. It is a pretty piece.

I'm particularly happy because I've got seeds in Amsterdam for sage and lavander. Now I can only hope I'll be able to grow these properly, and that neither of these will be hard to grow in here. I've got quite a liking for gardening in Hungary, that I never thought I had.

I've unpacked, but haven't put away my stuff just yet. My old closet is still full of clothes, I don't have a desk anymore - my oldest nephew claimed it for himself, and I'm happy to give it to him, specially because it used to belong to his dad ^_^ - and I'm lacking storage space, order and ... a general flow of daily life in the room. Hell, I have a "my room" now, instead of an "our apartment". I have a "my bed", instead of an "our bed", and that was particularly awesome! I slept again, for the first time in eight months in the very center of the bed, with LOTS of space to turn around, and I loved it!

Office, just like home, was actually waiting for me full of stuffs. Lots of pens and pencils, pilot pens and post its. The laptops were also here - though I had to wait for a coworker of mine to get to the office so she could give it back to me, but since it was formatted, I had to call in to get it usable again. The IT department took my request and told me that WITHIN 48 HOURS it will get done. So I had to go asking another coworker of mine to do what he could to get it as workable as possible while the official enablers arrive. I can use it, but it's a freaking pain in the behind, since it's giving a lot of problems to just remain open. :-P

The day isn't over, but I had to blog, not only because I haven't been assigned a work yet, but also because to I did tried to change the timezone of my blog, I couldn't do so without having the rest of the posts. Tried to look up for help, but Blogger.com got so unfriendly and unusable, that I couldn't find an answer to my question, so had to leave the question on the forum.

This forum thing is the worse thing I can think of. I mean, topics just shower on you, and the searches bring up lots of unrelevant information as well. Anyway, I hope I can fix this soon. I'd love to blog at night, just like I do it at home, otherwise I'll have to do it in the mornings again and thus flod you with breakfast-related topics. :-P We shall see.

Sitting at the Airport

Time for changes. Change the time zone I set my blog on (though I’ve been using it in the Central European time for far longer than I care to remember), change my daily rutine – go back to waking up at unholy hours of the day -, change my daily dressing style – back to the office gear – and change the tone of my voice. Speak louder and on a higher pitch, instead of the much lower (both in tone and it pitch) I’ve got used to here. The world around be will change again, the language, the fashion and even the weather and the way people relate to it. I'm feeling blue as I leave the place where my heart lives, like a man who has spent a beautiful season with his loved ones at home, among wonderful woods and meadows, with wonders that can only be gathered in their whole splendor in fairy tales, and now must go back to work to the mines. I'm thinking again, wondering about the strange things in my life, and how it seems to be plagued with departures, airports and lots of crying for those I leave behind. It's not a cruel fate, it is not, it's simply intensely blue, intensely melancholic. It could be worse - I know that - but I keep wondering why is it that my life happened this way, how come I can never be for long with my loved ones without having to give up other loved ones.

It's still dark outside, but the day will shine when my plane takes off, I'll travel in daylight all along, with probably a fake "night" in the way introduced by the aircraft crew (though sometimes the leave the sleeptime out in trips on this direction). Be it as it may, I think I'll most probably sleep the whole trip through. These have been intense, nerve breaking days for me, and knowing that I had to leave stuff out of the luggage, then realizing I forgot others (because I was so busy being nervous I forgot to follow my own packing protocoll to the letter), these all got me jumpy, and so I couldn't sleep all night (or all the 3 hours we could have to before getting to the airport, that is). Rationality and wise words sometimes are useless against the visceral, irrational nervousness that can get on us. Well, at least I hope this freaking nervousness will slim off a couple of pounds from my frame, so I can pull some benefit out of it.

19 minutes for the next chapter of my life

My last day in Hungary has slowly come to an end. It wasn't until too late that I realized many things are missing. My dad wanted some thermometers, which now I can't get him. My luggage is complete and my cabin luggage is bursting at the seams. I'm tired. I'm so tired. What's packed is packed, and what's not... well, that's not. The most important things are it and the rest will have to wait for the next trip.

Oh man, the day has come.

Returning from a Trip

We've returned from Helsinki without having seen Suomelina. Bad planning and the last kick of Mercury Retrograde were in play, maybe some stomach ache, maybe some lack of attention, but at the end of the day, there was no time whatsoever to either go to Suomelina or eat real Finnish food. Not that I mind so terribly, as this only serves as a good excuse to go back to Helsinki some other time.

I was fascinated with the weather - truth to be told - and though maybe I should visit in winter to see if I hold up to my current opinion, I certainly enjoyed the fact that there wasn't such a brain melting heat. We basically wandered about, checked out the beautiful Sibelius Monument, and then wandered around a little, while we still had time. We took some pictures, but the park was taken over by large herds of tourists of the worse kind, who had no consideration for others and monopolized the monument, standing in the way of others taking pictures while they took about a hundred of the same friend posing in the same position.

From the trip we've brought along lots of pictures, I brought a couple of ideas for jewelry making that I found simply beautiful and ingenious. There's also our trademark fridge magnet - we love to get cute little fridge magnets from our trips (when there are nice ones), so that there's a reminder of our trips linked to another source of pleasure: food - some memorabilia for a young friend of us, and then a bottle of Lapponia made out of cloudberries. The liqueur is rather sweet, so I ment it for a friend of mine, who would certainly love this drink. I tried it out at the hotel, and though I also loved the Polar Cranberry (it was polar cranberry), the cloudberry is something much unknown in Costa Rica than the cranberries or polar cranberries. My boyfriend wasn't very excited about the drink, so I just got one bottle instead of two or more (I would have considered a bottle of cloudberry and one of polar cranberry for us, and a cloudberry for my friend), but since he was frowning at the idea, I decided against it. So far so good, except that when we've got to Budapest, he suddenly proposed to change the bottle of Lapponia for some other gift for my friend, because he suddenly wanted to keep it for us!

At the same time, as we arrived to Budapest again, I couldn't help but think about the few days I have left. I'm going to the airport again in Wednesday and flying back to Costa Rica. I'm still nowhere close to finishing the book inventory (people keep talking to me about Goodreads.com, but that wouldn't do it for me, though I do have an account there), and let's not talk about the rest of the stuff on my list! I'm gettinbg worried: "how will I carry all the things I plan to take home with me?" Even my original plan for packing has proved to be quiet far from my reality.

Helsinki has been beautiful, but right now I have a few hell-days ahead of me still in Budapest, and then only Hyne knows the kind of surprises that await for me in Costa Rica. Let's hope and pray that there would be no hell expecting me at my return.