Day 59 and what's done so far

To say I am lousy at organization related stuff... well it's a merciful saying. The truth is, I'm the worst. Which is why, in my uber-important-life-changing-project, I felt the need of writing everything down in a huge Excel file with no less than 9 sheets, each one containing one aspect of the preparation (school papers, scholarship bureaucracy, work, car, trip, house, luggage and so on). Each sheet contains items gathered in a table, with "YES" or "NO" written under "is it done or not" for each item. I've just finished counting the items and there are no less than 59 things to do, WITHOUT the luggage items. Ok, scary. But I've managed to solve 12 of them in 2 weeks, which can't be that bad. The problem is that most of the things I managed to solve are the simplest ones that are do-able by just a few clicks and some reading.
Anyway, leaving the complaining part aside, I can say this proves to be a quite funny process. And the example I will talk about today is my attempt to figure out what documents I need for the residence in Italy. Because, yes, I have to make a residence because I am staying for more than 3 months.
Here's how it was:
- step 1: google it :)
- step 2: search through forums of Romanians in Italy, find a piece of law text that sounded reliable, but yet having tons of doubts about which category of residence applicants I fit in
- step 3: call the Italian Embassy in Romania. Result: "We don't have this kind of information, Miss. Please call the Romanian Consulate in Milan."
- step 4: call the Romanian Consulate in Milan. Result 1: "We don't have this kind of information, Miss. Please  call the Italian Embassy in Romania."
Shock: "WHAT? THEY sent me to YOU. So can I please have my information, from somewhere in this World???"
Result 3: "I'll pass you to my colleague who MIGHT know what to tell you." Then, after 5 minutes of being put on hold, and after a 20 minutes conversation with the colleague who "might" have known what to tell me, the situation is as following:
- I do need to make a residence (yes, I knew that).
- I do need to get a "Codice Fiscale" (it seems that in Italy you don't exactly exist without it).
- No, I don't need to change my driving licence (for now).
- Yes, I need to bring all kinds of papers, but I can't know exactly which papers until I find out which is the "comune" that I will be a resident of. This is because Milan is managed in a funny way. Administratively speaking, the core of the city is "the city", as in "Comune di Milano". The suburbs, that are "glued" to the city, and that have even metro stations from the city metro lines, and that are often more comfortable to reach than different parts of "the city" itself, well... each one of them is a separate "comune". The thing is that each "comune" has its own rules so each of them might require different documents for residence. Marvelous.
- I do need to make a medical insurance. Which one to make... still a mystery. The consulate guy says I must get that European Insurance card. The law text on that forum says "European Insurance card is NOT valid". The response of the consulate guy to all this: "stop reading stupid forums!!"
- I do need to translate in Italian and legalize ALL my documents that are in Romanian. "Don't get the stupid idea of translating them in Romania", says the consulate guy. "They are not valid if you do so. Only translations and legalizing done here in Italy, are valid. I'll give you the contacts of the person who can do this."
Shock: the person who can do this is, according to him, is... him. :)))  (of course the guy didn't know that I had his name and mobile number already, from the colleague that passed me to him on the phone).
The conclusion to all this? Well, the consulate guy offered me his perfect solution: "...Or, find yourself a "fidanzato" (= boyfriend) and make him solve everything for you".
Epilogue: Well, I DO have the fidanzato, but for your information he is not the employee of the consulate, and he is not paid for doing YOUR job.

I think this was only the beginning of the "residence novel" so... more info soon ;)
But what I do feel happy about right now, is the fact that I FINALLY managed to finish the thesis chapter that I had been working on for the last 3 months.

So, life is beautiful!!

Love,
La Reina Rana

How it all began

There are times in life when you don't even realize how fast things can change and which unimaginable way things decide to change in. As well as there are times when you end up doing things you didn't actually believe you could do. 

My story starts in December 2010, when I was searching for a new way of spending the New Year's Eve. I wanted it to happen somewhere outside Romania, because yes, my obsession for travelling is pathological sometimes, I admit.

By the simple process of elimination, I soon discovered that all my foreign friends were out of their original countries for the Eve, so I said to myself "ok, so let's go somewhere where you've never been before". But where? Winter doesn't offer you plenty of travel options if you're a completely "non-ski, non-snow, no ice" person, like I am. So I decided to go to a not-so-cold-city-in-a-not-so-cold-country-where-there-are-nice-things-to-see-and-where-people-dance-salsa. 

To my shame, I had previously totally ignored Italy, but now it seemed like the perfect option. After a few days of wondering "Milan? Rome? Rome? Milan", my flight was finally booked. It was to Milan. Then, soon after, through the blessing of Facebook searches for "friends-of-friends-who-live-in-Milan", I managed to find the perfect "guide". 

This whole craziness had as a result a bedazzled girl coming back home after the New Year's Eve, totally in love with Milan... and with the guide. 

8 months (and many other Bucharest-Milan-Bucharest and Milan-Bucharest-Milan flights) after all this, the girl was quite in a trouble. She had only one year left to finish a PhD. Which, although she had previously believed she was a kind of WonderWoman, proved to be un-doable while also having a full-time job. 

So here I am in front of the huge question-mark: WHAT TO DO? How to find the tranquility to complete a research and finish a thesis, and how to stop the increasing revenue of Blue Air and Wizz Air? 

And then a thing that I thought only happens in fairy tales, well... happened. The perfect idea, that would solve all of this, actually existed. I decided to use the opportunity to go to a visiting studentship program within a university in the EU. Somewhere where I could find research resources, guiding, and the time to finish the thesis. All I had to do was find the university and apply. Which I did. I found the perfect university and faculty to fit my research field, applied, and got accepted. And yes, you guessed, it's in Milan. 

But, as nothing in this life can be achieved without some sacrifice, I have my own sacrifices to do now: my job, to which I will say a sad goodbye on 23rd of December, my dear home in Bucharest, my mom, my family, my friends, and my Romanian kind of life. 

On 29th of December 2011, exactly 1 year after landing in Milan for the first time ever, I will hit the road in my tiny-little-grey-mouse-car, together with the same perfect guide. We will arrive in Milan (hopefully, if we don't get kidnapped on the road, or caught in a snow storm) on the evening of the next day. 

There are 60 days left to go until then, and, oh-my-God-so-many things to do. I believe only the preparations will form a little journey themselves, so I will keep you guys posted. I promise I will at least try to do it in a funny way.

Love,

La Reina Rana

So... what's this all about?

I don't want this blog to be a certain kind of blog in particular, because I have no exact idea about what I will write in it. I see it more like a blog of an incredible (at least for me) adventure that I'm about to start, a way of tracking the steps of a "becoming" process that will lead to... well... I don't know. So, it won't be a fashion blog, nor a travelling blog, nor a "cool places reviews" blog, nor a cooking blog, nor a "let's show the World how great I am" (although... hmmm... I am) blog.
It will be the story of a journey of a crazy Romanian girl trying to discover Milan, the World, and herself. A girl who decides to change her life 180 degrees, leaving her home, her job, and her country, to complete her studies and to be with her love.
At the end of this journey, the girl will (HOPEFULLY) be a PhD in Communication who has lived in Milan for at least 8 months and for at most (HOPEFULLY, I say now) for ever.

This being said, let the JOURNEY begin!

Love,
La Reina Rana