Officially home...

It's been a while... There have been so many changes that I had to take time and swallow everything, try to understand or get accustomed to the new ME. I am officially waiting for my babies to come to the light, in simple words, on the maternity leave. It has a been some time since I had such a long break and one thing I realized: I will never be a housewife! I just can't! I have to admit I miss my working place, my students, I miss teaching already... 'Cause I said before I don't imagine myself doing anything else but teaching.
But now it's different, now I am in a different stage of my life and, as all mothers say, I am in the happiest stage of my life. And I do have dreams and I also have nightmares: "what if" is the common question for my nights. I tried picturing myself in the hospital theater, thinking how I will hear the doctors speaking about the pregnancy , about me, discussing what they see (????!!!!!), me, half-asleep there listening, not replying... then I try to picture them (what will they look like, will they be safe and sound?), then me in bed waiting to see if I can move, some strangers surrounding me, washing me, voices, laughter, cries.... this must be the hospital atmosphere... and this is what runs through my mind all these nights.
But the good parts- because there are good parts too- revolve mainly around the free time I haven't had in such a long time and a sort of time-out I was longing for.
It's nice to have time for yourself, to think a bit longer and maybe ask yourself questions...it is a good exercise and it can reveal many unsolved or unanswered issues. There have been a few interesting things I discovered: human nature is a continuous mystery and the more you try to understand some people the faster you will fail in your attempt, because we are that different...there are always things that one's mind cannot understand or accept about his fellow human (there are sometimes miles away and basic differences that cannot help us into understanding), so we have to let go and live without interfering...that's the conclusion I came to.Another thing: friendship is very important, and even if the older we get the more we refuse that noisy partying atmosphere among friends, we all need to know, at least, that we have, out there in the world, some people we can rely on, some people we think love us and trust us and would come for our help when needed. It is true that true friends are so few and so hard to find, but we need to have these few people in our lives...
I started reading a very interesting book Andrei Plesu, Parabolele lui Iisus, I would recommend it to anyone interested in a wonderfully-written analysis of the biblical sayings, a more philosophical approach, far away from the crappy no-name explanations we have been used to lately.
I could also watch (a simple coincidence with the book genre) a wonderful film Beyond the hills. It has everything: drama, love, deep analysis of the soul, simple and professional acting, keeps you present, the sort of image and idea you need to come back to and ask yourself questions, the basic definition of a good film.
I listen to a lot of music...classical, dance, reggae and it makes me happy...
I am planning on working some teaching materials and when I have some good ones I will share them with you.
Until next time, have a good and peaceful life!

Another story...reflections on friendship

 TINNY THE BUNNY

  Suzy was a 9-year old girl. She was living in a nice cottage with her grandmother and her best friend, Tinny-the bunny. Tinny used to come every morning to her bed, lick her cheeks and ask her to play with him.  He was loved, he was taken care of and most important he was considered an important member in their family. And for that he showed them his affection. But one day Suzy ran to her grandmother and said:

“Grandma, Tinny is nowhere! I searched everywhere for him, but nothing… I am so scared… What could have happened?” Her grandmother caressed her and convinced her Tinny would come back soon. But days went by and Tinny was still missing.

Suzy almost lost hope, so she was very sad, she didn’t even want to eat or play in the courtyard.

But after three weeks she felt a soft fluffy tail touching her hands: it was Tinny! She jumped to her feet and ran outside, hid behind her favorite oak and asked Tinny to tell her all that happened.

Tinny remembered that he was smelling some nice dandelions when he was suddenly caught by an eagle and carried far away, at the end of the forest. He was close to being eaten, but the eagle dropped him by mistake. When he found himself alone, he started searching for a path to come home. On the way he encountered a fox who promised to tell him the way if he could guess the answer to her question. Suzy smiled and listened carefully.

“What makes a good friend?” “I will answer to your question with only one word”, Tinny had responded, “If you want to understand friendship you should meet my sister, Suzy”. Hearing that, Suzy hugged Tinny happily and promised him they would never part again.

While returning home they met Foxy who had also come to find a true friend…

"What makes a good friend?" ...good question.It would be interesting to ask yourselves, but the most important ask your students.Have you noticed how simple and innocent their answers are? They don't need much, just companionship and fun and maybe sharing toys or their favorite cartoons, football player cards, Barbie dolls...

Later on,when we grow up we tend to ask more and more from a friend. We want them to understand us, we want them to be always there and maybe to turn a blind eye when we make mistakes.I have rarely seen a person appreciating a friend for trying to correct his/her error and I have continuously seen people choosing wealthy friends...just because money gives them status and security and maybe a better position later on in their career.

What is friendship after all? I guess the most important quality of a friend is to be honest to you and to himself, to value life and have a bit of decency while doing the one thing we must all perform: living...

...to have a purpose, to show respect and try to improve every day (or at least reflect upon our own mistakes or blunders)  .What we really need is a solid branch that we we can cling on in our daily pursuit of happiness. Even though we might never reach the top of the tree we should still try and be that branch, the solid ground and the clear mind when our friend loses his own path, not because it looks good to do so, but because it can be a two-way street and we might find our own path while calling ourselves someone's friend. 

I have always considered friendship the hardest and the most important lesson of a lifetime and I am still making my first steps into the subject.

I am happy to be surrounded by friends ('cause I do have friends), but I can't tell exactly what friendship is.

The best thing to do is look at my little students and try to learn from them...