online again. @Belgrade

Latvia, Portugal, Serbia aka BEST random meets in Belgrade

Sunday greetings from sunny Belgrade. have to admit, that it is very hard to turn back on track with my blog posts once you have not been able to keep it up this last week due to almost no internet access.

How I am doing? Training Course ended on friday, and instead of directly going home, was lucky to have the chance to spend couple of great days in Belgrade. I am still amazed by the weather here, in end of October,

lost in days. world is small.

Greetings to Bistra :)

today is wednesday, right? oh, indeed. life without proper internet access and far in Serbian countryside are two things i have been up to these days. And as my internet at the moment is also limited then I really cannot keep up the long post, but just couple of small remarks.

Serbians are amazing :) Thank you for beeing such a cool and stay the same. And now i also know that Novi Sad s AWESOME, although i still feel that Belgrade is my city.

did i already told that Europe is small. how cool is to come to small Ada, to meet girl, sister of my colleagues best friend?

Ok, have to go offline now. 

happy people.

Greetings from Ada, it is exactly 3.49 AM, and finally all unreplied e-mails for C:F are answered, works covered and it is time to get ready for morning brain teaser activities here in Ada, Serbia. Good night, good morning.

i am ok.

you may be worried, that i havent done my daily posts, but i ve been strugling from lack of internet. everyone else see it and use it, but my computer here in Serbia do not recognize it and dont want to cooperate.

been really busy working on promotion, on activities and networking, that even now have to rush to present and represent my own country with some slovene candies and nice things. see you.

safely in Ada

did i say that it takes 2 hours and a bit to get from Belgrade to Ada? maybe for regular travelers, for me, it turn out to be 4 and half hour trip, on the way i managed to visit Novi Sad,  Bočaj and many other small villages till i finally reached Ada. how is it? it is around three times bigger as my home town, with very friendly and talented people and with great heart and big dreams. Life as in countryside, nothing changed or different, as sad as it in a way is, but positivism keeps and makes it better.

Participants in training? Yes, they are amazing too. As always i have the problem with names, but i will work hard to learn them asap :) My one of aims. all in all i like here, it is a great. Besides 25 participants, we have also thousands of trīsuļodi /have no idea on how to say in english, something like giant mosquitoes/ And yes, it was supposed to have wifi here, but as i am the lucky girl, then not for me, at least my computer do not want to see it :( pity.

What else. I think i have problems with cigarettes. Seriously. being part of EU and non smoking rule in public places, it is hard to get back in time to st in a bar where people smoke in your face, it feels like you are slowly dying. will see how these 7 days pass.

ok, time for some shower, socializing and sleep.

morning Belgrade.

yesterday snow appeared in Ljubljana, so i decided to go and look for warmer weather. ok, joking. the truth is that last minute and unexpected, but here i am, sitting in a nice restaurant with terrible morning coffee in rainy Belgrade. half way to my destination Ada. What is Ada? i guess its a village somewhere near Romania, got my bus ticket and still two hours or waiting for bus and then two more ahead to get there.

How did I get here? last friday an opportunity showed up and i took it. going for a training event, will see how it goes, a little bit worried that will get lost in Ada and nobody will pick me up, as the event already started yesterday and now they already start with sessions, and Im still stuck in Belgrade.

yesterday evening took train to come here. my longest train trip ever - 9 hours. when leaving in evening, you expect to have proper sleep, as 9 hours is the time to go, its also perfect for sleeping, but if you have 4 times passport control, 4 times ticket check and people coming in and out in most of stops in between, it is mission impossible. still tired, and still have more than 2 hour bus ride. my very first internal bus ride, hope the bus will be proper :)

and have to say, it is nice to be back in Belgrade, after two years, have to say, by first look nothing much have changed, its still the charmy ex Yugoslav city, the only good thing, now i was able to find a cafe with actual wifi internet and happy about it. ok, have to go now, to catch my bus. Ada, I am coming.

student fair - yes I was there too.

Za začetek je dovolj ideja. now i am home, outside is raining, but i don`t mind, it has been great day. instead of usual office hours, by midday we left for a student fair - event where many organizations comes together to make a promotion and tries to engage students in social/extra activities besides studies. I wish something like that would happen in more visible level in Riga. So...

a positive day.

Thanks Dan for pic, sorry, the sharpness is missing,
so next time ill ask Carl as he is our photo guru :)

morning 8.40, leaving to work by bike. it is quite smart idea, when outside temperature is barely 6-7C. a crazy way on how to wake up and be awake at work. so far have worked. how was my tuesday? busy l& crazy work day with an awesome monthly meeting, where we made follow ups on our targets and talked over things we are putting new focus. All in all two great hours of meeting. And with a part of Slovene BIG Donuts version. Besides meeting sending, answering e-mails, loud of e-mails. But i do like communication and its always fun to receive so different questions and opinions.

as it turn out, and it already have happened with me hundreds of times, then good things and opportunities comes when you least expect them. and again happen with me. What...well tell you in exaclty 2 days and some hours :) When it will be reality :)

All in all tomorrow will attend student NGO fare and Pillow fight, excited and will see how it turns out to be.

my old good truth.

today i realized how small is world, how fast time is passing, how cold autumn can be, and how many more dreams of me, i would like to make come true. life is short. enjoy the little things in life; for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things. 

Somehow have written down in my agenda - Life isn`t about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself. 

weekend. part 2 - sunday

In a square very near my place, each day 

something happens, today flying  people.

a great free day. for a long time already i am planning to visit Zagreb in one of the weekends, not this one still. but im sure one or another but there will be time for me to go to Zagreb, all in all from Ljubjana its less than 2 hour drive. after yesterdays cold and freezing evening, i am finally recovered. hot tea and warm clothes, helps a lot, no cold caught. sundays in Ljubljana are the days when people relax, not much shopping, just sightseeing, go for a walk or find a nice place to enjoy your daily coffee. temperature outside not more than 14C, by night temperature goes down till 1C.

weekend. part 1 - Postojnska jama.

In train of Cave - me and
Andreja, Challenge:Future president ;)

weekend is almost over, some more hours left till i have to be back in office. yes. i am missing the entry yesterday. so today will try to wrap up also my adventures from yesterday. while reading my notes, why not to listen some music, i somehow started to listen THIS.

Yesterday was first day in a whole week, i was able to have proper sleep, more than usually, much more. Gave me bunch of energy, which was very useful during afternoon and evening...as we were going to Postojnska Jama also known as the famous slovene creature cave.

Had to make it very white, that you
can see the Cave. Me and Bistra

Thanks to a great youth organization in Slovenia Zavod Ypsilon, and as Challenge:Future being partners and friends, we went to celebrate their 2nd Anniversary. Never before had attended an event in Cave. Actually never been in a cave 5km deep and 600m low, and never seen caves where there are actual rocks instead of sand caves. Was great and amazing. ahh, and first time in life seeing real stone Stalactites and Stalagmites, they do exist and looks way much better than in photos i`ve seen. the touristic part of visiting the lake and creature in cave will happen another time, as we went there for event. How was event? For me, who is not even close of fully understanding slovene, i would say was good.

Portuguese cowards.

today i have nothing else to say, than today had to deal with cowardliness of portuguese. i believe in that everything you do in your life, gets to paid back one or another way. so just think on your actions and face them, not avoid. 

approximately 2850

that is the number of e-mails sent today. and the time in total spent on it not more than 5 hours in total, taking in account also answering on the incoming ones. how it is possible? well, today i was introduced with old and well known magical, and very easy technique called mail merge. thank you to creator of this stuff. amazing. internship is going very well, besides new things i am getting to know, the promotion have been great and interest about Challenge:Future have grown a lot. i am really happy to see that.

what else i am up to at the moment? well, besides work and being tired most of the times of this week, today also huge headache attacked me. but i tend to believe it will go away as it came soon enough, just have to have some proper sleep. goooooodnight.

nothing.

today i am finally exausted. A very busy and noisy day at work, finally our kitchen sink at home is fixed, so instead of dishwash we can also properly was our dishes by hand and save some water, not that uch because of extra costs, but just because in some places in world people die of lack of water, and here we are just over-wasting it.

nothing more in here from my side today. tired and need some rest. to be on the track tomorrow morning again.

game rules.

when living abroad i have experienced, learnt got to know other cultures, the differences. so far so good. but as new cultures appears, then new rules or characteristics comes up, and what is nice and acceptable for me, can be misunderstood for others. 

First of all, the old and great Southern tradition, a kiss on a cheek when meeting. after so many year experience of traveling around, i find it normal finally, after time in Spain, I actually start to like it. it is nice after all to have some body language involved while setting up the communication. How do we greet people and friends in Latvia usually? Well, we just say "Hi.", sometimes guys shake the hands. And when its official meeting, then everyone shake the hands. well, with some closer friends we also do some hugging, but its not that common, mostly just "Hi" is enough. So you understand why southern traditions are surprise for us.

good days and bad days.

a day in between I would say. 

I had a very busy morning and work day. Did I already told, that i love what i am doing? YES. I am in great spot with awesome people around and we are working with project, that have a great aim. the only thing, whenever i open my laptop at home, i somehow continue being at work, although i should probably do something else, but just quite some evenings i end up realizing how late it is. Yes, time here in Ljubljana is passing very fast, each and every minute is worth to be here.

as outside is cold and not very pleasant, i think it somehow affect people mood, as mine has today also somehow lowered. will see if its true, as in one day we should have back some sunny&warm weather. 

coffee with C:F staff

Me, Bistra, Dan and if you look careful enough
you can see also Carl. Thnks for the pic Carl.

sun was back in Ljubljana. bright blue sky, some clouds passing and sun shinning. by looking out of window, it felt like another warm and pleasant day, but the image was broken as far as i step out of house. only +13C. well, but that`s how autumn is. i don`t remember where i hear or read, but yes there are no bad weather conditions, just the way you dress.

what did i do today? a little bit lazy sunday. instead of working much or at all, went for a coffee with my colleagues,

first times.

heeeeloooooooooo. yes, it is 2 in a morning and im still having my one post per day, as my day is not closed yet. today by browsing around, i passed by interesting latvian girls blog. last of her posts, caught my eye...first times in life. when was your last first time?...learning, experiencing new, its always exciting and gives you nice boost for your life. today had some first times...delicious home made indian cuisine dinner, discovering slovene cider, going to nightclub in LJ.

cola - sprite imparity.

Cola part of the shelf

friday night still for me. a successful and work-full week have passed. what can i say?! the time is flying. and i believe for me even double as fast, because i like what i am doing, like it a lot. so much, that this evening in supermarket my marketing skills caught me.

yes, i admit, sprite is one of my favorite drinks.

ISad.

today I have to admit one of my weaknesses, I never been good with names, and remembering them. but since today i will know who Steve Jobs was. I never met him, i never knew who he was.

Latvian.Estonian.Portuguese

been three weeks, since i am in my current new home in Ljubljana, and today realized, that wanted to share story about my flat and flatmates already some time ago, but well, busy life it is.

we are three, coming from three different countries, living all together in nice and cosy apartment in very city center of Ljubljana. Me, Triin and Paolo; Latvian, Estonian, Portuguese. three weeks have passed, and each of us have been into their own getting to know time here, that unfortunately i cannot share no pictures with all three of us together, hopefully this friday will be our first all together gathering and then i will be also show some pictures of our happy faces. all in all, i have to say that both of my flatmates are awesome and great company, plus smart and a lot of fun the same time.

tuesday, office lunch and busy at work.

nothing much to tell you today, besides that today had a chance to send maaaannyyy e-mails, to work on promotion for our three new challenges, then many e-mails again, a little bit of Facebooking, as FB is part of my work duties too :)

Besides anything else, since last two weeks, every tuesday we don`t stay hungry at work, and don`t have to waste time going downstairs, we organize and order a nice lunch to office. And have to say, it is great, because we all come together, take a break of our duties, and just have chat about our interests, experiences, life. I like it and it is also a small thingy that grows our team together.

more about my ERASMUS Training placement

During the day, after interacting with social network group of my university I realized that I lack more stories and sharing about ERASMUS Training and how do I like it. but will compensate it now.

As you may know or not, but besides usual ERASMUS studies abroad students are encouraged also to apply for shorter or longer term internships abroad so called Training placements.

bežigrad, šiška & sava.

At the beach of Sava.

weather is too nice in Ljubljana this weekend. amazingly +26C today. So no way, I am going to spend it just being lazy at home...although after week at work and all the time thinking on work topics, just being at home with myself, would be also appreciated, but some other weekend, when its going to rain. So today I decided to explore Ljubljana and its neighborhoods, i haven't been much outside of city center...one, two, three done, a short ride by bike and im already in bežigrad, at least i thought so. after randomly circling around streets, i found myself in šiska, part of Ljubljana too, but quite far from my first destination where I was willing to go.

+25°C and more.

October have started amazingly. clean blue sky, sun is shinning, no wind...perfect day for sightseeing in Ljubljana - city that does not stop to amaze me. and being small, it anyways brings you the great surprise moments, with offering something new, or discovering still new parts of city. today i was complete tourist. no words needed, if there are so great photos to show.

A morning glory from my window. And believe me this is city center!