Heroes

Every once in a while my reserves of optimism and enthusiasm reach a dangerous low level... It can be because of problems at work, studies, relationships... Maybe all of the above or something completely different... And then I forget how to smile and all I want is to disappear in my own little world, where nobody can reach me...

But since this is not a side of me I am particularly fond of, the same time I'm hiding from the world, I try my best to get back to the surface, remembering the little things that make me smile: reading (again) a book I like, watching a romantic comedy, listening to music that instantly changes my mood... But nothing gets my enthusiasm back on full speed than reading about people who inspire me...

Just the other day I finished reading Nelson Mandela's Long walk to freedom and you cannot but feel empowered when you see that even after everything he's been through he kept his optimism, faith in the humankind and even his sense of humour...

But stories that impress me even more are those of common people who do great things, with the little they have. Like that of William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, who built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, when he was 14, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.

Or reading about Luis Soriano, a young teacher from Colombia and his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto... For more than ten years he has been doing the same thing every week-end: get his donkeys loaded with books, take the "Biblioburro" (The donkey library) sign and travel in the remote villages around his home village, to bring books to people who normally don't have access to them.

And this is how I get back on my feet...

Hooked on a feeling

Actually that was just the name of the song... Right now I'm simply hooked on a song...

Every now and then I get obsessed with a song that I listen to over and over and over again... Until words lose meaning...

Some of the songs create such a time capsule that if I listen to them again after a while, I get instantly sent back in time. This is how De ginete takes me back to a rainy September in Groningen, when I was listening to it every day I got back from work or Hey there Delilah makes me remember my first weeks in Amsterdam...

Right now the song is She and I got hooked on it after watching Notting Hill again... What can I say, nothing helps me more when I'm down than watching a romantic comedy...

Frrreazing...

Coming back from Antwerp this week-end where it rained almost the entire time, I was quite surprised to find out that it had snowed in The Netherlands... And not only that, but the temperatures dropped by a few degrees, letting me know that it's definitely not spring yet...

I cannot really complain, especially when I see that in my hometown in Romania are now -21° C... But when the temperature outside is -6° and they suddenly stop providing heat in the room you're working in, it makes work even less appealing... All I can think of now is a blanket to wrap around my body and a hot cup of tea or chocolate...

But staying in the real world, I'm looking at one of my colleagues who wrapped a scarf around his neck and I'm contemplating putting on my gloves, just to be able to continue typing...

Reconsidering forgotten methods...

There was a time when the moment I got an email I would start writing back to the person who sent it to me... Even if I was really busy, I simply couldn't let an hour pass...

But those days are gone... As some of my friends know, it even took me 3-4 months to reply to an email... I could find several reasons to excuse (more or less) my behaviour, but they don't even satisfy me... I could also simply discard the drafts, if I see that so much time has passed... But I just don't want to do that... I have friends I don't get to see that often and talking on the phone isn't an option either, but I want them to know that even if it takes a long time to write sometimes, I'm still thinking about them and I'm happy every time I hear from them...

Nevertheless today I got what I deserved, when one of my friends wrote this as a reply to an email I wrote him after a really long absence: "your emails take a long time to get to the recipient. you might as well send an ordinary letter by pigeon next time. it might take a lot less time."

So next time you see pigeons in your proximity, don't just shoo them away... Look carefully first if they don't have a message from me! Especially if you didn't hear from me in a while...

Be aware of your belongings! There are pickpockets around.

I'm used to hear this kind of messages in airports or train stations. I didn't think though that I would hear this at the library where I work...

Earlier today one of my colleagues came in to tell me that his backpack has been stolen from his room and that I should be careful and lock my room every time I go out, even if it's just for a minute or two. He was out for less than two minutes to ask another colleague something, but by the time he got back his backpack was missing. It was later found, but without his mp3 player, raincoat and lunch(!)*. And apparently the same morning one student locker (one of the 2 or 3 that don't show up on the security cameras) had been broken as well... And nobody saw or heard anything!

But apparently my belongings aren't the only ones I should pay attention to...

Two of my friends had to ask for new debit cards, because theirs had been hacked... They found out about it when they saw in their transactions log that money had been taken out from... Mexico!

So beware, my friends! The world is not a safe place...

* My guess is that the thief was Dutch. Who else would risk getting caught while stealing a sandwich?

Cheap Dutch design...

Last year most of the student facilities within the University Library have been redesigned. Joking, a colleague from the Royal Library called it "cheap Dutch design", because just before starting the project the director was complaining that there aren't enough money... Nevertheless it seems that the architects did a really good job, because the design won an award a few months ago. But if you want to see more, you can take a look here or just come and visit me at the library, because that wasn't exactly what I wanted to tell you about...

One of the redesigned rooms was meant to be home to the newly implemented self-service lending. In simpler words, no library employee is needed for lending or returning books: you search the book you want in the online catalogue and as soon as you received the email about its availability, you can go any time from early morning till a quarter to midnight at the library and pick it up. Scan your pass, find the right box with the book, scan the book and you're done!

Today, for the first time, I used the system to pick up a book I wanted. Although I felt a bit of nostalgia for the racks of books I used to go through to find a book when I was in school, or the yellowish catalogue cards the library of my university had until recently, I must admit that walking into this red room felt quite nice. It was like somebody just whispered to me: "Welcome to the future!"

Miss my cooking lessons!

Tonight I was already cooking dinner by the time my housemate got home. She told me that when she got to our floor she could already smell the food and she was sure that it was coming from our place... And she also said it was a nice smell, which probably improved my opinion of the dish I had made, seeing that I wasn't that enthusiastic in the beginning.

As some of my friends know, I'm a real rookie in the kitchen. While I was still back home one of my sisters was really into cooking, so it was either her or mom in the kitchen... My few attempts turned out to be quite disastrous...

Coming here, things had to change, but I didn't evolve much... I became sort of famous among my friends for "Roxana's Dutch salad" and that was pretty much it... Every once in a while I was making a resolution to start cooking more and eat more healthy, but for several reasons it never stuck with me long...

Some not-that-great blood analyses and here I am again back to my plan of healthy eating... Luckily this time I had a few "cooking lessons" and now I'm able to experiment a bit more, but, as everybody knows, experiments don't always end up with success... This is by far the biggest challenge I ever took in the kitchen, so wish me luck!