Say Hello to Goodbye. (part 2)

I decided to divide it into parts because there is so much to talk about, and I thought that I shouldn’t leave anything out. Joke on me though, everything that I thought of mentioning through the whole semester suddenly washed off…

The first thing I just could think of (and call me silly if you want) is Skapto’s shower! Oh how are we going to miss it…and if you say you were never impressed by it, you’re a liar and you know it!

Second and even more important: the Free-responsibility days ! Where and when else will you have the chance to lay down, decide to skip classes, order food in and just decide to chill and relax for the day and postpone everything for tomorrow ?! Well, of course if you win the lottery or become extremely reach. However you will have to find ways to protect your wealth and how to spend it, so that will take you quite some time and thinking. While on free-responsibility days  at AUBG day you don’t have to think about anything! It’s all taken care of…or at least you’re just accepting the fact that it is what it is and not much can change, or just trying to boost up your morale by thinking “Meh…there can be worse…”

Now I don’t know about you , but I’ ve had quite a few of these days. They  are  also called “hell-with-it-all” days and happen exactly after you’re having a “im-losing-it”  week, or “why-is everything-happening-to-me” day …or best case scenario “Im-in-a good-mood-for-no-reason” wake up.

Unless you can afford losing your job, you will never have the opportunity to wake up some days and just decide to switch off your alarm and turn on the other side… The grown-up world after university is messed up and won’t quite allow you to do that… So enjoy it as long as you re a valuable asset to the school’s finances. 

Say Hello to Goodbye. (part 1)

Okay ,  okay…  i know that might sound a little too cliché and you re probably creating this very sensitive image of me , but lose it ! It is just something that happens to all of us. To the ones who consider themselves as careless when it comes to getting attached with things and people, of course it happens to the ones who treasure memories( especially the stupid ones who happen to happen only at certain times in life) and it happens to those that have a “I don’t give a fudge” reputation they don’t want to mess up but that deep inside do feel sad about having to leave and move on to the next stage of life.

If you were to ask me a couple of years ago (those close to me can recall my whining…) I couldn’t make it to the other day. I used to wish of having other opportunities and that I could pick up and leave just then and there…but I couldn’t. I was so eager to experience new things that just waking up and just realizing of being here drowned my morale and killed my mood for the day. I would rather spend whole weekends in my room munching away than going out and socializing. Zero incentive…NADA!

But the senior year approached and I was literally willing (finances permitting) to make a firework display countdown just because the end of it was so close! And then the last semester and my best friend happened ... She has a master of creating this emotional vibe around the room that regardless my strong defense walls, did get to me eventually. Now, we re all experiencing “The last…” whatever event in school . Here is how it goes: We start getting ready and we are so much in the mood to get to the school’s party/event, and there she goes: “Boshke…this is our last one…” Now, here is where we switch to the depressive music list and feel like we will be banned from ever visiting AUBG again.

Eventually we get over it and make the most out of the experience …but in between drinks there, we do bring it up and feel sad , then our jam starts playing and SWOSH sadness is gone ! This is how we get used to the idea of having to say Goodbye but…

Little things in life.

I‘ve always thought of small details and little gestures to be much more fulfilling than big ‘screaming for attention’ actions. A student’s life is very restricted when it comes to finances so not anybody can afford doing nice gestures for people close to them regardless of the big desire to do so. That is true indeed, however there is always room for being kind with almost no money at all. If you had some money …that would be so much better though (remember how generous you get when you get your tax refund?)

I can tell you some free of charge nice gestures or things to consider if you ever feel like making somebody’s  day.

1.       Be a hugger! Say Good morning or good day or smile and take a second to hug the person. If you care enough of course… that will make the both of you feel good.

2.       Compliment! If you think any of your friends girls is wearing something nice, do say it. Why do you think they go shopping and take their sweet time to match and look good in first place ?! (well mostly for the other girls to envy but that’s for another time)

3.       Share sweets or whatever you’re enjoying. Don’t be Joy, if you share , the chances of you getting it back ten times and even more are pretty high.

4.       Let stupid things slide. Don’t hold on to immature things that might have caused unpleasant things between you and other people. Do believe me, things feel awkward for the other person the same way it feels for you when you have to see each other.

To be continued…

It's OK not to be OK.

Hello there! Long time no see…

This time’s topic is going to be more emotionally concerned and not gender oriented since we all know that both women and men go through these days.

I’m taking about those days when you are so overwhelmed with things to do that you find yourself b*tching about all kinds of things. It recently happened to me (and many others around me) to be so fed up of responsibilities that you actually take it out on people that have nothing to do with your problems (poor things, they’re just trying to …exist) but also with your most loved ones.

Especially what happens with women is that they re constantly picking on details on days like this. They are overreacting to all kinds of situations, and proving themselves right even if that was the last thing they did in their life. Okey, okey stop imagining us wearing black capes, pointy hats , long nails and riding brooms. I just meant that we can be a little rough and irrational but this is not entirely our fault.

There are days like that that you are so disappointed how things works and especially on the fact that no matter how nice you are to people, the bad cop attitude would make things work faster. You are so mad at everyone for not being the way you are or not have the principles you do. You are amazed at the others' irresponsibility and inconsiderate ways of treating you. You are tired of people trying to make you as inhuman as they are.

Remember how they always taught us when we were little that no matter what you have to get up again and fight some more? (Who did they think we were? Superheros ??) I’m all for adapting and learning how to live in a community but at days like these that sounds like the dumbest idea ever. NO, in days like this I want to cuddle up in a ball and never leave my bed.

Have you ever been tired of being strong? I think we all have. Strong personality and capability to handle the situation "the right way" loses power in days like those. That is why i feel that in moments like that I wish I could just run away. But then again rationality kicks in and I have to come back to reality and figure it all out… because nobody else will if i don't...

No matter how you deal with the situations, how weak or strong you think you can be, no matter how much you can think you can handle, let me tell you that is ok to feel weak and to want to just hide from every possible responsibility! Now is just the beginning and without wanting to spoil it, there is a long path of disappointment and all sorts of failures ahead. So either learn to live with that fear or find a good spot to hide till you’re ready to face it all. We’ve all been there and we will all stop by again and again eventually too.

Just keep in mind that no matter what either Karma will take care of you (I’ve seen it in action!) or things will end up to be just FINE ! Maybe not today, but eventually they will.J

Ok, first things first: who is doing the check-in ?

We all do that! Stop being all like: “Oh, I don’t get this kind of people…”

My question is: do we want to experience things to show off to others or just for the sake of experiencing them?

Well, how about we agree that is a combination of both? This way we don’t hurt the too cool ‘non-active’ stalkers of Facebook, and don’t relate much to the selfie-animals of it either. 

What happens, (at least according to the precious thoughts of mine) is that we live in the era when we do things for others to see. Of course…of course we get a lot of satisfaction out of it, otherwise we wouldn’t do it for the sake of a picture or a check-in (or would we…?) Nah ! We’re not that desperate.(or are we…?)

The perfect example is what happens with traveling ! I used to be the one who listed traveling under biggest passions, and I still do but who doesn’t  like traveling and exploring ?!?!  Nowadays, saying  I love traveling and that is my thing DOESN’T count ! Is everybody’s thing! Unless you are "Bear" Grylls, than that way of exploring is your thing...

People live for traveling, doing check-ins and posting pictures with foreign backgrounds which is translated : HA! In your face, im here , you  wish but you cant, so deal with it!

(Note: i think i have a free pass talking about this because i had a very exciting trip and did it with no check-ins and a single picture.HOWEVER , the need of having to say this makes me as usual as the others who instead of walking and enjoying the surroundings, kept checking for Wifi signal.)

So people do what you gotta do, whatever makes you happy and let whomever you want (especially those girls you hate or that Ex that broke your heart :P ) see that you’re having fun and living life the fullest! You, the judgers of the rest who do things for ‘themselves’ and to whom no one else matters (but who still dress up and follow the latest fashion/technological trends and embrace hipster trends or want to be accepted in the ‘cool’ groups)  either stop judging the masses who already know what they like to show off and live your way, OR settle on a style already and find something you like bragging about. If you are not up for any of it then, listen up: You are the most common person there is. In the future when they categorize people of our generation , you will be part of the “Others” category or the “chameleon” category  which will probably have its own section named “Personality issues”…Let that sink for a bit and take action on it.

Peeps : check in, post pictures, tell us what you ate for breakfast or drank for dinner. Please let us know if you're feeling MEH or not... and do still post things with innuendo jokes that no one but your roommate or close friend gets. And please do send us those Candy Crush or Farmville invitations! Without you, our wall would be so predictable and after all who doesn’t want to open notifications and see that instead of receiving cute wall posts and nice comments has been invited to a game?! Keep up the great work! Mark needs the latest Lamborghini and honestly we couldn't make it a day without you... 

Bloody hell.

The good intention of this post is to justify all my girl pals’ actions when under circumstances that only us women understand. We have had the opportunity to hear all the humorous jokes about the “awakening of the dragon”. (Promise, I will let the gross side apart )Now, let’s go for a tour behind the curtains of the bloody hell week, shall we?

Welcome! Allow me to guide you to through women’s heart and mind (and stomach!) during THAT week of the month. It all starts from the days before. Because a whole week is not enough for the terror… we need the anticipation too.  It’s usually 2-3 days when we get the memo… Then the whining marathon is ON ! Can you blame us though? That comes with preparation too, and I don’t mean going to the store and getting a bunch of stuff we need but also means psychological preparation. The first doesn’t need much explanation, the second by the way …

We already know, and the rest of you who don’t bleed from your parts have to understand that we’re preparing our fragile body for a hurricane of a week. A week, which is physically exhausting and psychologically destructive.  We know what’s coming… and we can’t do anything to prevent it… How would you feel if you were to know you are going to be physically tortured and can’t do anything to get yourself out of it? However, is worth mentioning that every woman experiences it differently , but we all are part of a club... It’s called ‘under covers’ and the main activity is devouring chocolates and having zero control of our mood. If you are part of the club, even off session, you support your pals by providing movies to cry the eyes out. The funny part: They are romantic comedies…

We don’t expect you to contribute to the club. It’s ok to not fully understand what we go through. It is NOT ok however, to freak out and treat your girlfriend, friend/girl, relative as a stranger who is going to bite you or attack you any moment.  Also, so not ok to go MIA!

We can be a little too loud…or a little too overreacting… or a

tiny bit irrational, but it’s not that we want it. It’s our hormones who make the rules. At the end of the day, not only do we have to deal what other deal with on regular bases but do that in extreme conditions of pain and exhaustion.  Also in addition to that, deal with the pressure of keeping our emotions as much under control as we can afford.  I speak for all of us: If you care for the girl, be considerate and let things go.( We do, when your team loses!) Our reaction is nothing compared to our post experience. We have to deal with the consequences of the actions made not from a sane mind. That causes another chaotic emotional breakdown …and way more chocolates and junk so make our self esteem a favor and go easy on us.

I wouldn’t expect you to eagerly now more but I think if you really want to understand and not walk on eggshells for a whole week, better go offer your help. The chances are you will get confused but worth a try to send he caring message. Trust me, if the mood timing is right( Good luck!) you will be rewarded one way or the other… And do believe me, we all wish we hibernated for a whole week instead and everybody would be safe ! 

That week is horrible indeed, but if there is one good thing about it … and I mean the ONLY one, is that fraction of a happiness when realizing it’s actually happening… ;)

…But you can’t tell anyone!

The factors that made me write this post are many, but mostly because of a very recent event that kind of shocked me because it is so not like him…We just got back from spring break. I had this thoughtful idea of surprising my parents and grandmother. She hadn’t been feeling good recently so I decided to go home and see her. I had it all planned out! My brother picking me up and me traveling the next day to my hometown. First I would pick up flowers and go at my grandma’s, then I would show up at my mom’s work and surprise her too. It took me two days to come up with reasons why I wasn’t going to go home and several skype calls to sell it to my parents. Finally they got convinced and understood that “very important matter” that had to keep me at school for the whole spring break week. So, I tell my brother the plan and also where and when to pick me up.  

The second I arrived and jumped in the car he makes a phone call and hands me the phone saying: “-Here, talk to mom, she was worried about the trip…” Well, you can imagine my reaction. That exact moment after a “thank you deeply” look, I thought I can still make it to surprise grandma… The second I pull the phone closer to my ear, not only did I hear my mom’s excited voice but also grandma’s, uncles’, aunties’, and all the possible cousins within 100 km radius back home. Nobody in my family,  apparently can’t quite keep a secret. When asked my brother why did he tell them, I swear he said : “They asked me…”

If it wasn’t for his double-mine height…

The thing is that keeping secrets is not an issue for men only (mostly because they forget that it was one in the first place), it is also a big deal to women too. The second you say it out loud that is a secret, suddenly creates an urge to share and spread it out there in all possible chat corners and in little bags of added and exaggerated details. Women are very good at restraining themselves and appreciating that you chose her to share that very “uncommon” thing…

Restrain…well , we consider ourselves  great secret keepers. The safest box to lock your secret. I mean it, but if you ever hear a word from our best friend, or our best friend’s friend, or our cousins who live in Japan, or our mom’s friend’s daughter in Spain, or that other girl whose name I can’t remember but who liked my dress,or the canteen lady, or whomever close to us that night in the club…THAT WASN’T US! I don’t know how they got to know!

Secrets are the worst! Not only give you that responsibility of being a safeguard of “a huge” matter but they also trigger this involuntary feeling of coming up with alibis in case it ever gets public! 

Advice: If you really don’t want anything to get out there and reach crowds you don’t want to know, stop telling people it’s a secret ! Talk about it as a random thing that could have happened to anyone. The chances of it being so common are extremely high anyways, just like the chances of the listeners ignoring it till their turn comes to share theirs.

Now….. shhhhhhh! Don’t tell anybody I ever wrote this! It’s a SECRET! 

Once upon a time in Da-Da land...

It had been two hours since i was on the bus heading to my hometown.  After trying so hard not to make eye contact with people so that they wouldn’t sit next to me, there goes  a couple of young parents that decide to take some time off and instead of dealing with their creature, they just sit her with me. Great, of course I will babysit your kid! I do love kids but when I’m traveling I just want my headphones and my ipod fully charged. Anyhow…I did end up taking care of the little monster, ended up feeding her (candies so that parents would suffer with her being hyper after) and also ended up cleaning after her mess.

The little girl (about  five-six years old) happened to be a big “but why?” kind. So of course “rolling into a ball” position and nap was out of the question, so was the rain drops race on the window and also enjoying my playlist since the kid was on my phone trying to touch it. I had to come up with a way to entertain myself for the rest of my trip. I figured that a tale would keep the child quiet and eventually I would go back to enjoying my music…

I started telling the kid about this beautiful tale of a foreign land and people. Here it is how it went:

-Once upon a time, on a beautiful spring day, from a very far away land called…the “Da-DA-land’ were sent these chickens carrying this very important message to the chosen people of our land (I explained how in  Da-DA land there are lots of chickens so they started using them for multiple purposes, since owls and pigeons had become a mainstream. I did add how they actually had to cross many roads since they can’t fly…but ended up laughing at it myself and ignoring the fact that a kid would never get that). Anyways, these chickens were carrying acceptance letters from the Da-Da land community, for special people of other lands. Somehow this community saw a big potential in us… so they allowed us to go there and live the Dadaian life. Unlike every place else people In Da-Da did not consume regular water, their water was so smelly and strong that they had to have slices of fruit or fruit juice after little sips of their water. Their “water” came in different smells…or in beautiful red shades. In Da-da land people could only open doors with ugly pictures of themselves.They also slept during the day because the light hurt their brains...

 I kept telling her how The Da-da people gather around a big wall and stare at it for hours, while whomever achieved something or had a good meal goes and sticks a picture of it on the wall… The rest just climbed the wall and threw all kinds of hooks (most of the time nets!)  in order to catch whatever they could.” She started asking why do these people go to Da-da … I explained that there is the mission-we-don’t-talk-about , but about which we whine a big load when time is due… I got her confused enough to continue my story…

It was a 6 year old girl at most, so I was expecting such a question and there she went: “Is there a princess in Da-Da land?” I told her that of course there was , her name was B-Bee and she was gorgeous!” That was the least of the answer she was expecting. She asked about a prince too so I had to tell her that everybody calls herself prince and princess in Da-Da and nobody lives happily ever after... Of course that wasn’t enough , she asked specifically who was B-Bee’s prince and  if there was an evil queen there. Here is where I threatened her that I was going to take my cookies back if she didn’t stop asking questions and also added that the evil queen was called Khassa… I told her how Khassa punishes the dadanias by making them go once a year in another land called Dolla-dolla land. I told her how everybody changes so much in Dolla-Dolla, how their arms turn into multi-functional iron tools and their legs turn into wings. The good thing is that everybody succeeding (meaning with enough sanity left) gets to come back and enjoy Da-da’s magical waters and not work on the mission-we-don’t-talk-about for another year…

I was getting so creative and had my imagination all build up… when …well… she had to throw up. Fortunately close to her parents! So, my story was ruined…and my evil plan of getting the kid hyper enough for her to become a  pain to her inconsiderate parents, failed as well.
At least I got her confused enough and made her ask for magic water 12 years in advance... :D 

mwahahaha

Gym ! Starting Monday…

Now, whose fault is it that Milka has to have oreo filling recently, or that our canteen sells Oreo in first place…and Kinder Bueno ..and Ferrero ??!! Not ours! We are human beings for the love of whats-precious-to-you . If you get us exposed to it (24/7 now) and not expect of us to gain weight is like expecting a werewolf not transforming in front of a full moon… (Error: Simple analogy missing!)

  It is very common to all of us finding ourselves daydreaming of those little sins wrapped in shiny, goldish, redish… kinds of smooth, feathery, fancy paper (and if you’re not relating to this, you are a big fat liar in denial). And there is the late night munchies … That’s usually when you would rather sleep and not eat, and then you realize that there is a reason for that headache so you go and devour whatever the Skapto 1 or Prego store has to offer (Ain’t nobody got time/energy to go further than that! )

It is not that we don’t have the will, it’s because we “don’t” have the time… See, we are too busy doing nothing, and all those last minute projects to be taken care of(I mean we would rather scroll down the Facebook page no?...)

 Plus there is that couch in the main lobby that has this attraction force we can’t resist. As a community we love to chat , so what’s better then sitting down with a couple of friends on that couch having a nice talk ? Well, gathering with a zillion of them, getting loud and shush-ing each-other! ( It does not work most of the time but we pretend to try.)

Gym is important, ok. I even gave it a try too many times. I really want to dedicate to it, but there is this small problem: I’m addicted to fuzzy bubbly drinks and do not consider a meal done until I have a desert.  I understand you guys who are extremely dedicated to working out. I really wish I had half the will (actually that means at least three times a week so… i'll skip that and stick to Zumba instead ;)

However I have made up my mind! I will start on Monday. What’s more efficient than that, it’s Monday, beginning of the month so … I got till September! I don’t make the rules, it’s the universe that wants me to spend more time unproductively … 

When did Complicated become so Complicated ?!

Today was a throwback Sunday. While enjoying the variety of rice at the canteen, me and my friends found ourselves talking about our first “love”, high school sweethearts and how innocent those times used to be...See, we have this wrong mentality where we come from. If you are to have a crush or be very close to a boy before a certain age, Your picture kind of gets down from the ‘pride’ corner of the pictures in your house and then  brothers/boy cousins happen…poor crush… (Now don’t start getting any wrong ideas, my picture was on the top the whole time :D )

Interesting how we would consider something like that such a big deal back then.  After getting surprised of the mentality which we grew up around, of course we started comparing generations (funny enough, with more or less the same mentality that judged our generation back then). In our defense: things have gotten worrying . This is what my cousin said when asked about what love meant to him:

– “Love is dreaming about somebody and wanting to go to school to see her/them!”  

Sweet right? Now go back to reading it and take in consideration that he was four years old and sipping from his Choc milk box when he said it. He also added that he had two girlfriends, so that whenever one would be missing a day in kindergarten, he wouldn’t feel lonely.

Me, at 5^th grade went home crying to my mom because a boy told me he liked me, while the 5^th graders now look like mid-teenagers and aim for high school boys! My friend felt humiliated that she bloomed early , while little girls’ bikini pictures cover our Facebook and Instagram wall .Guys…I don’t blame you but don’t get yourself in trouble. For the safety of everybody, I think all these YOLO generation, under 16, should wear an ID badge around their neck the whole time.  My other friend was saying how she, in middle school, would write in a foreign language in her diary so that nobody would understand (That would be hilarious to read now! ) while nowadays keeping things private for these little cupcakes is the least of their worries , actually they even promote their most personal things.

 Yes, we were the innocent ones, and yes we thought of things straight forward back then. “A boy meets a girl, and they become sweethearts, spend beautiful times together and fall madly in love and nothing else stands in their way.”  Remember those sweet scenarios? Yeah… they are gone.  Ask us ! That sweet boy you meet, becomes the boy you stalk on social media. The sweetheart phase you go through becomes a ping-pong of stares and casual talks where both know exactly what’s happening. The beautiful times you spend become awkward to the fear of what’s going to happen next. The madly in love part ?! Forget about it, it’s complicated.  There are even worse scenarios to add more to this complicated drama, but I don’t think it’s proper to go there now...

Complicated is a complicated word to use in such complicated situations. But hey, we live in a messed up, complicated world where nothing is predictable, where even the most predictable people have a scary phase of ambiguity, where relationships are labeled under tens of names, where your love happiness means a long journey of disappointments, where expressing feelings towards people you like becomes a huge challenge, where culture and blindness messes up everything and time is never enough. So, get what you can from it. Hell with the fixed scenarios! Write your own novel J

Le Lazy...

Mom, Dad, if you are ever reading this, don’t  read further, its just me trying to teach the other students how to manage their time and do It perfectly like me , meaning:  waking up at 7 am,  have a good breakfast , go to all classes, have a  healthy 3-course lunch,  spend my evenings studying, socialize for an hour or so over grape juice with friends discussing about global warming and economy matters and head to bed by 9.30, ready to wake up all fresh and embrace the next day singing “It’s a beautiful day” with a happy hop on my walk.

…

The irony here is that it has been three days that I planned on writing this. I should just stop It right here and you would get exactly what was the purpose of it but since I’m too lazy to study It’s either this or tightening up my room. (Typing on the keyboard though…such a pain, why couldn’t we just stare at the screen and have our thoughts writing themselves ? Come on technology, hurry up! )

I woke up today to a gorgeous sunny Sunday. It was so beautiful that I really considered getting up to open the window… Two hours later I did open it and since I was up I thought I should make some coffee and think of the next thing to procrastinate on. While doing so, I looked at my reflection on the window …beautiful as always, don’t get any wrong ideas, but I could’ve really used some more energy reflecting in my face. And then I thought, meh… so what that my navy lips from last night’s grape juice and messy hair don’t  send the image of the energetic me at 3 pm?! (While complaining about not grabbing my cup on the way, now it’s another 2 m of walk )

 Don’t get me wrong, I feel the pressure and all, I feel like I should study and so very bad for not being like those students who apply to everything and attend conferences on weekends, and those who wake up to work out at 8 am on a Saturday (what’s wrong with you guys ?!Its Saturday! You know, so when you talk about your Saturday you have to be like: well, on Saturday I just SAT…  It’s meant to sleep in late and do nothing…)

 I’m sure I’m not the only one who walks out of the building at 5 pm on weekends looking at guys wearing badges and their best “business” outfits ( the best a student can afford…), while I’m barely keeping my eyes open because they are not used to the sunlight yet, and to think that the sun is going down, so not much light there… Don’t judge or I will start judging what’s wrong with your social life that you happen to be up by 8 am and already achieving all your next weekly goals by 5 pm of a Saturday …

I’m a very easy going person, willing to go to places and up for new things , but I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. Yes, I consider 9 way, way too early to start the day. I even feel like it has been three months since we started the semester because now 4 days of my week start at 8am ! It’s twice the length of my normal university day. You do not want to see me that early in the morning, I might smile at you and be all nice and caring but if you are in for a long talk, I might be growing canine teeth so  you’d better run…

    Hey after all, its all about priorities… So you can’t judge others  on their eagerness to do things quick or pleasure of  postponing them till the very last minute.  But let’s be honest, which of  us here hasn’t felt the guilt and the satisfaction both at the same time when deciding to do it …”tomorrow” ? Leaving the guilt part aside, somehow you just decide to enjoy it and do the least productive thing because you have “plenty” of time tomorrow, where you will “wake up” by 10 am at most!  It’s amazing and shameful how easily we get tempted to give up on big things and turn on the other side instead for one more hour of sleep….

You guys, who do your stuff…I admire your will.  I too have that will but it must be something I really love doing … The rest of you , like me (or my friend who I swear just said: “-Let me know when you’re done with it so I can feel good that at least something is getting accomplished today in our room! ” ) either stop whining how you are running out of time and move your bottoms or shut up and enjoy those series… and that chocolate… and the chatting … and your Youtube list …

I think I got to eat at some point today and since Mom is nowhere around, it’s time to get up and cook something!! Wait…that’s too much of an effort … I will just go and eat somewhere…close!

Who am I kidding?! I’m just going to order and if I play my cards right, maybe make my friend pick it up too … (mwahaha) 

"V" for ...

For safety reasons we are going to refer to this day as the V-day, since many people get close to experiencing seizures when reading about it. I really didn’t want to write about it because everybody is allowed to feel the way they want about it. My desire to write was triggered from the difficulty I had trying to make my way through the hearts, sexy red lingerie and the arrows flying above my head all over town (and if you know me I bet you can tell they were flying pretty low…).

You think this is going to be one of those writings that mock people on V-day and how this day shouldn’t be overrated and couples should love each other every single day of the year and blah blah… I ll get there eventually. Now however, you are probably thinking this is going to be one of those cheesy things you can find in a teenager’s diary with probably heart shaped pictures of the BF on the side and lots of hearts and most certainly “initial+BFinitial 4eva”. (At least this is how it used to be back in my days , nowadays teenagers are messed up …)How to put it…well: It’s NEITHER (or BOTH?)

To all of you who love this day and are super excited to have dinner with your significant other, or to get that present you worked so much on hinting to your boyfriend, or to walk hand by hand declaring your love: I’m so very excited for you too! That’s amazing! You have something you feel great about and you should let everybody know! Why not? Happiness is what matters the most indeed and you are one of the luckiest ones. This is the day for you, the V-day is all yours to cherish and be grateful to that baby angel who hit you in the first place (somebody should change his diaper though, it has been centuries that he wanders around) LOVE is a beautiful feeling that everybody deserves to experience as much as they can in their life. This day is the perfect one to send that message to the world.

(Since I’m sure you were waiting for the little devil on my other shoulder to speak ,I thought he should too. After all we do live in a democratic world where imaginary personifications of our sub consciousness should have the equal rights regarding freedom of speech...)

The funny thing is that V-day is for women only! It’s all about them (just like everything else.)They have to show their girl friends that their man cares and got her this amazing gift, and took her to this expensive restaurant and how he said these wonderful things and expressed his love better than Shakespear that night! Your girlfriends know.Tthey know that he actually shoved his face in his plate and probably checked the waitress out…Sorry, but hey they would still act amazed and will “awww” at everything you say, especially the single ones! On the other hand the guys, my dear lady friends like you have probably noticed but decided not to consider it, couldn’t care less that there was somebody who did something for love or died from it on this day. The only thing they are nervous about is getting you the wrong gift. That would mean a lot of closed doors for those dudes (…). Guys, if she’s expecting an Iphone 5 S or diamond earrings from the student/unemployed you, dump the b…beauty! You’re getting a scarf , a shirt or a belt anyways … 

 Both you girls and boys who care about V-day because of the big gifts, the soon to die roses, the heart shaped chocolate boxes with the Eiffel tower on top … I don’t think you got the Memo, but this is not what “love” is about.

Commercial break: To all of you who feel trapped in the Complicated, Don’t-know-how-to-label-it kind of relationships, Get this card and give it a try!

Good news: There’s going to be a “Celebrate Love and Wine” party around here! Thanks you crazy God Dionysus for also making the V-day stand for VINO day!  

I don’t know about you guys, but I know what I’m going to be celebrating …*hiccup*…Cheers !

Insecurities or perfect flaws?

You know that image of great looking people walking down the street with a certain confidence that makes you interested in them? I bet you do. If you had the power to read their thoughts for a day, what do you think they would think? Not that you predictable human…

I am almost sure that you would read thoughts about their imperfectness , that insecurity, the loosened string that holds their confidence.  We would all think that the insecurity must be physical since we live in a world where appearance matters (and we all know it does)

However, appearance does not mean beauty or fit bodies. It also means style, what you choose to let people see first in you, charisma, sense of humor, knowledge, social skills etc. Since it matters so much, we tend to believe that we lack something when it comes to self esteem.

  When asking my friends about their insecurities I got : weight , fear of gaining weight, specific body parts that they(us) don’t feel good about.  There is also that friend that has that thing that most of her female friends would kill for, but she considers it a flaw (It’s exactly what you’re thinking and we think she is a little nuts too…)                                                                         

 Besides the physical insecurities, the ones that you actually can’t do much to fix are the personality ones. How many times have we heard our friends complain that they can’t deal with certain situations as they know they should because of their character or emotional control. ( I am one of them and as my Sherlock friend would say “That is not a good thing…” )How many times have we heard our friends whine about a lost argument and how they wanted to say that perfect line but  “let it go” because was not worth the fight? (we all know that comeback came to his/her mind two hours later) Women mostly are more emotionally driven, especially during the dark week… and they all are very insecure about the stuff that they might do or say but they do it anyways. And then, there are men, not so self-controlled as they believe to be.  Anger management, like breaking doors and flipping tables I think are little insecurities about dealing with the situation properly too.

You may have big ears, crooked nose, a “single” pack (that’s a shape too) loose temper, emotional instability, whining behavior, crazy mood swing etc etc…but if you weren't to have all that you would be boring as hell and your perfection would be ugly and untasteful.

Now build up your confidence , exactly like you do when you sing in the shower, and be PERFECTLY EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY FLAWFUL.

Girls and Sports

                                                                                   

Since internet is fuzzing about the Superbowl these days I thought I should write something related to it. However, to make it a bit more interesting than the Broncos terrible game and the Coca-Cola “racist” commercial, I am going to talk about the relationship between girls and sports. Girls have the least idea there is as far as sports concerned. Of course there are exceptions, like passionate women about sports who also play and consider it a worthwhile activity. Then, there is the other  95%...Oh they do watch sports! Don’t get me wrong…The motif however is not personally related to enjoying the sport itself.  I came up with my own categories of girls who watch sports and even dare to call themselves “fans”. I present you:

1.The “OMG he is so hot!” group. This is the kind that knows everything about the player’s  personal life, wife, wife’s wardrobe, anniversaries, kids, mansions etc. Do not get confused, how the players  got this career and what do they exactly do profession wise is none of this groups interests. To make it easier for you, this is the David Beckham/Cristiano Ronaldo group. How to recognize this group? Easy, what you will probably hear most of the time in their group conversations (I wish you will never have to experience that) is “Ugh, his girlfriend/fiancé/wife is even ugly! He could do so much better!”

2.The “daddy’s princess”. See, I don’t know how your family used to spend the weekends, but as a europian family of four, half of which was made of male football fans (note: this is the real football, not the one you dear American friends consider such, hint: FOOT ! ) our weekend was all about it. We used to fight who would get the main TV. It was a harsh battle between the Weekend  Shows and Football! Was a long weekend of games, that according to my father and brother every  single game “Could not be missed!”. So when mom gave up trying we started watching football. Now every girl’s first fan experience in sports is her Daddy’s favorite team. She knows nothing, barely can tie her shows or tell the time, let alone know strategies or what is going on but she is a FAN!

3.The “boyfriend supporter” . Isn’t that cute? This is a milestone for a girl. She has just passed the “daddy’s princess” times (or maybe not, we all know way too many “princesses” around), and has gotten into a supportive phase. Since her significant one is passionate about a team the girl tries hard to understand his interests. Another factor is her wanting to spend more time with him. One thing leads to another and the girlfriends become huge fans of their boyfriends’ team. This is a great way to be with your boyfriend, however not so great for your boyfriends’ friends to have you watch all the games with them. Men need their space, especially during games to shout and curse without having to restrict themselves because of the lady’s presence…  So chicas go watch “Big brother” or that soap-opera every now and then… Who knows? Might be the episode where Maria Lucia tells her lover Fernando Antonio that he is the kid she gave up years ago…

4.The “I watch sports because I want to be cool” group . The extreme sports fans that might know a lot about a team or two but mostly watch sports to show that sports are not only for men. Women too can be passionate about the manly sports there are. It’s the equality thing that will never stop chasing us. But really, who are you kidding? We all know you have watched Titanic quite too many times and cried a lot when Jack died and probably wondered “Why the hell didn’t they take turns?!?!”

Last but not least, the “Why not?” group. These are the girls who accept going to a game with friends just to hang out and enjoy the crowd’s enthusiasm.  The worst part of this group is that they are on their phones scrolling down the Facebook feeds. Now that is ok the boys  because they don’t expect getting feedback from their lady friends on how beautiful that last action was…

The worst part of this all is that I can’t categorize myself… I do like sports! Watching friends get into that is a time spent well. I also like that dress Victoria Beckham wore at the Fashion Awards, I used to be an A.C. Milan fan since the age of 5… I did experience changing the team after a break up; joined friends and crushes to watch games while chatting with my best friend and BOY have I cried watching Titanic…

What about you? Do you have any idea where do you fit? If guy, can you find your girlfriend or friend/girl (you got to hate labeling!) anywhere here?

BUSS 449 post 1 (A quarter for your thought!)

The day i managed a blog has arrived! My name is Bora ( yes...like Bora-Bora...If i had a penny for every time i heard that, i would have a bank account is Switzerland). I'm a twenty-something year old girl who gets passionate about so many things at once.This is mainly the reason my Blog is not concentrated on one specific topic. I called it The Jukebox of Randomness, because in a student community like mine there are at least ten-fifteen things that grab our attention a day. Those, fed with personal beliefs, and strong personal opinions (stubborn even, none of us is ever willing to admit they are wrong) turn into interesting conversations among friends, while they gather over boxes of juices and veggie salads...
Let me tell you about my community: We study at the American University in Bulgaria. Some people get impressed till they hear Bulgaria, then they get confused. "American...but in Bulgaria ? What language do you speak?.." Which of us has never had to explain where Bulgaria is (for an american audience) and how this university works? No one. Let alone explaining where you are originally from and how you ended up there.
The thing about us is that we get a western education stuck in an eastern culture. Our flexibility is to be admired. We share more or less the same lifestyle, our worries are mainly concentrated around the same things, our interests are predictable, we feed the same, the non-bulgarian students struggle the same with the language( "Ne razbiram Bulgarski"  is our fast way out of the conversation.) One would think that, no matter where we come from we are the same. You would be amazed ... how wrong you are.

                                                                      

Such a colorful campus... you have the "Muscles" people, they are all the time at the gym torturing your self-esteem about motivation and power of will. The "I can play every sport" team and i am like :does Horseback ridding count?...the ridiculously slim girls ( i owe it to my girls not to dare to comment on them, but whats their deal ?)  the "big brand stamps on tight clothes" people , the cool wanna be people etc, etc.
Yes, we do relate to each-others emotional breakdowns, time pressure, the need of watching the last episode of the many TV show series, the nightmare of becoming obese with the snacks and the unhealthy way of eating.... don't get me started on sleep regime, but the beautiful thing is that we are unique our own way. It doesn't take more than a 5 min small talk to undermine your whole image of a person. For good or bad, you discover so much in that person (and then you start facebook stalking, but that is for another day). The beauty of diversity is what keeps us sane and entertained more than anything else.
Now get out there, have those small talks and embrace the different ! :)