Number 1

November 2010

Zarzarea, zarzarea, zarzarica zarzarea: it is thanks to this song and to many others, among which the well-known Volare by Domenico Modugno, that we have socialised in a cheerful and brotherly way with the colleagues and the students who took part with us in the first meeting of the Comenius Project Landscapes of Europe, which took place in Bucharest from 27 to 31 October 2010. Rodica, Roxana, Ramona, Carlos, Isabel, Alexandre, Mehmet, Jarmila, Karina, Alicia, Vania etc., seem to be the names of friends of ours, but they are the names of foreign colleagues or Headmasters who hosted us or who part with us in this unforgettable meeting. All started for us in the minibus which took Costantina Desario and me from Bucharest Airport to the hotel: we soon had the impression of having made up a thoughtless party with our Portuguese colleagues from the Agrupamento de Escolas Marinhas do Sal of Rio Maior. This sensation was confirmed when we met with the other colleagues and with the students who stayed at our hotel, even though we had not taken any students with us, in fact we had not started our activities yet and we had decided to give this chance to students who stand out in project activities. We have enjoyed both the working session at the host school, the Liceul Teoretic "B. Franklin", and the visits: the Cotroceni National Museum, the trip to the Muntenia Region, with its enchanting Vidraru Dam and Vidraru Lake and its awe-inspiring gorge from which people do bungee-jumping, the Poenari Castle, which faces an indisputably breathtaking landscape, the Arges monastery, whose marbles and mosaics projected us in the atmosphere of the Middle-East. And finally the other highlights of Bucarest, the Opera House, the Royal Palace, the University, the historical centre, the majestic Parliament Palace and the Boulevard Unirii which have deserved this capital city the name of Eastern Paris. But we enjoyed most was the atmosphere, the spirit of cooperation among Romanian teachers and the folk dances we were always involved in. On several occasion there was music or live music, which meant not just listening to music but dancing too. We were really impressed at seeing how students can enjoy not only disco music but folk music and at the way they can have fun with the pleasant atmosphere this music can create. All this had its climax on the farewell party at the Caru cu bere Restaurant where we saw very clever professional dancers who also invited us to dance. We felt the Romanian sound has something in common with the Neapolitan one but we hope next year we will have the chance to involve or guests in our pizzica folk dances.

Francesco del Vescovo