The Troublesome Alcoholic Miniatures

I am in the boat on my way to Capri Island, Italy. Super excited, I admire everything; the view, the boat rides and that sunny day. Nevertheless, I am admiring the island’s view. Now, Capri Island is considered one of the most popular islands in Italy for the rich. Besides the fact that everything is new to me and I get impressed pretty much by anything, you should see the look on my face when I see for the first time in my life the massive American rappers, dressed in white and wearing big chains around their necks with dollar signs. It looks like they are ready to party, getting out of a private boat.

Full of excitement, I am getting out of the boat and I feel a bit overwhelmed by the island and by the people. It is very easy to distinguish the locals; they are very simple with a kind face and trying to make a living after all the tourists. The tourists instead are dressed up in the most expensive designer clothes, very noisy and excited at the same time.

A ride in the Peugeot decked out in Pigeons’ poop!

I can hear a voice calling me, “Annamariaaa” with a very lovely Italian accent. I wake up and all I hear is “Annamariaaa, sei pronta?” “Are you ready?” I am not sure where I am as I am still exhausted from last night’s restaurant work. I almost forgot that today is Sunday and I promised him that we will go in the park for a poetry video shooting. I shout that I will be ready in 10 minutes. I can sense the impatience downstairs and hear the grumbling.

When the Chickens Flew Inside my Mercedes ML 250

We wake up early, around 5 a.m., so we can reach home by noon to see my parents. I think it is - 20 degrees centigrade and the entire country is covered in snow. It is so cold that you won’t even want to think of going out of the house. We take the bags, stuff it in the car and here we are ready for the long road trip.

I am driving, somehow excited and annoyed at the same time. I don’t know why there has to be a fight each time I drive. The music is loud, he is unhappy and there is bright snow everywhere, perhaps two meters high on each side of the road. There are too many

The Man of My Dreams

After a month of treaties with my dad, he has finally agreed to let me go for a New Year’s holiday with my neighbor’s son and daughter up in the mountain. Now, you have to know that my dad never allows me to go out anywhere and this is a huge deal. I am so excited that I couldn’t even sleep that night.

The big day has arrived and we are all in the train on our way to the mountains. Here, we meet with some university colleagues of my neighbor’s son, around nine of them, all of whom are couples. The only singles are my neighbor’s daughter and I. I don’t know why but for some reason I feel left out. I feel nobody wants me there.

Kung Fu massage in Jakarta, Indonesia

I decide to go in the city by myself to do some shopping and get a massage. Before I leave the hotel, I ask for a place where I can go for a pleasant massage in town. I have been recommended to go to the best massage center, and I am very enthusiastic about it. I can feel the stiffness in my shoulder and the tiredness in my legs.

  

The roads are jammed on the way to the city and I am in the taxi admiring the view and the people. While looking out of the window, I am thinking how fatigued I am, but yet I don’t want to stay all day in the room rolling in bed. This is my third time here and every time I come, this city fascinates me even more. It seems very pure and the people live very modestly, and they have the kindness that you don’t see in every part of the world.

I just arrived at the massage center and I like what I see. It looks good from the outside, and I can’t wait to get in and finally get pampered. At the reception, a lady greets me and asks me in broken English what kind of massage I would like to do and gives me a few options.

The crazy taxi driver in Jakarta, Indonesia

I decide with my two other friends to go to an amusement park in Jakarta, Indonesia. Everything is new to us, the nature, the people, and the language. It is a hot humid day, the kind that makes you tired and sleepy, but I want to explore more about this new part of the world I am in. So, I find my inner motivation and start exploring. We are all so excited to be there that we take a picture with every bush.

It is getting dark and we want to go to the mall as well. So we decide to take a taxi. We wait on the road waiving at taxies but none was stopping. Finally one stops and wow what taxi is it!? The car looks so used and old that I thought by sitting in it, it will decompose. There are no windows and the side view mirrors were tied to the car door with a wire. It actually has a hole through the door to tie the mirror. Well not many options we think; either we go with this guy or stay an additional hour for another taxi.

The Spooky House in Perugia, Italy

It’s August of 2004, and I am in Perugia, Italy. I have been informed that I must look for another place to stay, because I can no longer stay there. It has been only less than two weeks and I know no one, and I carry with me two enormous suitcases. I am at the bus stop thinking where to go, and I only have 300 euros in my pocket. I want to cry, but crying will not solve my problem. I am thinking what to do, and I hate myself for carrying so much with me.

Out of nowhere, a girl comes next to me and asks me where I am going. I have no idea what to say. I tell her the truth though, that my aunt informed me that I can no longer stay with her and I must go find myself a place. She only informed me two hours ago. The girl is kind enough to offer to keep my luggage at her pub while I looked for a place to stay. Now really, what options I have, I think to myself and laugh. My aunt treated me like a

Grandma’s Apple

The school was going to start in a week time. The thought of it made me fret, but that day I was happy to see my paternal grandma. It was a cold day of October, and it had been pouring for over a week now. Since I was in a village, I remember how difficult it was to reach to my grandma’s place on a day like that. There were no roads or streets with asphalt. It was just sludge, lots of it! A couple of times, I nearly lost my boot because it got stuck in the mud.

I finally arrived to her house; modest with a low entrance door that I had duck to get inside the antechamber. Grandma was not a tall woman. She had a very kind face and sweet voice. She was not expecting me to visit, so I could see the joy on her face when I entered the small kitchen. Instantly, she was

The mystery at the Monastery of San Francisco, Peru

After a good rest in Miraflores, Peru, I decide to visit Lima, the capital of Peru. I have no plan really. I just know that I will spend three days there. I decide to explore the city. While walking on the streets, you can feel a different, vibrant energy. The weather is kind, people are always smiling and the streets are full of color.

I am captivated by a lot of things there, but something about Monastery of San Francisco attracts me by the entrance. It is definitely not the Spanish Baroque architecture of the monastery that attracts me though it’s beautiful. But does it have something deeper than that?

As soon as you enter the monastery, you get a strange feeling, or maybe it is just my brain over analyzing. Walking on the old couloirs, feeling the musky, old scent in the air, looking at the paintings on those walls, it gives a mysterious feel to it.

Fighting for Survival in Uganda

I was always interested to travel and see the world. But there is something that attracts me to the third world countries. It is not the curiosity, but I believe there is something all of us can learn from these countries.

Having said that, if you ask me what my favorite destination is, I will tell you without any second thought…. I don’t have a favorite destination but I love going to Africa.

I decided to swap one of my flights with a destination that seemed very exotic to me, and it was Kampala, Uganda. Soon after, I received an email from a good hearted person

The fisherman has it all

I have 5 days off before my trip to Mahé, the largest island in Seychelles in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. I can’t even hide my excitement. I am counting the days until my trip; I call my friends, my parents to tell them about my new destination. I even got myself a map, in order for me to learn more.

Finally the day has come, and I am on a flight all excited. Now am counting the minutes. I have a large smile on my face that everyone can see. As we are approaching, I can see the island from the window, all surrounded by water. I almost burst in tears of joy; I was thinking how lucky I am to see this place and how many people would like to be in my place right now. Even though I am tired, I can’t take my eyes of the window while in the bus on my way to the hotel. The wonderful scent of the ocean is in the air. I am enjoying the most amazing view, and I have an extraordinary feeling of peace and tranquility.
I forgot about all my frustration and about how tired I was. I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel, change and go to the beach.

Memory of a dinner in Casa Blanca, Morocco

I just arrived in Casa Blanca, Morocco. It is a beautiful sunny day. I meet two of my colleagues in the lobby area of the hotel. We decide to go for shopping in the bazaar nearby and then to find a decent place for dinner.

While walking on the sidewalks, I hear a man whispering in my ear, walking incredibly close to me. At the time, I had long, blonde hair, so maybe this is what attracted him. As we pass by, men from every corner were shouting from the shops nearby after us. All of us hold hands and hug out of instinct. I tied up my hair and put the hoody on to not attract attention,

We are finally in the bazaar. I can tell you this much; this is not something you see every day. There is a heavy smell in the air that hits me right in the head. I wonder what it is. Some big families are having picnics, on the ground, eating with their hands. A certain delicacy I never saw before, is cooking in a massive cauldron….snails! 

The vibrant colors, the clothes, the handicraft, it is all so beautiful except for the fact that a motor bike almost runs me over. I then realize, it is not just a bazaar, it is a home for these families as well.

Peru dish …Guinea Pig!

I am in a place others dream to be. For some people is just their home, and they never knew it any better. I am in the town of Machu Picchu. Exhausted after the long flight and train ride, I finally checked into the hotel I booked. Let’s rewind the hotel part. Accidentally, in hurry to book the hotel, I instead booked a hostel room. I had never been in a hostel before, and when I arrived there I almost had a heart attack!I was afraid to open the door to my room, as I thought it might fall off. After finally mustering up the courage to enter the room, I got shivers down my spine looking at the bed and the toilet. It was a very dark and gloomy room. You could see through the door, the hallway outside, and the smell of the shower was unbearable.
I looked around, dropped my back pack on the chair and started laughing hysterically. I thought how bad could it be to sleep there? it was only for one night. To gain more clarity I thought to first find a good place to eat then decide what to do next.I went out of my room and in my head, I kept hearing my brother’s voice,

Love in the middle of North Pole

I was going on a flight to Houston, Texas, USA. I had that empty feeling of being away from home, but at the same time, I was happy to be around people and getting out of my mood. Somehow work made me forget my insecurities and problems, and it gave me energy and made me happy.

While having these mixed feelings in my heart, hidden

very well somewhere deep inside of me, I was just looking out of the window and saw the beautiful view over the North Pole. Immediately I thought, ” you know what? I might as well just have a memory of this”. By the time I took out the camera and switched it on, the view was gone, but I took a picture anyway, a bit disappointed. 

When I came back to Dubai, I look through my pictures and I find the picture I took of the North Pole. I was shocked to see that it was not just a picture. There was a heart in the middle of North Pole!

My Autobiography

My name is AnamariaA. I was born on a beautiful sunny day on 11th of March 1981 in Botosani, Romania. I come from the country of Count Dracula and where stories of vampires are more famous than humans. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but I am not a vampire, even though I think I would look good as one. Instead, I come from the region where great poets, writers and musicians belong.I am a simple person who believes the glassis half full, that is, I’m a very positive and happy-go-lucky person. I worked various jobs in different parts of the world, and at the moment, I am lucky enough to be working as a cabin crew for almost six years with one of the best airlines in the world. This gave me the opportunity to travel a lot and gather stories from all over the world so I can share them with you.