{"id":121160,"date":"2020-12-18T09:47:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T08:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=121160"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:18","slug":"with-her-new-friend-alexandra-got-matching-tattoos-within-12-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/12\/18\/with-her-new-friend-alexandra-got-matching-tattoos-within-12-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"With her new friend Alexandra got matching tattoos within 12 hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas still seems a long way away to Alexandra Pop. The stress of the exams and the statistics programme that kept on stalling still dominate her thoughts.\u00a0“You can see me crying on the proctored screenshots.” She is going back to her family in Romania for Christmas. While she was away from home, she got a little brother, and she can’t wait to see him.<\/p>\n

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Alexandra is ready to go home for Christmas<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmber Leijen<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cNobody studies Psychology for the statistics course\u201d, Alexandra says as she shrugs her shoulders when I ask how her exam went. Does she think she passed? \u201cOh no, absolutely not. The statistics programme got stuck four times. My MacBook overheated. Maybe I was able to fill in half the questions. You can see me crying on the proctored screenshots.\u201d But statistics is over and done with and the next block will centre on the body and human biology. She\u2019s looking forward to that.<\/p>\n

Inseparable<\/h2>

It soon becomes clear during the virtual interview that Alexandra is not alone. \u201cWe\u2019re sitting in my room\u201d, Anisia states, a communication and media (IBCoM) first-year student and also from Romania.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Friends say that we can no longer be seen as two separate people\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The two of them are incredibly close, they tell me. \u201cWhen I wake up in the morning, I first walk downstairs to see if Anisia is awake,\u201d says Alexandra. They both live in the Xior building on campus. \u201cWe met in the lift,\u201d Alexandra adds. \u201cAt 3 o\u2019clock in the morning. We both couldn\u2019t sleep and went outside for a cigarette.\u201d Anisia goes on: \u201cThe very next afternoon, we got matching tattoos. A mountain landscape with a sun behind it, both on our arms.\u201d Since then, the two have been inseparable. \u201cFriends say that we can no longer be seen as two separate people. We are one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noah<\/h2>

When we talk about Christmas, the two exchange meaningful glances. Both of them have divorced parents, so Christmas is always a bit of a puzzle. Naturally, they are travelling back and forth together. Alexandra lives in Bucharest, and Anisia in a small town just outside the capital. Alexandra: \u201cWhen I left home, my mother was six months pregnant and now all of a sudden there is a baby. His name is Noah. I am really looking forward to seeing my baby brother. But I am looking forward to going back to Rotterdam too.\u201d Anisia seems almost freaked out by the idea of having to stay in Romania. \u201cRotterdam is fantastic, I can be myself much more here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of meat<\/h2>

Because of the pandemic, the two students are unable to make very many trips to Romania. Still, they both have quite a full Christmas programme. \u201cPresents in the morning, lunch with my half-brother and his mother in the afternoon, dinner with my own mother in the evening\u201d,Anisia lists it all. What\u2019s on the menu? \u201cMeat,\u201d they both say straightaway. \u201cSteaks, sausages, you name it. A lot of meat is eaten\u201d, says Alexandra, who is not very fond of it herself<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother makes a traditional dish for me which is lettuce rolls stuffed with rice without any meat,\u201d says vegetarian Anisia. The two students plan to come back to Rotterdam on 27 December.<\/p>\n

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Alexandra en Anisia<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmber Leijen<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u2018Things will only get better\u2019 <\/h2>

The two of them expect that it will cost some effort to get used to the stricter corona measures in Romania. \u201cDuring summer, I found it so weird that I didn\u2019t need to wear a face mask and that there was no curfew,\u201d says Anisia. Alexandra had the same experience. \u201cAnd now we\u2019ll have to get used to the stricter rules there all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nowadays they are trying to be more careful, even in Rotterdam. Don\u2019t be around too many people, don\u2019t just press the buttons in the lift (\u2018because who knows who\u2019s already touched them\u2019) and regularly take a break in between stuff and go for a walk outside to get some fresh air. \u201cI am getting used to it,\u201d says Alexandra. \u201cIt\u2019s already great to live here, so as soon as the pandemic is over, things will only get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xior parties<\/h2>

And what about New Year\u2019s Eve? Do they regret not being able to party? Not really, says Alexandra, who quit drinking a few months ago. Anisia nods, she followed her friend\u2019s example and has also quit. They are spending New Year\u2019s Eve together, of course. Are there any parties planned in Xior? \u2026 Not that they know of.<\/p>\n

Both of them have been to the by now infamous Xior parties, but the fun fizzled out very quickly. \u201cWhy is it so much fun to party until the police show up? Because they will come!\u201d says Anisia. \u201cPeople are thinking about how they can make a fast getaway. Via the lift, the stairs or whose room they can hide in. I don\u2019t see the fun in that.\u201d Luckily, they have each other, they both agree. Because being together, well, that\u2019s the best thing there is.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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