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Happy New Year 2011 :)

2011-01-03T23:49:00.003+01:00

Happy New Year!!!

May this year be full of ... joy and happiness ... unique moments and smart decisions ... dear and good people by our side!!! May we smile with all our heart!
A New Year is always a period when you look back of what happened in the last months/years and make wishes for the future ... what you want to achieve, how you want to improve etc.

Personally and professionally looking back at the last 6 months and the AIESEC International 1011 term is very hard for me to realize where everything started. I was one of the fortunate people to start the second year in AIESEC International ... the challenge and pleasure of maintaining the same position with everything around me changing: the team, the leader, my role, the ambition. The first days were exciting but strange for me: new people and reactions to discover, new people that were passing through the same experiences I passed through last year. I soon realized the magic of the team ... the incredible diverse individuals and perspectives ... the main thing that brought us where we are now and challenged us to understand the others and improve ourselves. I believe you will always have that in an AIESEC International team but I felt it much more this year: a process oriented person, a consultant, a connector, a challenger, etc.... each and every one of us a piece of the big puzzle. 

The next months: International Congress, team days, Supervisory Group meeting, country visits passed incredibly fast like a hurricane that moves everything around. I realized over and over again how incredibly lucky we are to be in this position and how AIESEC as an organization can make you feel so relevant. In these 6 months I was happy to experience how:

• The name of your position remains the same but your role and impact can be totally different: in the team, network, externally. I realized, even if I was scared of this, that having the second term does not challenge you less, but moreover pushes you to do things you always dreamed of and diversify the impact that you can have
• The knowledge you accumulate in time is never wasted but is waiting for the right moment to “pop out”.  Being in country visits I realized how I can support the members/countries on diverse areas even if is not my main field, how if you like what you do, the answers and ideas come naturally.
• Easily you can change one person’s experience by being to open to listen and share your good and bad experience ... how people are sometimes not looking for heroes but for normal people that they connect with

Over and over again and especially this year I realized how important it is to set goals for yourself and work towards that with all your energy and passion. Every single year on 31st of December when I have to think of the wishes for the next year I am always afraid to voice them out because maybe they will not happen. Being part of the 1011 AIESEC International Team, achieving the 2010 vision and being part of the team that develops 2015 ... where 3 dreams I had since some years ago and this year they were fulfilled. Travelling so much in Latin America, representing AIESEC at a European CSR event, discovering Europe in the weekend travels were things I never dared to imagine but happened. Definitely looking back I am proud of my experience and my team and that for us impossible is nothing!

What is 2011 going to bring us? I am sure a year full of surprises 

Be there! Challenge the Vision! :)

2010-11-17T00:38:00.004+01:00

November 2010, another special month in my life as I had again the incredible opportunity of going to my favourite continent :D Latin America :D

Bolivia and Venezuela, two countries I have visited before but now I have seen with other eyes and Peru one of the countries I realized I like the most: the best food I have ever eaten in my life (really!!!), the special people and Lima (a combination of Latin and European city). I realized once more I need to live in Latin America at some point in my life, if not I think I will never forgive myself :P

But now I wanted to talk more about one of the things I realize while in country visits. Participating to Alumni and LC Meetings, constantly chatting with LCPs and members I realize how powerful is the experience I passed through and how inspiring it can be. I felt being there, that the passion is somewhere hidden in ourselves but not out there ... I felt people don't know what they are actually working for or they don't have a strong challenging vision to strive for. But when I was talking about my experience I started to see their eyes glittering, big smiles on their faces and in the same time a lot of questions. This is why I realize how important it is to constantly go to the basis and ask ourselves "Why we are here?" and always set a challenging goal that can push us to work harder and challenge ourselves. I realize while talking to them how important it was for me to constantly push myself and look how I can become better.

I found this beautiful old email that I wanted to share, regarding the same thoughts :)

Michelangelo once wrote: "If the people knew how hard I had to work
to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all." Great leaders
recognize the depth and significance of these words. They know the
hard work they have put into what they have accomplished - the long
days and extra hours to get the job done, the meetings to set
direction, create alignment and build relationships, the missed
opportunities with family and friends to put out a fire, the quiet
moments when work is 'finished,' yet their mind continues ponder and
sort through things needed to done.

Great leaders know that success doesn't just happen, that achieving
their fullest being requires a lot of doing. It is the beauty of full
engagement in life - in all that they do - a richness so elegantly
captured in the words of former US President Theodore Roosevelt in a
speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done
better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives
valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the
great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy
cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails
at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

May your week be filled with great achievements borne of valiant
striving, brilliant enthusiasm and incredible hope. Choose wisely and
choose well… and have fun doing it.

Have a beautiful day and a fantastic week!!!

Mike"

Back! Back in Latin America  My heart is still here ...

2010-05-05T04:58:00.003+02:00

I arrived in Quito Airport in the evening, got out of the airport and it just stroke me .... I am BACK! I felt so overwhelmed by the small colourful buildings, threes in flower, people smiling, heat, smells, everyone speaking in Spanish ... so similar to Dominican Republic, my home last year!
I did not even realize how much I missed it and how much I enjoy being in this totally different world, where everything is so simple and positive, where you smile just because you feel part of a national even though you arrive there 5 minutes before ...
I love the emotion and the energy you feel in every single place you go; the stories people live; the amazing atmosphere; the incredible: landscape, vegetation, food; the hospitality; the SUN!!! It is really amazing how being back here, I feel I WOKE up from a long sleep ...
I realize how fortunate I was to live here for one year and now to come back for 2 weeks and visit 3 beautiful countries ... Even thought I am here in coaching visits and we work all day long, I believe this was the best holiday I could have 
Ohhh Latin America .... now I realize more and more why so many Europeans stay in Latin America, why even though is not the perfect place and it can be really frustrating, you always keep this region in your heart!
I am truly HAPPY to be back!
My life is amazing 

Deep emotion :)

2009-06-01T23:55:00.006+02:00

Today it started! It's official: AIESEC International 0810 Transition started :D
It was an incredible day, actually some incredible days ... and I can not say more than I am deeply happy!!! I know is almost redundant and annoying at some point but I simply can not stop saying that I am happy ... and can not erase from my face the huge smile I have :):):) Is stupid but sometimes I feel guilty for feeling that and I constantly wandering how come I didn't had this feeling during my 23 years ... Hmmm ... Good question :)

Since my last post ... 3 weeks have past ... unbelievable ... I finished one month of transition, my team is in Rotterdam and we started the general transition ... and is an overwhelming feeling ... I accumulated so much knowledge; I've lived each day at a such intense passe; I met so many incredible new people but also my dearest Ciuci, Lucki and Mo that simply make me feel home wherever I would be; I visited so many places ... and this is just the beginning!

I ended this incredible month with a great day ... 1st of June 2009 ... a day that actually represents the beginning of our year ... the year of switching off the autopilot mode we are working with in the last years in AIESEC and challenge the process ... the natural and easy way of doing things and bring a different kind of change!!! Actually this is more a feeling that I have right now than a certainty ... but I truly feel this as an outcome of this 0910 term both at a personal and professional level, both as an organization and an individual :) And I think time will prove this as beeig right or wrong :)

Being a true emotional person ... I can say today I felt ... ALIVE! Sharing about our lives, the people that made our year (for me being definitely Pato that I owe an unforgettable experience to), our main things we want to learn and leave behind ... all this just made my heart beat so hard and of course my cheeks in becoming so red :D I couldn't believe it :):):) Today actually it was the first time when I connected the dots, of what I want from this AI Experience :) ... I just realize my constant dream is to help people and this is also my goal this year ... help the network especially the finance area in each country ... but more than that I want this year for ME!!! I heard so many times the phrase ... be happy with yourself in order to transmit the same happiness to others :) ... so yes this year I want to focus on myself in order to be able to generate more energy to the people around me :D I will learn how to ride the bike, swim, learn Dutch, go to a photography course, go to the doctor, read, travel and most importantly I will LOVE!

Deeply emotion! Deeply happy!

The beginning :)

2009-05-10T17:30:00.006+02:00

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed"!!!

I started my experience in Rotterdam, Netherlands with this phrase in my mind ... phrase in which I fully believe in right now :)
I started my journey in AIESEC International, a dream I had since I was 18 (small and innocent Mali having just few months in AIESEC :p), with a lot of emotions and strong will to make it the best time of my life!!!

I started my new life in a country I always wanted to visit (on the plane I just remembered about Ale and Ioana, my 2 twin classmates and very good friends, that they brought once to a class a girl from Netherlands that showed us everything about the country: culture, landscape, and most incredible "treasures"- windmills, cheese, flower especially tulips, fruits and vegetables, green fields and natural way of life). Since then I said to myself ... I should at least go and visit this country :P And I did!!! I am here :D

I started my transition with my heart open to learn and enjoy this 4 months together with the old and new team :)

And what can I say until now ... is that I truly and clearly love it!!!!!

I love Rotterdam even though a lot of people were telling me not so good things about the city ... I love the fact that is quiet (I think is the perfect thing I needed) ... that is green and tidy ... that I can find the mango and platanos from Dominican Republic :P; kiwi, strawberries and any kind of fruits and vegetables I could wish for ... cheese and fish :D; flowers all around ... that I can feel safe and calm :)

I love the rooms we are staying in, especially Mo's room :) I feel like home :D

I love the office :D even though there are a lot of things we can redesign there :P
I love the feeling I have working at a global level ... the knowledge and information you get connected with ... the decisions you make. I love my day to day transition and things I would be managing next year (some of the people will say I am crazy ... but I truly enjoy them :D ).

I feel like a child that is again discovering the world!!!
I feel I am taking the most out of it ... right now, enjoying things I didn't do that much in the last 6 years ... walk around and discover, sleep how much I want, watch TV, eat all day long salads and fruits :P

I feel good!!!! I feel I started a simply and happy life here :)

I've seen the name of this street a lot of times on different AIESEC documents or websites but never imagined I am going to work here for 2 years :)

The flower market :)

AIESEC International's office

My favorite place from Mo's room (remembers me of my room in Cluj, especially the way I can see the moon and sky during the night)

Why this was the experience of my life?

2009-05-10T14:54:00.005+02:00

AIESEC has this incredible power as an organization to always offer us more and more, "give us 10 times more than we invest" ... to see if we can take it and if we learn from each and every second spent together with some incredible and talented people :) So that is why I believe I can not end my story in Dominican Republic without mentioning the people that had a big impact upon me and the things I take for myself from this experience :D

So I will start with my team ... so diverse and so challenging ... asking and offering so much :):):) Definitely demonstrated me that if you are not strong enough, you can never guide some people towards a common goal ... that leadership is not about being the first or being the main character ... but in demonstrating day by day your passion and energy towards ACTIONs!!! not WORDs!!! I talked about Raga and Javi when they left (what did they mean for me and my experience) but I never stopped to talk about the girls: Pato and Lauris ... the 2 lovely girls that: were there for me from the very first day till the end; demonstrated me that the purpose is more important than personal comfort or personal interest; i can trust them with my own life <3

Lauris ... a passionate and hard working person ... always striving to be the best and demonstrate professionalism until the last minute ... the person that was most of the time against our believes and decisions (mostly because she was the only one that had a clue upon what can and can not be not in the country). I learned to admire so much her power to sustain constantly her opinions (even against 4 foreigners not at all easy to manage :P), to fight for her dreams and always be there. A totally "feeling person" (even though she was not showing it a lot of times :P) she was the person that helped me in becoming more strong, flexible, adapt faster to the situations and see the things behind the appearances :):):) She fully demonstrated what my mother was always saying to me "in small bottles is where the strong essences are". The one and only regret I have is that so few times I actually told her how much I admire her and what she meant for me ...

Pato ... so hard to be able to write down what Pato meant for me ... pictures and moments can not stop coming to my head ... always the 2 of us together (going to the bank, meeting the Alumni, doing shopping in Pola and reading the stupid magazines to relax, cook, clean, talk about everything, enjoyed eating an ice cream or some biscuits with the only money we had); sharing each and every pesos, each and every second, each and every memory from our lives; smiling and crying together; being there the strong or the soft ones; being able to pass together over all the challenges and end our experiences fulfilled ... being close also in the next year, :) at least on the same continent :P I found in Pato the connection I never had with my sister, the one person that is so much similar but so much different than me ... the person I trust and admire for what she is and demonstrated this year!!! The strong one but so soft deep inside, 100% dedicated to something she is putting her mind into, the mother of the house :) I will always have in my heart these special moment and would be eternal thankful for the support you meant for me this year ... I know I couldn't have passed so many of the though moments without you :):):)

My girls I know for sure we are going to see each other in Europe!!! :)
Rotterdam, Bonn and Belgium??? Let's see :D

My virtual angels :) Marco and Hugo

Only they know my deepest thoughts ... my hard and happy moments ... or maybe they didn't always know ... but they had the power to always make me feel good and supported ... always bringing a new perspective, a smile or positive attitude ... sharing our experiences made me feel close to them even if we were million kilometers away :)

Marco! My dear :) Day and night, Monday to Sunday, 24/7 connected and there for a talk ... being it about the GN Board, Financial Sustainability task force :P or simply us and our experiences :D The magic time in Rio and you helping me achieve my dream; MMM; taking care of me in Sao Paolo; the incredible present you've sent me; the action plan :d and now the letter :):):) How could I ever be thankful for what you did for me this year??? I will never forget ... "if is not good, that means that is not the end" :)

Hugo! :)How can you ignore one person for so much time and 2 years later to realize the incredible connection you can have with that person? :D Definitely strange and funny ... the turning ways of life :) Starting in IC with a random meeting and continuing with endless talks each day about our experiences as MCPs ... random or totally deep discussion, I got to realize how few things can build a special relationship if you find that "click" between 2 people ... I will be for ever thankful for Hugo's way of showing me (I don't know if it was conscious or not)the road to take during those though months ... that only by enjoying your experience, having the positive attitude and smiling you are going to be able to take and offer the best of you!!! :) Our emails, presents and talks will always remain in my heart ... always being unstoppable!!!

These and much much more people made my experience worth it!!! :D <3 :*
And still why this was the experience of my life??? :D

Because I realize thinking and writing all these posts about my experience in Dominican Republic, that I am different ... that each and every second from my experience built the new person I am today :) Because:

I feel I am a happy person :) I know that is strange, but since I was little my one and only hope and wish I had, was to find happiness and offer happiness ... and until getting to Dominican Republic I couldn't say I did ... actually I had it all along but I couldn't open my eyes and see it, I couldn't touch it!!! I was waiting for the "big waw" ... "that thing" that was going to make me 100% happy and was not enjoying each and every moment!!!

I gained so much energy and passion :) I truly feel now more alive than I was when I entered AIESEC ... more aware of myself (with good and bad) ... I feel in the same time I became more strict, pushy and reactive; demanding a lot from myself and people around me .. I feel strong, free and confident ... Even though I know I didn't rich that "full level", I can say I have more confidence in myself and the impact I can bring around me :)

Hope and power to fight for your dreams!!! Being selected in Dominican Republic after such a powerful experience in the Romanian elections (and considering all my path until now in AIESEC) I got to believe in my friends words: "good things happen to good people" :):):) But being part of this experience made me understand more the power of your thoughts and wishes ... I realize you do achieve your dreams if you fully believe in them with all your heart and mind ... people can laugh at you, challenge you ... but you are the only one that can make them true, that can make the other people believe in them!!! I have a lot of examples from these experiences when we actually gave our last drop of energy but we achieved our objectives because we fully believed in them ... yes we did a lot of mistakes, yes we missed doing things ... but in the end is important what you leave behind and what the spirit you end your experience with :D

I end my experience with this important lessons about myself and life ... with many other that maybe I would realize only later but I will begin my next life changing experience knowing that:

I am truly happy and proud
I gave everything in my power this year to have an impact
I have a unique place in this world that I can call my second "home"
I have new friends I can always rely on :)

My 11 months and 11 days :)

2009-05-10T12:15:00.006+02:00

I started my unique story in leaving the Bucharest airport with the confidence that is going to be a great year ... didn't even know that good what is going to expect me there(all my researches were sending me to lovely beaches and resorts, so I was sure it was not all about that but I couldn't picture in my head the country, people, experiences I am going to pass through) ... had a small general picture of what AIESEC is doing in the country (later during the year I realize it was totally different than what was actually happening) ... I knew I am starting my road with a Colombian girl (Patricia my VP Finance), a Dominican girl (Laura my VP ER) and a Romanian guy I kind of knew before (Raga my second VPER or whatever we called the position at that point :P) ... I knew I am going there to help and transmit all my 5 years of experience to AIESEC in Dominican Republic (a country in Latin America, the region I wanted so much to leave in)...everything else was a total mystery :)

Got to Madrid airport and had my first shock ... seeing all "morenito" and "bling blig" guys waiting for the Santo Domingo plane :P; got to my destination and met the only person I was more close to in the entire country, Felipe; spent a great night in some restaurants close to the beach where everything was part of a movie ... full moon, incredible blue water and white sand, natural fruit cocktails! Loved it!!

And it all started ... getting to know Santo Domingo (loud and crazy, diverse colors, lovely flowers and palm trees everywhere, a lot of garbage on the streets, everybody with a smile on their face and singing in any circumstance, challenging means of transportation, fruits I never tasted in my life) and our big common office and house; getting to know Pato, Paula and Laura; first frustrations regarding the fact that I couldn't speak Spanish and I was feeling like a "handicap" person ... just smiling during the company meetings and saying to everybody "buenos dias" (even though it was the middle of the day or afternoon) :P

Transition and planning passed very fast and begun our eternal challenges with money (debts and guarantees we had to pay) and members involvement. Javier (a Colombian trainee that was interested in working part time in the MC as communications responsible) became part of the team and together Pato, Lauris, Javi and me started to do members and EP recruitment ... failed terribly ... main reason ... we were having the expectation everything is going to be like in Colombia and Romania (strong promotion and 300-400 people are going to come to the Big Picture) ... 5 people came and none applied as member ... nobody applied as EP after one week of intense promotion every single evening. The challenges with money became more serious (didn't have money ... I will always remember the dinner we had with Pato eating some small 6 pesos biscuits both of us) ... and were beginning to be a little bit desperate ... still having in our mind that everything is going to be ok :) And we continued without seeing any results, without money but with a lot of energy and motivation. The first miracle happened when Yoselin, an Alumni realized we were not doing that well and lend us some money ... unbelievable feeling me and Pato had at that point!!! God is taking care of us!!!

Raga arrived and from that point on we were leaving definitely better (he saved and challenged us in so many ways) ... we begun building our small family: Pato, Raga, Javi and me with our habits, stories and day to day life ... So nice August weekends learning how to dance, enjoying Pato's food, discussing about everything and everyone :):):) Still the things were not working as we wanted, planning projects and activities that didn't had the results we wanted ... but at least we were there for each other! Again huge challenge ... IC was coming and we had no money to go or pay the fee; our first meeting with the Alumni (meeting Kildare the person that was going to be our biggest supporter); first planning with the EB trusting that everything is going to be ok ... And again through an incredible effort of Kildare and the Alumni we got the money to go to IC!!! Another miracle :) Our first discussion with the team regarding who should go with me to IC ... and thought decision of leaving the girls home to manage the projects we have planned ...

IC ... enjoying an incredible conference, meeting all my friends: Mo, Mada, Dora, Vlad, Iulian, Lucas, my CEE MCPs and new incredible people: Marco, Hugo ... representing for the 1st time Dominican Republic and being proud of my country and Jose :):):) ... feeling mature and decided to change the way things were functioning back in Dominican Republic. Fulfilling my huge dream of seeing Rio and the Corcovado :D One of the most unique moments of my life!!! Visiting Venezuela :) And again the challenges appeared: Raga got sick and was not able to enjoy IC and Brazil; due to the hurricane season the plane we were suppose to flight with, was not available anymore so we had to pay for other tickets from Venezuela to Dominican Republic ...

We got back in September and the big issues started to appear .... hurricane season that didn't affected us so much; a lot of work and again the results were not there (me coming again from IC with the expectations that everything is going to be different); a strong wall was beginning to be built between us, the foreigners (Pato, Raga, Javi and me) and the Dominicans (Laura, the EB, the Alumni) ... and the situation being managed bad from both parts (us not understanding what are the possibilities in this country and attitude we should have) ... projects in which we invested a lot of time and passion (especially Laura and Patricia) that couldn't take place for various reasons ... strong arguments with the Alumni about what should we focus on in order to have results, things that were not what AIESEC meant for us ... If until then we still had the motivation and energy, October was the month when everything went bad ... our motivation (including mine), team's unity and work level decreased a lot ...

I think never in my life I felt so useless and challenged ... constantly having in my mind the question "What can I do? Why is not functioning?" ... having huge gastritis crises after the BOA and Alumni meeting ... being almost desperate because I was seeing that we are investing a lot of knowledge, energy and time and people around don't understand and appreciate us ... discussing with Raga about what makes us happy and Raga's decision of going back home in January ... I think all these moments and feelings were the peak of taking the final decision ... "live or die" ... go and leave everything behind or remain, change you attitude and enjoy this experience ... Thanks to great people around me (both in Dominican Republic and outside)I rebuilt myself both inside and outside and I decided to change myself and start everything from 0 :)

Unstoppable weeks started :D Having team days where we rebuilt our team, motivation and dreams, being 100% sincere with each other; organizing SER MAS and the 20th Anniversary where everybody including the Alumni were recognizing the effort and professionalism of the team; having Felipe's visit where we demonstrated unity and power to keep walking on the great road we started; planning our biggest legacies: pay the AI debt, regain the AIESEC Dominican Republic's membership, have a Dominican MCP elect, re-built AIESEC Santiago, organize a Job Fair event and Caribbean Leadership Conference :)

Holidays came ... having Mo here was the most incredible Christmas present I could ever receive in a country that does not celebrate Christmas as Romania does (what was to expect in a Latin country with 35 degrees outside :P) ... and having the time to reflect and think about my next steps ... Being in constant doubt between applying as a Director or VP Finance in AIESEC International's 0910 Team (a constant doubt I have since entering AIESEC, Finance or something else :P) ... so I decide that the best, most challenging and impact full experience I could have is to continue my 6 years of AIESEC with other 2 ones as AIVP F :D

So January came ... Jenn was elected as MCP ... Raga left Dominican Republic and left behind a deep hole in our hearts, we missed him so much :( ... we started re-building AIESEC Santiago, together with Felipe, a Colombian CEEDer we moved to Santiago for one month and started promotion and recruitment- both members and EPs (difficult times for me ... doing promotion from 08.00 am to 09.00 pm and in the night writing my AI Application); Laura, Pato and Javi were organizing recruitment and conferences ... Javi left and I couldn't say goodbye ...

Preparation for IPM started with the same challenges ... money ... the bank changed their policies and we couldn't redraw the money needed in order to pay the debt ... Jenn didn't know if she could take her visa ... so again miracles happened!!! Jenn got the visa, the Alumni lent us with money and I was preparing to leave to the airport (destination Italy) when we still had to take a decision ... are we paying our salaries or take the money to IPM and pay AIESEC Dominican's Republic 3 years debt ... tough decision especially because once more the girls were staying home to work ... We decided to take the risk, sacrifice the next months and achieve a goal that we had ... During premeeting I found out Jenn received some "millas" from an Alumni and she could join me in Rome :D Jumping around of happiness around the hostel all night long :P

IPM was a powerful moment ... I had my successor there to transmit her what means to be MCP in an international conference and to get all the "global network" knowledge she was needing ... we payed the debt and fulfilled the membership criteria ... I got to reconnect with "my people" and start a beautiful story ... and fought with all my heart and was elected AIVP Finance :):):) From that moment on I felt that everything is possible ... that purely "sky is the limit"!!!!

Last two months ... everything happened so fast ... ILC in Guatemala, Job Fair, MC elections, Activarse and CLC, last meetings with the BOA members and the Finance Commission, transition .... our goodbye party and meetings ... it was a constant run that we could not stop!!! Yes we had decisions to take, hard moments and challenges ... but we knew ourselves so well, we knew what to do and what not to do and we had the clear mindset that everything is possible!!! So it did!!!

We were at the limit so we evolved!!!
Challenges did made us stronger and changed our attitude towards life!!!
We have friends for a lifetime!!!
We did say goodbye with a smile on our face for what a great year we've spent together!!!
We are better going to great :) due to these 11 months and 11 days!!!
I will be forever thankful to Dominican Republic, AIESEC and you my dears for this!!!

Our first picture together :) So young and innocent :P

Our team building :):):)

The song that represents ... our year!!! Us being unstoppable!!!

"The End"

2009-05-10T11:04:00.006+02:00

My unbelievable experience in Dominican Republic ended on the 30th of May ... so hard to realize that almost one year passed so fast and that beginning with this day my life will be so different and so far from the places, people, experiences I lived ...

Finishing CLC everything passed so quickly .... transition ... so proud to see Jenn together with Rene and Glory ("our babies"; the 2 persons that in only 2 months impressed us with their passion and involvement; we founded the kind of people we were looking for the entire year ... those kind of people that understand and feel AIESEC, that would give everything in their power to make this organization grow) planning and being motivated to take our work further! Happy to see their positive attitude, maturity and understanding ... being 100% certain that they are going to make incredible things in Dominican Republic and that together with Andreea, Ricardo and hopefully an ER person they are going to demonstrate to themselves and to the world that Dominican Republic is a country with an incredible potential!!!

1 day before my departure and I couldn't even picture in my head the fact that I was going to leave ... I couldn't do my luggage till the day I left ... I was constantly thinking about all that happen, about the fact that I am leaving behind all my nights and days ... my people ... my places .... my house and bed ... my best friends now ... my day to day life ... my tears and laughs ... my dreams and work ...

In the last night we had a great dinner and we invited people close to our heart to say goodbye; Kildare again made us a huge surprise my bringing us a letter from him and the Alumni close to us thanking us for this incredible year ... preparing us a very special moment ... this was the moment I couldn't stop crying until I got to Madrid ... couldn't sleep so I spent my entire night remembering ....

It was incredible the level that my departure was affecting me ... and I couldn't understand at first, why??? (when I left Romania I was not like that) ... now, I was crying for one day and one night and I simply couldn't stop ... Talking to people, I realize this experience was the most intense in my entire life, I fought a lot with myself and others for my dreams and the things we wanted to leave behind; I gave my entire soul, energy and time; I found incredible people ... and now I had to leave everything behind and start again from 0 ...

So I gathered my things ... bought presents for my family and friends, said goodbye to everybody and went to the airport in a "carrito" :) Jenn, Rene, Laura, Glori, Cristal, Pato and me in a small car :P remembering the good old time!!! :D The hard part started ... how do you say goodbye??? How do you pass over the fact that you are not going back home in Santo Domingo(how you did so many times)? How do you tell people in 1 minute everything they've meant for you, what you've learned from them and what you wish them??? So I did and leaving a big piece of my heart there I entered the check in door and didn't look back ...

At the point I was in Madrid's airport my heart was in peace :)

In peace because I knew we gave everything we had ... happy and proud of our year: of our experience and what we've left behind (results, people, mindsets); of us: Pato, Lauris, Raga, Javi, Jenn and our future; of the future of AIESEC in Dominican Republic with an MC team build by 3 Dominicans, 1 Romanian and 1 Colombian (the 3 cultures we are always going to keep in our heart); of my 11 months and 11 days experience!!!!

At the airport :) Thank you so much guys!!! <3 Love you forever!!!

Caribbean Leadership Conference 09!

2009-04-28T05:07:00.005+02:00

Organizing together with AIESEC Puerto Rico Caribbean Leadership Conference (the first edition of an international leadership conference designed to develop the Caribbean Talent)was a dream we had since last year, June 2009 ... connecting again two countries that have passed through difficult periods in the past and try to re-establish that "country to country friendship" that was present some good years ago; promote the Caribbean Region, the potential of our countries and uniqueness of our talent; promote AIESEC in Dominican Republic through an external conference at the beginning of CLC (ActivaRSE- Sustainability and Leadership Forum) and Global Village in the most traditional and beautiful place of Santo Domingo, Plaza Espana; offer to the Dominican members the opportunity to organize and participate in an international conference in their own home :)

We had 45 delegates and 7 facilitators from Guatemala, Venezuela, Ukraine, Mexico, Colombia, US, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Romania (that being me :D) ... a small but cozy conference that respected its name "Caribbean" in each and every sense ... tropical hotel, palm trees wherever you were looking, morning plenaries and sessions by the pool or in the pool :D, closing plenary on the beach ... definitely something the European in me didn't even imagine :)

Challenges over challenges ... managing the OC and especially the OCP, big lost in the conference budget, huge expectations from all parts, my last conference as MCP and my last dream to be achieved in Dominican Republic!
Learning after learning ... during ILC I realize again and again:

* I love to organize events and conferences ... remembered me so much of NPS 06 :)
* The magic is still there! Each and every conference is giving me a fantastic energy ... even though I was dead tired before the conference ... all the events, delegates, sessions just woke me up and gave me the energy to enjoy this conference to its best
* My level of patience (especially with people that are not professional and dedicated) decreased ... I became more strict and direct ... I was amazed sometimes about me and my reactions ... which is not necessarily a good thing. I think pushing so much for things to happen and working with such different and challenging people, made me this year much more results oriented than I was before!
* I enjoy being around people and delivering sessions mainly because I feel the impact I can have
* In Dominican Republic things can not go wrong :) ... there is always a lucky star that is smiling to us :)We started the conference with so many challenges and difficult situations, and we ended it with incredible motivated delegates, achieving the objectives of the conference, having a great and motivating Alumni session and finishing with a plus in the budget :D Still thinking about this conference and our year ... I can say this conference gathered all the feelings I had during this experience ... unknown, trust, energy, frustration (you plan everything with time but you receive an answer just some hours or minutes before the event; people are telling you they are doing something but a lot of times is not even crossing through their minds to actually respect their promise), satisfaction, peace! Everything finished in the best way possible and still my question is how??? :D

* NO is not an answer! If you really want it, you can achieve it!
* One year is not enough ... when you know everything and can actually perform ... you have to leave and start another experience ...
* I had this year a great team ... challenging but really professional and hard working!!! Felt so proud of the girls (Pato and Laura) that were managing the conference in the back stage and got it to the place where we wanted :)
* Never stop being modest but still ... never stop being proud and happy for what you achieved!!! We definitely have a lot of things to improve in organizing this conference ... first edition and tuns of learning ... but we for sure have something to be proud of :) One thing I learned in Dominican Republic is to be able to maintain high expectations but also to offer importance to your job and achievements ... to celebrate and enjoy your efforts!!
* Two words ... "Thank you" from the people you appreciate most are the ones that can make your heart smile :) Thank you once more Kildare!
* The quality of AIESEC people is incredible! Once more a faci team is making history!! :D

I feel happy and in peace ... one more thing to deliver in the next days, the ending of transition and we are ending our term ... but also very emotional (I pass very fast from being sad to being happy and the other way around)... but I presume is a normal reaction :)

2 more special days :D

10 precious days :)

2009-04-20T14:45:00.001+02:00

And I am trying to capture my feelings and moments and I feel I simply can not ... because is a combination of happiness and sadness ... I want to start a new adventure in my life that is going to be 100% different that what I lived before (I remember I was feeling the same coming to Dominican Republic) ... more professional; different level of impact; different people; change in climate&food&level of life; more "cold" and "calm" country; more time to focus on myself ... but in the same time i don't want to leave the people, places, experiences I lived here at such an intense level. I am thinking constantly how fortunate I am to be able to pack again one year of your life in a luggage and go away leaving all behind, but how damn hard it is ... you feel you leave pieces of your heart in that place, a place that maybe you will never see again ... and for sure when you come back everything is so much changed.

My mother was telling me last year that I am like a gypsy that is moving constantly with the entire house and family to a better place ... and I realize now is so much true ... Cluj to Bucharest, Romania to Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic to Netherlands :)

I think for me is even more difficult because of my personality ... of being an emotional and feeling based person ... that takes everything around her first through the heart and afterward through the mind ... of being a person that gets energy from outside being: people, climate, places, work ... so I realize each year this change is:

1. making me more flexible and stronger
2. challenges me more than anything until that point (trying to re-built my home, working place, network ... my equilibrium in general)

I definitely leave behind a life-time ... one country that changed me in an incredible way (both in good and bad) ... one country that demonstrated me who is deep inside Mali and what can she do when everything else is falling apart including her ... one country that helped me in finding my road in the next years :)

In the next days, even though they are going to be very busy and crazy I want to have some minutes and capture my feelings and learning in Dominican Republic ... wrote them down and end this experience here ... be prepared and ready to start another adventure in the other part of the world :)

some thoughts ....

2009-04-18T07:27:00.004+02:00

I have 12 more days ... 12 more day in Dominican Republic and is incredible ... again and again I am thinking how time flew away so fast ... with good and bad, with funny and sad, with people that come and go ... and now I feel I am exhausted ... but so much in peace ... is that kind of level you get to: when you know what you have to do, you know the environment, you know the people, you know your dreams and you become efficient enough to be professional and bring fast results :) Is a damn good feeling especially after the long months of learning, questions, energy invested and search for: normality, friends, peace, happiness ... Is a great feeling I have deep inside because all the things that we've planned and at some point couldn't happen due to different reasons, are actually happening right now :) - The Job Fair, the CSR Conference, the Caribbean Leadership Conference, AIESEC Santiago, growth in the country :D

And when you see beyond all that, you see ... people ....

We (me and Pato) just arrived from a dinner with an Alumni, Kildare that actually was the person that was here with us (especially with Pato, me and Raga) in the good and in the bad, that helped us to get to IC and IPM, the brother we never had, the person that cared more about us than sometimes our family because he knew what we are passing through, the person that most appreciates our effort and results, the person that connected us with the Dominican culture ... and I have no words ... incredible .... He took us to dinner, he offered us a beautiful neckless, he was saying goodbye with tears in his eyes .... a person that expresses passion and purity through all his actions ... a person that impressed us so many times .... a person that thought me what it means to be a true Alumni, a true Dominican ... a person that sometimes cares more about the others than for himself ... a person that simply loves to help and be there for the people around him :) I will never understand sometimes how people can connect in this incredible way ... get deep inside your heart and never get out ... and he definitely is one of these persons :) Me and Pato were like his daughters :D

Our dear Kildare, thank you for every minute and second here!!! :)

Change ...

2009-04-02T03:42:00.008+02:00

Who are we? What do we want to become? Who are the people that are influencing us or helping us to get there? How are the things we are doing each second going to help us get there?

At the beginning of the road we all start with a dream, a vision of what we want to be and have at the end of the road and we are fighting with all our energy and resources to get there. But my question is ... What if we change on the way? What if we forget of who we are and transform in somebody we don’t like? As each experience is changing us ... at some point realizing it or not we can lose these dreams, energy and light we were sharing with people around us...

There are millions of examples, from parents that focus so much on their children and job that at some point they forget about themselves ... of couples that after some years of marriage they lose the magic.... Simple example: me (at the beginning) coming to Dominican Republic, facing all the challenges and managing my emotions and actions in a totally wrong way ... me forgetting about my passion, energy and positiveness....

Due to all these I believe the most important thing that we should take care of is our heart and energy ... how we are going to manage it, influences so much our attitude and connection with people ... if our heart is not happy and in peace ... people around us will notice and we are never going to be able to smile from the heart

And actually who is helping us overpass all these challenges and hard moments in our lives ... people around us ... being the mother, brother, best friend, colleague, lover ... people that know you above all and that can have a positive impact upon you ... people that can tell it to your face “you changed you are not the same” and can get you out from that gray cloud you entered ... people that can remind you of your dreams and can help you get there...

I remember myself in September 2005 and smile now :) I remember myself passing thought the strangest period of my life: when my colleagues from the EB couldn’t talk with me, when I was so closed in myself and had the feeling everything is wrong around me, when I was actually acting totally against my values ... At that point only Stefan had the power to get me outside the office, take me to a walk and open my eyes ... and I will remember his words forever :) My God how many things I realize after that ... how many things I realize in November 2008 when one person was here for me each day (even though virtually) remembering me that we should never lose the smile from our heart and that challenges come and go ... Definitely these people can change our experiences and transform them in something beautiful!

How fortunate we are to have this people around and how happy we should be to share each moment with them!!! How grateful and thankful we should be!!!

And I have a little part from a movie I love that expresses exactly this ... how key people in our life can be there and make a difference :)

“Is that girl on the road you keep forgetting”...

Let’s challenge life and the normal way of doing things ... let’s not forget about ourselves and our plans due to the tough and fast life we are living!!! I know for sure we can :)

A little bit lost ....

2009-03-25T02:41:00.002+01:00

I feel strange .... I have passed through this feelings before some times now ... I gave my best during the last 10 months, I have everything in my life to be happy and I truly am but I don't have energy to enjoy it ...

I am beginning to feel melancholic for the experiences I have passed through on my dear island ... remember the hard and soft moments, the lovely places, the people ... and in the same time I feel something big is waiting for me and I want to gather all the energy and motivation in order to start it with the right foot!

So I am little bit lost ... always when I am tired and exhausted I loose my equilibrium and my clear vision about tomorrow and the future .... but I will come back ... I have to, the last 5 wonderful weeks in Dominican Republic are waiting for me :)

For everything there is a season :)

2009-03-20T16:24:00.006+01:00

And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.

Definitely these last months have been for me the months for healing, laughing, dancing, gathering stones together, love and live in peace :) Is incredible the feeling I have right now of fulfillment, happiness and achievement!

I am in the Costa Rican Airport (making a connection to Santo Domingo) coming from IGN XPRO (ILC 2009) in Guatemala ... and I have the feeling I am at the top of the world ... is so strange because I actually don't remember a time in my life when I was so incredibly happy; satisfied with the version of Malina I got to :D; and grateful and proud with the people I have by my side and I am enjoying each experience with :)

I was writing in my last post about the IPM experience and what I was feeling back then ... all my emotions and special moments ... and now after one national conference and another international one I can say ... somebody there up really loves me and people around me!!! And I was thinking that definitely in our life we have extraordinary moments when our mind, heart, senses are simply electrified and they can not express the level of emotions they are gathering ... that the things you do each day, places you visit and the people you have close to your heart have that awesome power of bringing you endless sparks in your eyes ... butterflies armies in your stomach and a constant smile on your face :)

I have the great feeling somebody is offering me the best AWARD of my life for something big I did ... that somebody is remembering all those incredibly hard moments, energy and passion invested, moments of feeling that you give your best but that is not enough :) And what is so clear for me RIGHT now is that we all need to pass though these moments in order to be not better but GREATER at a personal and professional level and to enjoy 10 times more these moments of truly happiness!!!

ILC in Guatemala was an incredible fulfilling experience for me especially because is my second time facilitating this conference in a region I simply love and got so much connected with ... working with a true team of professionals ... people that smile each moment from all their heart and that simply don't have in their vocabulary the words problem, can't do, frustration ... humble, passionate people that can transmit that so easily to the delegates ... a synergy that was build in some hours and resulted in the best conference I had ever facilitated!!! Everything went so flawless that we just woke up yesterday at the end of the almost 2 weeks of working together ... that we fully achieved our dreams for this conference ... incredibly motivated, constructive and thankful delegates (ever in my life I didn't feel so much appreciated by people around me) ... new hopes build for the region and a lot of energy and passion shared between faci, delegates, OC, chair that I am sure will converge in achieving the results we planned :)

I am living definitely the best moments of my life ... loving, achieving my dreams, being what I so much wanted from me as a person ... and living this I can not stop thinking about the future ... about the next one month and 9 days I still have in Dominican Republic ... about my future 2 years in AIESEC! What I know for sure is that hard moments will come, challenging ones that will have a big impact upon me at a both personal and professional level ... but I did promised to myself during this conference that I will not leave anything or anyone in this world change me ... that I will remain the same humble, simple, passionate person there to help people :) and I will fight from all my heart for that to happen!!!

Once more thank you conference team of ILC 2009!!!
Love you for what you are teaching me each day :*

Stardust ... magic ...

2009-03-06T05:32:00.008+01:00

Sometimes our feelings can not be translated in words ... even if we try is simply impossible to express the magic :)

I am happy, I am truly happy ... don't actually know when I was that happy ... fulfilled and proud of my team, my family, my friends, me ... the sense of achieving in some days the dreams you had since 5 years ago, dreams for which you worked like crazy in the last months ... having by your side people that mean so much to you ... makes the days that just passed the happiest days of my life!!!

I still can not believe how life has this magic of settling the things in the right way ... how I entered in AIESEC, become so much involved, applying position after position, being elected or not, coming to Dominican Republic and then being elected in AIESEC International ... after 5 years and a half ... achieving my dream and well kept desire of being there up and share all that passion with other great people around me :) I still can not believe all the experiences I passed through, the people I met, the great places I saw ... how many times I was saying to myself I have to stop and mind my own business, how many times I came back saying I am strong enough to face anything that will stay in my way, how many times I cried of happiness and sadness, how many nights I spent having fun or being worried, how many challenges made me stronger and stronger ...

I still can not believe sometimes how I can be so fortunate in having so many incredible people by my side ... best friends, friends, people I worked with ... definitely AIESEC is mostly about people ... people that beginning with my first steps in AIESEC demonstrated me that everything is possible ... without Dani I would have never remained in AIESEC; without Gioni I would have never enjoyed working on the finance area in AIESEC; without Adisor I would have never had that determination to do things that challenge me and make me tremble; without Stefan I would have never learn how to enjoy AIESEC and become a professional in everything I do; without my dear Ciuci, Miha, Lucki I would have never known what true friendship means; without Ilinca, Vlad, Dora, Adela, Dey I would have never passed though the biggest down period of my life; without Mo I would have never known that the closeness between people is not a matter of time but a matter of trust and chemistry; without Pato and Raga that regardless of differences in culture or personalities what really matters is the things you can learn from each other and things you can change in yourself; without Hugo and Lucas I would have never woken up in the morning with a smile on my face knowing that ... we don't have any money to live with, the country is not accepting us as foreigners, we are working like crazy but the results don't appear ... having their constant support and trust :)

And is an incredible feeling ... of having these and many many other people by your side that trust you and the experiences you are passing through ... that trust you at a professional or personal level ... from your own town and country or from all over the network ... people that know you for a lifetime or just met you!

Is a great feeling of passing though one of the hardest 80 minutes of your life and be selected Vice President Finance in AIESEC International for the next two years ... lovely feeling of having a great team and build incredible high dreams :)

I am happy and proud of AIESEC in Dominican Republic and us as a team ... paying the debt to AI after 3 years, fulfilling the membership criteria, having both MCPs present in IPM, having an important increase in country results, having 50 Alumni fully involved ... demonstrate us that our effort was worth it ... that dreams do come true :)

Being home for 18 hours and seeing my lovely family, friends ... my town ... the AIESEC office I grew in gave me so much energy :)

My heart is truly happy and fulfilled for finding a person that is making my days even greater that they were before ... that challenges me ... that is there for me with heart and soul ... that is making me enjoy every second :)

Yes this month was an incredible one for me!!!
Truly happy :)

My Dominican Team 4 ever We did it!!!

AIESEC Dominican Republic and the Future - Jennifer MCP Elect AIESEC Dominican Republic

My new team AI 0910- part of us

Friends for a lifetime

Gracias Javi y que seas muy feliz!!!

2009-02-05T23:19:00.002+01:00

"Esta es mi despedida...
Esta es mi manera de decir adios...
Esta es mi manera de darte las gracias...
Esta es mi manera de pedir perdon...
Esto es algo que me representa...

Conmigo me llevo las cosas más increibles y hermosas que pasaron....
Conmigo quedan las historias y recuerdos de momentos hermosos...
Contigo aprendi que una vida completa se puede vivir en semanas...

Solo puedo darte las gracias por confiar en mi....
por creer en mi...
por entenderme....
por soportarme...
por todo lo q me falte :P ...

Espero que tengas una vida increible...
exitosa...
feliz...

Lo único que tengo que decirte es que siempre serás alguien importante en mi vida,
que siempre estaras en mi corazón y que siempre podrás contar comigo...

Ya tu sabes que estoy a un Click de distancia

Hasta siempre señorita Ciolpan"

Another friend left ... after so many months together and so many memories shared another member or our team left ... A person I loved and cared more than anything even though it was for a short period of time ... a person that brought me the passion for Colombia and its people ... one unique person! :)

....

2009-02-04T13:59:00.004+01:00

Sometimes we are incredibly fortunate to have by our side people that can simply surprise us each moment, that can bring us that glitter in the eyes and smile on our face ... that motivate us to strive for more and more in order to become greater :)

Definitely grateful for AIESEC and the incredibly special people we get in contact with ... friends for a lifetime that leave you without words ...

Thank you! :*

Dora MCP of AIESEC Denmark 0910!

2009-02-03T05:52:00.005+01:00

I have no words to express how proud I can be of you my dear Dora for your achievement!!! :) I have the same feeling I had when I found out I am coming to Dominican Republic for one year!!! Very very happy and excited!!! :D

I wish you to enjoy this year with all your heart, to give your best and never to give up your dreams!!! Happy we were together these almost 4 years and I still not believe the level we both got to ... I have so clear in my mind the imagine of finance team buildings, your application for team leader and presentation, NPS and all the challenges, "FINEST honey in town", your LCVP Finance year and now your MCVP Finance experience .... lovely moments I will keep in my heart forever and that make me even more proud :)

Happy moments ahead my dear!!!!

Everything .... about everything ....

2009-02-03T03:34:00.009+01:00

A hard day just finished ... a hard month just finished ... things happened one after the other with such a fast passe that I could not even stop and think about them ... stop and analyze them ... I was just waking up morning after morning determined to make things happen, that sometimes I had the feeling my soul and mind are not feeling anything, just doing!!! Good, hard, illogical, lovely, motivating moments and people ... made me feel happy, tired, excited ... Still I felt sometimes I am so strong and determined that I don't feel any emotion, that I am not impressed neither by the good or bad things around me ... that I manage everything with big amounts of cold blood like a murder ... strange feeling ....

I have 8 months in Dominican Republic ... results are beginning to appear, we are more and more independent and strong, challenges bigger and bigger, I miss more my country, my family and my friends, my heart is beating incredibly hard thinking about my next step ... and my feelings are so different from one period to the other ... I would definitely say a hard month :)

I started the year motivated to have the most challenging year of my life, in which to be ready to take all the challenges I would have never taken otherwise ... all good until now ... managed to do that ... still on the way I am getting tired ... changing my working environment (moving to the other LC Santiago), managing both very operational and strategic activities (doubled the work in the same period of time) ... and getting more and more demotivated when I realize I can not do my best and I can not do everything with the same level of professionalism ... long time since that happened ...

... and everything ended last week when I felt totally empty inside, facing situations that I had never imagined I will face at a personal level, pushed to my limits and having the feeling people are "entering with their shoes in my heart" (in Romanian "intra cu bocancii in inima mea")... made me think a lot about the relationship with my friends and people around me ... If I am really transmitting what I am feeling? If I am saying NO why people can not understand? And yesterday was another clear example that I have to be more categorical and strong, that people benefit from your good will and diplomacy.

... so professionally and personally I could say I was exhausted and similar with a stone you through in the water ... still some special people to my heart built the plan of "rescuing Mali" from the state of mind I was in :) and I thank them so much for that!!! :*

The ingredients: well structured plan (thank you my dear M ;); a movie so much similar with my image upon the future; 2 great days far from everything, at the beach; one incredibly nice email to receive me back home in my reality ... I recovered myself and my energy ... my dreams and motivation!!! :)

And today I faced the test of actually seeing if I recovered :P ... no electricity and water half of the day, going to the bank and finding out that part of the money we need in order to pay the debt to AI and our salaries for the last two months can not enter in our account earlier than March (bank restrictions due to the crises), I have no ticket to IPM just yet, one of the Colombian trainees got sick and we've spent 5 hours in the hospital together with him, report to be done and no internet, etc. ..... and I realize I am close of going crazy but I am smiling :)

I realize I am so proud of me and Pato and how we are managing the situations together, how we can be there one for the other and get us up, how to think about solutions (going to miss her so much in 4 months from now!!!) ... I realize I am so much stronger after these 8 months ... I realize one thing that really makes me happy is the impact I can have in people and situations around me :)

I feel challenged but at peace! I feel everything is going to be GREAT in the end! :)

2009-01-17T05:33:00.001+01:00

Start!

2009-01-17T04:03:00.009+01:00

I started the year with my heart beating so hard I thought is going to get out of my chest ... the biggest adventure of my life ... the biggest limit I ever had, was over passed ... my fear of heights :) I jumped in waterfalls!!! In the middle of the jungle, blue crystal water, rocks ... I jumped in waterfalls ... more or less 27 of them!!! The words in my head at that point ... and what if I die? The answer I received ... you are going to die smiling :)

That was the point when I realize 2009 is my year of taking risks and breaking all my fears ... of taking the most challenging experiences of my life, close my eyes and JUMP! This is my year of saying YES and making changes in my life ... changes that will get me far out of my traditional and safe way of thinking and acting ... changes that will smile back at me in the future!

But still why now and how come?

Well as everything has an explanation and a starting point ... my starting point was this experience I am passing though and a special person to me ... a person with whom I shared good and bad, crazy and normal, soft and hard, loud and quiet, love and hate ... a person that challenged me the most and that made me think more about myself that I have ever did until now. Is so strange how one person can change you in so many ways even if you don't realize it in the beginning, even though you want to be strong and think ... "I am always right and my life philosophy is the best".

I am thinking now with a smile of my face ... of all those fights we had about the way we see life, influencing people, love, future, dreams, empathy ... of each challenge he was bringing up front ... of his stupid laugh in the middle of the night ... of our philosophical lunches and dinners ... of all the things we learned ... of team days and us being sincere with each other ... of us four sharing the incredible moments together ... of us crying like crazy when he left ... of us looking at his table and wondering what is he doing right now ...

Is strange to loose a friend after 6 months of intense experience but is a great feeling knowing that he is happy right now, following his dreams :)

For sure he left a mark deep inside our hearts ... 3 passionate hearts that right now are beating even more powerful thinking about their dreams ... Pato with her passion for music, desire to learn English and live for some time in Europe ... Javi with his passion for learning and gathering information, motivation to think more about himself and his happiness ... and me, Mali, with breaking my limits, smile and look for happiness in each second!

Can be big or small ... it doesn't matter ... what matters is that we are better now, we are better going to great due to these 6 months spent together! :D

Friends do really come and go but for sure you, our dear Raga, are the precious one we are always going to hold on :)

Only when we are at the limits we evolve!

2008-12-31T23:30:00.004+01:00

Things are so simple and pure sometimes but we just can not see it, grasp it ... and when we feel that we can not do more and we are at the limit we come back to the essence, to the roots and try to look for some answers there, actually in ourselves!

2008 was an year that definitely thought me to come back to the "old simple me" and try to gather the energy and power I needed in order to pass through the most interesting and challenging year of my life!

Starting this great adventure of my life helped me understand myself and get the power and confidence that I needed so much in order to believe in myself and the things I can do by my own. I would have never imagined some years ago, that the things I've been raised with ... my culture, reality and people would change in a matter of days and I that I would feel the same Malina but in a different movie :)

Actually the movie started in the 19th of May 2008 like a true romantic story ... sea, full moon, new people that were trying to prepare me for a big road. I truly started walking that road, playing the same character I played all my life ... a true optimistic, innocent, transparent, workaholic girl that wants to help people around her. Still in some months, I considered my character is from another film and will never fit in the initial story so I closed myself in a room full of frustration and worries trying to understand and to encounter those solutions that will bring me back to the light.

So I did, helped by some great people that in a strange way become my friends and best friends ... being here or away they were able to help me discover and find in myself those elements that can bring the smile on my face every morning!

I am another person for sure ... but deep inside the same pure and simple Mali that is fighting for a cause! For sure only when we are at the limits we evolve!

Happy 2009!

Happiness! :)

2008-12-28T04:15:00.003+01:00

During the important moments of our lives, during moments of celebrating or relaxation we often think about what would make us happy and what are the things that we still need in our lives ... and most of the time we get to the conclusion we need love, money, time, etc. etc. but more importantly we need PEOPLE that can make us smile, that we can love and receive love back, that can help us get over the challenges we pass through ... that we need our best friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, family, colleagues to enjoy our life with :)

Actually most of the people will just like to feel happy and fulfilled during this moments! :)I know for sure that is the first thing I think about when I am making a wish :) Being happy! But what are actually the basis of our wishes? Why am I personally so keen on being happy and everything is so much translated through feelings and happiness?

We were discussing about the same issues one night and we got to the conclusion each of us is such a clear reflection of his past, his childhood, his parents ... We grow up having so well written in our head what we want for ourselves and our life when we grow big and we continue fighting for that even now (I don't necessarily refer to the job but more to the final image we have about ourselves).... some of us want to be like their parents, some of us actually want to be so much different ... Main thing, each of us have a different image upon happiness according to their past experiences!

I know for sure some months ago I had so clear in my head that "image of happiness" that I want to have when I would be older ... an image that I realized is so much based on the things I want to improve considering my past but in the same time so much based on how I was raised by my parents and grandmother ...

"Happiness means for me ... love and health ... being the same special individual that cares about people around me and has a little impact in their lives ... that loves to smile and enjoy each minute ... that is both "soft" and "hard" :P ... that is having a meaningful life ... a big family: me, my husband and 3 children; a beautiful house with a harden; a challenging and dynamic job that brings results both to myself and the entity I am working for; social involvement especially in what it means children education; incredible moments and people around me"

But what do I mean by ... some months ago I had so clear in my head the "image of happiness"? It's not that now I don't have it anymore ... it's just that this image is not complete if I will not be happy each and every moment of my life :) Actually this was a lesson I learned from a dear person to my heart ... that being happy is about the final "image" but is also about "the road". And thinking about the past, I realized he was so right ... I fight a lot for the things to happen in the way I want them to, but at some point I am so tired of the hard "road" that I can not enjoy my achievements and moments of true happiness.

Being here in Dominican Republic and having this great people around, helped me realize my happiness stands in my dreams, images, roads, moments and people ... in enjoying each of them with a smile on my face :) I truly feel I am doing that right now!!!

La multi ani draga mea! :D
Sarbatori Fericite tuturor!!!! :)

Happy!

2008-12-20T23:48:00.003+01:00

I am so happy!!!
My heart is beating incredibly hard ... I still can not believe it!! Why you would say?

Mainly because I have in my face another example of great people that believe in a dream, fight and achieve it ... good people that have so much to demonstrate to the world and have so much to offer to themselves and the people around them!
People that know more than all what work, hard moments and challenges mean ... but still they want to take an even bigger challenge and build something even greater in the next year :)

I am happy that ....

Vlad is the new MCP of AIESEC Romania 0910!!!
And the history was written again :D Another "Clujean" MCP!!!! :D

Iulian passed the confidence vote of AIESEC Romania :D One more step and he will be the MCVP LC development!!!
Arde Iasiul!!!!

Cami is the MCP of AIESEC Colombia 0910!!!
Passion and devotion 100%

Truly great people, different one from each other ... people I learned so much from ... people I wish all the best in the next year!!!
I wish them to continue making us proud and take AIESEC Romania and AIESEC Colombia to great results!!! :D

I have the feeling a small part of me is there with them right now and that makes me even more happy! Mo is arriving tomorrow :D so I can only say ... a truly happy and awesome day! Definitely a day to remember!!!

YOU made MY day!

2008-12-13T07:02:00.006+01:00

What do you do when you have no words?

When you go to sleep having Pato, Raga, Javi, Jenni wishing you Happy Birthday :)offering you presents ...

When you woke up in the morning with the voice of your mother wishing you to "be happy wherever you are and will be around the world" and transmitting you in a phone call all the emotions ever possible ...

When you get to the office and see an incredible present received from Mexico, one of the most beautiful ones in your life ....

When you start crying reading your email full with messages, wishes, smiles, hugs of your friends all around the world from Iasi, Cluj, Bucharest to Southern Cone, Serbia, Colombia, Puerto Rico ...

When you receive a huge cake from 2 of your trainees ...

When you receive phone calls from far far away ... when you call people close to your heart ... when skype, gmail talk, facebook keeps you close to them

When you receive a lovely movie from Denmark, a photo from your dear girls, a song from Iasi, a history ...

When your MC is organizing you the best dinner ever, cooking for 4 hours :)

When you end your day in a Karaoke Club together with the people you just met 7 months ago ...

What do you say when you are simply amazed of how many people you have by your side even though you are far away, how many people still remember you, how many people though of offering you the best day of your year ... just to bring you a smile, a tear of happiness, a wish :)

Sometimes I am thinking if we really deserve all these great things that happen to us, these people by your side ... and more than that if we truly appreciate it all the time???

Saying simply thank you is not enough ... sending emails, messages still not enough ... but YES thinking about them, keeping them in your heart for ever, being there for them, following their advices "never change", "enjoy this year" :)

Simple Love!!! <3
Words are not enough ...

Yes! I'm 24 :D

2008-12-12T04:42:00.005+01:00

I was almost starting my post with ... "I have the feeling" :P ... and I am asking myself if I am ever going to change that :D I will try now :D

My mother was always laughing and joking on my birthdays of different facts about me ... that I was suppose to be the first boy of the family but apparently got to be a girl :P ... that I was born on the 12th of December at 3.40 am in a ugly and rainy winter morning ... that when I was born I was a big girl (almost 4 kg), "morenita", big black hair ... that she tough for some time if to really take me home from the hospital :P mainly because I was a "little bit ugly" :p until my uncle said "listen to me she is going to be a beautiful girl let's take her home" :D ... that I was eating and crying a lot ... loved to dance and listen to music ... always climbing trees and falling in my head ... loved to spent the holidays with my grandmother in Maramures ... acting like a grown-up when shopping, telling my parents not to buy so many things because we don't have money (the finance spirit was in me since I was little apparently, I am still doing the same with Raga now :D)... that I will be for always a BIG child :D

She was always, year by year singing me "Astazi e ziua ta, zi frumoasa ca tine!!!" and offering me incredible moments I will never forget ... Miss you so much!!!

So YES in 14 minutes I will be 24 :D ... Malina 24 :D where did the time go??? :D

My friends know that 12 of December is for me the happiest day of the year but also the saddest one ... I feel the same right now ... I would like to cry and smile in the same time ... I would like to be close to the people I love, in the same time I have right now by my side 4 of the most incredible people I have met until now and other lovely friends around the world ... I would like to be again little and not grow, start my life over and over again but in the same time I wouldn't have in my mind right now so many people to thank to, so many great moments ... so many hard experiences that made the new Malina that I am right now :)

And is not about what you have and don't have ... is about NOW and my ROAD! My ROAD of ... happiness, challenges, love, changes, places, people, smiles, tears ... words like ... THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU! YOU MADE MY DAY! YOU MAKE ME HAPPY! :) ... moments of being sure nothing can stop you; of dreaming and falling; of getting up and smile :)

Truly happy to be a crazy, transparent, optimistic, emotional Sagittarius ... to continue the 23 years off my life with another incredible one!!!

I will for sure enjoy it! ;)

August 2006, Sighisoara, Romania ... one of my favorite places in Romania and greatest memories with my friends :)

My light!

2008-12-08T04:18:00.012+01:00

I have a great feeling right now ... finishing a great day ... a hard week and thinking about the future :)

I was thinking these days that I don't feel like the Christmas is coming because nothing is like Romania in December .... is not cold, not snowing, not big and natural Christmas trees, no Romanian carols, no agitated people buying everything they can as a present ... and I was feeling a little bit sad ... Thinking how I am going to have a Christmas in an environment where nothing besides the lights on the street remind me of Christmas. And today I realize is not necessarily because of that ... but of the feeling of Christmas, the emotions and people around you. Today it was another demonstration that the Colombian people are one of the most passionate and close to your heart people on this Earth (at least Pato and Javier are for me at this point). They know what makes them happy and they fight until they achieve that :)

Today is "Dia de las velitas"/"Candles Day" in Colombia and Pato and Javier organized it for us here :) In Colombia two days before the celebration they begin building the "faroles" ... carton figures that have candles inside ... big, small, all types. During the "Candles Day" they close their small streets and place in front of their house and in the yard the "faroles", they light them up, enjoy them together with their neighbors ... prepare a big dinner together the family, listen to music and then pray. We kind of did the same thing here ... since Friday we start preparing the "faroles", the small Christmas tree (strange for me because in Romania I was decorating the Christmas tree only on the 24th of December) ... today Pato prepared an incredible dinner with a special soup made of corn, chicken and potato and an incredible "crema de zahar ars" (in Romanian :P, for sure the best one in my life) ... we lightened "faroles" and candeles and set the table ... listen to Colombian music and enjoyed a great dinner :)

And my thoughts now after this incredible weekend ... you need so few things in life to be happy :) and how somebody was saying weeks ago ... the happiness is so much more than the final image but the ROAD! So true!!! Having this great people around me during this road is just a simple reason for me to be happy :)

Discovering day by day the Colombian spirit, the Romanian flavor and the Dominican spicy :D

Love you guys!!!

Pato preparing the "munequitos" for the Christmas Tree

Raga and Javi preparing the "faroles"

Pato the "faroles guru" :P

Our small but cute Christmas Tree

The "Faroles"

:)

Us :)

The image in my head now going to sleep :)

I believe!

2008-11-23T22:41:00.002+01:00

I believe the Sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people’s hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because is bad for you
I believe you parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe the beautify magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I’m loved when I’m completely by myself, alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get return
I believe you can’t appreciate real love until you’ve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don’t know what you’ve got until you say goodbye

I believe you can’t control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are you heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe that struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get return
I believe you can’t appreciate real love until you’ve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don’t know what you’ve got until you say goodbye

I believe in Love surviving death into Eternity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpvwxK7F2BI

Small things in life!!!!

2008-11-20T12:01:00.004+01:00

Is incredible how some small and crazy things can make you happy :)

I was telling you in my last post that I miss so my much Romania and my friends .... first time feeling a true homesick and wanting to be for some minutes in the same place as last year :) Well yesterday a random thing just supplied me with the needed feelings in order to pass over this homesick :P

Yesterday morning Dey (ex. PAI, working in Lisbon right now and chair of NTS 08 Conference in Romania) asked Raga (Dey and Raga know each other through blogging :P)if he can say some words in front of the 400 members present in the National Preparation Seminar through a skype conference. He said yes but he suggested me also to participate, and together to say some words about our experience in Dominican Republic.

Waiting for some time, both of us like two little children in front of the camera waiting to get on "live" ... and Dey was calling us ... I could say only sheet :P (sorry of the word) ... incredible feeling, I was trembling through all my senses ... long time I didn't have that feeling ... incredibly happy and emotional :) Is impossible for me to explain or relive it, I just know that when I saw the members, the plenary room in Amara ... all my memories of last year, NTS 2007 ... conference manager, great facilitators, incredible members, my broken hand, the Awards Gala ... my memories of NPS 2006 ... OCP, challenges, ONE team, ups and downs, 5 hours of sleep in 10 days, Sustainability Day ... everything became so clear to me ... my 5 years of AIESEC were "present" again in my daily life :)

It was no more than 5 minutes of sharing from my and Raga's part ... where are we on the map :P, how was our experience until now and our wishes for the members ... words from the heart ... still with a trembling voice :)

And afterward I was thinking ... how come talking in front of 200/500 people, having interviews during TV shows, talking in Spanish in front of the Alumni and partners during the 20th Anniversary event and many more ... don't make me that emotional and trembling :P

Strange feeling that I loved!!! My homesick just stopped instantly!!!
Truly happy and smiling ;)

p.s. And I just received an email

"Hei,
Te-am vazut live din plenara! Cam 400 de tineri!
Cluju te saluta si te pupa!
P.S: inca vb. repede cand esti emotionata
Hug de la mine si multumim!"

Thank you guys!!!

I miss ...

2008-11-19T02:39:00.002+01:00

A feeling of MISSING just stroke me ... my life in Romania; old days in AIESEC's office in Cluj (dorm 14, recruitment period, Xavi, Foaie Verde Cluj, elections); finance meetings and team buildings in my house; NPS 2006 in Sovata and the great people around me at that moment in time; conferences in Iasi; tea and pizza with my friends and loved one in Bucharest or Cluj; hot chocolat in Karma; the buildings and atmosphere in my town; traveling with the train; cold weather and snow; Christmas preparation in Romania; my room; my old photos; my mother and aunt; great days and nights spent in the Trestiana apartment with the girls; my best friends surprises; Beyonce concert ...

I truly feel happier here than I felt in Romania, especially in the last months before coming ... but I think some of the things can not just be cut from your heart and life without hurting at some point ... people and moments more than all :)

6 months ... :D Lovely ones!!!!

Hmmm ....

2008-11-15T02:12:00.003+01:00

Less than 2 months ... 13th of January 2009 ... and 2 great people will start their experience in another part of this world ...

I have this on my mind everyday and I can not overpass it ... is simply hard ... and tonight hearing Raga and Javier talking about this, it just stroke me ... we have so few hours to spent together ...

In order for everybody to understand ... Raga (MCVPX) and Javier (Communication's Support Team Coordinator) are going to leave for good Dominican Republic in January ... Pato, Laura and me are going to represent the MC Team of AIESEC Dominican Republic from that point on. Main reason Raga is not feeling happy anymore here and he feels the country and the people are not suitable for him and his personality; Javier is finishing his internship here and he is thinking about his future steps in another country ...

How do I feel about it? I don't like it but I accept their decision! I truly believe people should enjoy their experience and stay in that place that makes them happy and that challenges them ... if that is not the case we will accept it and move on!

Is still hard because actually after so many months together, we found that connection, that thing that is making us perform ... we know things about us, we know how we react, what we like and dislike, what are our dreams and fears ... especially the four of us (Pato, Raga, Javi and me) that are sharing the same room, office, kitchen ... is like loosing your two bigger brothers ...

But as everything in life is a challenge, especially in this experience ... I think THE experience of my life from all points of view (people, environment,language, team, results, members, dreams, myself, etc.) we have to take a deep breath, don't panic and find solutions :P We already found Jennifer, the current LCP of AIESEC Santo Domingo as being Exchange Support to continue Raga's work and one of the new trainees to continue Javier's role :D

Considering the professional side I know for sure we can make it happen and built a new team beginning with January and achieve the dreams that we have :) but how about the feeling you have inside ... of loosing 2 best friends that you shared so much with ....

Some good time ago in a movie I heard a really interesting phrase that I used before and that I simply love and believe in ...

"Time is giving you back what you've lost thought wisdom and memories"
So it should be ;)

Viva La Vida

2008-11-09T03:21:00.009+01:00

These days I am crazy about the song "Viva La Vida- Coldplay" ... is the first song I listen in the morning because it gives me a lot of energy and because represents so much the feelings I have right now :) Each time when I am talking about my feelings and that would be all the time in my blog ... I remember Srdjan telling me in IC that my blog could be a clear picture of what happens in my heart and soul, especially soul. Hmmm ... true ;)

Well what do I have on my mind and soul lately ... still happy :) but apart of that proud of us for the 20th Anniversary event we organized ... thankful to my friends ... thinking about the future ... striving to achieve more ... prepare for the changes that will come in January!

Most on my mind right now are the people around me ... friends here and all around the world. I was writing and posting a lot of photos on my blog about them ... me missing them a lot and hardly waiting to see them again! That is why these days I am crazy with finding out an answer to a simple question ... How does the magic of friendship work? How do you know which is that person that will be there for you during happy and sad moments, that person that you can trust 100%, that person that will understand, accept and never judge you? A partial answer I found ... you sometimes feel a big connection, you sometimes feel that connection but is a fake one, sometimes you simply don't but in end it comes to be incredible ...

As everything in life ... all is relative :)
But still .. what do you do when people you trusted the most disappoint you? What do you do when you slowly see beside your side a different person? You leave that person behind, you fight and try to find answers, you forgive her, you simply go further ... Depends on YOU as a person! I ... suffered a lot, but in time I realize I will not be fully happy if I will not forgive that person and move on ...

And still ... how do you react when from something that was almost nothing it just appears a flower? That in a person you ignored for some time you just discover one great and unique friend ... a person that can be close to your heart without any special reason, being far but still here, giving you energy in the morning and a big hug in the night. What do I do? Smile, accept and enjoy it! Be thankful and offer back that joy!!!

Conclusion ... friendship comes from the heart, if in time it will not resit that would be because simply it was not meant to be!Thank you all for teaching me this ... thank you my dear "secret" friend!

Some photos from the 20th Anniversary Event :)

The view from Palacio Constitorial, the place we organized the event

My speech in the beginning of the 20th Anniversary event

My favourite photos from the event ... Me, Felipe and Yoselin offering cake to the 13 MCPs present at the celebration :D

The best present for me ;)

2008-11-01T13:02:00.005+01:00

When I was born my father sent my mother one special present ... a flower called in Romanian, "Craciunita" ... a flower you usually find around Christmas in every house and store ... Its powerfull colors and a certain personality is bringing always a smile on my face ... it remembers me about Christmas in Cluj, presents, SNOW, Christmas tree, my family and friends ... December is a great month for me ... my birthday, Christmas, New Years Eve, simply love it and hardly waiting to spent it here with Mo, Pato, Javi, Jennifer ....

My friends from High School brought me a Craciunita, as a birthday present some 10 years ago :D my aunt some 5 years ago :D my father last year :D and last night one of the new members came in the office with a beautifull Craciunita :D
A little magic for me to end a great week ;)... the perfect present:) How about your perfect present?

What does the rainbow mean to you?

2008-10-30T04:19:00.003+01:00

This Saturday I've seen my first rainbow in Dominican Republic!
I love rainbows for the feelings I have each time I see them ... leaving something cloudy behind, starting a more shiny period of your life, enjoying the colors :D

I loved even more this rainbow, because it ended one special week for me ... a very busy and crazy one ... a week of rebuilding, recovering the motivation and energy ... after two months of fighting with myself and others, I rediscover myself and my true smile.

I was proud of ourselves for the event we organized, I cryed seing Miha and Lucki's photos in Belgium (I miss you so much!!! Ciuci!!!), I danced in the rain with Jennifer, I was at my first baseball game ... I felt and I feel happy :)

Main things I realize ... I have my friends around me, I am dicovering each day an incredible person, I am going to miss one person that challenged me the most in these months, I accept the situation but I don't give up ... because I know we will achieve our dreams!!!

I really feel incredible and I don't have a special reason for that ... I simply do :D

My first "leapsa" :D

2008-10-22T13:26:00.004+02:00

Thank you my dear Dey for passing me the "leapsa" :P my first time actually ;)
As I am a true blogger and I follow all your blogs at least once 2 days I was enjoying the songs you posted ... and imagined the thoughts you might have when listening to them ... great exercise :)

So about my favourite songs ... I have some Romanian songs that I received from Arrea before leaving and that I listen contantly because they remind me about my highschool and first years in AIESEC :p but like favourite favourite songs that I listen to in key moments of the day are the following ...

Morning song: Foo Fighters "Best of You"

The afternoon song: Damien Rice "The Blower's Daughter"

I received both of them for a special friend of mine and I enjoy them each time ;)
Hope you like them ...
Big hugs to all of you!!!

5 months later ...

2008-10-20T03:02:00.007+02:00

I feel happy, smiling ... things are getting better ... after another crazy week of ups and down and more than anything downs, I finish my week with the smile on my face ... feeling that we are team and we are fighting for the same dream! I know for sure is not going to be easy but I am also sure we are going to make it happen ;)

I miss in the same time my country ... autumn, cold weather ... Cluj, Bucharest, Iasi .... my friends, my MC, my girls, my mother and brother ... is a strange feeling of fulfillment with butterflies in my stomach when thinking about people, last year and IC in Brazil! I feel these persons and these experiences help me so much right now to keep on going, to have faith, to still have energy to smile, to take care of me!!!

Thank you for everything ... I miss you!!!

:)

2008-10-10T17:50:00.000+02:00

Questions ...

2008-10-09T06:19:00.006+02:00

Is 12: 23 am and I don't have any sleep ...

Why? Too many things happen around me/ us and I am still in the same situation of finding solutions ... I feel like a constant solution provider that is getting to the second, third, level ... but is never getting to the top ... more and more levels are built before me ...

My mind right now is filled with questions in an unclear order ... How do you make people around you care and live with passion? How do you change yourself in order to be more flexible, to take risks and believing in alternative solutions (not the black and white solutions I am always finding)? What are you doing next year? How come you don't want anybody close to your heart right now? How do you make people respect their word? What do you do with the US crises that is influencing our work more and more? How do you enjoy more, the time spent in a beautiful country? How come I am happy and worried in the same time?

My random thoughts right now ...

Little wonders!

2008-10-06T03:36:00.006+02:00

Let it go
Let it row right off your shoulders
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will always just remember how it feels

All life is a :)
In these small hours
Feels little wonders ... these wisted turns of faith
Time falls away
These small hours
These small hours still remain

Let it sly
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it sly
Till you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by
It's the HEART that really matters in the end

All life is a :)
In these small hours
Feels little wonders these wisted turns of faith
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours still remain

All of my regrets
Will wash away somehow
But I can not forget the way I feel right now ...

In these small hours
Feels little wonders ... these wisted turns of faith
And all these wisted turns of faith
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours still remain ....
Still remain
Feels little wonders .... these wisted turns of faith
Time falls away
But these small hours ... these little wonders still remain ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfWBEbNM7w&feature=related

My little wonders:
| Friends that care ... despite of time and space
| Feeling happy ... but still not being fully able to accept the differences
| Having two special people around that help me discover and enjoy
| One relaxing rainy weekend
| My dreams

...

2008-10-03T07:47:00.006+02:00

You can call it cultural sock ... different perspective than you have, right or wrong ... I simply don't feel ok with it. This is the first time in 4 months I can say I am disappointed ... of the people here, their reactions, their way of doing things ....

I am usually a positive person that is feeling incredibly good with helping people and making the best out of hers and the others experiences ... but at this point I feel I gave all my energy, power and motivation to make something work ... and the results came, but not due to the people here ... due to us that made things happen.

And you say if you are in Rome due like Romanian do ... and if I don't want to ... if I don't want to lie, if I don't want to talk and not do anything, if for me the image is not important but being modest and work, if I don't want to make AIESEC here what it was before, if I don't want to be little, if I want to be efficient, structured and planned?

What do I do when everything that I believe in with my heart and mind is totally different compared with this reality ... when I feel is changing me both in positive and negative way?

Somebody tonight told me ... think about your DREAMS and fight for them ... don't handle the small things but the big ones that make you HAPPY ...

I am still here because I believe in me, my team and AIESEC ... so I am going to identify my NEW DREAM ... fight for it and my HAPPINESS

Do you believe in love? :P

2008-09-27T04:46:00.003+02:00

One of my best friends from elementary school, that was my soul mates for 8 years ... the person that changed me in so many ways, the crazy one out of the two of us, the one that was more powerful and smart, the person I always look up to ... is getting married, next year in April :) Congratulations Tincuta!!! :D

Finding out about her wedding ... thinking about our plans to be present to each others wedding ... about her changing so much ... about her life right now ... about us changing the roles (me being the crazy one), made me think a lot about me and my life. I am in Dominican Republic, I am not getting married for sure, I will not settle down, I want to travel and to see more, experiment and I am thinking ... do I have a problem? Why a lot of my friends are taking that step and I don't feel like doing that at least in the next two years?

Besides love, is marriage a social requirement? Yes at some point your friends, family are going to ask you ... "Child do you have a problem? Just tell us ... You are neither ugly or stupid ... why can't you find somebody to settle down, have some children and be happy?" I can hear them :P And I suppose the words "I just don't feel like are not going to satisfy anybody" :D

Not get me wrong I want to get married (even though Raga predicts that I am going to divorce at some point :D), I want to have 3 smart and crazy children, one beautiful and relaxing house in a city that I love, friends around me ... but the moment is not now or in the next year ... because I feel that if I would do that I will leave behind my freedom and my dreams of discovering and experimenting!

Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am not ... main conclusion ... each of us is going to do that step sooner or later depending on his/her feelings :) Right? :P

Casa de piatra!!! :D

To laugh often and much!

2008-09-26T06:13:00.007+02:00

It is not the critic who counts;
Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
Or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
Whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood;
Who strives valiantly;
Who errs, and comes short again and again;
Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions,
Who spends himself in a worthy cause;
Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
And who at the worst,
If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
Who know neither victory nor defeat.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than
Unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;
Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To reach out to another is to risk involvement
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss
To live is to risk dying
To try is to risk failure
But the risk must be taken, because the greater hazard in life is to risk nothing
The person who risks nothing, does nothing and is nothing
He may avoid suffering, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave
Only a person who risks is free
Take a risk!

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or aredeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!

Life is hard no doubt about it ... especially when a lot of the things that you believe in, disappear ...
But my question is ... who has the power to change that? Who has the energy to overpass everything?

Each of us ... realizing it or not!
After 3 days of being frustrated about people's reactions, culture, commitments I realized I have to change something as soon as possible! And in order to do that I have to face it first, accept it and find a solution, together ... because that is the only way I will be able to live this experience at the fullest, to smile and laugh at the end of a day!!!

Keep on going, with a smile on your face!

2008-09-24T04:19:00.002+02:00

Random thoughts .... many feelings, that I can not compress in a clear order ...

| Relationships ... love, friendships, family, work ... come and go ... but more important than anything are the things you take out of them and who are those people you will never let go ... My friends that think about me; that write me their thoughts, their concerns, their happiness; the people I can learn from, people that challenge me. Most importantly is the trust you have in them and them in you; ... Most importantly is to pass the barrier of culture and paradigm, to see objectively and to care.

Being in Switzerland 3 years ago with AIESEC, we met a Romanian that was living for the last 20 years there and she told us like that "I am feeling good here, I have everything that I need ... but still I need my home, my country ... because it doesn't matter in which country you will go and you will do your best, they (the locals) are not going to see you as their own ... they will always accept your point of view or not; they will always express it face to face or more covered ... but the message is going to be the same ... you are not from here so you will never understand the situation in this country".

In the last days, I passed through the same experiences here ... people that are too full of themselves in order to see the reality, the objectives facts; people that don't care about people around them, they don't even care about their own experience; people that don't appreciate team work, results brought by the team; people that think that avoiding the truth is going to help them on a longer term; people that tell in your face that you are a foreigner and you don't understand and you don't care ...

I felt the same frustration in the beginning of this year when I was trying to understand how people don't look further that an image, don't see the results, the passion, the dedication and time ... and what can we do about it? change the people? change yourself? change the things you are doing? abandon them and leave? NO!!!! Simply care more about final results, your dreams for that year, the way the things are done, yourself, your plans ... and then care about what are the people saying! Be more clear with the messages you are transmitting! Trust in yourself! Enjoy!

| These days I also realize something about me ... I care a lot about people around me, especially the people I can feel close to my heart ... and its more easy for me to forget and forgive, because I can understand ... still that happens only when people also care and demonstrate that back ... when we can pass over challenges, mistakes, the unique way of being of each person ... and communicate; express our feelings, be sincere; share; plan; be together in the same room or in the same universe :)

Thank you Patri, Raga and Roxi for making my day!

"Success is a Journey Not a Destination and you're living it!"

2008-09-21T07:23:00.006+02:00

I always loved this team building game ...The "Johari Window" :D
Talking about who is ... Malina for Malina. Malina for others....

"A child full of life" still "Too serious and responsible" :P

Malina for others ... are actually more Malinas ... the very serious and involved one; that is smiling but not that much; that is speaking lauder and begins to blush; that is sometimes too involved with her heart and mind! ... the loving one; the child that needs protection and care; the one that loves to be surrounded by people; that loves to play and discover; the religious one, how somebody calls me because of my innocence! ... the one that thinks a lot before taking a decision; the one that is couscous; the one that is trying to make everything equal for everybody! ... the one that doesn't want to hurt nobody; that takes everybody into consideration and is afraid to say at some point, let's do it my way; ... the one that is ready to go to Dominican Republic for a dream and a feeling! ... the child and the mum in the same time!

Malina for Malina is ...

Loving life and people. Shy. Dynamic.Frustrated when people don't care about the things around them. Trying to see life in grey but she actually a lot of times sees it in black and white. Strong and looking for support in the same time. Flexible. Believing in freedom. Looking for the sun. Trying to get the best out of people. Too modest. Passionate. Forgiving. Challenging constantly herself. Enjoying sports and nature. Loving music. Happy, living for a dream!

I changed a lot during the years and I still am changing in this ... second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year in Dominican Republic but my importantly I learnt during these period ... to care and never be frightened about my mistakes ... to love even though at some point you might be hurt ... not to compare myself with other people ... that I am a rich person!

Change is the only thing that is permanent!

2008-09-21T00:30:00.005+02:00

One poster that Raga brought from Romania was saying that "Change is the only thing that is permanent" ... and until this morning when the same Raga noticed the similarity between the poster and our situation ... I didn't connected the dots :)

Our story in AIESEC Dominican Republic as a national team started more or less 4 months ago ... since then we defined our dreams, we planned, split responsibilities ... more exactly our dreams never changed ... but God knows how many times our planning and splitting responsibilities changed until now ... we just lived this yesterday, when we've met a company that wants to involve us a lot in what in means their development in Dominican Republic (TN's, projects, recruitment) ... so the planning that we did after IC was totally changed ...

And now the big question comes ... is that ok? For sure for us and especially for me is a permanent feeling of being insecure ... of asking yourself if you can do anything more in order to stop that from happening; and my conclusion after a lot of thinking was that, considering our situation: 4 foreigners and one local (2 Europeans, 3 Latin Americans) working in an environment totally different of what they've been accustomed with; 2 of us starting their term without knowing spanish; not knowing the market (students, companies, NGO); the culture, the way of being and working of the people; not knowing the history; not having the financial resources in order to sustain yourself; being in a country that has a lot of potential; with 20 years of AIESEC history; AND having big dreams of: leaving a legacy behind (sustainability from all points of view), having an impact in the society and gaining the full membership ... is not easy to plan something and take it to the end.

Why? Because simply when you are doing the planning you don't know anything ... we did our planning in the transition with Felipe, Paula and Marisol ... and it was absolutely different of the things that we can really achieve (sometimes too optimistic and sometimes too pessimistic) ... we were like blind people that were trying to find their way back home.

In the beginning it comes the frustration ... how come you can not achieve what you've planned ... how come you can not have one thing that is sure? And the answer is simple ... you are like in a "business start up" when you know your dreams and you are totally engaged in achieving them, you have the energy and the power but you don't know what is going to wait for you there ... you are making constant mistakes and you have to have the drive and trust in yourself to get up and continue ... but continue in another way! Definitely not simple but you have to do it! You spot so many opportunities and you have the tendency of picking up everything, to get involved in everything ... until you realize you can not do it, one because you don't have the man power to do it and secondly that at one point you will not be able to do all of them good ...

So the lessons we've learnt:

1. TEST. Have the openness from the beginning to see what are the things that the local environment can offer you and analise them, but in an objective way.

2. FOCUS. Choose from the things that you identified, the ones that involves less resources and bring you most results. Don't loose the big picture, your final image at the end of the term!

3. DIVERSIFY. Think about diverse ways of doing things, of diverse activities that can bring you the resources that you need. Have plan A, B, C, D! Be couscous ... because you never know what may happen especially in a society that you don't know that much.

4. TRUST YOURSELF as a team, as an individual .... trust in your dreams because everything will guide you there. You have to know what are the things that you bring in this "game" ... what can you rely on, when your world is constantly moving. Accept the people how they are and build on their strenghts. Have the right person doing the right activity (I know this sounds so KPI and CSF like :P but is so true) even though that is not in his/hers job description ... have the guts to say this structure is not good, let's change it!

5. BE POSITIVE. Be down and have the power to smile and trust that the things will be for the best. See the sun at the end of a hurricane :) See the beauty around you, because dirt you can find anywhere.

6. LIVE each moment to the fullest!!! Be happy with what you have!

ONE Unique experience ... changing everyday!

My month! Brazil, Caracas! Lovely!

2008-09-18T05:55:00.003+02:00

My last post, one month ago ... preparing for IC 2008, Brazil ... my expectations ... to achieve my dreams ... to promote Dominican Republic and to visit Brazil!!! What really happened is hard to express in words ... one of the best trips of my life!

The Trip.

Sunday.

Flying with a charter plane thanks to one of our Alumnus that we've met 4 days before leaving. Being almost close to lose the plane because we were lost on the way to the airport. We stopped In Caracas, Venezuela for one day where we found some incredible AIESECers, Thais and Bernando that picked us from the airport, took us to eat and then offered us a place to sleep for the night. First impressions: Caracas is an incredible city, surrounded by hills that offer a special flavour to the city .... still a dangerous country (first time I heard about kidnap express and special places where by any chance you should go) managed in a Communist way! The people ... lovely ... you had the feeling you know them since you were little!!! Crazy, energetic!Passionate!

Monday.

Taking the plane to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Relaxed trip done by my own. Meeting the AIESEC guys in the airport due to my red AIESEC Cluj recruitment T-shirt with "I am an AIESECer" :D. Arriving at the PreMeeting location. Oh my God ... I can not express in word my feelings at that point ... couldn't believe we got to IC, couldn't believe we arrived in Brazil, couldn't believe I was meeting ... Mo, Felipe, Dora, Vladutz, Silvia, Iulian, Mada after 3 months ... my friends MCPs after IPM ... Juan Manuel, Dante after one year!!! Beautiful ... I was feeling fulfilled, happy, proud. Talking till 4 am in the morning about my experience, my new life, my new me ... gossiping, God I missed that ... finding about other stories and other lives. Going back to sleep, some guy occupied my bed but still was welcoming me dearly to sleep with him ... The PreMeeting was reminding me so much about our NPS and the crazy situation we had at that point with beds and accommodation. Funny :P

Tuesday, Wednesday. PreMeeting

Meeting people from IGN ... my GN now :D
Feeling useful (having a finance training :p) and happy to be there together with Felipe, the GN Board and MCs from Latin America.
Energy. Passion. Sharing!

Thursday. Opening, Global Village

Interesting, colourful opening ... definitely I had the feeling Portuguese is a strange language ... kind of a different Romanian (for them juice is "sucu" for Romanians is "suc" :D ).Yoselin, our Awarded Alumni arrives and everybody was asking us who is she and why is she so involved!
Global Village ... a total success ... Dominican Republic was at its best :P

We got to the incredible 5 stars hotel and I was sharing a room with a guy, one of the few mixed rooms ...My roomy LCP from China that I saw in the first day and talked about 30 minutes and that was it ... during the conference I just saw him in the morning sleeping and from once in a while in the sessions.

Friday 22nd till Saturday 30th. International Congress

One unique feeling of being again in a huge conference with people from over 106 countries, this year with more Alumni and Partners involved due to the 60th Anniversary ... feeling like a small piece in a big puzzle ... wanted to gather all the images and words in a bag and bring them back home :) Still one year later after Turkey I was living a different experience in IC. I was feeling I am 50% there in the conference agenda and flow and other 50% with my friends and with my MCP responsibilities ... and I was feeling so good. The conversations we had, the fun, the stories, the ideas filled me with energy, passion and determination.

Once more if that was again necessary I realized an IC is about the people, and that for me personally being around people is the most important thing in order to feel at my best, to enjoy and to perform. Having fun with David; learning from Hugo; remembering IPM with Lukas and Roman; talking about our future steps with Lore; gossiping with Mo, Mada, Glori; sharing our crazy lives with Vladutz; Lucas being there for me; delivering trainings with Moru; talking about ourselves with Mo and Felipe; asking for constant help from Silvia; coaching with Iulian :D; finance support for different people; meeting new and lovely AIESECers .... people that impressed me with their wormth, crazy attitude and persistence.

After these days ...

-> I felt healthier ... I ate a lot of special fruits, vegetables ... and the best cakes I've eaten in my life
-> I know for sure special friendships will never end, even thought you are on the other part of the world
-> I imagined my end of the term and exactly what I want to leave behind
-> I love the connection I have with some of the MCPs in the network ... having trust that they can support you and that you can enjoy this experience together with them
-> I am even more confused about what I want to do in my next year ...
-> I am truly Colombian deep inside :P

During the conference due to some dear people to me I decided to make my trip even more interesting and go to RIO DE JANEIRO. I was dreaming one night about Rio and about my wish to go there so ... I talked with Mo, asked for a loan from Raga and Mo, talked with Marco about finding us a home there and the plan was done :D

Saturday 30th in the night we were on our way to Rio de Janeiro!!!

In Rio but also during my experience in Dominican Republic I have a constant feeling of being incredibly lucky!

Why? Because I have some exceptional friends and people around me that care ... that offer me everything ... that support me and challenge me; because I find ways (many times with the help of the same friends) of leaving my financial situation behind in order not to affect my dreams and my experiences; because I am living an incredible powerful experience in a country that is teaching me so much; because I feel happy with the person I am right now and with my life!!!

One example. I was dreaming about going to Brazil since I was a little girl ... the reason was not really clear for me ... I was watching the Brazilian movies and the image of Rio in the night, Corcovado and the landscape fascinated me!!! And from that point on ... I knew I have to go there, when and how I didn't have any clue ... And how the dreams really come true if you are bold enough to fight for them and to say them out loud ... it did for me!!! One of the few big dreams I had ... came true!!! Me being in Rio de Janeiro, besides the huge statue during sunset ... seeing all the incredible city lighting up ... having some great people around me ... the feeling of not wanting to leave that place ... a place so colourful, quiet, cozy ... I couldn't believe it my eyes!!! One unique view!
And my 3 days in Rio finished with saying goodbye to Mo ...

Wednesday 3rd of September. Back to Sao Paulo

Having a relaxing day walking and visiting ... seeing the huge city and its buildings together with Marco, Dante and Martha; going with the bus 1h and 30 minutes to get to a park; admiring the infrastructure they developed; experience the fact that nobody knows how to get to a specific place in the city due to its incredible big dimensions ... and saying goodbye to Marco ... one special angel of mine that I discovered during this IC!

Thursday 4th of September. Back to Caracas

Meeting Mauro and other smart and funny Venezuelan people :P ... visiting Avila, one of the most beautiful places they have in Caracas ... becoming more and more frustrated about the political, economical, etc. system there; that they don't encourage young people to remain in the country ... Farmatodo, a new concept of pharmacy with everything from medicine to vegetables ... living in a Venezuelan family ... offering support ... Finding out that you can not return home because of the hurricane and the fact that you don't have any more places in the plane ... buying from your two months salary the plane tickets back, 900 USD ...

Sunday 7th of September. Back to Santo Domingo

Definitely... feelings, dreams and people ... all in pictures ...

Dominican Republic from the plane!

Global Village!

My dear friends ... Foaie verde Cluj!

Is good to be ... is good to be an MCP ... especially when you are so nice dressed :P

My girls! This is a picture for MC 0708 AIESEC ROMANIA :D

I was dreaming with this ... Rio ... sunset ...

Corcovado!!!

Mo and Marco :)

Caracas :)

Brazil!

2008-08-17T09:05:00.003+02:00

In 2 hours I am leaving for IC in Brazil ... one dream since I was little to visit this country ... 3 tought months trying to get the money in order to get there ... one miracle once more and I will be able not only to fulfill my dream but ... to represent my country, Dominican Republic ... to be a facilitator on the finance track together with Moru and Alberto ... to meet my friends ... to enjoy an interesting trip through Venezuela ... and to be happy :)

I have some strange feelings about these 3 weeks ... being incredibly enthusiastic but also kind of scared ... honestly I don't know why ... but it should be something unbelivable, right?

So as the words in the Romanian MC Office were saying ... Brazil here we come!!!

Team Iasi is what? :D

2008-08-05T14:49:00.000+02:00

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Sun and storm

2008-07-29T06:13:00.006+02:00

In the last days I feel my head can not stop thinking, wondering, smiling and being puzzled about people around me, about situations, about the things each of us feels, about what makes us happy ... and the poem in spanish is about that ... about us and toughts we have each day ... about the learnings time is offering us ...

The feeling I have right now is like the weather here in Santo Domingo ... a incredible powerfull sun and then an incredible powerfull storm followed again by the sun ... Never know what will wait for you tomorrow, but you are positive the sun is going to wake you up once more :D

Thinking and analyzing ... maybe sometimes too much ...

Learning ...

2008-07-25T21:15:00.003+02:00

APRENDIENDO -Jorge Luis Borges

"Después de un tiempo, uno aprende la sutil diferencia entre sostener una mano y encadenar un alma, y uno aprende que el amor no significa acostarse y una compañía no significa seguridad, y uno empieza a
aprender...

Que los besos no son contratos y los regalos no son
promesas, y uno empieza a aceptar sus derrotas con la
cabeza alta y los ojos abiertos, y uno aprende a
construir todos sus caminos en el hoy, porque el
terreno de mañana es demasiado inseguro para planes...
Y los futuros tienen una forma de caerse en la mitad.

Y después de un tiempo uno aprende que si es
demasiado, hasta el calor del sol quema. Así que uno
planta su propio jardín y decora su propia alma, en
lugar de esperar a que alguien le traiga flores.

Y uno aprende que realmente puede aguantar, que uno
realmente es fuerte, que uno realmente vale, y uno
aprende y aprende... y con cada día uno aprende.

Con el tiempo aprendes que estar con alguien porque te
ofrece un buen futuro significa que tarde o temprano
querrás volver a tu pasado.

Con el tiempo comprendes que sólo quien es capaz de
amarte con tus defectos, sin pretender cambiarte,
puede brindarte toda la felicidad que deseas.

Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que si estás al lado de
esa persona sólo por acompañar tu soledad,
irremediablemente acabarás no deseando volver a verla.

Con el tiempo entiendes que los verdaderos amigos son
contados, y que el que no lucha por ellos tarde o
temprano se verá rodeado sólo de amistades falsas.

Con el tiempo aprendes que las palabras dichas en un
momento de ira pueden seguir lastimando a quien
heriste, durante toda la vida.

Con el tiempo aprendes que disculpar cualquiera lo
hace, pero perdonar es sólo de almas grandes.

Con el tiempo comprendes que si has herido a un amigo
duramente, muy probablemente la amistad jamás volverá
a ser igual.

Con el tiempo te das cuenta que aunque seas feliz con
tus amigos, algún día llorarás por aquellos que
dejaste ir.

Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que cada experiencia
vivida con cada persona es irrepetible.

Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que el que humilla o
desprecia a un ser humano, tarde o temprano sufrirá
las mismas humillaciones o desprecios multiplicados al
cuadrado.

Con el tiempo aprendes a construir todos tus caminos
en el hoy, porque el terreno del mañana es demasiado
incierto para hacer planes.

Con el tiempo comprendes que apresurar las cosas o
forzarlas a que pasen ocasionará que al final no sean
como esperabas.

Con el tiempo te das cuenta de que en realidad lo
mejor no era el futuro, sino el momento que estabas
viviendo justo en ese instante.

Con el tiempo verás que aunque seas feliz con los que
están a tu lado, añorarás terriblemente a los que ayer
estaban contigo y ahora se han marchado.

Con el tiempo aprenderás que intentar perdonar o pedir
perdón, decir que amas, decir que extrañas, decir que
necesitas, decir que quieres ser amigo, ante una
tumba, ya no tiene ningún sentido.

Pero desafortunadamente, solo con el tiempo..."

Thank you Javi :)

2008-07-08T05:54:00.014+02:00

It's so funny sometimes to see how an experience can change you so easily and mostly how true friends can be found even in the most unexpected places ...

My experience here started almost two months ago ... ufa ... i can not believe that, two months of my life turned out to be like seconds ... flew away ... but the things you passed through they are gathering and gathering in your history ... the history I begun when I set the step of out of the airplane ...

Difficult no doubt about it ... beautiful deep inside ... but that is the magic of it ... smile and move on ... The last days have been for me with a lot of ups and downs, from the beginning I can say but more in the last week ... you don't have something, you gain it ... you loose it again and the same over and over again .... you have no rest ...

One day for me ... I wake up in a beautiful hot morning; I take a shower with cold water because we never have hot water, here is a normal think to see (but speaking the truth you don't really need it :P); I have a sales meeting in the other part of the town to sell a CSR Forum that we are organizing in September: ActivaRSE (a project that we planned with my EB and Lucki but it didn't happen back in 2005 :P) ... I am travelling in the incredible carritos, nicely dressed four people in the back of a car ... but I am feeling good, people are singing and are more than helpful with guidelines; I see the Caribbean sea on my way back and smile :); there are no money to pay the rent, or to have the salaries ... but meeting an Alumni, Yoselin, for a random reason she asks us out of nowhere, how are you eating lately girls? Our eyes were fulled with tears ... and we explained her the difficult situation ... 5 minutes later, she got us 500 dollars in order to pay everything and to pay her back in one month when the money are due to come ... incredible! Smiling and not knowing how that happen ... but thanking Yoselin and God for that! Meeting with one TN Taker, at the end of the day, and matching the TN that we had available from last year :) with Mathias a German EP! Return home, eat some rice and a great natural juice and have an MC Meeting ... where we were thinking about urgent solutions regarding ... recruitment, money, preparation, we laughed of all that happened that day and our situation ...

We were happy together, sustaining each other, bringing the best out of us, smiling from all our hearts ... from different parts of this world ... Colombia (Javier and Patri), Dominican Republic (Laura), Romania (Raga and Me) ... but having the same feelings ... the same passion, dedication, optimism, love for what we are doing and for our dreams ...

It might sound hard ... and truly it is ... but I say this from all my heart .... I love it!!! For what it offers me, for the moments, for the people around me ... for the uniqueness ... I never will regret my choice, because is the place I wanted to be, because life demonstrated me over and over again that "Best things happen to the best people" that in Romania this year was not my place to be ... but in the incredible Dominican Republic with my lovely team!

I am ending my day now writing this words with no light, because something happened some hours ago with our room lighting system ... but I am ... Happy! Challenged! Restless! Thankful! Optimist!

Life is incredible if you can see the beauty in it!

Our Team ... hard woking, pretty, special :P

.:. Patri, Colombia, MCVP Finance and Talent Management, my room mate, new best friend and mother .:.

.:. Javier, Colombia, Trainee in Dominican Republic, Communication Support Team, always amazing us, so father like kind of person, happy .:.

.:. Raga, Romania, MCVP Exchange and Corporate Development, always here even if an ocean is between us, a reserve of new and inovative solutions :P, always optimist .:.

.:. Laura, Dominican Republic, MCVP ER and Projects, down to earth, professional, supporting .:.

.:. Mali, Romania, MCP, happy, proud, "there" .:.

°| Us, a bunch of young, crazy individuals striving to achieve our dreams|°

So different ...

2008-06-29T06:10:00.004+02:00

We are born with so little ... ourselves, some physical characteristics and the heritage from our family ... without a name, personality, plans, dreams ... and we grow to be ... everything that we want, everything that we fight for ... we become US ... so different one from the other!

But what are you doing if the people around you are so different ... if you find it so difficult to understand why somebody is trying to become something that he is not ... a person that is selfish, that forgets so easily the efforts of other people, that is so proud of his position but is not doing anything to demonstrate leadership, to fight for a dream, to motivate .... that once he got there is not looking down ...

Why sometimes is so hard to REMEMBER ... to think about ourselves when were babies and we were not having negative feelings or back stage reasons ... when we were INNOCENT ... Maybe because is more simple, maybe because each of us should learn all this by our own ... but then again how about the people around you, that you are hurting, demotivating ...

In the last days, through my mind "passed" very often this questions and answers trying to understand ... to think about how to react ... how to be more flexible ... In my last month in Romania, I lived kind of the same feelings ... seeing people and being part of different situations ... seeing how people can change with a position, how they forget, how they ignore and simply don't take into consideration others work ... And the same as now, my answer to all this is ... time will help them understand and revise their attitude ... but if I can do something now to change it, I will ... even tough is not easy, I will!!!!

And exactly these days wondering through the streets I saw this advertisement ... that expresses so good a lesson that we should learn sooner or later ... "Success is not only in the top" ... success is getting and achieving what you want ... success is both in big and small things ... success is about having an impact, regardless of your name, position, rase, origin ...

Thank you Mo and Vlada for teaching me that ... for demonstrating it thought all that you've done :)

One special place on the Romanian map ... Iasi!

2008-06-25T04:19:00.007+02:00

Sometimes just hearing a good song, seeing some pictures, or looking at a movie ... recharges you with energy ... a big smile and new ideas!!!

I did this movie with all my love for AIESEC Iasi before leaving ... and now after some weeks here, this movie represents for me one of those elements that ¨refreshes¨ my mind and heart ... and reminds me of THEM ... the moments I have spent in Iasi ... the images I have ... the tea and cookies, the pancakes in the middle of the night, Iasi during winter, the elections, the train station, my first conferences and the presents I received, my last conference and each word ... from the people that said goodbye to me, the landscape, the city, the rocks, the dreams we had, MCC ... moments of crises and trust, people ... all the new and old members, EB Teams, my twin sister (Happy Birthday my dear for the 19th of June!!!), Iulian, Darius, Geani!

Traditional, natural, simple and unique ... always there ... close to your heart from the first seconds, not easy to let go ... beautiful!

Enjoy!

Time ...

2008-06-23T08:08:00.018+02:00

Looking through some pictures of me since I entered AIESEC and remembering the movie my friends prepared for me before leaving ... I realized that not only I changed my way of being, my perceptions, my friends, my life, my dreams ... since October 2003 ... I also changed my appearance :)

It's funny and interesting to see yourself some years later ... so different, but so similar in the same time! The same passion and drive that 2 dear people from Targu Mures saw in me during an interview ... the same heart that "beats like a drum" for both good and challenging moments ... that feels overwhelmed and crazy, powerfull and unstoppable, inocent ...

I realize one thing, and that is the fact that people change in time but deep inside they never do :)

Malina. Mali. Capsunica

2004. LPM. OC and delegate

2004. Winning the Challenge Award

2005. Ciuci's Birthday

2005. LTS Moneasa.

2006. LCC. Me, Ciuci and Gioni:)

2006. EB Days. :D

2006. TRIX. Miha, Tzutzu, Ciuci, Oana, Stefan, Johan

2006. LPM. Building ...

2006. First time in Sighisoara.

2006. NPS The Movie! Challenge ... but everything is possible!

2007. MCC. Trust!

2007. IC! Friends from all around the world I will always have in my heart

2007. Visiting a car exposition with my dear Ionut :)

2007. NPS. One handed :P

2008. Central Park. Mo and Mada

2008. IPM, Macedonia. New!

2008. ILC, Spain. Ahmet and Mindy

2008. Dominican Republic

For all the emails ... talks ... thoughts ...
For filling me with energy and trust
For the hope
For the beauty you show me each moment

Thank you my dear friends for all your support :)

Cluj, Iasi, Bucuresti, Oradea, Targu Mures ...
Serbia, Holand, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium,
Hungary, India, Spain, Mexico, Poland ....

Now!!!

2008-06-12T05:36:00.015+02:00

What I am feeling now .... this minute ... 11:37 pm Dominican Republic Time ...

One dear friend of mine was telling me before leaving that I am a "feeling" person ... that above all, is more simply for me to express the feelings I have then to tell a story or to explain different situations I am passing through ... and I realize that is so true ... I am writing the first time on my blog after starting this incredible experience, today ... 11th of June 2008 ... after exactly 3 weeks from arriving ... because of a feeling, or more ... feelings that are so powerful, I think will be so hard for me to be coherent :P

I will start like this .... yes, I started this experience without knowing very clear what is going to expect me here ... yes, I took this challenge for me and for the impact I could have in a totally different environment that I was used to until now ... yes, I had a lot of pictures in my head about how is going to be, and oh my God how different were them from the reality ... yes, I had the best moments of my life in the last days before coming here with the people I love most in my life ... yes, I love how my life looks right now ...and yes, Good things really happen to Good people!!!

Today I had an incredible day that reminded me a lot about the Take Over in Mamaia and a promise I made to myself there ... to find the sun in my life ... for me meaning, to find that inner peace and freedom I needed in order to happy ... to really feel that I am alive :) I am feeling that right now, I feel my heart beating so hard ... because ...

... one relaxing day has ended, a day I spent with 3 incredible people that were here from the moment I got out of the airport ... 3 people that fill me with energy and peace and that are not afraid to live; one day I will never forget ...

... I am living in a country that is so different than Romania ... that is so incredible beautiful and colourful ... that is so full of contrasts ... contrasts that make me smile and be frustrated in the same time ... because things could be so different if some of the people would care more about it, and would be more modest and down to earth ... but, who is me to judge, right? The same people in the same time, are teaching me some valuable lessons ... leaving bad things aside and concentrate on the good ones; living life to the full; enjoy each moment; sing and not be afraid to express your true feelings; and one essential one ... we are all so different and all that makes us special!!!

... AIESEC here ... the members ... the projects ... are like some children that are asking for your care and knowledge, that have so much to offer but they don't know how, that are living in a world it was created for them, that have so much potential, that love you even before they've met you, that expect so much from you, that express so much the culture they lived in!!!

... my team ... enthusiastic, hard working, challenging, active, diverse, close ... Patricia, Laura, Raga ... are making my experience even more interesting and challenging ... working with them means ... being there for them, understanding their actions and feelings, guiding them, enjoying together with them this year, bringing results as a team ... it means being smart, more open, flexible and positive!!!

... my friends ... they demonstrated me before and after coming here ... that is enough to express my dreams and they help me transform them in a reality ... that some feelings and memories will never die from our hearts ... that something very special is uniting us even tough we are so far from each other ... that some words, smiles and cries can help me overpass hard times ... that life goes on for each of us and the final purpose is for each of us to be happy :)

My life .... my feelings ... my pictures ... NOW!!!

The tree I love most here ....

Me and Patricia before the Concert of Victor Manuel ...

Me and Paula at the Aquatic Park ...

Botanical Garden ... my first training and meeting with the members ...

Today ... Arthie, Paula, me and Patricia ... Harabacoa ...

Today ... one of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen

Today ... Paula, one unique person that can "read through you" and that made me feel like home

Today ... Me ...

Today ... Patricia ... energy, soul, structure, passion

Today ... Me ... rock climbing ...

Today ... Simply Malina!

The sun in our lives! Happiness!

2008-05-12T23:31:00.007+02:00

A really interesting person that we've met was saying "It's not about what you know but how you are" and I was thinking ... that is so true ... I am 23 going on 24 now ... I built a house together with my family, I finished University and the first semester of master, I am living my 5th year in AIESEC, I kind of worked for two companies, I visited 8 countries ... and much more but all these can be resumed in .... special and unique experiences ... many life-long friends .... places I would love to visit again ... little impact I had somewhere or for somebody ... I am all these, and I am proud of them ... I am proud of me and how I am now ....

5 years ago before entering AIESEC and some good time after that I though that saying "I am proud of me" it's not really ok ... because others should say that ... because you should work as hard as possible and others should appreciate and recognize you ... others should recognize your value (this is a thing my father used to teach me ... about being humble and modest ... but also about being "small").

In the last days I've been thinking a lot about my life until now and about the way I lived it, about my family ... my friends ... my life principles ... myself changing ... I realized that due to the experiences I started to live 5 years ago I started to learn how to become "big" especially in my own eyes ... to know what is the real me ... to meet, understand and be proud of a special person ... ME!

For the people around me and especially my close friends is not hard to say ... how Malina is as a person (for me is a little harder) ... and lately a lot of them are trying to open my eyes regarding me and what I deserve in my life ... regarding some of these things they are right ... but is hard for me sometimes to see and accept all that because I am more than 100% involved in the things I am doing and I live each feeling both positive or negative to the fullest.

But the ending of my term and me leaving to Dominican Republic in some days, offered me a lot of courage to take decisions and to confront my fears, to think about what I really deserve ... gave me the time to think about me and the future that will expect me, to stay with my dearest friends, to be surprised ... in few words to be happy and satisfied with me and the decisions I made!!!

And there are two important things I realized ... one ... we should never forget about ourselves and two ... never be afraid to lose something because eventually ... time is giving us back what we've lost though wisdom and memories :)

Different lives from now on ...

2008-03-15T15:47:00.010+01:00

Exactly two months and 5 days until my plain will leave to Madrid and then Santo Domingo ... two months that will mean a lot to me, the people and places around me ... definitely will be the most intense months of my life ... saying goodbyes, making promises, hugging, crying, kissing, enjoying ....

I have this strange feeling right now, thinking about the future ... that I would like from all my heart to leave now to Dominican Republic in order to see the reality, meet the people, build my reality there and start my new life ... but in the same time I have a big sadness in my soul for ... my family ... Vlad ... my best friends ... my friends ... AIESEC Romania ... AIESEC Iasi ... AIESEC Cluj ... my city ... my room ... I know things will change when I will be coming back ... people and situations will be different ... I will be different .... but what I know for sure this year is going to be the year of ... MATURITY ... of LIVING life to the FULL ... of GIVING ...

It's going to be a totally different year for me and many of my friends ... I don't know what happened but each of us decided to "take life in the chest" and go far from our comfort zone, our cosy homes, our friends and reality ... MC abroad, GN Board, AI, exchange, jobs ... and live a different life, a more challenging one ... Will we meet in the next year? This is also a question that we will not have an answer to ... but for sure in the next year the emails and skype chats will be part of our daily lives ...

Will we see each other again? We will never know for sure ... but one thing is certain ... we will never forget the moments we've spent together ... the happy moments, the challenges, the laughs, the fights, the meals and coffees together ... they are all in our hearts!!!

How is going to be Mali in one year and 4 months from now on?
How are my friends going to be?

I saw in the last months the people around me and myself ... how different experiences changed us so much ... and at some point you would like things to be the same, and not to change but that is the reality ... each of us has its own way ... each of us is going to pass through the path that is written for him ... and the important thing in the end is to get over the challenges, confront them and learn ... start thinking about the future with a big smile on your face and say from all your heart "We have one life, let's live it! Let's enjoy it! Let's gather around us the people that we care about and that are there for us! Let's love! Let's travel! Let's dance! Let's .... endless ... let's!!!

Let's be together and enjoy the moments we still have, before each of us will go ... on its path in the next year!!!

Big hug from all my hear to all of you ...

IPM 08.Macedonia.Ohrid Lake.

2008-02-29T21:34:00.010+01:00

Incredible experience!

MCPs you felt so connected with ... friends you know you can rely on!

Dreams you shared and build ...

Sessions that involved and challenged you ...

New things about you ... learning points ...

Relevance and help you can bring in IberoAmerica GN ...

News about Dominican Republic reality and day 2 day life ...

Crazy and agitated days ...

Emotions for the people that were applying ...

Happy and challenging moments ...

Incredible people, friends you might never see again ...

Pictures of moments and people I will never forget!!!

Proud of ....

2008-02-22T20:14:00.006+01:00

For the two special people that I care so much about ... and that are passing through some incredible experiences ... AI Elections!!!

Mo applicant for the AI 0809 Director Position

and

Ciuci applicant for the VP Exchange 0809!

Last night around 1.00 a.m. Juan the new PAI, the first "Clujean" PAI, announced the list of directors ....

Monica Costea MCP AIESEC Romania!!!

Felipe Cardenas MCP Dominican Republic!!!

I knew I have some incredible people around me but now is official :P

I can say I am incredible happy for both of them, for their achievement and that I feel more than proud to be Romanian and to head to Dominican Republic in some months!

Next step ... Ciuci's interview ... tomorrow at 9.00 a.m. :)
Our hearts and minds are there by your side Ciuci!!! Good luck!

Good luck and we love you!!!

Thank you!

2008-02-06T15:40:00.000+01:00

"I am so happy to hear the news!

Congratulations my fellow MCP!
Looking
forward so much to see you in Macedonia!
Many hugs and good luck! "
For all the messages ... for the people that care and are happy for us ...

When it all started ... hard to say ...

2008-01-31T22:04:00.000+01:00

At first! A passion for ... a region that was so far from home ... an incredible culture ... the enthusiasm, positive spirit and passion of its inhabitants ... the language ... the landscape ... Brazil, Mexico, Colombia ... a big dream of living between these people and learn from them, of visiting the beautiful places ....

It followed! The first trainee I've met ... Juan ... so different than Romanians, still so alike ... crazy and passionate about dancing and Latin music, ready to bring a change, 100% there for AIESEC Cluj Napoca ...

0708! Incredible experience in Turkey ... in two weeks I got to know not only the people, but also what is so special about them, why we feel so close to this culture, why we share so many things ... at this point I promised myself I will go there in an internship or visit ... but it never crossed my mind what has just happend!
IberoAmerica XPRO Application! I so wanted to apply at this conference but I never thought I could do it for IGN ... until one day somebody asked me ... why not? So with one hand and helped by two incredible ladies :) I applied and was elected!!! Biggest happiness ever to be able to facilitate in the region I love the most, to be there for them and to experience this lovely culture ... I hardly wait for it to happen!!!

People!

Ivan's visit in Romania ... him teaching me Colombian carols and dances
Rafa and Brazilian spirit popped out in our apartment in December
Sebas, Juan Manuel, Lucas, Lucia, Dante, Fatima ... Mexico, Colombia, Southern Cone ...

MCC 2008! It wasn't written for me next year to be in AIESEC Romania despite the fact that I wished so hard to happen ...

11 January 2008! An email received was saying "Dear Malina, Greetings from Santo Domingo!" and was promoting the MCP of AIESEC in Dominican Republic opportunity ... how did Felipe the current MCP, found out about me not being elected and my passion for this region I still have no idea ... but actually this is the magic of it ... knowing you have little angels that take care of you and help you more than they could ever imagined ... and I have a pretty big bunch of them, last month being a living proof of who they are and what is the mark they will leave in my life ...

Application and interview! Hard period in my life but still something inside me was saying ... This is so great! You can really do it! Is so challenging and different, so what you need right now! Is what you wanted for so long now!

I was and I still am guided by a feeling, not at all logic or explainable but a hunch, a dream, a passion, a desire that was saying YES!!! And it was simple ... I said YES to the greatest experience ever ... I said YES and was elected MCP of AIESEC in Dominican Republic ... my new home ...

I can not remember the last time I was so so happy, tired but happy deep inside ... happy for the year that will come, for the people I am going to be there for, for the places, for AIESEC, for me ... Since yesterday afternoon my heart has gone crazy and can not stop ... and I hope it won't!!!

I simply love this feeling and hardly wait to go there ... but until then ... I will ... spend my time here the best way possible ... help people and be close to them ... achieve my dream for which I applied in the MC ... enjoy each moment ... love .... care ....

This is a post for things that happen for a reason, for people that decide your future, but most importantly for my angeles ... for ... Vladutz, my 3 best friends (Ciuci, Lucki and Miha), Dani, my MC team and Mo, my family, my friends; for my new home, Santo Domingo!

To beautiful people and places ....

Thank you!!!

Dream and challenge

2008-01-18T20:46:00.000+01:00

It is so interesting how after three months of crazy things happening around you ... mainly happy, fulfilling and dynamic moments ... decisions you take for your future and the passion you invest in building your dream, your strategy and the next year ... you pass trough a crucial moment when you see the reality ... PURE REALITY ... people that believe in you ... few people ... but people that know you both professionally and personally ... people that don't believe in you for no particular reasons, that are more opened to negative than positive feelings, ideas, motivation ... situations ... stupid and childish, mafia in the real sense of the word ... reactions ... so different ... uncertain future ...

And what I've learned from all this is how powerful can be one person, how different are the people and the reasons for their actions, how your GOAL is to run as fast as you can, fall if you have to, stand up and start the run again ... how is to have trust in yourself, in your integrity and to accept the reality and move on ...

Definitely I can not say is easy ... I passed through the same experience before but it was not that powerful ... I think it hurts that much because are 5 years from your life ... are your dreams for the organization you trust in ... is the vision you most believe in for the next year, are the people you admire that disappoint you ... it's LIFE!!!

For sure this is an experience you need to have in order to be prepared for life ... the life after this dream we are all living, AIESEC ...

I learned once more this lesson, and now I am prepared to start my journey again ... I am prepared to dream and challenge myself again ... by applying as MCP in Dominican Republic .... far from Romania, my family and friends, my reality, my language but definitely heading for a more challenging and diverse experience ... an experience that will change me even more ....

My endless purpose will be to dream and challenge ....

Flowers grow out of dark moments ...

2008-01-08T13:10:00.000+01:00

Dreams ... feelings ...

2007-11-06T19:37:00.000+01:00

Life is made out of images ... feelings ... people .... dreams and believes ... simple things ...

But why is it so hard to express it in words, in phrases ... maybe because ...

... we are afraid of not expressing the exact feeling that we have, of not being able to express the passion, the energy, the vibe ....
... we are afraid that once you share your dream, people will spoil the magic of it, will be too pragmatic to accept it ...
... we are afraid the dream will not come true ...
... we are afraid of its power, of how this feelings will make us act ...

The key ... is to be honest with yourself and others ... to be powerful enough ... to stay in front of people and SAY IT out loud and then take the responsibility ... of your feelings and dreams ... to prepare and fight for it ...

The moment I joined this organization my life changed ... the passion for what I was doing grew ... the people I met filled me with emotions and energy ... the experiences grew in intensity ... but I didn't want to stop ... everything that I was living was incredible ... hard, fulfilling, challenging, disappointing, happy ... passing from one state of mind to the other ... from one experience to the other and today I say stop ....

Why am I still doing this after 5 years now ... why am I working that much .. why I don't want to leave all behind and take life in my own hands and go in the real world .... hard questions ... but easy answers ... because I still love it, because I still feel the vibe and the energy to be there, to fight for a cause, for people, for me ... because i feel in this organization as in my own home and I don't want to leave, at least not now ... I feel free and in the same time challenged at each step I take ... I feel I can make a difference and fight for that unique things I want to bring ....

But am I powerful enough to express all this ... well I just did :) ... am I powerful enough to say my dream out loud ... well I am ..

... My dream for the next year is to guide this organization ... to work together with a great team in order to fulfill a dream, in order to help others grow ... in order make a difference ... in order to help us be better ....

.... yes ...

... my dream ....

... is to be elected ....

MCP of AIESEC in Romania

... and I will make this dream of mine come true ... for me, for one special organization!

I am smiling from all my heart and I'm ready for new adventures in my life ... AIESEC Iasi LTS, the conference of my heart NPS 2007, MCC 2008 ... and the new experiences that will come after this turnpoint ...

Stories in our lives ....

2007-11-03T20:42:00.001+01:00

Five months later another post ...

Reading my old post I got to the conclusion I am constant in writing on the blog, from 5 to 5 months ...

After such a long period of time I felt of writing on my blog due to all the things that happened in my life .... this post being dedicated to a beautiful story ... to one year and 8 months ....

I had in mind to write this post since 26th of October ... but then I simply couldn't express all the things I felt ... a sense of shock retained me of expressing my feelings ... but today I am strong enough to say from the bottom of my hear ...

A beautiful story ended! Thank you for this adventure! Life goes on!

Let's be happy!

Last year ... March 11th ... one kiss started this story ... happy smiles, my senses going wild, feelings I tough I never will have, doughs because of the situation, quite ....

Great months passed, happy ones ... working together for a great purpose, being there for each other, being happy together with friends, holidays, meeting new people, school, cooking, films, aniversaries, presents but apart all this .... learning what freedom means, being able to say for the first time in my life, I LOVE YOU, being more open, seeing more perspectives, breaking paradigms, smiling from all my heart ... things that I never imagined that only one person can guide you through ...

December ... challenge ... the step when each of us began to change ... began to be more strong, more focused on other purposes, each of us building a different path ... the first time in so many months from the beginning when our purpose, our energy began to go in a different direction from each other ... but we were still there for each other ....

April ... and the next months proved that even if we were not there to see all above mentioned ... the experiences, being apart from each other, new challenges ... break the strong connection that was build until that point .... something was not like before because we were not like before ... our life, dreams, passions, belives changed and us together with them ...

October ... a sad reality stroke the feelings I had ... and the story ended ... maybe to soon, maybe to late ... we will never know ...

But my post is not about sadness, about negative feelings or trust that was broken ... but is about some feelings that will never be vanished ... about images in my head and heart ... about great things I learned ... about the new ME that is different due to this 1 year and 8 months ... about happiness ...

I have this big THANK YOU for this great adventure that we lived ... and a big desire for our friendship never to dissapear ....

This is something from all my heart ... for what is was to be the uniquest experience of my life ...

"Vreau sa iti multumesc pentru fiecare mangaiere, pentru fiecare privire si pentru fiecare sarut si gand .... Esti o persoana cu adevarat speciala si ti-ai gasit un loc in inima mea ... Cred in tot ceea ce ti-am spus si cred in "noi" sincer sper ca sa ai si tu incredere in fericirea care am putea sa o gasim impreuna ...
Cu mult drag si un sarut dulce" V.

"E greu ... e greu sa astern pe hartie ceea ce simt acum, infara faptului ca imi bate inima enorm de tare cand ma uit la tine ... gandindu-ma la momentele deosebite pe care le-am trait si la ceea ce ne asteapta ... Chiar nu pot sa exprim in cuvinte ceea ce simt acum si pot sa spun doar ce am castigat de cand te-am cunoscut ... curaj, pasiune si fericire ...
Te sarut din suflet" M.

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have at all!

What comes around goes around ...

2007-07-04T14:25:00.000+02:00

This week simply was not the best of my life ... a lot of study and 100 % concentration for the last exam of my university ... a person almost agressed me on the street in the night of the party, a guy with too much "initiative" in the bus 25 and my soul ... hurting, too much maybe ...

And my question after all this week of wondering and stressing ... would be ... When do you know that is over? How to know that is time to go, and let the scene to another person?

I am definately facing a hard period with all this exam, MC, my life and the future ....
I know that things will be ok and that in time all will be for the best ... but what can I do with this pain? Hw do I face it?

Sorry for this sad post ...

Why?

2007-06-14T18:58:00.000+02:00

It is so interesting ....

It took me one year to create my personal blog and almost half of year to write my second post ... And I wonder why is that ... is it because I didn't have time, is it because I didn't consider it important ... and none of that is true ...

But now I think I got it ... it's about the moment I feel the need to speach to somebody, to write a letter to somebody about me and about the happenings around me :) If I have people around me and I can tell them about all this I don't need to write in my blog, but otherwise in an empty office, a computer in front of me with a lot of work that has to be done and the pouring rain outside I feel is the moment to write my second post ...

The last three days have been the most dinamic of my last months, and I feel a little bit tired with all this going through my head: school and exams, family very far, my MC life and Bucharest, friends I left home but in the same time I feel I'm doing what I like, what I feel will help me on a long term, new friends I'm begining to make here. I'm getting used with my new life and I want to take the most of it!!! :D

Still ... what do you do with your feelings of regret, of not having the people that you care the most near you in the moments that you need them, with the feelings that you would like to help more your friends with the problems they have but you are far far away ... A solution is to let this remain in your head and heart and the other solution is to express them , write them somewhere and then try to fix them (talk with these persons, and help them with a good word, with a smile send by sms).

This is also I reason for wich I hardly wait to come in Bucharest after the exams, start my real job here (real job, because I want to stay here and work full time for the dreams I expressed in MCC because at this point I feel I'm just achieving half of the things I wanted) and organize my personal place.

I want to put my life in order and to see with what I going on the road ...

I said my personal place because I dream of having a place in the office where to have the pictures of all the people I miss and would love to see from time to time, a place to put Dora's little dog and my Fluffy :)), a place where I can look and smile ... and this I will happen in July when I'm moving more permanently than ever in Bucharest :)

A lot of times I think I'm not good at expressing MY DREAMS, MY WISHES out loud for everybody to hear them and it just crossed my mind I can do this here :D

So my wish for today is to BE HAPPY!!!

And I assure you I will, regardless of any decision I have to take!

That was all!!

Kisses and ...

... ENJOY BEING HAPPY!!!

>: Introduction :<

2006-12-22T14:02:00.000+01:00

I want the ... OPEN BOOK ... to be a picture-book, a song-book about me ... Mali ... my life, my reality and pieces of my thoughts, feelings, dreams ...

A simple and sincere "glimpse" of who I am ... my future, present, past.

I though about this blog long time ago, aproximately 8 months, but under the excuse of not knowing all the "procedures" I left this ideea go, until last Friday. I think I didn't have the courage or maybe the patience to START ... to START writing my story, my own personal book. I think this was also the main reason for not having a diary during my childhood, being afraid of writing my thoughs and the fact that somebody might see them ... I'm glad I made this step and that last week I did one thing that scared me beginning with my childhood.

So this is the beginning ... of a beautifull and long-term friendship :)

... between me and my blog of course ...

After a hard and challenging period ... organizing NPS/exams/ projects/ family reunions/ future plans ... that got me very tired and with a lot of questions about myself I felt the need to share all this with someone, and maybe in this way to let them free ...

I love the ideea of blogs, of creating a personal space where you are free to share, to ask, to be happy, to be sad, to be there for you ... For all the people that are thinking of creating a blog ... stop thinking about how it should look, the title, the template or what you would write in it because it would take forever ... just get on www.blogger.com and make the three steps :D

This was my introduction to the book ... the posts that will follow are going to be "chappters" ... of my life.

Bye :)

TO THINK IS EASY.

TO ACT IS DIFFICULT.

TO ACT AS ONE THINKS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT.

2006-12-15T16:56:00.000+01:00

Hello my dear blog :)