The Return of the Randomator...

On my last day(again) in sofia....well i started thinking about my concept of home...
Is it knowing most of the streets and most of the restaurant menus ... or is it more than that...
I have used the word 'home' for a number of places in the past 2 years and often confuse the poor listener

...like to a friend at CEE MCPs meeting in Prague


me: " I cant wait to get back home!!! "
friend: "Oh, when are you going to Mumbai"
me: "uh,I meant Sofia"

(to the confused reader,I used to live in Sofia at that time)

.....Again , fast forward ...to chat with Ira in Varosmajor,Budapest


me: "It will be good to go back "
Ira: :"Where?"
me: "Both to Mumbai for Xmas and Sofia for Enter CEE"

....Yesterday in Sofia,
me: "It will be soo good to go back and sleep in my bed,in my apartment at home.....in Budapest"

Have I finally hopped and skipped between places long enough to erode my concept of home?
For me,I guess its just the place where most of my luggage and permanent bed is.....and allows me the safety net to go on autopilot and switch the brains off for some time...


Is that too simplistic?


maybe it is
maybe it isn't
maybe it doesnt matter..

General Update

I decided to pay a short visit to this ignored piece of semi narcissistic cyber bucket of randomness....

so just to give an update to ppl who check this space (which im hoping is more than just me)

well life is going on in this literal and figurative 'hotspot' called Budapest ...and frankly the general sauna-ness and certain very pressing things which start with the word 'Enter' and end with the word 'CEE' have made me quite over fried :) but im really loving it -

and someday i will venture into the general lovely city and do some touristy stuff- but I have a year to do all that so it can wait

more later,
G

My Life in Pictures- Rotterdam

new people,new things,multi ethnic city, bikes everywhere, AIESEC International, interesting conversations,personal discoveries and excitement for the future

Netherlands- you are slightly expensive for the student budget- but I absolutely love your spirit , I'm visiting you again for sure!!

My Life in Pictures- Prague

Great People,breathtaking city,wonderful food and drink, lots of memories made,lots of new people met, a wonderful time spent in a country with some things reassuringly familiar, some things charmingly different.

Prague ...i cant help smiling when I think about you.

Who's your Daddy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dEOjrywJXY

Thats my home LC ya'al

- completely proud AIESEC Mumbai girl

Sofia-Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Prague-Brno-Sofia

The last week has been one of the most craziest , mentally and physically exhausting, fun, and exciting time that I have had in a very long time...more on that later. promise :)

So I finally said good bye to my Flat yesterday

And the same thing again...

Packing your life into some kilo limit is just plain unfair- especially if you are a chronic overpacker like me...




The Last time I lock the door ( Dont ask why I have the cheesey smile plastered on my face- I dont know)



Check out the cool Door Graffiti- I case its too faint - it says ' Romina , Lucie and Geraldine - girls in Sutdentski Grad- Summer of 07 ' -
Hell we bought the extra door so we might as well leave our mark on it.



Good Bye 3-G

Excited

I have to share with you something that has made me very happy,excited,honoured.. for some time now,
I will soon begin my term as Program Manager with the Central and Eastern European Growth Network.
I will soon start working with individuals in around 18 countries , 44 Local Chapters and 56 projects.
I will soon be working with virtual teams.
I will soon be responsible for success of this program.
I will soon be travelling to Rotterdam for transition.
I will soon be going to Prague for CEE President's Meet.
I will soon be leaving for Budapest,Hungary - for a year.
I will soon be work mates and room mates with my close buddy Ira

And im ecstatic !!
Wish me luck :)

Today is the 31st of May
The last day as Member Commitee of AIESEC Bulgaria
The last day of work in the office
and the last day of an amazing experience
as I look back and think of an adjective to describe...

I think overwhelmingly life changing will do the job..

Thank You AIESEC Bulgaria, I dont think I am capable of ever forgetting you

- Geraldine

Ciao Jan and Massimo- Block Buddies

Jan,Massimo and Me




Jan 1 , Jan 2 and Me :)

For Me to Remember - 6

Once upon a time Block 24 , 3-G hosted an Indian, German and French Girl .....who went on to become really good friends :)

These two gals were my family for the past months and I really couldnt have asked for better roommates.

Romina and Lucie - I will never forget the non stop laughing sessions, the fun walks around the city, the deep talks in the middle of the night, the genuine advice and the original brand of common language that we invented complete with sound effects :P .
We really bonded together in a way that I didnt really expect and I am really happy for that.

Romina- than you for the tough love, thank you for saying the things I needed to hear ...really do appreciate it , I wish you all good things for your future and im really glad we met.

Lucie- You were my roomie for longer and we have seen each other grow and become slightly wiser. Thanks for being the generous hearted, warm and loving girl you are and I am sure there are only good things waiting for you when you get back to France.

Thanks guys for being there when i needed to talk to someone and for being there when i just wanted to have fun.

I know that we will stay in touch and I know that you will visit me next year :).
Miss Ya!

did I hear the other shoe fall?

impermanence, transience
and perforated bus tickets on empty seats
here and now..the silence screams

nubiles screeching from convertibles..counting years that they know
summer dresses and unsure eyes
wind in my hair and soggy feet

confused sunlight, trying to make up for lost time...

yesterday made more sense.
tomorrow will make lesser.

Im still listening....

For me to Remember-5

Have you ever felt a part of something bigger than you?
Have you ever had the feeling that you have seen the beginning of something beautiful?
Have you ever seen promise in someones eyes?
Have you ever felt that you are standing at the treshold of change?

That was my first and last National planning Conference of AIESEC Bulgaria; My last adieu to the national plenary, and I couldnt have asked for a nicer way for things to end.

For me to remember-4

If you think that you have heard Beethoven's 9th symphony so many times (in irritating elevator music, on call waiting music, on annoying ringtones, high school piano recital practice) that it can no way excite you anymore - Well I heard it once again and it was pure heaven.

The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra played a breathtakingly beautiful live performance of the Beethoven classic in front of the Alexander Nevski Cathedral and I was lucky enough to be in the audience. During the concert ,I found myself closing my eyes so many times and just allowing myself to absorb the pure harmony that was in front of me. The beautiful Cathedral in the background and 100 something extraordinarily talented musicians and a classical choir producing the most unbelievable sound that together merged into something that was so pure.As I allowed myself to be taken completely by the music I just couldnt fathom how someone could write such brilliance while being completely deaf. One always knew that little piece of historical trivia-but when you are actually listening to such brilliance - you are almost wishing it wasn't true - just because it is so difficult to wrap your head around the fact that it can be possible.

It made me think about my mental barriers
It made me think about what I think is impossible
When everything seems to go wrong and Im convinced that I have have been dealt the worst cards....
It makes me want to hold on tight to something that I dare to dream about.

And who knows, one day It might just be possible.

For me to remember - 3

This is where my weblog fulfills its diary functions and is a pure tool for me to log things I wish to remember, so if you think these series of posts are fragmented, unchronological etc... well you are not my target audience

I was invited on the Weekend for an nice Indian dinner at an amazingly multicultural home at suburban Loznets. The lady was Indian (born in Malawi,raised in the UK and has visited India just once -when she was 8!) . Her German husband and two toddlers completed the nice famiy picture. It was pure joy to have nice South Indian Curry and Rice with some lovely deep red Merlot and Norah Jones on the stereo.

The lady was a Phd in Slavonic Theater and it was intriguing to listen to all the places she has lived in and things she has done during her student life and I knew that 15 years from now I want to have the same kind of 'been everywhere and done all that I could' feeling that her eyes reflected.

We talked about... identity,'home', families, Budapest

and never knowing whats in store in the future-but always knowing that it's going to be good.

My visual DNA!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Go to the link and click on the tiny book next to 'Anonymous' - its amazing how they got all that about me just cause i clicked on a few pics :P

For me to remember-2

This is where my weblog fulfills its diary functions and is a pure tool for me to log things I wish to remember, so if you think these series of posts are fragmented, unchronological etc... well you are not my target audience.

We started transition to the incoming team , the process has been bitter sweet for me personally.

It reminded me of the last time i was in the same 'outgoing place' in 06 - how some things have changed and some things have stayed exactly the same about me

It reminded me that its time to stand , gather myself and move on

It reminded me that things are changing again and I need to change too

Aga/Cebula/Agnieszka...the lovely polish girl with the big heart ,bigger spirit and even bigger sense of humour. I am amazed at how we bonded so well with each other,laughed and generally had a crazy time all through her brief stay.This girl is going to do more than a great job in the year to come and I honestly could not have dreamt of a better successor.

I am more than surprised how we both had exactly the same thought process on many things.so obviously those 'things' are not Indian ways of thinking - I guess I have to seperate in my mind what is cultural and what is personal- thanks for initiating that Aga:)

I think i always will have a soft corner for warm,spunky,fun loving and large hearted Polish people.

For me to Remember-1

This is where my weblog fulfills its diary functions and is a pure tool for me to log things I wish to remember, so if you think these series of posts are fragmented, unchronological etc... well you are not my target audience.

My Easter Highlights

Breaking Coloured Eggs- (Bulgarian Custom) with MC friends

Went for my first and definitely the last Bulgarian football match (Levsi v/s Cska)

Went for a summer picnic with one Czech,one French Canadian,two Lithuanians and one Polish friend-one Easter lunch I will not forget!

Interesting Series of events

The charachters and events displayed on this post are true accounts of real life events .Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is very possible.

After a particularly stressful and intense seminar in a mountain village not far from the Bulgarian capital city, the exhausted Indian girl decided (for some unfathomable reason) to accompany her Brazilian and Bulgarian friend on a hike to a nearby monastary, it seemed harmless enough- a nice refreshing walk to a calming monastary nearby.

So she took one long look at her overpacked backpack, removed her precious laptop to take along with her and moved on hoping the nice caretaker would remember to keep an eye on her stuff once in a while.

And so the walk began- She couldnt help marvel at the beauty of uninhibited Bulgarian nature -that was savouring every second that brought it closer to the life and zeal that spring promises.

Young shoots on trees brought back to life....imposing gargantuan arbres that have seen seasons come and go, petals and leaves that compell you to pause and absorb........ soft sunlight playing between the thick mountain foliage and changing plain green into hues impossible to mix on a pallete.... Firm round mountain stones that she could feel under her leather formal shoes, clean mountain air that filled her lungs and the changing quiet elegance of the rustic path made her absorbed enough to occasionally forget the heavy IBM under her left arm.

The three of them decided to stop after about an hour of climbing at a clearance - a makeshift ,restaurant, run by a bohemian couple where the van was the pantry- a bbq grill was the kitchen and logs were the seating area...

After an interesting conversation about all things Brazilian - they moved ahead and climbed on for another long hour and found themselves in front of a monastery that seemed to be frozen in time - pristine and untouched by the world outside. She lit candles for very special people who would be moving to new places and starting new chapters.

They sat and stared at open space remembering a simpler time when guessing the shapes of clouds could occupy the whole lazy summer afternoon and life was a little simpler.
They met a strange lady on the road who said that the trees on the path could absorb negative energy - so they should HUG one of them to get rid of theirs. They did as they were told and though they made a very interesting sight - it felt good.

They climbed a bit higher - on the directions of another stranger - and found absolute bliss on the top.An unspoilt and breathtaking vision- with the orange sun playing with the shades of green,auburn and dark grey in the thick valley below- It was time for the Indian girl to just sit in silence and awe and let herself be completely taken in by the beauty around.

It was one of the times when she felt things were simple and complex, that she was strong and weak, a part of something and yet separate,having a role and yet aware of the enormity of things around
And at that moment I think she was happy.

Check this out http://www.bblf.bg/view_news.php?id=234