Patience!

My favourite group this year consists of 12 years old kids. 29 of them. The nicest bunch I've taught in years, not because they are all brilliant, but because they all are positively-oriented. They want things to go on well, they are reliable, they work, they even have initiatives. The classes with them are enjoyable and make my work seem to have a point.
They are in their second project and they love it. They don't have to be pushed, I trust them handling the TS, as they even did it last year.
I try to do my best for them, but sometimes I feel they deserve more, from me and from the educational system.
Last week, as we are still having trouble with the computer room, we worked in the room with the projector, so they could all see. After solving the task we had, they asked me to let them see all the materials in their TS again, as some have had problems entering the new portal at home and had no help.
Of course, they started with their partners presentations and they immediately noticed something I hadn't. "Look, teacher, they all have laptops on their desks! Is that possible? At school?? And there are only 12 in a group!"
I told them to be patient, that our schools would be like that one day. That maybe they'd have that in high-school, in 3 or 4 years. But I know they could use it now, and get the knowledge and the skills , see the things they learn in a different way, learn more efficiently. And they would deserve it, too.

Train lovers

Despite the stress and the hurry of our every-day life, some people still find the time to have hobbies. One of these hobbies is miniature trains.
One rainy Saturday morning, a group of smiling excited people were waiting on a platform in the North Railway Station for the launching of the first model depicting a Romanian engine.
After the WW2, one important step in bringing the National Railways up to date was adopting the Diesel traction. The first 6 engines of a kind that would become the most long-lived in Europe were ordered in Switzerland in 1959. The next year, they started being made in Romania, at Craiova. The manufacturing went on until 1981, the last one baring the number 1407. More than 40 times the planned number.
The "name" of the engine is DA060. She has been for 49 years the best "worker" of the Romanian Railways Company, and even now this type of engine pulls two thirds of our trains. A living legend, a hero. New improved related engines have been manufactured starting the '90's. It was also widely sold abroad.
You can see the exact engine that was the "muse" of the miniature one, it was "born" in 1972 and is still in service.
The miniature train was made by a German company together with the best known Romanian train fans association , and it was supported by the National Railways Company.
Imagine some of these people had ordered the miniature for almost three years! The stories we heard about their miniature trains, about all the time and work they have put into them!
Hobbies really make our life more beautiful, they make us younger.

Red box

I have got this Red Box with chocolates as a way to thank me for helping to write th Erasmus project for the school. I really appreciate it, I love chocolate. But, it was not necessary. I did it because I think the Vocational Training is good and needs promotion. Because all the students are equal and should have the same rights. Now, they can. So, how could I have refused?
Now, Bafta!
I firmly believe in cooperation among colleagues, among partners. Life would be easier if each of us shared our work and knowledge. It's a pity only a few people understand it.
It's time to tackle with teaching in a more global way.

December 1st

The first day in December is our National Day, in remembrance of the Great Union that took place at Alba Iulia in 1918, after the end of the First world war.
Alba Iulia is the soul capital of the Romanian people; here, Mihai Viteazul fulfilled for the first time the biggest desire of our ancestors: he united the three Principalities in 16oo, but only for a short time.

The year 1918 is a moment of maximum importance in the Romanian history through the achievement of the greatest dream of the Romanians: TO UNITE, a process achieved in 3 steps:
1-The Basarabian step
The unification of the territory between Prut, Nistru and the Black Sea with The Romanian Kingdom and it was realized in 27th March 1918.
2-The Bucovinean step
On 28th of November,at Cernauti,The General Congress of Bucovina, had a session which approved the decision to unite willingly with Romania.
3-The Transilvanian step
On the 1st December 1918 1228 people from 80 cities and 5000 villages met at Alba Iulia and voted the Declaration of Unification. Then the delegates went to Campul lui Horea where 1000 Romanians were waiting to announce the great act that was achieved on that day.

The country that was born on December 1st 1918, holding all the historical territories, is known by the name of Romania Mare (The Great Romania). You can see how it looked in the picture and also some of the historical figures who contributed to it.
There are ceremonies and military parades to celebrate this day all over the country, but the biggest ones take place in Bucharest and Alba Iulia.

Campaign

The following 16 days are International Day of Activism against Violence on Women. NGOs and UN Foundation fight against the domestic violence phenomenon.
In our capital, two campaigns meant to raise awareness of the phenomenon of domestic violence have simultaneously started. From today to December 10, a campaign under the name "Home is not a prison. Leave before it's too late! " takes place in the Tineretului Park in Bucharest. Here, a cell will be placed, looking exactly like those of the prison for women in Targsor . Leaflets will be handed to passers by, showing statistics of the number of cases in which women are abused at home and alternative solutions to the physical violence or to the other extreme situation: the one in which the woman is transformed from a victim into an aggressor.

Today also, the UN Population Fund and the UN Information Center for Romania triggered, in partnership with several institutions of the state, and cultural centers, the campaign called "Women in the shadows. Shadows. " The goal is the same: combating violence against women. "The series of seven documentary films - which will be broadcasted by the national television and will run on cinema screens - is an echo of the voices of women worldwide who have survived abuse. Also, through the theater plays associated with the campaign, the public will be brought closer to the drama and suffering of these women.

Those interested will thus find out more about this phenomenon which is growing lately, according to the latest statistics. 4395 women were victims of domestic violence this year. 9 of them died.

photo and information from Evenimentul zilei

1st Day

Bucharest, Strictly Secret

Each Thursday, during seven weeks,a newspaper calls its readers to discover the mysteries of Bucharest offering the documentary series Bucharest Strictly Secret: 7 DVD's (4 or 5 episodes, grouped by the subject). The series is made by a writer and a TV company.
Each DVD is accompanied by a booklet of 32 pages with related stories.
Far from the banality of our every-day life, you can get acquainted with the very substance of Bucharest, often forgotten and ignored, with secrets, scenarios, with fabulous characters - from poets and dangerous women, rulers and adventurers, brave merchants, kings and losers, nuts and geniuses, Boyars and shopkeepers, dictators and artists, with the ordeals they have been through - earthquakes, foreign invasion, epidemics and fires, but also with the moments of brilliance and celebration.
Readers can find in it a new profile of Bucharest, refugees and the city's places of respite, impressions taken through the eyes of foreigners, the most beautiful views , but also stories about prisoners of the traffic or the reasons for those who want to leave it.

Night scenes

These modern statues make part of an outdoors project from a French sculptor. They have been planted all through the town centre.

They are massive and show a world of curves and thick figures.

This dark corner, on the way to the cathedral looks so empty that really reminds me of a medieval city.

Even at the cathedral gate, by the realistic lions that protect the church, you can find one of these sculptures.

And to finish the walk, one of the newest scenes in Ávila: the cathedral clock working and with light.
It has been broken for more than 50 years. May he not get scared of our quick life.

Halloween

Since I can't upload photos on the PLI magazine, I'm posting this here, before Halloween is too far back in the past.

Mushrooms

A traditional villagers' activity, which provided people in villages with extra money, has become a tourist attraction: mushrooms collecting. In sunny autumn days, our forests get a new kind of inhabitants: people from towns. Mushrooms Walks, Mushrooms Days, Mushrooms Workshops. A great variety of events to teach people how to recognize edible ones, to pick them up, to clean them. Nothing is forgotten, not even cooking.

Pine forests show their beautiful treasures, as this one which has an appealing grey pearl,

or this other one, like a snow ball. However, instructions have to be carefully followed to avoid accidents. Beware the most colourful ones and you'll survive.

La Fête du Ventre

Just photos, this time. They speak by themselves.

Reddish evening

Those still warm evenings in autumn are so soft. No tragedy is expected from such colours. Nothing is violent. Even these reddish lights are not connected with blood in our brain. They get joined with warmth.
This apparent lack of passion makes life more human, less competitive. We may need this step once a year!

Late autumn morning

An early November morning in the Herastrau park. The icy air diminishes the temptation to stroll on the sunny alleys. Besides, it's Monday, at half past eight and almost everyone is already at school or at work.
So, who can we meet in the park at this hour? Not so many, here they are:

A happy biker. Maybe he has the day off.


A grandmother taking her grandson to the kindergarten.

A young girl going to school, or maybe skipping classes.

A cat, enjoying the sun (except for this one moment, because of my shadow).

Some people having an open-air photo class.

And the caretaker.

A cold sunny evening walk

On a sunny evening, even if it is a bit cold, one of the nicest walks you can have in Ávila is going to Naturávila. Naturávila is an integral leisure resort. There are lots of activities to do, both for adults and kids: horse riding, golf, tennis, spa and so on.
But before you get there, you can also exercise. It's an hour walk more or less and once you leave Ávila and take the path by the road, the fields surround you and the mountains watch you from the horizon.


After crossing this stream you have already done half the walk.


And the sun hiding behind Ávila Mountain Range takes you home.

On iron

The Iron Museum in Rouen is a real walk into history. All kind of tools and topics can be seen there. Nothing escapes the collection. it's a gorgeous festival of art and decoration. From the most commons tools for the kitchen to the complex mechanism of lockets. The beautiful keys, the grills that take you in a romantic travel into lovers' conversations and mysterious nunneries.
But we got particularly interested in these great publicity works, the ancestors of our neon advertisements. The beginning of advertising over our heads in the most flourished decoration, here they are