Going around the Francavilla old town centre October 16, 2008

Vogliamo farvi conoscere i luoghi più antichi del nostro piccolo paese attraverso un lavoro di una delle nostre scuole dell’infanzia:

We want to let you know the most ancient places in our little town through a work of one of our Infant schools:

“…Gli alunni dell’ultimo anno della scuola dell’infanzia di Porta Pia di Francavilla sul Sinni i rioni del proprio paese, mediante esperienze di apprendimento significative. Condotta mediante momenti ludici, l’attività di apprendimento degli alunni è stata mirata alla scoperta e all’appropriazione di alcuni ambienti vicini e vissuti dai bambini, come contesti di apprendimento per comprendere alcune trasformazioni avvenute, per cogliere alcuni rapporti tra uomo, natura e eventi, partendo dal nome dei rioni del proprio paese. Sollecitando nei bambini alcuni interrogativi, i docenti hanno motivato gli stessi che si sono divertiti a curiosare, a chiedere in giro, ad osservare a raccogliere informazioni, immagini e impressioni che hanno poi rielaborato ed organizzato mediante attività grafiche, pittoriche, plastiche, motorie, ovvero linguaggi verbali e non verbali, utilizzando registratori, fotocamere e telecamere come strumenti di lettura e scrittura della realtà.Stimolando la loro creatività si è arrivati alla invenzione di una favola dove, com’è proprio del pensiero infantile, il mondo rappresentato sfoca i suoi confini tra reale e immaginario. La conseguente realizzazione del fumetto e del film, mediante i quali raccontare la favola è stato lo sfondo integratore che ha dato unitarietà e direzione ad un lavoro scolastico. …”

“The last year children of the “G. Rodari Infant School ( in the Istituto Comprensivo “Don Bosco”) in Francavilla sul Sinni have been guided to discover the quarters of own town.. Run by moments of games, the learning activity has been orientated to the discover and the appropriation of some close habitats and lived by the children as learning contexts to understand some occurred transformations , to pick up some relations among, human, nature and events, starting from the quarters names of own town. Stimulating in the children some questions, the teachers motivated them that had a fun nosing, asking around, looking and gathering information, images and impressions that then they elaborated by graphic, pictorial, plastic, motor activities, or verbal and not verbal languages, using recorder, photo- cameras and video- cameras as reading and writing tools of the reality. Stimulating their creativity they arrived to the invention of a tale where, just like the children’s thought is, the represented world goes out of the focus between real and imaginary. The consequent realization of a comic and a film , by which they tell the story, was the integrating background that gave unity of purpose to the school work. …”

Andando in giro, I Bambini hanno scoperto e fotografato molti rioni e strade antichi e tipici del nostro centro storico: Il “Fungalone”, detto anche “Gonfalone, il “Timpone”, “S. Giuseppe” con la cappella, “S. Antonio” con la Cappella, il “corso”, la strada principale verso la chiesa, e la Chiesa della Beata Vergine, la “Variante”, la “Pianura”, La “Villa Comunale”, un bellissimo parco al centro del paese, la “Fontanella”, un antico lavatoio, la “Vigna Chiesa”, “S. Domenico” un villaggio rurale.

Going around, the children discovered and photographed many typical and ancient quarters and streets of our old town centre : the”Fungalone”, also named “Gonfalone”, the “Timpone”, “S. Giuseppe” with its chapel, “S. Antonio”, with another chapel, the “Corso”, a main street towards the church, the “Variante”, a cross road, the “Pianura”, a plain place, the “Villa Comunale”, a very nice park in the middle of the town, the “Fontanella”, an ancient fountain, “S. Domenico”, an outdoors rural village.

Eccone alcune/ Here are some of them:

Scuola dell’Infanzia “G. Rodari”- Istituto Comprensivo “Don Bosco”-Francavilla in Sinni (PZ)- Italia

The “Merry Cemetery” in Sapanta October 16, 2008

This is a remote spot, in the Northern part of our country, but it’s such a peculiar and famous one we felt you ought to know about it. Sapanta is the most well-known place in Maramures. This small village near the town of Sighetul Marmatiei amuses its visitors with the “Merry Cemetery”. People from foreign counties come to see this unique place.
This is a real cemetery, but unlike any other, it bursts with color and the tombstones are written all over with witty poems, some of them quite funny, depicting the life of the one that is buried there.
Most of these naive “works of art” are painted with scenes from the life and work of the dead, or show their weaknesses. Ion liked to drink, so he is pictured with a bottle. George played the violin at weddings, so he still holds it. All the tombstones are cut in wood by the same local carver, who follows the tradition established by his father.
Just an optimistic way to see death: as a natural part of our life.