Maramures – Archaic Oasis

When one says Maramures, one immediately thinks about natural purity and archaism, adventure and a unique wood culture, traditions and great joy to live. And it’s true: if one hasn’t reached this fabulous county, one doesn’t really know Romania, if one hasn’t crossed the Iza valley, one hasn’t got to the core of Maramures.

Iza is the name of a river that springs in the Rodna Massif and, 80km away flows intro Tisa, the river which forms a natural frontier between Romania and Ukraine.

Coming from Nasaud or Borsa, the first city is Sacel, famous for its animal breeders, as well as for red pottery without enamel, stone polished, the wood choppers and weavers from two well-known guilds. Just like the Salistea de Sus, where there are, among other buildings, two wooden churches, folk architecture monuments dating from the XVIIth and the XVIIIth centuries. Going along the river, after passing Dragomiresti,  from which one can enter the Tibles Mountains, one reaches Bogdan Voda, a symbolic Maramures village. From here, the old Cuhea, set off one of the first Moldavian princes, Bogdan the First, who rebelled, in 1343, against the Hungarian King, Ludovic Ist of Anjou. In the centre of the village there is one of the most religious dwelling, an imposing cathedral was built, that has little rivals in this part of Romania. Like in all Maramures villages, in Bogdan Voda they celebrate, in the middle of May, the “breaking of sterility” or “sambra oilor”, an old shepherds’ tradition which anticipates the sheep flocks’ departure to the mountains, to graze, until the month of October. Almost 2km away is Ieud, a village whose name is linked to the first religious writings in old Slavic language, and to the art of wood carvers, especially those who made crosses for the graves. The visitors will se, at the “Hill Church”, built in 1346, a kind of old staircase, on which one goes up into the tower, made of a tree’s trunk, with curly cuts serving as steps and an interesting inner painting directly on wood, from the XV – XVIth centuries. Rozavlea and Stramtura share the middle of the superb tour. The wood and wool have gained, in this villages, the rank of an extremely subtle art, from the carved gates, dominates by the motifs of the Sun and of the Rope, especially in rugs.

An extraordinary victory of wood and of the Maramures craftsmen is the Barsana monastery. Both the church and the steeple have the unique aspect of an arrow. On the other side of the yard, beautifully decorated with carved flowers ranks by young nuns, there is the monastic house, another jewel of the carving craftsmen. After Nanesti and Oncesti, villages with the fences covered by wool waiting to be dried, so that they seem covered with snow, we get to the Vadu Izei. More signs exposed at the peoples’ gates call us to eat and sleep in their country houses, wonderful and picturesque. Here we will admire an original exhibit of monumental gates signed by some of the most famous carving craftsmen, Gheorghe Borodi, Vasile Apan (father and son), Petru Godja, Petru Bledea. Here Iza welcomes the water of the river Mara, on whose valley there are the beautiful villages Desesti, Harnicesti, Giulesti and Brebesti. Just as many lures for more trips… Tisa and Iza meet in Sighetu Marmatiei, the hostoric center of Maramures. A remarkable village museum, the gothic church, built in the XVIth and the XVIIth centuries – a precious architectural monument – and the Mill’s Park offer, each is its unique way, unforgettable memories.

This ld county is in the northern part of Romania. Like a natural fortress, it is surrounded by mountains and hills – Rodna, Tibles, Lapus, Gutai, Ignis, Maramuresului. The rivers Viseu and Iza, that have been spoken about in folk songs and are loved by the natives and tourists, have always been important points of the region. The Iza valley and the Viseu valley are two of the most important tourists’ roads in Maramures. No Less charming are the other valleys, like Mana and Cosau, Somes, Lapus, Botiza, Cavnic, Ieud and Sasar.

As it was not captured by the Roman troops, Maramures was known as a county of the free Dacs. The natives’ faces keep, as the specialists say, the typically ancestral Dacian features.

Starting with the XIIIth century, the Hungarian kingdom infiltrates in this area through the colonists. Included later on, just like the rest of Transylvania, in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but keeping a special status, Maramures crossed troubled times, managing to preserve a unique Romanian specificity. It is important that the foundation of Moldavia (Romanian province) was done by the Maramures kings Dragos and Bogdan.

In 1918, Maramures, just like Basarabia, Bucovina and the entire Transylvania, came back to the mother-country, forming the Big Romania. A part of the historic Maramures stood, unfortunately, north of the Tisa river, on today’s Ukrainian territory.

In a country rich in forests, wood provided to the people the occasion to become artists. The wooden churches, with their sharp steeples, impressively high, are a seal of the Romanian landscape, particularly in two of the most picturesque counties: Maramures and Salaj. There are tourists fond of architecture that come to Romania especially to research and photograph the Maramures villages and dwellings such as Surdesti, Ieud, Remetea, Desesti, Bogdan Voda, Rogoz, Plopis or Dragomiresti. Not far from the city Sighetu Marmatiei (where there is an open air museum of the Maramures folk art) is Sapanta, a village famous for its Merry Cemetry – situtated, in an American classification, on the second place in the world, after the Valley of the Kings –  a place where the wooden crosses, lively colored and carved with human faces and symbols, have comic verse epitaphs. The craftsman Ion Stan Patras, who created this whole carnival of death, is also buried there.

Being more rarely spoken about is the tourists’ guides, the county of Salaj is, from the point of view of its landscape, a small scale Switzerland. With its mountains and valleys, its villages with beautiful wooden gates and healthy households (Fidu de Sus and Fidu de Mijloc, Sanmihaiu Almasului, Hida, Jac and Moigrad, Sarbi, Rastoltu Mare or Pausa), the tourists will see wooden churches from the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, built mostly of evergreen oak, decorated with admirable motifs.

People have always used the the wooden churches’ steeples as scouting pickets (during water floods, fires, invasions) the tall roofs and the arrow-shaped towers making the specialists talk about a “Gothic feature of Maramures” and to look for the reasons why they chose these places to build this kind of dwellings, as philosophical and practical solutions.

Borsa is a charming landscape with over 20 mineral springs. It is in the Rodna mountains, at 665-850m of altitude. It has and 100% mountain atmosphere, with fresh summers and snow-rich frosty winters. One can enjoy here ski sessions (there are special courses for those who want to learn and improve their skills), sledge tracks, but also treatment possibilities (internal and external cure) with happy results for illnesses like neurosis, asthenia, fatigue, rheumatism and obesity. Paths leading to Maramures dream parts are open to those who like mountain trips, since Maramures is known as one of the most beautiful Romanian counties. One can reach the Iza valley, with a little train with a steam locomotive that still functions, the Puzdrele chalet (3 hours’ walk) or in the Prislop pass (4-5 hours’ walk) at 1414m altitude, the spot that separates Transylvania from Moldavia, “the most beautiful gate to Maramures”. It is here that country people come together every August for a merry folk festival, with songs and dances, which they call “The Prislop Reel”.

201MC – Coursework 2 – Professional experience presentantion

Introduction

In the process of making a career choice and following that path, there are two important and imperative assets to accomplish, education and professional experience.  This whole process starts in childhood, but approximately at the age of 18, one decides what specialisation to follow, based on his skills and aptitudes.  The best way to test if the choice that we’ve made in deciding our career and for an even further specialisation is to be part of an internship or job to gather experience.

The rationale behind my professional experience

As part of the 201MC module assignment, I had to find and be part of a short placement or conduct a self-managed project, at least 20 days. I decided in my first year to specialise in musical and event journalism, therefore a good way to start working in this field is to create and manage my own online magazine about electronic music and clubbing, named “Beat Culture” ( http://beatculture.wordpress.com ). The site covers events, news from the electronic music scene, album or song releases, technical reviews for the latest mixing and producing hardware or software and other free downloads and videos.

Due to the new media wave, many music publications are on the Internet because it can transmit fast information to the readers and  because of the electronic music industry which is now on a very alert pace. All the artists and bands are promoting themselves on the social network, such as Facebook or Twitter, and an information that it is not published as soon as possible, becomes old news and will not capture the attention of the audience. It has a blog format, being on WordPress.com at the moment, but I am currently working on the official release on its own domain, by collaborating with two of the best web developers I know.

The professional experience journey. Practicalities

The strategy I chose for this project was to gather the information from this subject from different sources (direct, internet, newsletters, radio, television) and to post them on my blog by writing my own articles. To promote these articles and the site itself, I chose to make Facebook and Twitter accounts, the two best social networking sites, and an account on an upcoming and fast developing blogging and socializing site, Tumblr.

So far, I’ve managed to create and develop all these features, even though I had to remake the Facebook and Tumblr page due to some errors made by the web developing team. I am satisfied with my work until now, the articles are at the exact format that other online magazines are using, the blog has an appealing interface and I’ve managed to have up to 30 different readers per day. However, I should work on my organisational skills and leadership, in order to make my team mates to respect their deadlines. “Beat Culture” site is the result of years of reading other online magazines, blogs and articles related to the music I was interested at the moment. I can clearly say that I’ve improved my writing skills, along with my blogging and Internet  aptitudes in which I had some problems in my first year.

The professional experience journey. Life goals

After doing my professional experience by creating a self-managed project, I can clearly say that my first intentions of developing several musical journalism ideas, such as blogs, monthly newsletters and even an online radio have become priorities in my career at the moment. I now believe that personal project should be a great part of a journalist or media person’s career. It can clearly increase the morale and the motivation in other activities, due to the fact that it is an accomplishment.

At the beginning of my career I wish to work for a music publication, online or print, or to be part of a music channel team, radio or TV. However, I will keep and develop my personal projects as much as I can, such as the “Beat Culture” site, and I am currently discussing with other journalists to create a site for the urban and alternative culture in Romania. I can clearly say that my career plans are not changed, they are even more strong right now because I know what to do and on what to emphasize my knowledge.

Next steps

As I have strongly stated before, I wish to work in the music and event journalism. By creating the “Beat Culture” blog I am already gathering precious experience by myself, without working on an official print or show. In my opinion this should count as a very strong practice of the knowledge and skills developed at the university, because I had to do all the work needed: writer, editor, promoter, audience research, and this means that I qualify for all those jobs.

Even though I improved my writing skills, I could do it even more and to start specialise in this field, to complete my musical vocabulary. The skill that I should work very hard on, is socialising directly with the artists or their PR representatives and to promote my work in the electronic music community. This is the gap in my knowledge that I need to enhance as soon as possible in order to find a job in this area of work and to improve the quality of my projects.

Conclusion

All in all, I can say that overall this one month old self-managed project went as planned, with slight delays and complication with the social networking sites. “Beat Culture” covered all the skills and aptitudes that I needed to test in this professional experience, in order to improve them for a future job opportunity or project. Also, it determined me even more to follow the career I chose for myself and I have proven worthy of carrying such assignments. After working on my communicational and promotional skills I can be a good asset as musical journalist in any publication or show.

The official “Beat Culture” site: beatculture.wordpress.com

My 20 days full of work and my creative work can be clearly seen on the “Beat Culture” blog.

Established Network: (they preferred that their details not to be posted on the blog)

– The web developers

1. Razvan Mihalache
2. Alexandru Marinescu

– Reporter + Promoter

• Mihnea Manea

Professional Experience Proposal

Mihai Rosu

 

For my work experience, as part of the 201MC module assessment, I must do a total of 20 days of work experience or as part of a personal project. I decided to keep my options open for now, mostly because I have not decided if I should involve my current projects as part of this assessment.

As a journalism and media student at Coventry University, I believe that I have a wide choice I choosing what to do for the module, not necessarily as a journalist, but in media also, which I became very fond of in the last years. Even though I have experience as a journalist, especially in radio, I might try to do something else, because I am a person very innovative and creative, and I do not believe that my career should necessarily revolve around journalism.

One of my prospective is one of my personal projects, which is still in development and will become public soon. It involves a web site, blog-like, which has articles about electronic music in general, not for a particular genre. I am currently planning to develop such a site, due to my passion for such music and for musical journalism, in which I wish to specialise and have a future job. The site/blog will involve writing a wide range of articles, including fresh news from the electronic music industry (new artists, new albums/tunes, new musical production hardware and software or plain news about the artists), will cover major events worldwide and post promotional mixes or free albums. I plan to create this project myself, but will have additional writers which are experienced in this field. The posting rate will be daily and will include a minimum of three posts per day. I consider that this project will make the most of my journalistic skills, gain precious experience in this field and will utilize my media skills as well. The blog will be connected to most online networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and many other. I believe this experience will benefit me very much, due to the fact that I wish to become  a journalist in the music field.

Another option is a University journalistic or media project. I do not necessarily want to gain work experience at a large company or journalistic trust, because I already have some experience with a big media trust in Romania (radio, print and some television) and wish to try the experience of an individual or group project, personal or in the university. I think this will benefit me more, as by this I will try to fix my weaknesses and gain knowledge of small projects and how to develop and lead one. Another opportunity is to work more in media, as I have not as much experience as in journalism and I feel more focused on the combination between journalism and media.

 

Personal SWOT Analysis

Mihai Rosu – SWOT Analysis

Journalism and Media L2

Strenghts

• Communicative, sociable
• I am very creative and with many innovative ideas
• I have the ability to ask key questions whenever it is the case
• Strong technical knowledge within the journalism and media field
• self-discipline, ability to work under pressure, optimism and a high level of energy
• Leadership and teamwork skills

Weaknesses

• Perfectionism
• Procrastination
• Lack of patience when asked for help in simple issues
• Fear of failing
• Weak job hunting skills

Opportunities

• Gain experience in the UK
• Opportunities for professional development in journalism and media
• Opportunities to practice my technological skills
• Making new contacts which will help in the future

Threats

• Might lose focus and interest in the project or internship
• Possibility in not finding a wok experience job
• Might argue authority and lose patience
• Possibility of doing the small jobs and not focus on the main target

Final letter to self

Dear Mihai,

You’ve finished your first year at Cov Uni, hopefully. I am a bit disappointed in you because you managed to fail two of your coursework. I know you had some problems this year but you should’ve been a professional journalist, forget them and concentrate on your work. I guess it won’t happen again  this year, or better say, it better not happen. Anyway, you sent your resit exams and I am confident that you will pass.

The summer is almost over and you’ll start the second year! What did you do this summer? Oh, yes, you got your DJ job back at Radio Prahova. Heh, you worked this summer but it was a productive one. More experience, you had fun with your colleagues there and the money isn’t bad either. It’s still recession, you know. And I almost forgot that you had lots of fun with your friends. Great job, mate!

Well, have fun this year and hope to hearing from you soon!

PS: Don’t forget to write your summer articles!!!

The 3 little things

In choosing your career, there must be some factors that helps you decide easier. In my case, I chose journalism and media due to more that 3 little things, but I shall limit myself. Two of them are very personal to me and the last one is a general case which I bet many journalists are inspired.

The first one, as I mentioned in previous blog posts, is the fact that since 2008-2009 I’ve worked at a local radio station, called Radio Prahova. This was my first professional encounter with journalism which absolutely blew my mind. When you enter a professionalstudio with trained people, you immediately get caught up in the “web” that is the media and if you really enjoy it, you work VERY hard to be a part of it. Being constantly very well informed with the national and international news, you have an advantage over the rest of the people, more things to talk about and become very sociable. You learn to handle problems very well under pressure, you become more confident and, of course, more satisfied with your life.  However, the thing I love when I work here is that the whole team there form a very unite family, in which every person form a wheel and “carry” the whole station.

The second thing that made me decide to pursue journalism is the fact that my mother’s uncle was a journalist too. He was against the communist regime that ruled the country in that period, and used to write underground anti-communist and anti-Ceausescu articles.However, the was betrayed by his fellow writers and imprisoned for some time for being a “country traitor”. He got off jail in 1974, but due to harsh conditions and torture that he suffered there, he died 8 months later. He is one of my role models and just by following his courage and ambition, I could be a great journalist like him.

The third factor, as I said is more general, but probably the most important: INFORMATION. In my opinion, the worlds best currency is definitely not money, but information. A well informed man is a prepared, powerful and confident man. However,information can be powerful as well as dangerous. I want to be a journalist, to use the influence of information to change the world in a better place, at least on a small scale at first. I know this is a cliché, but just because it is what every journalist should do. A well used information can stop world leaders to make the wrong decision and to open the audience’s eyes and see the world as it is. Maybe this way people will stop being indifferent and rise against the wrong.

Chris Nathaniel, the football “dealer” – Coventry Conversations

The dream of all football fans is to meet their favorite players, but how would it be if you actually managed them?

Chris Nathaniel is the CEO of NVA Entertainment group, which is one of the best companies working in the sports and entertainment industry. He is currently working with football superstars such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Obafemi Martins, Ryan Babel, Robinho and so on, and is one of the most influential and powerful black person in Britain.

The Coventry Conversation in which he spoke, was held on the 12th of February and the interview was carried by professor John Mair. The conversations starts by talking about his most important clients, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. He talks about the recent scandals the two ere involved, especially John Terry which is in a constant war with the press. This advantaged Ferdinand as he was then the captain of the English team. He disagrees with all mean press articles about his players and thinks that “He should be for what he does on the football field, because this is what he gets paid for”. Another scandal in which he was directly involved was with the Newcastle Striker, Obafemi Martins. The player hadn’t paid his fees in over 6 months and owed Nathaniel over £300.000. However, Chris lost the court case, due to some contract misunderstandings. Asked of what is the best way to deal with a press scandal, he said that “I would always believe that honesty is the best policy, in that way you could hold your head up high.”

He emphasized that he is not a star or football agent, that his company is different: “I chose not to register as an agent because I want to do lots of different things.” This means it doesn’t limit at just transfers and arranging gigs and press conferences, he tries to be in touch with his clients and offer them a wider range of choices.

On the matter of discrimination in the world of football, mostly the fact that there are very few black managers and no woman manager in England, he thinks that it is just a matter of who is better, who is more professional and skillful : ““You want someone who is going to win things for you”.

His company doesn’t deal just with football players. They manage stars such as Katie Prive, the girl group Mis-teeq, Usain Bolt and many others. This means that his company is one of the best, in terms of managing people in entertainment and sports.

At the end of the conversation he encourages all children to follow their dream, to focus on what they really want and work hard for it. This is the way of the success!

The Vicar of Baghdad – Coventry Conversation

This is not actually a Coventry Conversation, it is part of the opening ceremony for the Conference of European University Chaplains held at our beloved Coventry University on the 23rd of June. In the Holy Trinity Church, Reverend Canon Andrew White, the “Vicar of Baghdad”, held a speech in front of a solemn audience.

Being in the city of “Peace and Reconciliation”, the reverend could not speak of anything else but this subject. He characterizes Coventry as “the real city of reconciliation. At its very heart there is the message of enemy becoming friends, that is indeed hat the city stands for; it’s an issue that’s not only take seriously by the council, the University, but by the Cathedral.” And even though he likes very much Coventry ( he was even a bishop here), Reverend White puts emphasis on the issue of peace, reconciliation and social justice in Baghdad. He speaks of 4 R’s that we should keep in mind when speaking of reconciliation.

The most important one is Relationship, which he declares that “unless we establish relationships, we cannot begin the work of reconciliation”. The vicar considers this is the key in making peace, and as en example he says that: “People often ask me how do we work with Muslims like you do? And I answer: EAT with them.” He is responsible not only for the Church in Baghdad, which is the biggest in Iraq, but even for reconciliation with the Iraqi government and sometimes with the American one. The biggest challenge was to bring peace between the Shia and the Sunni Muslims, through religion, which took almost 2 years and it is not even fully done. The main job in reconciliation is to establish relationships between the two parts. Even though it may seem a joke, the reverend declares that not the muslims are the biggest problems for him in Iraq, it’s the Christians, especially the bishops.

Even though reconciliation between people of different faiths may seem hard, the vicar declares “We all love God!”, which brings us together as brothers. “Peace is love, even love your enemy” says reverend White, which was shot at, bombed, kidnapped various times, tortured and still has only love for the Muslims in Iraq.

It is about taking risks for reconciliation. Risk is the second R necessary for reconciliation, and without it we cannot live in peace. Vicar  White declares that we cannot live a peaceful life unless we take this risks.

The third R is Relief. Which is the issue of giving back to the others who do not have much. The church in Baghdad, has over 4000 people in its membership and the revered gives food for the people, as well as medical care. The church clinic is actually open freely for anyone, not only Christian.

The fourth R is Reconciliation itself, but without the first 3 we cannot even see reconciliation.

Coventry Conversation – Dr. Mike Short

The conversation series “Healthy debates at Coventry”, on the 15th of July, has managed to bring Dr Mike Short, the Vice-president of Telefonica Europe O2. He was invited to talk about the importance of using the mobile technology within the NHS. As he said, he approached this conversation from the point of view of a “computer scientist more than a doctor”.

On his agenda there are 5 main subjects of discussions, which are  the International reach of ICT background, the connectivity for health, the human factors, social care and wellness and of course Health 2.0.

If referring to the ICT background, Dr Short showed a chart where he stated that 67% of the global population own a mobile phone, while 25.9% are using the Internet. This clearly shows a significant growth in the last 10 years of technology users around the globe. This means we are all connected together, through different social networks, and will adopt new habits and new services will flourish in the near future. Dr Short emphasizes the fact that all this innovative mobile technology could be used in healthcare as well. As an example, which I made me attentive, is that he deaf people can use an iPhone, because all the speech can be transformed into text. And there were other examples with extraordinary results.

Some of his ideas include a digital switchover strategy for health such as access, messaging, email, location, data access and sharing and data security. In his opinion, this kind of innovation will bring efficiency and will reduce the risk of medical data loss. Another idea is the connectivity between different life monitoring devices with our everyday PC’s, laptops, smartphones etc. It will keep data more precise and will monitor your health constantly. This will mean internet based medical records, which means that diseases could be detected must faster and will help doctors to diagnose easier. Many devices will be on market soon that can help us do this and he encourages this kind of techniques.

As for Health 2.0 business models, Dr Short presented some slide with these principles, such as: the guilty, the workforce, the supermarket, the wisdom of (sick) crowds, the Gullible (alternative healthcare), the drug dealers (pharmacies) and the third world.

Dr Smart stated his conclusions as here: “The only constant is change”

“Human factors are key, but so is evidence. Wireless measurement and Internet will both have a growing role”

“With an ageing society we will need new model for social care”

“Health 2.0 is an international and collaborative health service.”

Extracurricular Activities and their influence to my journalistic discipline

In order to be a good journalist, I think that you must fill your time with any interesting activity you can find and satisfy all your curiosities by pursuing what you desire the most. This will keep me alert all the time and will eventually make me react and think faster and will keep me calm under pressure, which I think that are the qualities that every journalist should have. Therefore I always enjoy doing extracurricular activities, mostly the ones I really like and cherish.

Zapodia Pro-Nature Organisation

When I was 15, I joined a environmental organisation, called Zapodia, founded by some friends of mine back home in Ploiesti, Romania. At first it was a modest gathering between friends, with big plans and initiatives, especially because Ploiesti is a highly polluted industrial city with 3 large oil refineries. But in just a year’s time, it had over 50 members, it got sponsorship deals from different companies and from the city mayor, then started actually doing the actions we planned. Since then, we had over 40 cleaning actions in our county and over 30 in others, was declared one of the best environmental organisation on local grounds and has over 100 members. Even though I am currently mostly living in Britain, I spend all my vacations back home and I help them as much as I can, and even contributed from 1500 miles away with ideas, suggestions and campaign work.

While helping and campaigning the association, I realized how indifference the people have when talking about conserving the environment that we all try to live in and the insensibility of the CEO’s of large polluting companies. I learned to treasure even the little things and to take side of the righteous. When campaigning with Zapodia, I realized what precious power journalism has to offer, when by the help of the local press we managed to convinced people to start recycling, protect the environment and respect the nature, from children to even large companies. I learned that thorough perseverance and following the right path, you can even change the world through journalism, in a good way, of course. Also, here I started to write and post my first journalistic articles, which helped me later.

Radio Prahova

Radio Prahova is a local radio station from back home, which is considered to be the best local station in Romania.  In 2008 I entered their campaign of training young DJs. Through hard work I managed to be the one, out of 10 contestants, to work full time there. I’ve worked here since the spring of 2009 and since I got into the UK, I work there only in vacations, even where the time is short. I’ve put this as an extracurricular activity, even though I got paid for it, because I never considered it as a job, more as an educational place which I go with enthusiasm.

Here is where I actually realized and learned what professional journalism is, and was even trained every day by experienced news reporters, radio DJs and news editors. They instantly “injected” me with my passion for journalism which was fed by my natural curiosity and ambition. I gained VALUABLE experience here, and due to this radio station I chose my future career, as a journalist.

Coventry Salsa Club

I’ve joined the Coventry Salsa, Latin Foundry, club at the beginning of my first academic year, in the pursuit of learning some new dance moves and, why not, to meet women. Well now, the question is, how can a salsa club influence my journalistic career in any way. Well, most of the lesson where held in the SQ club, where you could enjoy a nice beverage afterwards. And as all of the members were exhausted at the end of the lesson, we all started talking to each other, even though we were all from different backgrounds and different ages. When I got in Coventry, I had minor socializing problems, which I managed to get rid off at this club, and even improved my English and my verbal skills. Also, every person knows a bit of information that most of all are willing to pass on an can prove to be an important news. By being now friends with my salsa partners, I managed to get some information that helped my write some pretty good articles.