My first Solo Performance work :)

“ZACUSCA” Story

-Wow… isn’t this a big city?
-Come on honey! This is only the train station!...

I heard my aunt shouting at me while carrying the luggage. It’s like I was dreaming. This wasn’t an usual train station, my whole town Birlad could fit in it. But it really felt like the first day of the rest of my life.
I was finally on my own, not financially of course, but I was alone; everything I dreamt of in college : stay up late, meet new people -mostly guys – “ what??? I just got out of a long lingering on again-off again relation ship”- oh…yeah! and also study.
My plan was : Go out, meet up, stay single!
Only one obstacle in achieving my dreams… can you guess? C’mon, this one it’s easy… is something people won’t ever have enough… it’s something that makes the world go round! No! you naughty people… stop giggling… I’m talking about MONEY.
So I’ve decided it’s time to take life in my own hands and get a job.
I woke up early in the morning and there I was in front of a news-paper boutique buying every single news-paper with advertisements regarding jobs.
I was looking to earn money fast and easy like any student does!
- Let’s see!... video-chat, video-chat, video-chat… next paper! I think finding a job will be more difficult than I thought; … strip dancer – neah! Not tall enough! – waitress – I’m way to hobbled for that; PC operator - don’t think so! it’s too boring to stay in front of a PC so many hours;
Uh! This sounds good “ Young good looking girl needed as an assistant manager. Requirements : must speak English, very sociable, fast learning, single, willing to do extra hours! Motivating salary , up to 400 Euros and many other benefits. If interested please call the number bellow!”
It’s ringing… Shttt!!!” Hello! Good – afternoon… I’m calling about the job in the news-paper… Yes I’m a student!... I’m blonde, green eyes… speak English, yes!...aha… aha… I know where it is… at 12 o’clock? Perfect!”
Hm…?! This seems easyer than I thought.

- Auntie, auntie! I have an interview tomorrow, wish me luck!
- Watch out darling, Bucharest is a jungle you mustn’t trust anyone!
- Ya…ya…You sound like my mum!

And so the Big Day came. I have to recognize that I was a little nervous even though I can deal very well with emotions.
There I was in front of the building from the address the man gave me over the phone.
“ Wow… impressive… and there are bodyguards every where!”
When I’ve put the first step in that building I felt butterflyes in my stomach. If only I knew they were going to transform in caterpillars.

- Good-afternoon! I’m here for the interview!
- Aha! I see! Take a step forward, one backwards and now make a pirouette! Let me see your profile!

“What the fuck is this? Does he need a model or what?!?”
- Perfect!
“Oh! If he says it’s perfect then that means I’m perfect!”
- Take a seat!
- Thank you!
- I’m guessing you are a student, right?
- Indeed!
- What do you study?
- International Relation Ships and European Studies.
- O.K! Do you have any kind of experience?
- Not really! I’m first year and …
- Don’t worry we’ll teach you everything there is to be taught! By the way I’m the manager who needs an assistant, my name is Andrew!
- My name is Anna, nice to meet you!
- So… tell me more about you Anna! Are you currently seeing someone?
- “ What does this has to do???”… No mister Andrew!
- Please call me Andrew!
- “ Andrew? I know he’s not that old but still…” O.K, Andrew!
- Now! tell me dear Anna besides all this abilities you have written in your CV, do you know how to cook?

I’m shocked… for a moment there I think my mom is hidden behind a candid camera mocking me, Andrew repeats his question.
- Anna, do you know how to cook?
- “ What the fuck??? Does he want a wife or what? Of course I don’t know how to cook… that was my mum’s job. Oh! What should I say? Think Anna, think! I really need the money!”
Yes Andrew!!! Of course I can cook, I’m from Moldavia, everybody cooks there!
- Oh, great! You don’t know how much I like the “ZACUSCA” from Moldavia. If you can cook me that you can consider yourself hired.
- Then prepare yourself to eat the greatest “ZACUSCA” ever Andrew!
- Perfect Anna! Then see you tomorrow morning when you’ll make me some “ZACUSCA” and after we’ll go to a meeting. Make sure to wear a skirt!

I left that building being proud of myself but somewhere along the road I’ve remembered I don’t know how to cook, but how difficult could it be for a smart girl like me???
- Aunt Monica! I got the job but… there is only one thing for me to do… I need you to teach me how to cook “ZACUSCA” this night!
- Anna are you crazy? It took me years to manage prepare this kind of dish and you want to learn in one night??? That’s impossible!
- Come on auntie! How difficult can it be?
- Well… you have to spend like a whole day in the kitchen for such a dish, second of all you need practice.
- Well… I don’t have time for such things.
- Then let’s do like this… I’ll give you a jar with “ZACUSCA” from the catch-all and you can tell your boss you made it!
- Yee… I love you auntie but for any emergency maybe you should also give me the recipe!

If only things would have been so simple!
It’s my second day to this new job and I’m already feeling more independent and more confident. I will soon start to pay taxes…oh, it makes me wanna cry!
I passed through those big gates with my short skirt and the jar with “ZACUSCA” in the bag when suddenly the gates closed automatically behind me, it was like I was trapped.
I started feeling a little scared with all that bodyguards and cameras every where, but the naïve girl inside of me over passed that fear immediately.
- Here you go Andrew, this is a jar of “ZACUSCA”, I made it especially for you last night!
- Great! Thanks a lot but I would really appreciate if you could cook it right now until I go to a meeting, one of my bodyguards will buy you everything you need.

I became pale and the world started to fall apart… then Andrew asked me one more time “ Are you sure you wanna do this?” and my stupid ambition said “Yes” again.

- “What do you need little girl?” Asked me the very big scary man in front of the door.

“ I need to go home… mummyyyy!!!”

- Come on we don’t have all day, the boss can get really upset if he doesn’t eat on time… what do you need for your “ZACUSCA”?
- Well… 8 kilos of egg-plants, 2 kilos of onion, 1 kilo of capsicum, 3 kilos of tomatoes, oil, pepper, salt… “ and I couldn’t believe my years that I was talking like a real cook.”

You would be surprised how fast those bodyguards move… in less than 15 minutes I had all the ingredients on the kitchen table. Now what???
I started cutting the vegetables one by one… I was cutting and crying “ Why did I never listened to my mother when she tried to teach me how to cook? Why did you curse me mum? Why? Are you happy right now to see me cutting the onion?”.
My whole body was trembling, my mascara was pouring and I was just a shadow of the girl from yesterday.
After three hours of analyzing very tough my life… I’ve decided to put all the vegetables in one pot… and of course I started praying “ Oh Mother of Jesus, Saint Marie, Guardian Angel and All Saints that you are out there! Please let me escape out of this mess and out of this building and I promise I’ll listen to my mum from now on, I won’t brag and I will light candles ever day!!!”
This was happening after 8 hours of staying in a strange and dangerous man’s kitchen; I never stood that long in the kitchen before.
As it concerns my mum I think I truly paid my duce towards her.
It was almost sunset when Andrew came home “ Mmmm… What’s this great smell?”.
“ How the hell should I know? I never tasted anything… I’m boiling some vegetables… some damn vegetables who won’t let themselves boiled.”
- Can I taste?
- Noooooo!!!…

And I almost broke his back stopping him to grab a spoon and taste the squash “thing” that was in the pot. He gave me a hideous look.
- No Andrew! Please! You mustn’t try until it’s finished, it has no taste when it’s hot!
- O.K! then I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow Anna!

The minute he walked out of the kitchen, I damped the gas cooker and left him a note on a napkin :
“ Dear Andrew I can do anything besides cooking. I never cooked in my life before. This is my first time. Hire a cook if you want “ZACUSCA”, not an assistant.
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Yours truly, Anna.”
And I made my self out through the bodyguards and after I passed the gates I started running and didn’t stop until the first church where I lit a candle.
I smelt like “ZACUSCA” for a long time even though I was taking baths 3 times a day and I was perfuming myself all the time, it all remained in my twisted head.
Even nowadays it’s very difficult for me to eat “ZACUSCA”, it’s delicious but still… anyways now I really appreciate people who cook it, most of all my mum and my aunt.