Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?

Apparently, it should.

Happy New Year!

From Madrid

As a matter of fact, everything in Madrid is bigger and much more crowded than in Ávila, even Christmas decoration. One can get tired of long waiting moments. But it is also exciting. You can feel the people around. It is like a people river. A living mosaic, so many nationalites, so many languages, so many different faces make you believe in diversity.
Some big cities get this honour of sheltering the flowing waters of humankind. Madrid is one of them.

White and blue

I had never seen this colour composiiton in Ávila. It's cold but it's good. I find it more peaceful than the green and red typical Christmas decoration.

Mountain Call

I found this and thought it might be a good Christmas gift for the blog. It's Maria Tanase's voice.

Cozonac

Not that it matters anymore, this is a recipe we usually prepare for Christmas and Easter, very similar to the Italian Panetone. The fillings can be diverse: chocolate, cream, Turkish delight, but walnut is my favorite. I never make it.

Dough: 2 lbs/1 kg flour, 10 oz/300 g sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 6 eggs, 2 oz/50 g yeast, 7 oz/200 g butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, vanilla stick, salt, egg for smearing the dough, grease for the pans.

Make a starter from yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix until it has the consistency of sour cream, add 2-3 tablespoons of tepid milk, a little flour and mix well; sprinkle some flour on top, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise. Boil the milk with the vanilla stick (cut in very small pieces) and leave it on the side of the oven, covered, to keep warm.

Mix the yolks with the sugar and salt, then slowly pour the tepid milk, stirring continuously. Place the risen starter in a large bowl and pour, stirring continuously, the yolk-milk mixture and some flour, a little at a time. Then add 3 whipped egg whites. When you finish this step, start kneading. Knead, adding melted butter combined with oil, a little at a time, until the dough starts to easily come off your palms. Cover with a cloth and then something thicker ( a blanket, for example).
Leave in a warm place to triple in volume. If during kneading the dough seems too hard, you may add a little bit of milk. If, on the contrary, the dough seems too soft, you may add a little flour.

Filling: 10 oz/300 g ground walnuts, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of rum, vanilla

Melt the sugar in the warm milk with vanilla in a pot on the range. When the sugar is melted, add the walnuts and keep stirring. After a few minutes of boiling, and after the filling has thickened, remove from heat and add rum. When the filling is cold, roll a sheet of dough about one finger thick, uniformly spread the walnut filling on top and roll like a jelly roll.
Grease a bread pan, place the roll inside, let rise for a while. Smeare with egg and bake at medium heat. Take out of the pan as soon as it is done, place on a cloth and let cool.

Enjoy it!

End of the day

Another kind of winter-gray

We were used to cold, snowy winters, with frosty and often sunny days (we call it "soare cu dinti"- sun that has teeth, biting), sparkling snow, icicles, icy roads, sharp wind-sometimes. The public transportation often got slow and if the snow was higher than half a meter or so, schools would close. Then, kids would stay outside all day playing in the snow, there was no flu danger and it was heaven for them.
I hate cold, but incredibly I regret those winters. Now, all we have is gray. It's wet and rather warm: 7 to 10, foggy and dull. We keep the lights on all day long, so the hours have almost no meaning. At 4pm it's already night. Kids are almost all sneezing and coughing, many have the flu, so no outdoors playing. An early vacation starts next week, I hope they will be able to enjoy it. We will only to some extent, because it will cost us. And then, we'll have to redo classes on our spare time.
I'm dreading the New Year- the worst moment in the year for me,when we are supposed to celebrate that we're only ephemeral. But, until then, let's cross the fingers for a snowy Christmas.

Industrial Dawn

Lonely dawn moments in the cold morning of a big town. There are people there, everywhere, but they are so far apart, each one deep in his/her work, hurry, travel, thoughts. Even the sunlight is cold. It brings feverish activity, but not as much hope as it would bring in a quieter, wilder place, over a forest, over the sea...
See the House of People in the background, beyond the twin furnaces?

The performance

25th November. Day against the gender violence

Activities turned around the idea: This is Love. Publicity Worshop students had designed the T-shirt they are wearing and prepared a photo video of themselves explaining what love meant to them. Everything was shown during the break-time and then, there was a final lessons in the entrance hall. Here they are watching and enjoying their creation.


There was also a theatre performace in el Chico Square. Criaturas, Adela's group, were in charge of it with the help of the other students actors and actresses in schools.
I only saw what there was in the school.

My new school

Often,our pupils offer us surprises. Sometimes, the surprises are really nice.
Two of my students offered to make a school presentation for a new project. I said yes, not hoping for much. In the same afternoon, they came to take pictures. The same evening I got this.
It's not perfect, but considering it was made by two 14 years old boys, I think it's remarkable. I'm proud of them.
I am taking this opportunity to invite you for a tour in my new school. I hope you like it. After a hard time, I start thinking I am going to enjoy being here.
And I hope this blog will go on, even if my place has changed to some extent.

Kilipirim

It's the name of a fair that takes place twice a year, a discount book, film and music fair. The name comes from "Chilipir", a word with Turkish origin meaning bargain, but also some unexpected gain. As you see, there was a bit of everything, from English books to old books, posters and old drawings.
The prices were more than affordable, some with 50% discount, some stands offered a free book for each one you bought- crisis effects. Of course books are one of the luxury items people tend to give up, so publishing houses have to make big efforts. There was also a place for donating and exchanging books and a Tibet and Himalaya photos exhibition. This is almost all I got- except for two posters and a CD!

Stuck

There is a general strike at the subway these days. The stops are closed every day from 5 am to 4 pm. Considering that 600 000 people use the subway daily, you can imagine it was not very convenient.
The buses were overcrowded, then they stopped coming at all. The drivers got mad, the traffic was a mess. The people's reactions were diverse. Some remembered the old days when traveling on the step of the bus, hanging by one hand, was a daily routine. Some rejoyced because they lived in a neighborhood out of the subway circuit anyway. Some were amazed to discover the pleasures of walking, while others lamented our addiction to the comfort of the civilized world. At 4 pm, we were back in the world as we know it.
All will start again tomorrow. Some will already have adapted to this- we can get used to pretty much anything. Any lesson learnt?

Treasure Quest

This is a nice game you might even use with your youngest students, if by any chance they would like to know something about the Eastern Europe. It's about the cultural heritage of this part of the world and it looks rather nice. And here is our place on the treasure list.

Bridge

Our river got a present today: a new bridge was finished. Here you are the very moment it happened, as the last section was added. And if you look closely at the first photo, you can see the champagne bottle underneath.

Discovery

Maybe this is a bit out of topic, because it happens everywhere. That's why I had the idea of a new category: Earth- the Place we Live In.
It's about a moment on the plane yesterday, a moment to remember and the star was boy about 2 years old, maybe younger.
His father offered him a small whistle, to keep him amused, only the kid had no idea what to do to make it utter sounds. He did not know what "to blow" meant, but he was determined. He tried over and over, until by accident he succeeded. You should have seen his surprise and his joy. He understood and he repeated the "achievement", to make sure. And he bursted with laughter. Then he kept whistling, laughing, and again, over and over, louder and quicker. After each breath, he laughed with delight. And, after a few blows, he generously offered the precious whistle to his father for a try, then he took it back.
I wondered if the parents understood the beauty of the moment. It was, I think, a glimpse of the best and the deepest part of the human being, a short reminder of what makes us progress: the desire to know, the determination, the joy of discovery, the magic of sharing it. I was happy to see it. And I felt like sharing it.

WYSIWIG

What You See Is What I Got: a raincoat, a bag, a brochure, stickers, a pen, a logo-shaped memory stick and a diploma stating I have reached the most Western part of mainland Europe: Cabo da Roca.
Sorry, I have nothing to send but stories and photos this time. I was in a rush all the time.
You did not feel someone was talking about you, but I hope you felt someone was thinking of you.

colours in autumn ( a fairytale)

Walking in a more than warm autumn morning is the best way to celebrate Students and Teachers' Day. Finding these taints of colour I like so much brings peace and relax to brain, soul and sight.
And although the storks' nests are empty there is joy in the landscape.

Women in Science

Just in case you don't have it. Because this site is related to the history of women and the places they lived in.
I hope you like it.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?lg=es&pg=wisaudiobook&cat=x

An Ordinary Afternoon

A walk in Zorita

A really nice walk by the river. Much better than going to the cinema or correcting

Educational Exhibition

Today I went to the annual Educational Exhibition. It was in a very big hall built for shows or other events, near the Youth Park. The 5000 places hall seemed smaller now than it looked 20 years ago, I wonder why.
There were lots of teaching materials, from wooden toys and books to Internet Safety, Chemistry or Physics kits or very expensive interactive blackboards. Of course the price is our problem, for teachers and schools to solve, not of the producers. But I made plans for the unlikely possibility we will ever get the 100 Euros for books and teaching stuff. Here are some photos, if you want to take a look.

Autumn colours for autumn chasers

Have a sunny autumn day!

Climate Action Day

My 5th graders were just incredible today. I had only told them yesterday to prepare for a short debate and for a poster contest. I was not sure they would do anything, so I found some reading material, bought big paper sheets, brought scissors, glue, crayons etc. and made diplomas.
My surprise could not have been bigger. They had gathered information, studied it (that's amazing, you know they print it but have no idea about the content!) and brought everything they could need. One girl even brought a mindmap on this idea, not hers, of course. I had only to watch and take photos. They talked about the meaning, the causes, the effects of global warming, gave examples, suggested way of action against it. Then they drew, cut and so on. They stayed for one more hour in order to finish.
I will give the diplomas on Monday, it was too late and I need to think of a festive way of doing it. Of course, the posters look like they belong to some 11 years old, and they were made in a haste, but the whole activity was absolutely great. Here they are.

October 24th

International Day of Climate Action. I'll try to find out if anything happens here and I will let you know. I'm even thinking of doing something on Friday in my educational class, if I have time to think of it tomorrow night.

The Place we Live In. A tourist guide

To see it in a different way, click here.

I hope it is useful.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Going to the theatre with students can be both a success or a terrible mess. we were lucky and it was great. It was important to have a Pedagogical Notebook in advance to know about what we were going to see.

Shakespeare is Shakespeare anytime, anywhere and for everybody. This is the essence of classicism. There is always a connection with the moment you are living. Midsummer Night's Dream, although difficult, because of the different levels of vocabulary is both an entertainment and a walk into emotions and feelings.

These new theatres are really good.

PLI