just enjoy

Here is a link with the photos from the workshops. Also, you can see some movies that I've made with this occasion :).

http://picasaweb.google.ro/daniela.tache/MartisorWorkshop02?authkey=Gv1sRgCLSOvZWwo_ef_wE#

Tam ta-ram....my first workshops :)

From the end of February I was planning to make a workshop with the theme “Martisorul”. In my older post, I was making you to “shake hands” with this tradition. In Romania, this is a very loved tradition and lots of romanians (especially me :) ) are waiting impatiently for this day to come.
At the end of this post I will relate some interesting stories and customs from different parts of our country regarding this tradition. Of course, there are many stories and legends, but I will write for you two of them that I founded very interesting and not so very known :).
Until you will read this stories that will get you in the past and in a little wonder land, I will tell you about the Tuesday’s workshop.
A couple of weeks ago, I’ve find out that in Wroclaw is a Romanic Languages Institute, where polish students are learning Romanian language. I was very glad to find this out, because I was sure that Mss Radoslawa Janowska-Lascar, the Romanian lector from the institute will want to help me with some contacts or with some information. Before I met her, I was thinking to keep this workshop for the children...because they love colours and small little things. Like a first step, I’ve decided to make it for the polish students. I must tell you that Tuesday I kept three workshops, so for three groups of students. I likd very much to inform as many students as possible :). The girls were delighted and I was very happy when I recieved the pozitive feed-back written in romanian language ;). I will show you even the little movies with the girls speaking in romanian :). As a conclusion, I felt very good to share this to the polish students and to see that they enjoy it and that they are interested about our tradition and customs, especially that they are learning romanian :).
Next, I will let you enter in the little wonder land that I’ve promised you.....enjoy :)!


The Martisor is offered early morning on the first day of March; it used to be worn for 9-12 days, sometimes until the first tree would bloom when it was hung on a flowering branch to bring good luck to its bearer.
In Dobrogea, the Martisor was worn until the arrival of the white storks when it was thrown high up in the sky for bringing "great and winged fortune " to its bearer.
The Martisor was a present that Romanians sent to each other on the first day of March, traditionally a gold coin suspended on a white-and-red braided thread with a silk tassel. The recipient used to wear it around his neck until he would see a blooming rose and the present was then placed on its branch; in this way Spring was poetically welcomed. The coin symbolized prosperity, the white-and-red thread, a metaphor of a person's face white as a lily and rosy as a rose.
In the villages of Transilvania, the red-and-white wool yarn Martisor was pinned on gates, windows, sheepfolds, tied around the horns of cattle, around the handle of buckets to protect from the evil eye and malefic spirits; it was believed that the red "color of life" could be an inducer of vitality and regeneration.
In the folk tradition of the Carpathian mountain villages the Martisor was known as Drogobete, that time of the year when young women used to wash their face in "snow water" for getting "clean, pretty and white as the snow".
In Bihor folk people believed that the rain water collected on March 1, and during the nine days of the Babe would make one handsome and healthy, while in Banat it was customary for young women to gather snow or water from wild berry leaves and wash their face with it spelling the magic words of the Drogobete for love:

"Wild berry flower of March/ make me dear to everyone/ send away from me any harm".

LEGENDS OF THE MARTISOR

There was a time when the Sun used to take the shape of a young man and descend on Earth to dance among folk people. A dragon found out about this and followed the Sun on Earth, captured him and confined him in a dungeon in his castle. Suddenly the birds stopped singing and the children could not laugh anymore but no one dared to confront the dragon.
One day a brave young man set out to find the dungeon and free the Sun. Many people joined in and gave him strength and courage to challenge the mighty dragon. The journey lasted three seasons: summer, autumn and winter. At the end of the third season the brave young man could finally reach the castle of the dragon where the Sun was imprisoned. The fight lasted several days until the dragon was defeated. Weakened by his wounds the brave young man however managed to set the Sun free to the joy of those who believed in him. Nature was alive again, people got back their smile but the brave young man could not make it through spring. His warm blood was draining from his wounds in the snow. With the snow melting, white flowers, called snowdrops, harbingers of spring, sprouted from the thawing soil. When the last drop of the brave young man's blood fell on the pure white snow he died with pride that his life served a noble purpose. Since then people braid two tassels: one white and one red. Every March 1 men offer this amulet called Martisor to the women they love. The red color symbolizes love for all that is beautiful and also the blood of the brave young man, while white represents purity, good health and the snowdrop, the first flower of spring.
Literally Martisor means little March: a small trinket pinned on the lapel by which winter is parted and spring is welcomed.


There once lived a poor man who used to make doll dresses, ribbons, tassels, and sold them at the market.
One day he ran out of fabric and all he could find at hand was two spools of yarn: one red and the other one white. Now he was thinking what could be made out of them; soon he came up with an idea. He tore off two strands from the spools, one red and one white and braided them in a cord. He was very pleased with his work and hung a small picture on his new thread. And he said to himself: How shall I call this ? I know. Martisor because is March and today is the first day of the month. This will be a gift that men offer to women. And he made several models.
Soon the word spread about his invention. And people celebrated March the 1st because they wanted to preserve the memory of the day when a poor man created the symbol of spring and regeneration.
So, to the present day people celebrate March 1st.

let's play....with life :)

I'm wondering....nowadays, how many people can and want to see and to enjoy the little details that are surrounding and embracing us...It is so beautiful to behave like a little child...to play with soap balloons :P or just to play...with life :). A little tip: when you focus to a soap balloon, it can take you over the rainbow ;)...you will understand why and how...but don't tell anyone, ok...shhhh :)

a blog written by a romanian girl, must contain also romanian traditions ;)

Because I don't like to keep things just for myself :), I will post a short movie to understand better some of our beautiful traditions. Especially that for me this month it's special and spring it's my favourite season ;). So enjoy and feed-back me :)

Getting familiar with.... :)

Last days, in a pub I have discovered something: reading in polish wasn’t so scaring for me anymore....I must tell you that at the beginning, I looked with big eyes at all the polish sentences, the name of the streets and so on. So, it just hit me: I am getting familiar with the language and with the environment here...although I DON’T want to get familiar with the weather here...this is life, with good parts and bad parts also :D. It is something obvious that people must get familar with the places where they stay for a time...but it’s very cool and “refresing” to notice and to think at this things that are happening to you :).
I get often the question: “do you miss your country?”...every time I hear it, I start to think at my mountains, that I miss them a lot. A weird thing happened to me that made me sigh a little and to dig into my “hiking memories” from Romania. I was in Empik library, and I decided to make a virtual expedition into the polish Tatra :). I discovered a picture with a beautiful phenomenon which I also saw in Parang mountains (situated in the western part of my country), called “glory”. I was on this ridge, and the sun was setting down...it was a little foggy and because of the sunbeams, a big halo made from the rainbow’s colors was in front of my eyes...I also put my shadow in it and a friend of mine, Alex(thank you Aleeeex), made me the picture, which I will share it with you :)...imagine this...I felt like the rainbow was protecting me ;). It was something really beautiful to remind and to relive in that bookshop...it is so beautiful to daydream and to buy a ticket to your world...with the place at the window ;).

PS: who will translate me that text in English, will get a chocolate...and not a polish one ;)

Time- an enemy or a friend? :)

This week I’ve realized that I am here for a month....I agreed that the time is passing quickly, but on the other hand, I can admit that the time didn’t passed just like that, so many events were gathered. Maybe I can make a short list and to point them down :). So, I will start with the beginning:
- on a beautiful day of 2nd February, I reached the Dworzec Glowny railstation, where Karolina and Dobrusia picked me up ;)
- in the accomodation week... accomodation that maybe it’s lasting until now sometimes :P..I visited a bit of Wroclaw and I met one of the two project-colleagues: Gamze, who came from Turkey to join the project :)
- a training kept by Edward Skubisz, the president of Dom Pokoju, made me reflect once again about the integration in different cultures, in different spaces and in different mentalities.
- sometimes, the really cold weather from Wroclaw made me to not leave the flat...but the art of cooking made me to be proud of myself :P
- if the weather wasn’t on our side, at least some activities made me warm on the inside, like climbing or ice-skating :). I wished that there were more activities, but step by step I will multiply them :).
- I also met Dima, from Ukraine, the other participant at the project.
- many ideas crossed my head for some projects, so I caught them and put them in some little shelves :)
- I was a week in Warszawa, for the on-arrival training...a week full of surprises and full of different situations and moods. On the other hand, I could visit my embassy, where I could participate at the 1st March event. I was really happy because this day represents the beginning of spring, and in my country this is the time to celebrate it through by some unique traditions and costoms. You will see in my future posts what it is about ;).

Why EVS, why Poland?

As an introduction to my blog, I think this is the moment when I must reveal to you a big secret regarding the answer to the question : “Why EVS, why Poland”? Well....I like to make little and innocent jokes, and I can tell you that everything happened to me regarding EVS and the location of my project, was spontaneous. In a way or another, as a famous writer was telling us...when you really want to do something, all the universe conspires for that wish. As a better explanation on this decision, I can say that I like to be a volunteer and to help everyone that needs my help. This fact made me to gain experiences in different domains and to wear a little back-pack filled with memories and stories :). I think this is the short answer to the first question....why EVS. The second answer is that in my case, the project has found me, so it wasn’t me the one to discover it :). Karolina, the coordinator of the project, needed a Romanian to fill in the missing spot of the “Beyond the borders - between the cultures” team...so here I am :).

I am really happy that my location for the project is Wroclaw. Walking through the city makes me love it more and more :).

Just remember: what you hear, you forget.....what you see, you don’t remember...what you

DO....you understand :).