Din Grecia cu dragoste / From Greece with love

Grecia: masline, portocale, turism.
Mie cam atat imi vine in minte atunci cand spun Grecia. Dar mai sunt si altele: uzo, feta etc. Pe restu’ urmeaza sa le descopar.
Am sa incep prin a va spune ca sunt bine, asta ca sa nu fiti ingrijorati. Am plecat din tara cam stresata si m-am ales cu o gastrita de toata frumusetea. Norocul meu e ca pot manca aici si de regim, adica la micul dejun o tin pe lapte, unt, cascaval si paine graham, iar in rest am avut paste cu cascaval, supa de linte, un fel de tocanita cu piept de pui, salata greceasca (seamana cu cea orientala), mancare de cartofi etc. O sa-mi fie dor de o supa à la mama mea, sau o ciorba acra (pe care inainte o ocoleam). Pe aici nu se fac ciorbe, supe ... uneori, iar angajatii nu au voie sa-si gateasca.
In hotel nu prea vin turisti in perioada asta, mai mult in weekend-uri cand mai fac unii reuniuni de afaceri, prezentari, conventii. Vara vin echipe de baschet si handbal in cantonament, se mai fac nunti, botezuri sau se mai gaseste cate unu’ plin de bani sa stea aici (acum e unul pe la etajul 1 si hotelul are peste 100 de camere). Salariul meu e de 650 de euro, dar apartamentele din hotel costa cam 1000 de euro pe noapte. Apartamentul de lux costa 1400 euro pe noapte (si in weekendul asta a fost ocupat), asa ca puteti face si voi comparatie: cat de bogati sunt unii si cat de saraci suntem noi. Ceea ce vedeti acum la televizor e adevarat: greve, foamete, totul foarte scump. Azi , spre exemplu, functionarii publici au fost in greva, iar noi 3 (suntem 3 romance aici, 2 cameriste si o maseuza) trebuia sa mergem la politie pentru acte. Ne-au amanat pe maine dimineata pentru ca nu se lucra.
Sa traiesti aici e foarte scump. Hainele si incaltamintea sunt foarte scumpe, mancarea e scumpa si nu cunosc ceva despre care sa se spuna ca ar fi ieftin. Spre exemplu:
- O pereche de pantofi piele – 50 euro
- O cutie de lapte proaspat de vaca 1 litru– 1,40 euro
- O sticla de dero lichid de 1,5 litri – 12 euro
- O copie xerox – 15 euro centi
- Un tuns, vopsit, suvite, (par mediu) – 90 euro
- Bilet autocar Salonic-Lamia (300 km)– 23,60 euro
- Bilet autocar Lamia- Karpenisi (70 km)– 6,40 euro
- Bilet autocar Karpenisi-Atena (300 km)- 22,30 euro
- Bilet autobuz in Salonic – 50 euro centi

Salariul minim brut in Grecia este de 1000 de euro, din care statul va opri 30% pentru ca atat reprezinta aici asigurarile de sanatate si sociale. Grecii care nu fac fata in tara emigreaza in America. In hotel lucreaza greci, romani (mai e un baiat roman la spalat vase), albanezi si bulgari. Ca si prin alte locuri, se fac diferente intre angajatii localnici si cei straini. Grecii de aici au salarii mai mari decat strainii desi lucreaza doar cate 7-8 ore pe zi si au 2 libere. Strainii lucreaza cate 10 ore pe zi cu o zi libera pe saptamana. Am totusi avantajul ca pauzele pentru micul dejun si pranz se incadreaza in programul de 10 ore, ceea ce inseamna ca lucrez efectiv doar 9 ore. Nici pe alea nu le-am lucrat pentru ca trebuia sa raman de una singura, fara o camerista veche langa mine care sa-mi arate si sa ma verifice. Cica sunt in periada de training acum. Norocul meu in acest moment e ca nu sunt camerele ocupate, deci nu ne omoram cu munca, inca. In contractul meu scrie ca sunt camerista, dar aici a fi camerista inseamna sa faci menajul hotelului, in zonele unde au acces clientii, de unde deduc eu ca sunt mai mult menajera, femeie de servici decat camerista (de la teoria invatata in facultate pana la practica din hotel e o cale foaaaarte lunga). Si, surpriza surprizelor, aici nu se vorbeste limba engleza, deci ne intelegem ca in turnul Babel. Norocul meu, inca o data, ca una din cameriste stie putina engleza pentru ca lucrat in state o perioada. Eu si cealalta camerista romanca ne-am lipit de ea si invatam meserie. Altfel nu stiu cum am fi putut sa invatam ceva. Cea care imi e sefa habar n-are engleza sau alta limba straina, numai managerul mai rupe cateva propozitii si cu una din fetele de la receptie, in rest... sunt bata cu totii. De aici trag concluzia ca eu vorbesc engleza mai bine decat toti. Asadar, ce caut eu aici? Glumesc. In hotelul asta nu vin turisti straini, cei care vin sunt cu totii greci, iar bacsis se face mai rar.
Mica noastra comunitate romaneasca se intalneste seara, dupa program la cafea si ne mai vedem la masa pentru ca mancam la aceiasi ora, ne mai intalnim si seara in una din camere ca sa mai stam de vorba, sa depanam amintiri, sa plangem dupa familie si lucrurile de care ne e dor. Imi lipseste tata cu care sa ma mai cert din cand in cand, dar care ma proteja intotdeauna, imi lipseste mama, prietena mea, cu care ma sfatuiam intotdeauna si care stia sa ma impinga de la spate, imi lipseste sormea cu care sa impart totul, mai ales patul, imi lipsesc Asi si conversatiile noastre pe net si la telefon, imi lipsesc colegii de munca si activitatea fata in fata cu clientii, vorbitul foarte mult.
Deci... e binisor pana acum, ma adaptez. Ce sa zic... o sa mai scriu. Pe curand.

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Greece: olives, oranges, tourism.
This is all that comes in my mind when I say Greece. But there are other things too: uzo (traditional Greek alcoholic drink), feta cheese. And I will discover the rest of them.
I will start by telling you I am alright, because I don’t want you to be worried. I left the country being so stressed and I ended up getting the nicest gastritis ever. I’m lucky because here I can eat diet food, I mean in the mornings I’m having milk, butter, cheese and bread with seeds, and at the other meals I had chicken, soup, Greek salad, potatoes, pasta with cheese. But I will miss my mom’s soups and her sour ciorba (Romanian sour soup, similar to Russian bors). Here they don’t make ciorba, soups … sometimes, and the employees are not allowed to cook.
Tourists don’t come so often in this hotel in this season; they come mostly on the weekends for business meetings, presentations, conventions. In the summer basketball teams and handball teams come for training, they do weddings here; baptizing or sometimes it happens that very rich people come to stay (now we have only one man on the first floor and the hotel has over 100 rooms). My salary here is 650 euro, but the suites here are over 1000 euro per night. The luxury suite costs 1400 euro per night (and people stayed in it this weekend). So you can compare how rich are some of them and how poor are some of us. What you see now on TV is true: strikes, hunger, everything is expensive. Today, for example, government employees were on strike, and the three of us (we are 3 Romanian women here, 2 chambermaids and a masseuse) had to go to the police for paper work. They said to come back tomorrow because today no one is working.
It’s very expensive to live here. Clothes and shoes are very expensive, food is expensive and I don’t remember someone ever saying there are cheap things here. For example:
- Pair of leather shoes – 50 euro
- A bottle of fresh milk 1 liter – 1,40 euro
- A page copied – 15 euro cents
- A hair cut, painted too – 90 euro
- Bus ticket Salonic-Lamia (300 km) – 23,60 euro
- Bus ticket Lamia-Karpenisi (70 km) – 6,40 euro
- Bus ticket Karpenisi-Athens (300 km) – 22,30 euro
- Bus ticket in Salonic – 50 euro cents
The minimum brut wage in Greece is 1000 euro and 30% will be detained for health and social insurance. Greeks that don’t make it here immigrate in US. Here work Greeks, Romanians (we are 4, 3 girls and one boy), Albanians and Bulgarians. Similar to other places, there are differences between workers. Greeks work only 7-8 hours per day and have 2 days off while foreigners work 10 hours per day with only one day off. I have the advantage that breaks for breakfast and lunch are included in those 10 hours, which means I work only 9 hours. I haven’t worked all these hours until now because it means I would have to work by myself, without any old chambermaid that could verify me or show me how to do everything. It looks like I’m on training now. I’m lucky that now rooms are unoccupied so I’m not working like crazy, yet. In my contract says I’m a chambermaid, but here to be a chambermaid means you have to clean all the places that are accessible to the customer, so I guess I’m more a maid then a chambermaid (there is a very big difference between what I learned in school and what I have to do here). And, big surprise, here they don’t speak English so we understand each other like in the Babel tower. I’m lucky again that one of the chambermaids worked in the US and knows a little bit of English, so she is teaching us. I don’t know how else we could’ve learned anything. My boss knows no other language then Greek, only the manager and one of the receptionists are able to speak a bit. The rest of them none, no English. So I’m starting to ask myself: what am I doing here? And here come only Greek tourists, no foreigners, so the possibility for tipping is very little.
Our little Romanian community meets every evening for coffee and during the day when we eat. We eat at the same hour. We also meet in the evening in one of our rooms and talk, remember things, cry after our families and the things that we miss. I miss my dad and the fights we used to have, but he was always there to protect me; I miss my mom, my friend that always gave the best advices and pushed me; I miss my sis and the way we shared everything, especially the bed. I miss Asi and our conversations on the phone and internet; I miss my work colleagues and working face to face with my customers and talking very much.
So… it’s good until now, I’m trying to adapt. What else to say… I’m going to write again. See you soon.

Marasesti - Pe aici nu se trece / Marasesti - Can't pass through here

Marasesti, Marasti, Oituz... Nu. De data asta doar Marasesti.

Razboiul de Intregire Nationala a facut ca la Marasesti sa piara peste 21 de mii de romani. Tot ceea ce ne mai aminteste de glorioasa lupta din vara anului 1917 este Mausoleul de la Marasesti, ridicat chiar pe locul unde s-au dat luptele. 18 culoare dispuse radial, 154 de cripte individuale, 9 cripte comune, o bisericuta asezata chiar in centrul constructiei si inscriptia UN OSTAS ROMAN raman cu mine dupa ce am vizitat ieri acest somptuos monument.

Cinste lor, celor care s-au jertfit pentru aceasta tara minunata, pentru acest pamant care ne-a ocrotit inca de pe vremea cand purta numele Dacia. Dumnezeu sa-i ierte!

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Marasesti, Marasti, Oituz... No. This time only Marasesti.

The War of National Union made it possible for 21 thousands of Romanians to perish at Marasesti. The Marasesti Mausoleum, built right on the spot where the fight took place, reminds us of the glorious fights from the summer of 1917. What stays with me after visiting this magnificent monument are the 18 halls arranged in a circle, the 154 individual crypts, the 9 commune crypts, the church placed right in the middle of the building and the inscriptions A ROMANIAN SOLDIER.

Let's honor those who sacrificed themselves for this wonderful country, for this land that protected us ever since it was called Dacia. May God forgive them!

Slanic, Prahova

M-am urcat cu ai mei in masina si am plecat spre un loc pe care nu il vazusem niciodata, dar despre care auzisem o multime de lucruri interesante: orasul Slanic, judetul Prahova. Ce poti vedea acolo: salina, muzeul de sare, Lacul sarat Baia Baciului si Lacul Miresei (ceea ce a ramas dupa surparea muntelui de sare ce forma Grota Miresei) si, bineinteles, peisajul.

Me and my folks got up in the car and went to visit a place that I had never seen, but heard about many interesting things: Slanic town, Prahova County. What you can see there: the salt mine, the salt museum, the Baia Baciului salted Lake and the Bride’s Lake (which remained after the crumbling of the salt mountain that used to form the Bride’s Cave) and, of course, the landscape.

In mina este o temperatura constanta de 13 grade Celsius, presiunea atmosferica este de 730 mm col. Hg., peretii au o inaltime de 54 metri, pana la suprafata fiind o distanta de 208 metri pe care o parcurgi cu liftul in 90 de secunde. Lucrarile miniere au inceput in anul 1938, dar exploatarea s-a facut intre anii 1943 - 1970. Mina este folosita acum doar in scopuri turistice. Spatiul excavat este impartit in 14 camere si ocupa acum 2,9 milioane metri cubi si se intinde pe o suprafata de 7,8 hectare. Putem vedea acolo sculpturi in sare, o Sala a Genezei, o expozitie de chihlimbar si o zona de joaca cu leagane si teren de fotbal.

There is a constant temperature of 13 Celsius degrees in the mine and an atmospheric pressure of 730 mm col. Hg. The walls have a height of 54 metres and there is a distance of 208 metres until the surface that can be travelled by elevator in 90 seconds. Mining works began in 1938, but the operation was done between 1943 - 1970. Mine is now used only for touristic purposes. The excavated space is devided in 14 rooms and now holds 2.9 million cubic metres and it streches on an area of 7.8 hectares. We can see there some sculptures in salt, a Genesis Room, an expo of amber and a playground with swings and a soccer field.

Apoi am trecut pe la Baia Baciului ca sa vedem lacul si ce a mai ramas din Grota Miresei.

Then we went to Baia Baciului to see the lake and what's left of The Bride's Cave.

Iata cum arata Grota Miresei inainte de a se surpa peretele de sare.

This is how The Bride's Cave looked before the crumbling of the salt wall.

Si iata cum arata acum.

And this is how it looks now.

La Circul Medrano / At the Medrano Circus

Mai merita sa mergi la Circ in ziua de azi? Eu zic ca da, chiar daca avem parte de circ oriunde: la magazin, in parc, in autobuz, la stiri. Cel putin la Circul asta a meritat. Pretul a fost bun, spectacolul de calitate, numerele prezentate erau diferite de tot ceea ce am vazut pana acum, animalele sunt foarte bine ingrijite, hranite, iar in aer nu plutea nici un miros care sa-mi raneasca simtul olfactiv. Si cu acesta ocazie am vizitat si in spatele scenei, adica custile animalelor. Nici acum nu-mi vine sa cred ca am vazut elefanti. Erau atat de mari, imensi si foarte frumosi, naturali si sociabili, nu se temeau de public sau zgomot. Am mai vazut si girafe, tigri, un rinocer, lame, struti si cai, o experienta deosebita. Parinti, duce-ti-va copii la circ!

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Is it worth today to go see the Circus? I say yes, even if we are surrounded by circus wherever we are: at the shop, in the park, in the bus, on the news. At least at this Circus was worth it. The price was good, a quality show, the numbers presented were different from what I saw before, the animals are well cared, fed and there is no bad smell floating in the air that would hurt my olfactory sense. And this time I visited behind the scenes too, meaning the animals cages. Even now I can’t believe that I saw elephants. They were so big, huge and very beautiful, natural and social, not fearing the public or the noise. I saw giraffes, tigers, a rhinoceros, llamas, ostriches and horses, a great experience. Parents, get your children to see the circus!

Vulcanii Noroiosi / The Muddy Volcanoes

De cand ma stiu mi-am dorit sa vad acest loc si imi imaginam un munte imens de unde curge noroiul in valuri. Nu a fost sa fie asa. Din Vulcanii Noroiosi nu au mai ramas decat cateva "ochiuri" prin care muntii "respira" la intervale de cateva secunde. Dar nu-i nimic, eu m-am bucurat oricum de peisaj si de faptul ca acest loc este unic in Romania, dar si in Europa.

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I've wanted all my life to see this place and I was imagining a huge mountain where mud flows wave after wave. It was nothing like that. There's almost nothing left of The Muddy Volcanoes, just some holes trough where the mountains "breaths" at intervals of several seconds. But its fine, I enjoyed the view and knowing that this place is unique in Romania, and in Europe too.

Vederi din rai / Postcards from heaven

Am gasit un loc deosebit, care m-a lasat cu gura deschisa: Campina, La fantana cu ciresi. Peisajul e cu totul special, mai ales acum ca a venit vara iar natura s-a "inverzit" de tot. Cand sunt trista ma gandesc la acest loc si parca imi mai revine cheful de viata. Ce mici suntem noi si ce mare e lumea asta!

...


I found this special place that left me with my mouth open: Campina, At the spring with cherry trees. The scenery is overwhelming, especially now because summer is here and nature got so green. When I am sad I think of this place and I feel a burst of life coming back to me. How little we are and how big this world really is!

Barajul Paltinu / Paltinu Dam

Ne tot batea gandul, pe mine si niste prieteni, sa mai iesim si noi la o plimbare prin judet, asa ca ne-am gandit sa dam o fuga pana la Paltinu sa vedem si noi cum e pe acolo. Si nu, nu am fost la un gratar, asa cum ii e obiceiul romanului de rand, ci doar in excursie.

E frumoasa zona, pacat insa ca nu ai voie sa te si plimbi pe baraj. Ce sa vezi: portile inchise cu un mare semn "Interzisa trecerea" pe ele! Eh! Mi-am pus pofta in cui si m-am multumit cu peisajul vazut "de pe margine". Insa si mai interesant a fost sa vad lacul de acumulare. Dar nu intinderea aceea nesfarsita de apa mi-a starnit mie dorinta de a va povesti aici despre barajul Paltinu, ci intinderea aceea nesfarsita de gunoaie care pluteau la malul lacului. Si, pentru cei care nu stiu, va informez ca din acest lac se alimenteaza orasul Ploiesti cu apa potabila. Acum se intelege de ce apa noastra de la robinet miroase si are un gust iritant de clor.

Concluzii: 1. e absolut necesar sa trecem la apa imbuteliata 2. daca am arunca cat mai putine gunoaie in natura ar fi ideal, doar pentru asta s-au inventat cosurile de gunoi, nu? 3. desi e bine cunoscut faptul ca sunt gunoaie peste tot, nu e nimeni platit sa le si stranga 4. pana la urma romanul face tot ce stie el: gratar in locuri neamenajate si gunoiul aruncat in padure (ca doar serveste ca ingrasamant natural, nu?)

Pacat de tara asta frumoasa!

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Some friends and I were thinking to get out on a walk in our county, so we thought we should go to Paltinu to see how are things there. And no, we were not out on a barbecue, the new national custom of Romanians, only on a trip.

It’s a beautiful area, pity that one can’t walk on the damn. What was there to see: closed gates with a big sign “no trespassing” on. So I forgot about it and I contented in watching the scenery “from aside”. But even more interesting was to see the barrier lake. However, not the endless water spread roused in me the wish to tell you about the Paltinu dam, but the endless garbage spread floating at the shore. And, for those that don’t know, I’m telling you that this lake is supplying Ploiesti city with drinkable water. Now we can understand why our running water smells and tastes irritating of chlorine.

Conclusions: 1. it’s imperative that we start drinking only bottled water 2. ideal would be for us to drop less garbage in the nature, they invented the garbage cans for this, no? 3. although it is well known that there is garbage everywhere around, there is no one paid to gather it 4. in the end the Romanian does what he knows best: barbecue in unfit places and throwing garbage in the woods (because it’s natural fertilizer, isn’t it?).

Pity of this beautiful country!