LEAD Group 34 International Study/Travel Seminar
Romania
| Date | Interview with: | length in min:sec |
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| Jan 15 | Lance Atwater | 2:03 |
| Adam Bruning | 1:49 | |
| Tyler Kugler | 3:05 |
| Jan 11 | ||
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| After a very informative meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, including a special audience with Hans Klemm, U.S. Ambassador to Romania; we visited The People's House - the second largest building in the world. The Parliament Palace is the world's largest civilian administrative building, designed and nearly completed during the time of communism by Ceausescu, from 1984 until 1989. | ||
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| LEAD 34 stops for a group photo at The People's House. Today it is called the Parliament Palace, a place of political & administrative power, a multi-purpose building containing both chambers of the Romanian Parliament. | ||
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| In the mid-afternoon, LEAD 34 visited one of the elite Holstein dairies in Romania. Agroindustriale Pantelimon is a 500 cow dairy is owned by Mihai Petcu, DVM. Alex Schwarz, Justin Jarecke, and Rick Spencer (left to right) listen as Dr. Petcu (far right) tells us about his modern dairy through the use of an interpreter. | Mat Habrock inspects the silage being fed at the 500 cow dairy near Bucharest. This farm is an excellent example of the transition of a former state owned communist farm to a privately owned one. | |
| Jan 12 | ||
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| We started the morning with a short drive to Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Agro S.R.L. Cristina Cionga, Gov't & Public Affairs Manager Central Europe welcomes us to their seed production facility. After our briefings, we were given a tour of the facility. | LEAD 34 pauses during its Tuesday morning visit to Pioneer Hi-Bred International's seed production facility near Bucharest for a group photo. | |
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| A late afternoon visit and tour of Bran Castle was enjoyed by LEAD 34. The castle is located near Brasov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia and is commonly known as "Dracula's Castle" and is the home of the main character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. | ||
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| Mark Miles, Lance Atwater and Esther Rickert at Bran Castle. | Lance Williams in Transylvania. | |
| Jan 13 | ||
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| We visited a World Foundation Project - Agrovision - a project farm created to demonstrate how locals can transition from a subsistence farm to a commercial one. | The Agrovision project manager explains the process they use for making silage to Jeff Schroeder (right). | |
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| Long travel day for LEAD 34 through the lower Carpathian Mountains. Snow is forecasted for today. | Lance Atwater and Hillary Miracle in the Carpathian Mountains. | |
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| Through the mountains for now and will soon be traveling in the valley below. | ||
| Jan 14 | ||
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| This morning we continued north, working our way closer to Moldova. We passed through the Carpathian Mountains and then to the beautiful Bicaz Gorges. | The Bicaz Gorges - the most dramatic in Romania have walls of over 300 meters. LEAD 34 enjoyed a 30 minute walk. | |
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The weather was brisk, but that did not keep LEAD 34 from enjoying their walk through the Bicaz Gorges. |
LEAD 34 listens intently as our guide, Smaranda (left) interprets remarks from the mayor of the village of Tarpesti. His community is facing the same challenges our communities are facing: retaining young people, creating jobs and providing services for their citizens, especially the elderly. | |
| Jan 15 | ||
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| Our first stop this morning to the Voronet Monatery - included in the UNESCO patrimony and is known as the "Sistine Chapel of the East." It is a masterpiece of middle age culture. | We then had a mid-morning visit to the Moldovita Monastery which has been described as "the Holy Scriptures in pictures." | |
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| The Moldovita Monastery | Inside of the Moldovita Monastery. | |
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| LEAD 34 with Sister Helen at the Voronet Monastery | ||
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Later on in the morning, LEAD 34 enjoyed an egg painting demonstration by a local artist. |
Egg painting is a tradition specific to the north of Romania. The design is first placed on the egg. | |
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| The finished product. | This local artist paints eggs of all sizes; chicken, duck, goose and emu. | |
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| Dr. Hejny and our host pose with two of her creations. | We enjoyed a traditional Romanian lunch in Sucevita. The first course was a beet and potato soup. The food has been very good throughout the seminar. | |
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Adam Bruning (center) of LEAD 34, through the translation services of our guide, Smaranda (right) thanks our luncheon host. |
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| Jan 16 | ||
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| Today was a long travel day as we made our way to Iasi, the capital of the Moldova region of Romania. Along the way we stopped at a Farmer's Market that was taking place in a small town. | Our guide, Smaranda (in light brown coat) talks with LEAD 34 about Soviet rule in Romania at Unification Square. | |
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| The view from our hotel overlooking Unification Square. | ||