Learn Romanian: După ce că am picat examenul, m-am și rătăcit. - On top of the fact that I failed the exam, I also got lost.

După ce că translates literally to "after that that", but it idiomatically means "on top of the fact that" or "not only". It introduces a clause that piles one event on top of another, usually to express exasperation. While it is mostly used to complain about an accumulation of bad or annoying events (like failing an exam and getting lost), it can occasionally be used in positive contexts to express surprise at an abundance of good things.

I learned that a pica means "to fall" or "to drop". Why is it used here for an exam?

In Romanian, a pica un examen is the most natural, conversational way to say "to fail an exam". It is very similar in tone to the English slang "to flunk". If you needed to be highly formal, you would say a nu promova (to not pass).

Is the word și required in the second half of a după ce că sentence?

Yes, it is highly expected! The structure după ce că... almost always pairs with a correlating adverb in the main clause, typically și (also), mai (furthermore), or mai și (moreover). They work together as a team to emphasize that the second action is unfairly piling onto the first one.

Why is și placed right in the middle of the verb m-am rătăcit?