First day of snow in Bucharest. Like always, it led to horrible traffic. My fun while idle at work? Watching webcams from major crossroads. Yes, I am that dull.
Red Puppy
Rise and shine. Nothing hurts. No soreness. Heh! Would have expected something quite a little bit different. My feet hurt though. Stepping on them is a bit painful, but my muscles are just fine. And my mind? My mind is full of elation. Today we’re going back into civilization. But this isn’t the reason for my happiness. What I’ve done and the friends I’m making are.
Ice
“Wake up guys, we start the climb in one hour!”
Jump down from the bed. Floor cold as fuck. Go down to grab a quick bite. Come back up, have a shower. Using only wet wipes. And to think that I’m kind of a clean-freak, this could be hell. Can’t complain though, this is what I signed up for. We do a little warm-up in front of the shelter and we start our trek towards the top.
I get to be second in line for the ascent. After a while I feel some fatigue setting in. Despite that, my mind is set on going forward, if everyone is doing it, so can I. A while later, I’m beyond the “wall”, no more fatigue and I just push on. “Goat’s Lake”, our destination. Looking back at the events, I feel like we got there in a few minutes, but I’m well aware that it took us a lot longer than that. There we were taught a few basic mountain skills. When we were all done, it was time to pass through the “Goat’s Saddle” and start our trip back. Only problem was: we had a steep incline which we had to go down on. This was easily the worst-best part of the whole adventure. We all had to take turns going down a rope, and at the top it was freezing. My misguided mind decided that it would be an ok idea to take my gloves off to grab a few pictures of the sights. Mistake? Big one. I couldn’t feel my fingers for the next half-hour. My feet were no better off. Solution? Stick my hands inside my jacket and underneath my armpits while jumping and sprinting like crazy to keep warm. This was the point where I was really starting to question my wish to be there, only problem was I could do nothing to instantly be somewhere else. Nice and sandy beach, please? I was the next to last person to go down. It was already dark outside so all I could use to tell where I had to go were the lights of the other people. But it wasn’t over yet, we had to do the same thing three more times. Lucky the wind wasn’t as strong and the cold didn’t set back in. At this point, going down the incline, in the dark, with headlamps, was quite an awesome thing to do. When we finally reached the bottom, we made our way back to the shelter.
Hunger. Boy, did I have it? Two days later, and I’m still hungry.
Relu
I’m up. 5 in the morning. One hour of sleep. I spent most of last night trying to pack for the trip. I’m still not sure I have everything I need, but it’s getting late and I should get ready to go. One last shower and cup of milk and I’m off. On time at the rendezvous. That’s a surprise. And we’re off.
After a few hours of driving we stop for a cup of coffee. Make that tea. Having skipped breakfast I’m kind of hungry. I opt for the safest food: french fries and some fried cheese. My appetite proves to be an inspiration for the rest of the group, seven more orders of the same, coming up!
Back on the road. Stop to see the sights. Visit a monastery. Have a drink with the priest. Drive a little. Stop for coffee. I’ll pass. Stop for an adventure park. Get as far as cars can go. Walk to our lodgings. 2000 meters above sea. Share food, eat food. Listen to guitar music. Sleep.
Transfagarasan at Night
The day’s shot is of my journal, which isn’t an actual journal. It’s more of a notebook in which I write important stuff regarding my person. Maybe I should also start an actual diary.
Journal
What else? The day was rather busy and I was running all over the place, didn’t have my camera with me though. I really have to work up the guts to photograph what I want when I want. Or, actually, whom I want.
This is my new motto. I have it posted above my desk.
Yet!
I should start writing more. Maybe these posts should be more than a few words thrown in with a shot. I also should start snapping more. Stop looking to have one shot per day, try grabbing more and just use the one I like best at the moment. I would really like to try my hand at taking photographs of randoms on the street without asking. I feel it would be a bit rude, but I also think I could get some nice exposures.
When I woke up today at 8:30 I was weighing in at 75 kilograms and 900 grams. Shit! I had to get down to 75 kilograms and fast. Thirty minutes of sauna and no breakfast later I was only 300 grams over. Good enough! At this point I’m already running late for the competition. Gi in the bag and off I go! Watching the other guys start their fights gets me all nervous so I go outside for a quick run in the cold. Much better. Time to fight. The scale says I’m at exactly 75 kilograms. Perfect. I start the battle, try to monkey around. I’m tired. WHAT? Yeh we’re back, good. Relaxed again. Ah! The zen. Try an armbar, fail, recover, reverse, mount, armbar YES! This feels good, coach Tudor is cheering me, everyone is. Second and third fights not as spectacular but they’re easy wins on points. Now all I have to face is the guys from my gym. And we don’t fight each other in competitions. I decide to settle for second place. Two has always been a good number for me. I’m sort of a champion now, I guess.
Below a shot of my gi (kimono) all bloodied from the fights of today.
Bloody Gi
Tomorrow I will be competing at the Romanian Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Cup. The only worry I had cruising through my mind was: “What if I face someone better and lose?” but now I realise that if the guy is better he deserves it so it’s fine. And my objective is not to win but to be able to be in the flow and totally calm while in the fight. If I’ll do that I’ll be as happy as a chimp with a banana dispenser. For the Zen! 
Today’s shot is of Eddie Kone, BJJ coach from the UK and a great guy. He is flanked by two guys from Absoluto: Horace and Cip, great guys in their own right. I was actually looking for a shot of Eddie alone with some guys fighting in the background, which I got; but I find this image to have a bit more power.
The Kone and team
Today’s picture is of Tudor Mihaita, my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach. It isn’t posed, I just set the shot knowing this was one of the gestures he does after sparring and hoped for the best.
In other news: today I bought some shampoo and shower gel for babies due to some minor skin problems. The pharmacist was cute enough to give me a prospect on how to raise a baby. There goes the 20-year-old looking parent. Found the experience to be quite amusing.
Bad Boy Tudor
I am studying at what is supposed to be the best economic school in the country. Not a big deal, but still they feel pretty proud of themselves. So I find it funny when they assign lecture halls that can fit at most 80 people to groups of 150 people, and when some of us have to go home because we don’t have room. Long live the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies!
After getting home I made the lovely lemonade below:
Lovely lemonade