FROM IRAKLIS TO GEOFF

CARNIVAL TIME IN PTUJ - KURENTOVANJE!

Dear Friends!

Every year we have in Ptuj Carnival time - KURENTOVANJE! The Kurentovanje is the most important carnival event in Slovenia of enormous public significance. The 49-year-old tradition is famous for organised performances the aim of which is to preserve and develop the extraordinary movable cultural legacy and ethnographical tradition from the Ptuj region.It originates in a hundred-year-old tradition of carnival celebrations on the Drava and Ptuj fields. The traditional carnival starts on Saturday, more than a week before Shrove Tuesday, with the gathering of typical Slovene carnival masks and figures. Different performances take place every day; in afternoons town streets and squares are enlivened by performances of various artists, street-theatre groups, musicians and others; in evenings, the masked ball continues in the carnival tent where at sounds of popular national and foreign music groups, good food and drinks abound. The event culminates on Sunday with the traditional international parade, and ends on Tuesday with the burial of the Carnival.
Kurent or Korant - the main carnival figureKurent or Korant is the most famous traditional carnival figure of the entire region. The carnival in Ptuj is named after it. At the same time, it is the most popular and frequent traditional carnival figure in the Ptuj and Drava fields, and in Haloze hills. Kurent or Korant, as it is known today, gets its origin in popular tradition. Traditionally, the Kurent's outfit used to be reserved only to unmarried men, but nowadays Kurent-Korant can be as well married men as children and women. There are two types of Kurent-Korant: the so-called "feathery" and the "horned" one. Kurent-Korant wears sheep skin coat, around its waist hangs a chain with huge bells, heavy boots and gaiters protect feet, while the head is covered by a cap. A wooden club is normally carried in the left hand.

Kurentovanje is visited by more than 100,000 people every year,
Saturday and Sunday parades are watched by 60-70,000 people,
in eleven days, there are some 15-20,000 people expected to party in the carnival tent,
afternoon programmes in the town are followed by more than 1,000 people every day,
Kurentovanje is becoming more and more recognizable in Slovenia and abroad, and more than 100,000 spectators follow daily information by means of mass media,
participants in parades are numerous: the Saturday parade boasts more than 1,000 participants, and the Sunday parade over 2,000 and around 600 Kurents,
Kurentovanje is the most prominent cultural and ethnographical event in Slovenia .

Tanja

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEOFF!!!!

Birthday Blessings
Instead of counting candles,

Or tallying the years,

Contemplate your blessings,

As your birthday nears.

Consider special people

Who love you, and who care,

And others who’ve enriched

your life Just by being there.

Think about the memories

Passing years can never mar,

Experiences great and small

That have made you who you are.

Another year is a happy gift,

So cut your cake, and say,

"Instead of counting birthdays,

I count blessings every day!"

Tanja

Hi Geoff

Happy happy birthday

Rudy, Rita and the animal farm

Happy Birthday Geoff.

Ann

Tanja's winter Holiday _ Rogla_ski center

As I promise here are some photos from my winter holiday. I was in Slovenian very popular ski center ROGLA: 70 km far away from my home. It is 1517 m high. I spen nice winter days with sun, snowflakes and of course a lot of snow anf not too much people on the ski road. It was great ski.

You can see how much snow is still there - some of houses ( apartments) are almost under the snow.

Tanja

IRAKLIS BOAT

Ιs still winter. Βut you can dream of blue sea and clear sky will enjoy when you come to Greece for the first meeting of the program. My school is in Piraeus, the largest port in Greece.

Ann's tree

Hello

Ann wanted to know where her tree was. Here is Scott with the notice after he planted an Oak tree for Ann. She can come and cut it down personally in 150 years time.

we won

Rudy and I won with our groups a poetry contest. Rudy's class made poems about a forest and my group made matching drawings. Each child received a backpack. No need to say we were all very happy.

Ann - Rudy

I have changed the settings a little bit. Now our picture is on and we all will write under the name The Planet. So there will be no confusion anymore who wrote what.
This evening I had the honor to talk to a green monster who turned yellow, red and blue and ended as my dear secretary Geoff. Long live computers and skype!( as long as the camera works correct)
Ann

the flags of the partner countries participating in the program

the flags of the partner countries participating in the program

BELGIUM

UNITED KINGDOM

SLOVENIA

DENMARK

POLAND




GREECE

COMENIUS PARTNERSHIPS


EUROPEAN PROGRAM COMENIUS


TITLE: «Join the Planet with friendships


DURATION: 2009-2010 ΚΑΙ 2010-2011

DURATION PART 6 SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SCHOOLS FROM EUROPEAN 6 COUNTRIES:


1. BELGIUM (Coordinator)
· Vrij gesubsidieerde lagere school buitengewoon onderwijs type 8 De Bloesem

2. GREECE
1st Special School Drapetsona
3. UNITED KINGDOM
· Queens Park School

4. DENMARK
Sofus Franck Skolen

5. SLOVENIA
· Οsnovna šola dr. ljudevita pivka
·
6. POLAND
· Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa im. Powstańców Śląskich

Tree Planting in Lincolnshire

Feb 23rd 2009

Today our Duke of Edinburgh groups all went along to a very muddy field to help plant some Ash and Oak trees to make a very big woodland area. You can see how big the field is and this will be full of trees, many thousands of trees.The soil was very soft and easy to dig, and they planted the trees and then put a plastic tube around the tree to stop the rabbits from eating it.

This is a picture from the 1st Special Drapetsona primary school in Greece.

Working here in order for children to learn the participating countries and their flags.

The program manager for Greece Mr Iraklis Palias

Dear Friends geof congratulated for the tremendous work he has done for us and the program. now we have our place online to showcase our schools and that has to do with the program. good continuity in all
iraklis

This is a picture of our pupils visiting a school where you can learn to coock. Ann

Join The Planet with Friendships

Here is the group of 7 who make up the "Join The Planet with Friendships" Comenius project. We hope to start fully as a group in September 2009 until July 2011 and maybe beyond...........
Left to right:
Henrik (Denmark), Mette (Denmark), seated at front Tanja (Slovenia), Joanna (Poland), Ann (Belgium), Iraklis (Greece), Geoff (England)