Hey, Jakub! So, how was this experience for you?

“Hi everybody!

I am home in Pilsen (Czech republic), after 7 weeks spent in Romania, and I would love to get back there again tomorrow. I had the very best time of my life in Iasi, Constanta, Brasov and Predeal and I won’t forget a single thing that happened to me there.

I took part in project GROW as a trainer for 11th grade students. I loved the idea of working with people of such potential and promise. And I admit to say that Romanians really surprised me how structured their minds were, how well prepared plans they had and how eager they were to participate in GROW. I almost thought: “What the hell I am gonna teach these people, they already know everything!” But in the end I think we made a change and that’s something that counts. I was afraid that I will just go there, stand there, speak about something and when we finish, nobody will learn anything. But this didn’t actually happen, for which I am happy and I have the feeling of well done job.

Okay now…I should stop congratulating myself.

I will rather congratulate the OC, especially the OCP GROW Marilena Maraciuc, because she, with the rest of the team, was the one who gave me the opportunity to work on such great project. I would like to recognise all the members of the OC: Mihai, Simina, Ines, Andreea, Alin and Marilena, for hard work and care they provided. I really felt the comfort and the effort they made to give it to us.

Simina, my trainee buddy, was my guide and companion through Iasi and she shared her freetime with me and Ander to show us everything and everyone who was worth to be shown. Without her my days would be empty and boring. I was very proud that in the second part of project GROW she assigned me with showing the city to other incomming trainees and through that I made many new interesting friends.

I would like to share with you that I love my pupils (in a platonic way, to avoid any gossip) and I wish them luck and energy for their future steps. As I said during the closing ceremony, they are not likely to live their lives by sitting on their butts and I seriously believe that we will see and feel the Footprints of at least some of them.

I would love to share with you all the stories I brought from Romania, but it’s worth a book and therefore I will save it for my publisher. )) Anyway my impression of the whole “Romania thing” is purely and exclusively positive. I had a great time and hard time but it was all worth it!

List of some first-time things I did during my stay in Romania:
- swiming with luminiscent jellyfish
- having an interview on TV
- dancing Brasoveanca
- partying with Dutch girls
- lunching with orthodox priests
- saying cheers in Estonian
- eating mamaliga
- having fries INSIDE the hamburger
- attending on an International Conference
- getting to know so many marvelous people in such short time

Hope to see you all soon, my dears! ‘Cause You, you are AWESOME!”

~Jakub

Jakub_Ratislav Iasi_GROW

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